Euphoria season 2 episode 3 hinted a few things about various characters, one of which was Cal Jacob’s sexuality. This has been a question mark since season 1. While most have assumed he might be secretly gay, season 2 episode 3 gave us his back story, which perhaps makes it much harder for us to put that label on him.
We see a young Cal hang out with his best friend Derek, and their relationship looks like one of the few good things that Cal has had in his life. While they’re mostly depicted as friends who have girlfriends and active sex life, at the end of Cal’s story, we see him and Derek kissing in a gay bar.
However, the next day he gets news that Marsha is pregnant. He starts crying as the title sequence plays and the rest, as we know, is history.
In episode 4, Cal finally comes out and confesses to his family about his sexuality, and for the first time, we have complete clarity about a character’s sexuality.
Cal Jacob confessed to his family that he is a pansexual in Euphoria season 2, episode 4. Cal goes back to the gay bar after and imagines dancing with Derek. This shows he’s still in love with Derek and has tried to find him in all the people he slept with.
Like others in the show, Cal is complex and can’t be oversimplified to just a couple of labels. While this was true until episode 3, in episode 4, Cal himself confirms his sexuality while he’s in an intoxicated state.
However, I do want to untangle the complexities that might be going on inside Cal’s mind and try to dissect his sexuality through them. Although we have a definite answer, we still don’t know if he was always pansexual or did his sexuality evolve?
How Cal is a gay turned pansexual?
Cal and Derek’s heart-wrenching story might be a clear indicator that Cal Jacobs is gay. Throughout the flashback, we see Cal and Derek have their moments of sullen silences where each knows what they are thinking but seems to be in denial.
Furthermore, Cal’s father seems to be homophobic. This is indicated in a scene where he asks Derek to leave after seeing the two lying next to each other in Cal’s room. After that, he orders Cal to stand up. This could be to check if Cal’s hormonal teenage body indicated his attraction towards Derek in the form of an erection. Cal refuses to do so, which could be a very subtle indication of the homophobia at home.
This interferes with Cal embracing his natural self. So the next thing he does is announce that he has a girlfriend at the dinner table, just to show his father he’s not gay.
These are signs that Cal is overcompensating to run away from the fact that he is gay. He has a girlfriend (Marsha) and an active sex life. However, Marsha initiates the sexual acts, while he just goes along with it.
Finally, the kiss between Cal and Derek at the gay bar might seal the fact that Cal is gay and is in love with Derek.
In episode 4, Cal seems to have reached a breaking point. He gets drunk and goes back to the gay bar where he and Derek first kissed. He is dancing with a man, whom he imagines to be Derek, and says, “I thought I lost you.” This is a clear indicator that Cal is still in love with Derek.
When he comes back home and confesses his secret life where he slept with men, women, and transexual, we know that he is pansexual. However, he spends a good amount of time talking about the number of men he’s slept with.
This could be a subtle hint that he initially slept with only men, but later as he got lonelier, he ended up sleeping with anybody and everybody, trying to find Derek in all of them. This could mean that he was gay in his initial years but later evolved into a pansexual person.
How did Cal grow up to become so toxic?
I believe Cal wasn’t as toxic a person in high school as today. When he decided to marry Marsha, he repressed a part of him that he thought no one would understand or accept. Over time, he found an outlet through his sexual rituals at motels.
This was a toxic way of living. His need for approval from his father evolved into his need for approval from society and the need to maintain a pristine reputation.
Furthermore, as seen in his recordings, he didn’t treat his sexual partners with respect. He was disgusted by them in public, which was inherited from his father. He, too, was a judgemental man. There is a good chance that Cal might also hate that part of himself because that’s all he’s ever seen and learned.
Besides this, he is not depicted as a good father. Cal wants his son, Nate, to be the perfect ‘man,’ and when he isn’t, it angers him. Cal seems to follow the same behavioral pattern as his father. We can see the same toxicity inherited by Nate, which is a conversation for another blog post.
In episode 4 also, we see him blaming his entire family for his own repressed emotions. While he coming out to everyone is good, it looks like he’s still stuck in the vicious cycle. He says he regrets having Nate, hates his family for tying him down, etc., when all they’ve done is follow his code for life. Even as he comes out, it feels less liberating. Instead, all we see is anger and hatred.
When you put all of this together, you see a person who chose not to come out but, over time, could not resist his nature. However, his choice to repress it further, away from anyone’s sight, turned him into the toxic villain we know.
Conclusion
Now that we know he is pansexual, we still don’t know what will happen if and when his CD leaks. He is a sex offender for sleeping with a 17-year-old, and the consequences of that would be dire. So how would he face those? Would he now go on a reckless spree and do whatever he deems fit, or will we see him go into a shell of his own, leaving everyone alone?
Well, we just have to wait and find out.
About Euphoria
Euphoria is a teen drama on HBO that is loosely based on the Israeli series of the same name. The series is written by Sam Levinson and stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Maude Apatow, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, and others.
The show revolves around Rue, a teen drug addict who is also suffering from Bipolar disorder. She meets Jules, a transwoman, and falls in love with her. Euphoria deals with themes of sexual violence, addiction, trauma, and self-identity.
The series was renewed for season 3 in February 2022.
No Comments on Cal Jacob’s Sexuality Hinted in Euphoria Season 2 Episode 3