The penultimate episode of HBO’s glitter and booze-soaked teenage drama Euphoria gave fans a showstopping dance number set to Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero.” The stars of the scene discussed this moment that left Twitter abuzz with delight.
Lexi’s character (Maude Apatow) finally got the episode she deserved after playing the straight-laced big sister across from Cassie, her reckless and destructive younger sister. Lexi finally gets her time to shine in the spotlight, ironically by putting her friends’ lives in the spotlight. The episode is titled “The Theatre and it’s Double” and focuses on Lexi’s semi-autobiographical play, which addresses her role as an ancillary character within her own life and the lives of her friends and family, mirroring the events of the show.
In conversation with Variety, Apatow said that she found shooting the episode was fun, but challenging. “It took a long time to film that sequence because it was so complicated,” Apatow said. “There were a lot of audience shots to consider… Sam had to make sure that the shots in the play connected to real memories, and they had to be perfectly timed and interwoven.”
One of the biggest talking points was the theatrical finale, which featured a homoerotic dance number set to “Holding Out For a Hero.” Actor Austin Abrams’ character Ethan takes lead on this high octane number, sporting golden spandex whily gyrating away. The whole sequence, choreographed by Ryan Heffington, is a defiant stance against the abusive character of Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), who sits and watches the obvious implications aimed at his sexuality.
Of filming the dance number, Abrams says, “We filmed that over a three-day span, and it was a lot of work. It took a lot of physical exertion. I was doing that dance a million times over those days. But, I loved the dance, I loved the guys that I was dancing with and it felt very real”
He also discussed how the song itself evokes fond memories of its use in Shrek 2, which was trending on Twitter after the show aired, “It’s one of those songs that makes me so happy. It puts everyone in a great mood, honestly.”