The flashback scene, set in 1984, explaining the metamorphosis of the medical sales representative Nick Pryor (Denis O’Hare) into Liz Taylor is the center of the episode. The Countess (Lady GaGa) doesn’t turn Nick into a vampire, but convinces him to embrace his real self. “You smell like a woman,” she says and he’s not convinced yet: “It’s Paco Rabanne”, he replies, thus stressing the fact that he still clinging to the idea of himself as a man.

The perfume Nick wears is classic men’s fragrance, an aromatic fougère created by Jean Martel and launched in 1973. According to Fragrantica, its top notes are rosemary, clary sage and brazilian rosewood; middle notes are tonka bean, lavender and geranium; base notes are honey, amber, musk and oakmoss.