Jacob Elordi’s Euphoria Plot: Sweatpants, Bulge, Abs on Full Display

At this point, HBO should just submit Jacob Elordi’s gray-area sweatpants for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

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nate dancing had me feeling like cassie for a second there like oh i need this pathetic man so bad too #euphoria pic.twitter.com/SZitEGYqNO

— ★ (@POPin4k) May 11, 2026

 

The latest episode of Euphoria, which aired on May 10, sent the internet spiraling after Elordi’s eternally chaotic bad boy Nate Jacobs celebrated receiving $30,000 from wife Cassie Howard, played by Sydney Sweeney. The actual plot details almost immediately became secondary because viewers were suddenly confronted with shirtless Jacob Elordi, an open button-down, a drink in hand, and sweatpants that appeared to be carrying their own subplot.

And gay Twitter — sorry, X — reacted exactly how you think it did.

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The bulge discourse has entered the chat

The scene itself is short. The internet reaction? Absolutely not. Clips spread across X within minutes, with viewers praising Elordi’s physique while others conducted what can only be described as a full forensic investigation into the situation happening underneath those navy sweatpants. And yes, the bulge discourse became immediate, relentless, and impossible to avoid.

Frankly, HBO knew exactly what it was doing with that lighting, those sweatpants, and that casually unbuttoned shirt. Nobody accidentally frames a six-foot-five Australian man swaying around a living room like he’s starring in a Calvin Klein fever dream.

One look at the screenshots and suddenly half the audience forgot every unresolved storyline from the past two seasons. 

Honestly, is Elordi the only reason some people are still watching Euphoria? The internet certainly seems divided between “this show has lost the plot” and “respectfully, I am seated every Sunday.”

Nate Jacobs, but make it thirst-trap cinema

The funniest part is that Nate Jacobs remains objectively terrifying as a character. This is not a man who should inspire giggling. And yet here we are, watching the internet collectively risk it all because Jacob Elordi walked around shirtless holding a beverage like a sleepy frat prince.

The sequence feels almost engineered in a laboratory to dominate social media. You’ve got:

• the messy open shirt
• the casually defined abs
• the tousled hair
• the sleepy eyes
• the giant drink
• and sweatpants fighting for their lives against public scrutiny

Cinema.

Has Euphoria lost itself?

Of course, not everyone is mesmerized by Elordi’s abs and extremely distracting silhouette. As the show continues leaning deeper into explicit scenes and increasingly chaotic storytelling, criticism surrounding the direction of Euphoria has only intensified. One Threads user, nkozi_jay, summed up a growing frustration many longtime viewers seem to share…

And honestly? That critique is probably why this latest Jacob Elordi moment exploded the way it did. The conversation around Euphoria increasingly swings between serious criticism and outright thirst posting, sometimes within the exact same tweet.

One minute people are discussing exploitation in prestige television. The next minute they’re zooming into sweatpants like FBI agents. That’s the Euphoria viewing experience now.

Jacob Elordi remains undefeated online

Whether viewers think Euphoria is still prestige television or just beautifully lit chaos, one thing remains undeniable: Jacob Elordi knows how to hijack the internet with approximately three buttons undone and a slow walk across a room.

The show may be spiraling into controversy, discourse, and increasingly unhinged storylines, but Elordi continues to emerge from every episode looking like the human embodiment of “fine, I’ll tune in next week.”