The latest episode of Euphoria has had fans taking to Twitter to share their thoughts and reactions, inadvertently causing Shrek 2 to trend after the song “Holding Out For a Hero” played a major role in the penultimate offering for season two.
Audiences saw Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) play finally take to the stage, mirroring the show itself as she writes semi-autobiographically about her own life and that of her friends. The scene in question is a homoerotic dance set to “Holding Out For a Hero,” where Ethan (Austin Abrams) plays Jake, an on-stage caricature of Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). Ethan and his backing dancers sport revealing, shiny, gold workout gear, giving their all in a sexually explicit dance full of thrusting, slapping and pseudosexual acts, whilst pumping weights and squirting water bottles at one another.
Fans of the show took to Twitter to compare this use of Bonnie Tyler’s song to another classic, Shrek 2. In the film, handsome human Shrek fights his way to his beloved Fiona with his band of misfit fairy tale friends, set against the evil Fairy Godmother’s rendition of the same song with the fantastic Jennifer Saunders doing all her own singing for the role. For lovers of Shrek, this scene is perhaps one of the most iconic of the franchise.
Fans are voicing their joy at the use of the song in Euphoria, with some asking “who did it better?” They also noted that the songs are similarly used, both are at climatic points within the plot leading us to what we know will be a dramatic finale.
Shrek 2 has also been an active trend on Twitter due to the fact that both it and the first Shrek film will finally be available on Netflix from March 1.
Euphoria‘s season two finale, on the other hand, will air on Feb. 27 on HBO and HBO Max.