Disclaimer: Read at your own risk if you haven’t watched Episode 7 of Euphoria Season 2.
Euphoria has been making headlines since its inception in 2019. Whether DARE speak out against hard drug useincredibly graphic nudity, or long monologues with prosthetic penisesthere’s always something to tweet when it comes to Sam Levinson Emmy-winning HBO series. But the last episode featured a first for Euphoria: a shirtless dance number that put Lexi (Maude Apatow), Ethan (Austin Abrams) and Nate (Jacob Elordi) front and center.
In an interview with Variety, Maude Apatow talked about bringing this acrobatic choreography to life in front of a live audience, and how it affected the filming process. She says:
It took a long time to film this sequence, it was so complicated. There were a lot of audience plans to consider…Sam [Levinson] had to make sure that the shots of the room were linked to real memories and that they had to be perfectly synchronized and intertwined.
Throughout the season, Lexi (Maude Apatow) teased a play about her life, and viewers were finally treated to this autobiographical drama in the latest episode of Euphoria. Titled “Our Life,” Lexi’s show paints a thinly veiled account of the drama of her social circle, including the saga of Maddy (Alexa Demie) and star quarterback Nate.
Maude Apatow’s character ridiculed the toxic masculinity of her high school football culture in a dance routine that brought Nate out of the theater. The scene in question featured Austin Abrams’ Ethan and Nate dancing to Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” wearing nothing but gold lamé football pants. It was backed by a chorus of equally shirtless jocks who performed choreography that can only be described as gleefully homoerotic, and was truly a wonderful sight to behold.
As the audience burst into laughter, Nate was all too aware that he was the one being laughed at and kicked out of the auditorium. The character may have taken umbrage at Lexi’s play, but Austin Abrams had the time of his life filming the jaw-dropping sequence. He said:
We filmed this over a three-day period, and it was a lot of work. It took a lot of physical effort. I did that dance a million times those days. But I loved dancing, I loved the guys I was dancing with and it was very real. I loved the energy exchanged between the performers and actors and the audience because it was crowded.
As any theater actor can attest, nothing beats live theater. There’s an energy that can’t be recreated on a film set, and Ethan’s performance in the show was only heightened by the real-time reactions from audience members. In fact, it was partly the hoarse laughter from the audience that infuriated Nate to the point of leaving. (This is definitely not a Nate apologist account, but if I had been staged in front of the whole school, I would have walked out too)
Nate’s reaction aside, that doesn’t change the fact that Lexi and Ethan’s dance number was unmistakably iconic. It also marked the peak of the season for a show that prides itself on producing viral moments. (Cassie in the tub, anyone?) The season finale airs this Sunday and will likely reveal the fallout from Lexi’s tell-all story, the long-awaited showdown between Cassie and Maddy, and, if we’re lucky, another song-and-dance routine.
You can watch season 2 of Euphoria now with your HBO Max Subscription. The Season 2 finale airs Sunday, February 27 at 8 p.m. on HBO. Fexi team, fingers crossed. While you wait, you can check out more to come TV releases is expected to decline in 2022.
