Throughout the show, Eric has been experimenting with his look as he explores his relationship with himself and his church, but that intensifies almost immediately in season four. "We wanted Eric to look like he was wearing makeup when he got to the new school, but it was still slightly more reserved," Bilverstone says. "He knew that he wanted to carry on wearing it, but he didn't necessarily know how the new students would be."
He barely gets a moment to park his bike before realising Cavendish is a whole different ball game. "There's just queerness everywhere," Bilverstone says. It's represented in the colour palette of the school with its stained-glass window and in the students' clothing. As soon as he gets home that day, you see him at his vanity playing with new products. "He's like, 'OK, I know what the school is like now, I know what I am going to wear tomorrow.'"
A particularly memorable moment occurs in episode 6 when Eric uses beauty to celebrate his queerness – and not just with products, but with packaging. He pulls out that viral penis-shaped lipstick by Isamaya as he takes a step further to becoming his authentic self. While the chapstick, or dickstick as is more apt, might have been a social media favourite when it was released in March, Eric yet again proves that it's more than a cheeky product, it's a powerful symbol of self-acceptance.
The beauty inspiration for Eric has always been Grace Jones, and Bilverstone was set on "finding a modern-day version of that." The new setting just opened the door for his character to completely transform.