Halloween may be behind us, and Olivia Rodrigo may have dropped new holiday music, but the horrors of situationships past persist. On Nov. 6, the Grammy winner gifted fans with her first-ever Christmas single “take me home (4 christmas),” alongside a playful music video. And in it, she references Gen Z’s most-feared horror television show: Normal People.
The music stars SNL cast member Ben Marshall as Rodrigo’s boyfriend and Sex and the City icon Cynthia Nixon as his mom. Throughout the video, Rodrigo fantasizes about spending Christmas at Marshall’s family home, imagining everything from festive family traditions to the perfect holiday experience with her boyfriend’s family. The video plays into the excitement and anticipation of meeting your significant other’s family for the holidays, with a slightly over-the-top take on what the ideal Christmas might look like.
But at the 2:06 mark, I couldn’t help but notice a familiar-looking scene: Rodrigo is seen wearing a purple, crown-like headband while playing a guessing game with the family. While the game itself might look familiar to anyone who’s played Hedbanz, the specific crown headbands immediately reminded me — and the internet — of a scene from the hit Hulu series Normal People.
For those unfamiliar with Normal People, the series (based on the novel by Sally Rooney) follows Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron, two young people growing up in Ireland whose complicated relationship follows them from high school into college. Throughout the show, the two navigate love, friendship, social class, and the pressure to fit in. Despite their strong connection, their different personalities and social backgrounds often create misunderstandings, making their relationship even more complicated.
In Normal People, the characters play a nearly identical guessing game during a dinner party in Dublin. From the matching color crowns worn by Rodrigo and Marianne to the way everyone is gathered around the table, the similarities between the two scenes are hard to ignore. However, the atmosphere couldn’t be more different. While Normal People uses the game to highlight the awkwardness and underlying social tension between its characters, Rodrigo’s version feels like the complete opposite. Rather than feeling out of place, Rodrigo imagines herself fitting right in with her boyfriend’s family, taking part in their holiday traditions and living out her idea of a picture-perfect Christmas.
Still, the internet was quick to catch the reference.
Whether Rodrigo made an intentional nod to Normal People, or just a fun coincidence, the scene is such a fun detail to catch. And considering how much Rodrigo loves weaving storytelling and pop culture into her music, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was another little reference for fans to discover!