This piece incorporates spoilers for season two, episode three, of Euphoria.
Cal Jacobs has, ultimately, gotten the origin-story therapy. On Sunday night time’s episode of Euphoria, followers lastly bought an eye-opening revelation into why Nate’s dad is the way in which he’s (learn: villainous, tormented, closeted), revealing the bitter roots of his son’s extreme daddy points.
The episode, written by present creator Sam Levinson, begins with a flashback to Cal in highschool. He’s a star wrestler, glad and good-natured despite his strict, overbearing father. He spends all his spare time along with his finest buddy Derek. They begin falling for one another, however brush their emotions apart, as an alternative making a grand present of getting girlfriends and hooking up with them—generally in the identical room, stealing glances at one another. On commencement night time, Derek takes Cal out to allow them to rejoice alone. (The longer term is coming for them: Cal’s off to Duke, whereas Derek’s heading to a state faculty out West.)
Derek’s spot seems to be a homosexual bar, and Cal rolls with it. They head to the dance flooring, spinning round to INXS’s “By no means Tear Us Aside.” It’s sort of a suburban Y Tu Mamá Tambien second, two boys and a jukebox in a sparse bar. They finally begin kissing, shrugging off their hetero facade. However the fantasy is disrupted the following morning, when Cal’s girlfriend Marsha tells him she’s pregnant. And, as we all know from the present, she decides to maintain the kid. The 2 get married and have one other child, Nate (Jacob Elordi), whereas Cal stays within the closet, having quite a few affairs and secretly filming his sexual encounters. His bifurcated life-style—upstanding pillar of the group by day, closeted cheater by night time—finally imprints on Nate, molding his son right into a violent mini-me.
Actor Eric Dane, who performs Cal, discovered the flashback “heartbreaking,” deepening his understanding of his damaged character.
“I don’t know what it’s wish to be Cal, however I do know what it’s wish to reside a double life,” the actor stated, calling from his house in Los Angeles. “I’ve had my very own expertise with drug and alcohol abuse. That’s a double life.”
The actor, who shot to fame as Dr. Mark Sloan (aka McSteamy) in Gray’s Anatomy, has been candid about his battle with medicine, voluntarily getting into rehab in 2011 for an dependancy to painkillers following a sports activities damage. “Making an attempt to maintain that secret is hard,” he continued. “Ultimately all the things at all times catches up with you.”
Dane had no thought about Cal’s highschool backstory going into season two. “I belief Sam a lot,” he stated. “I’ve by no means been one to select the author’s mind about what’s developing sooner or later.… I do know it’s in good fingers.”
Dane first learn the script on the forged’s first desk learn, which befell in March 2020. However like just about all the things else in manufacturing on the time, season two of Euphoria was shortly shut down because of the pandemic, not selecting up once more till 2021. (Within the interim, Levinson shot the function Malcolm & Marie, plus two particular episodes of Euphoria centered on Rue and Jules, respectively.)
Within the flashback, Cal is performed by a successful Elias Kacavas. Although Dane doesn’t seem in these scenes, he spent a while on set after they have been being shot, attending to know the younger actor—who will subsequent be seen in a teen present of a distinct stripe, Fairly Little Liars: Authentic Sin.
“He was terrific,” Dane stated, although he admits he didn’t perceive the casting alternative at first. “At first look, I used to be like, That’s younger Cal? After which I began speaking to the man and I watched a few of his stuff and I used to be like, Yeah. That’s younger Cal.”
