"Thank you. Now take off your clothes."
Did you really think we'd have a show that involved a Russian hockey player and not go to the Sochi Olympics?
For some reason, I thought that Shane and Ilya were still seeing each other during the opening texting montage, but no. They spent two years just texting. I like this for a few reasons. It lets both of them grow up a little and get more settled in their lives and careers. It's not just the momentum of bad decisions carrying them forward. It makes it more deliberate.
It also adds to the foundation of their relationship. There's a genuine fondness for each other that we see building. It's just cute! Especially when they unknowingly mirror each other, like Shane chewing on his hoodie at the same time as Ilya holding the chain of his cross in his mouth.
I also just love the texting in general, particularly how we get to see Shane's thoughts as he types, deletes, and changes his messages. It's funny at first as Shane semi-panics through sexting. It's devestating when he leaves the Vegas penthouse. Seriously, watching him delete the smiley face was sad enough. "We didn't even kiss" was a complete gut punch.
So after all of the texting and missed opportunities, Ilya finally goes to Shane’s apartment, and they have sex. I want to talk about the way it’s filmed first, because it’s a very interesting contrast with how the intimate scenes were filmed in the first episode.
In their very first hookup, the camera very rarely cuts. We stay with them for every moment of what is happening. We see everything. If the camera changes, it’s just to give us a different angle. It’s a marked contrast to the fast pace of the episode both before and after the scene. It feels long because the scene itself is long.
But this time, we don’t have that. This time, we fade to black at least four different times. A fade to black usually signals that a significant amount of time has passed. It’s a sign to our brains that a scene is over, and that we will next see something different. It’s common enough in sex scenes. The characters kiss, start to undress, fade to black, come back to see them sweaty and panting post-coitus.
When Heated Rivalry fades to black, though, we come back to them still having sex. Multiple times. So our brains register this as “Wow, they’re having sex for a very, very long time!” without us needing to see every second of what is actually happening.
It also helps to give the scene an almost dream-like feel to it, especially when coupled with the dim, warm lighting. It’s very romantically filmed. It feels like a big deal, which it is. It’s a major evolution in their relationship.
For the actual content of the scene itself, I loved how Ilya continuously checked in. He got consent every time he changed what he was doing, and I don’t think I have ever seen that before. Usually, characters will just give it once at the very beginning of a sex scene, but Ilya kept asking and making sure that Shane was okay.
It also made an interesting contrast to the look on Ilya’s face when Shane very sweetly and gently kissed his forehead in the afterglow. There was a moment of what looked like discomfort, like the idea of affection simply for the sake of it was too much.
I’m just doing a lot of comparisons for this review, so let’s skip to Vegas and how different that is. There’s a lot that’s happening in Vegas, starting with the bathroom scene. Ilya had completely ghosted Shane for six months, (again, contrast to the opening texting montage where Ilya almost always texted first) and Shane was understandably hurt and angry about that.
Ilya really doesn’t come off well here. It caught me off guard the first time I watched it, feeling pretty out of character, but I’ve changed my mind. Ilya pulls back at the first hint of there being any kind of genuine emotions between him and Shane. He wants a physical relationship, and that’s it. The kind where they have sex, and they tease each other over text, but not the kind where they offer comfort or check in on each other when life is hard.
And so while he’s very blunt and looks like he’s completely disregarding how upset Shane is, Ilya is being honest about what he wants. And Shane, as angry and hurt as he is, ultimately wants Ilya. He tells Ilya as much up in the penthouse. Not Ilya doing anything to him. Just Ilya. “You.”
It goes without saying that Hudson Williams’ acting throughout the Vegas scenes is just excellent. He has an amazing ability to let his eyes fill with tears without ever letting them spill over. They’re just so expressive, especially during that internal tug of war in the bathroom before giving in and saying “Please” to Ilya.
The scene in the penthouse is hot, and even outright kinky. There’s been an undercurrent of dom/sub dynamics, but this was the first time it was more overt. It also gave the encounter a structure where it made sense that they didn’t kiss. It’s also the reason why I watched the show in the first place since the first thing about it that I saw on social media was a clip of Ilya dragging the chair behind him.
Anyways, it’s what happens after the sex that’s intriguing. All episode, Shane keeps trying to reach out to Ilya in person. Whenever they actually see each other, he is the one who asks questions about Ilya’s life. But both times he does, he’s pretty firmly rebuffed.
Granted, he tries to ask Ilya about his family and whether or not he likes Russia, which… yeah. I would shut that conversation down too. Especially when certain questions are asked completely out of the blue like “Is it safe?” Seriously, Shane, that’s a wild question to randomly ask your situationship.
The sad thing, of course, is that Russia isn’t safe for Ilya. Not because he’s bisexual, although that would obviously be a concern if he ever came out, but because of his family. Because of his father.
We already knew that his father was horrible, and there were suggestions that he was sick, but to see it during the Olympics was heartbreaking. I’ve already praised Williams, so let’s add some for Connor Storrie too.
Ilya acts completely differently in Russia than he does back in North America. His shoulders are squared off, his expression is completely blank. Even when he’s alone watching figure skating, his posture is closed off and hostile. He barely even turns his head to look at Shane, only doing so when he’s yelling at him to go away.
Russia is not safe for him. He doesn’t like it there, even if there are parts of it that are still a piece of his heart. But he doesn’t talk about his family. Not even really with Svetlana, who has known Ilya since they were children. He’s not like Shane, who talks about his parents as easy as breathing.
They’re not miscommunicating as much as they’re trying to communicate with each other at a level that is easy and instinctual to them but difficult and thorny to the other: sex and families. It’s a mess. Probably just a little toxic. But the kind that I can’t help but root for and get invested in.
Random Thoughts
It's not subtitled, but Ilya yells "For you, Mama" when he wins the Cup.
Svetlana was right. When Shane's team is watching Ilya win the Cup, the goalie has his leg in a cast. They also beat San Franisco.
Also, Svetlana breaking down the different hockey teams' strengths and weaknesses? Probably the single sexiest thing in the entire show.
Note the brief moment on Scott when Carter mentions how brave a gay person must be to go to Russia.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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