This Wild ‘Euphoria’ Fan Theory Suggests Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane Could Have a Mini-Reunion

Is there a Euphoria x Grey’s Anatomy crossover on the horizon? Well, fans remain hopeful after a new episode from the HBO series premiered this past weekend.

On Sunday, the episode “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys” aired on the network. The opening scene showed a series of flashbacks where Cal Jacobs was an adolescent.

While Eric Dane normally plays the adult version of Cal, fans got a chance to see him as a teenager. The cut-away scenes revealed that Cal (Elias Kacavas) was secretly in love with his best friend named Derek (Henry Eikenberry).

After the episode aired, fans couldn’t help but wonder if the “Derek” name drop was a direct reference to Grey’s Anatomy. In the ABC medical drama, Dane played the role of Mark Sloan (aka Dr. McSteamy), who happened to be best friends with Derek Shepherd (played by Patrick Dempsey).

Instantly, fans began to suggest that Dempsey could make a small cameo on Euphoria (and perhaps) play the older version of Derek. “Cal’s best friend's name being Derek though?! Sam Levinson knew what he was doing #Euphoria #EuphoriaHBOMax,” one fan tweeted. Another fan posted a photo of Dempsey and wrote, “If Derek ever comes back to see Cal…I think we all know the perfect actor to play him as an adult.”

So, what does Dane think about the "Derek" reference theory and a potential reunion with his Grey’s Anatomy co-star? While he supports the idea of seeing a grown-up version of Derek in the show, Dempsey wouldn’t be his first pick. 

“The grown version of Derek would have to be like [Pause] Can we get Brad Pitt to do this?” he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Let’s throw an offer out there and see if he bites.”

A reunion between Dane and Dempsey may not be in the cards, but fans could be right that the name choice was a purposeful callback to Dane's former show.

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