The late Eric Dane returned to “Euphoria” as Cal during Sunday’s episode in the actor’s first posthumous appearance, following his death earlier this year.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” star, who announced in April 2025 that he was battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), died this February of respiratory failure. ALS was identified as an underlying cause of death. He was 53.

Upon announcing his diagnosis, Dane said he felt “fortunate” he could “continue working” and would return to “Euphoria” for its long-awaited third season, which premiered last weekend.

Dane on the show stars as Nate’s (Jacob Elordi) abusive father, who in the first season met Hunter Schafer’s Jules — a transgender teenage girl and classmate of Nate’s — on a hookup app. Cal secretly filmed his encounters with both Jules and others. He was ultimately arrested in the season 2 finale.

The late Dane returned as Cal in “America My Dream,” the second episode of the third season, which jumps ahead five years.

Zendaya’s Rue informs the viewer in voiceover narration that Cal had suffered a steep and “humiliating” fall from grace, going from “the town’s top real estate developer to a broke sexual deviant who narrowly avoided prison.”

Nate, who’s in mountains of debt as he tries to keep the real estate business afloat, maintains to his fiancée Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) that they’re financially thriving. Cal, though, is less gullible, thanks to hearing from someone at “Sex and Love Addicts” that Cassie is “selling pictures of herself online.”

Later in the episode, father and son argue about Cal’s sexual orientation, about which Nate claims his dad is “in denial.” Cal, meanwhile, pushes back to say he’s “not gay” but “was a hedonist.”

Speaking to Extra TV earlier this month, “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson remembered Dane as “a great human being,” who “showed up every day with such grace and dignity.”

After Dane — who also appears in next weekend’s episode — informed Levinson of his diagnosis in the run-up to shooting, they “had a lot of conversations about … just life and what that meant.”

“I loved him very deeply, and I said, ‘Eric, whatever shape you show up in, we’re gonna make it work,'” said Levinson.

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