Someone commented on why initial communication for them was hell.
Shane's refuge is 'home' but it is trigger for Ilya.
Illya's refuge was s*x but it is a trigger for Shane.

Almost all of the fight/miscommunication happened because of this. And everything came crashing down in the tuna meltdown incident.

11:59 that line you didn't remember is a delayed knife twist. Because Shane does not know that family is Ilya's third rail, he makes an offhand suicide joke to a man who found his mother dead of suicide at a young age. A man who struggles with depression, has lost a major award and is about to have to face and be trapped with his abusive family all summer. Shane doesn't know, he can't know, and we don't know, but when we do know, it makes a rewatch fucking devastating.

I think a key part of Shane’s anger on the roof is that he’s feeling rejected.

Ilya never responds to Shane’s text about “next time”. Then the “next time” that they have a chance to meet up, the awards, Ilya doesn’t make any attempt to connect and in fact takes himself away from the party where Shane is.

Shane had a crush on Ilya and now feels rejected (and don’t we all know how bad that first time you like someone who doesn’t like you back hurts) drunk, and  has been socialized to process all negative emotions through the lens of anger, it’s with all that going on in his head that he runs into Ilya.

When Shane makes one last very bad attempt at connection “I thought we’d…Nevermind.” He’s processed “okay he really doesn’t like, or want me.”  I looked at him offering the handshake like him admitting it was over and no hard feelings. He’s trying to lose gracefully, he wanted Ilya, Ilya didn’t want him. They’ll shake hands and move on.

Than Ilya , who’s told Shane he likes trouble, and kisses him in public and seems to have either not thought or cared about the risk “no one is looking.”. Shane feels like he’s a toy, and so gets angry.

Or at least that’s how I always viewed the scene and Shane’s motivation in it.

I'm so used to fanfic that I forget that Marley isn't canonically worlds best accidental ally and friend, himbo supreme.

Genuinely so excited every time I see a new upload from you! <3 Thank you for sharing your analysis!

I read Shane saying, “I thought maybe we…” as about how he thought they would reschedule their plan to fuck, but then Ilya reacted so opposite to what Shane was expecting that he was thrown off, hurt, and disappointed. He walks away but then remembers his manners, and turns back to shake Ilya’s hand- closing off their sexual relationship and clarifying that they’re professionals and nothing more (with tears in his eyes). In a call back to the beginning of the episode, Ilya is charmed by his formality and seriousness and goes in for what they both really wanted, a kiss. Shane is so happy to finally be kissing Ilya that he forgets himself for a second. Once he realizes the vulnerable position they’re in, he storms off. Now feeling a bit betrayed by Ilya for not taking the situation seriously. Ilya realizes his mistake and calls out to Shane, but it’s too late. Shane’s trust has been broken and it will take Ilya years to earn it back.

So happy you covered the desexualization of asian men ! We have a ton of that in Canada rooted in similar oppressive policies - we exploited Chinese workers for railroads, we had Japanese internment camps, we had the same situations of adian men doing "feminized" work and other such unfair treatments

Hockey fan chiming in with more info about IRL hockey culture! Not only are a lot of players (and coaches/leadership, often former players themselves) homophobic, but sex is such a big part of their identities, at least in the teenage / young adult levels. Probably still to a degree as players get older but I don't know as much about that. Guys frequently talk about what they got "puck bunnies" to do with/to them, share intimate pictures they were sent (or took, with or without their partner's knowledge), brag about how many girls they've slept with, etc. and you earn respect from your teammates by doing that kind of stuff. The book We Breed Lions by Rick Westhead is a great resource for learning about how toxic masculinity and sexuality are so deeply ingrained in hockey culture, especially among junior leagues in Canada. Just know that it is a *heavy* book with a lot of truly horrific stories about abuse both of and by hockey players. I cried multiple times while reading it. (I have no idea why "the FMC needs to date the bad boy hockey player to clean up his image" became such a popular trope for hockey romance books when the VGK goalie is a r*pist and the NHL doesn't even care.)

And yeah, a lot of NHL fans are gross, too. When teams post about Pride events, the comments are always full of losers whining about keeping "politics" out of sports, how hockey isn't for "those people" anyway, etc. and it's really disheartening. They don't tend to be any better about things like Black History Month or the badass woman who was a coach for Seattle. The guys next to me at a game I went to last season kept yelling things like how one of the opposing players was a pussy because he wasn't trying to flatten or elbow (against the rules, btw) anyone. It was like they were playing bigot bingo. 🙃 So if Shane and/or Ilya had been outed by the reckless rooftop kiss in 2011, the fans probably would've been calling for them to get dropped from the league.


I think there are enough progressive hockey fans that the audience side of the culture is starting to slooowly shift. The PWHL is way more queer-friendly and fans boo the hell out of the player who's been openly transphobic, even on her home ice. During the NHL playoffs this year, there was a loud "NO MEANS NO!" chant going at one point; even if some of the people chanting were only doing it to get into Carter Hart's head, it was still a glorious thing to see.

Anyway, hockey was and is a scary environment to be queer in. If any of y'all end up reading We Breed Lions, take care of yourself as you do. Snuggle with a pet or have a happy, fluffy book on standby to swap to if you start feeling too much despair and/or rage. <3

Fun fact: a subset of the Heated Rivalry fandom on Tumblr has decided Cliff Marlou is a Vampire. Just out of no where.

I think it’s also important that ilya’s negative feelings around going home isn’t just about his father’s disappointment, it’s about how he has to hide his queerness when in Russia, something he talks about more openly in episodes 5&6. He is a young man who is coming to the end of his first year living alone abroad, independently. This time in America has probably been the first time he has been able to have queer relationships (such as w Shane) without the looming threat of Russia. Not to say that he is able to be free or open or that Russian laws and culture aren’t still a barrier to him, but he is more distant from them here. And I think he is anticipating and resenting having to return to this place that is a whole other level of unsafe for him. So when Shane comes onto the rooftop while he’s thinking about this, it’s like a slap in the face. Shane, who is being really quite open about his desire for connection between them, a connection that Ilya knows he cannot have. Ilya’s decision to start kissing Shane in public isn’t just self soothing looking for intimacy, it’s also him allowing himself to enjoy this one last time before he has to return home, where it would never be as ‘easy’.

These actors nailed the roof top scene. I have no idea how many times they did this scene but this was as real as it gets. That scene you are describing is portrayed so perfectly emotionally and with such honesty it never gets old to watch. The energy these 2 have together is " how do they do that" good. The entire show has this intensity and honesty. It has spoiled me for many series now

my read: the handshake on the roof is a callback to shane introducing himself in the first scene. it's a try to establish a return to a "professional" relationship as hockey rivals. since ilya rejected his advances for another hookup ("and I thought maybe we... nevermind") and seems unwilling to connect on an emotional/personal/platonic level, shane sees this as the only option going forward. he is looking for the comfort of having a defined set of social rules that he can limit this confusing relationship to, for some form of clarity, structure, and safety. ilya, on some level, recognizes this, and doesn't wanna lose the connection they have. the only way to reestablish it that he knows/feels comfortable with in that moment due to his turbulent emotional state is cornering shane and kissing him, which in turn creates even more confusion (shane's autistic brain just hates not knowing which social script applies to ilya).

From Russian point of view: it was impolite of Ilya to text, that is why she called him out, and that is why he put his phone away and did not respond to Shane that evening.
Probably, the fact that Ilya couldn’t  help but be impolite to her for “Jane” made Sveta think that “Jane” was a very important person to Ilya later on.

I think another reason as to why Shane stuck his hand out for a handshake was because he thought Ilya wanted their relationship to start being professional (because why else is he rejecting Shane when he was always the one who initiated the flirting before), and so Shane decided to reciprocate that decision. He also probably didn't want to leave this man he was starting to have feelings for, on bad terms.

To me, Ilya trapping Shane against the wall with his body on the roof is one of the most visually compelling moments of the series. The energy Connor conveys with his body language of Ilya being dominant, reckless, and a bit of an asshole is a big part of what makes him attractive to Shane. And Shane being simultaneously intoxicated by and terrified of that energy and the risks that responding to it poses is central to both the internal and external conflicts he is navigating through the series. I think this moment “shows not tells” that really well. And both characters responding to their desire in ways that are mismatched and heartbreaking and stakes raising for so many years feels real and deepens the payoff when they are finally able to be honest and openly loving with each other, which I think makes that moment a strong representation of what makes the show as a whole work so well.

anterior pelvic tilt appreciation 👏👏👏👏👏

I’m so glad you explained how this miscommunication on the balcony was so much about subtext due to them not knowing each other that well.  So often miscommunication in stories is so annoying I have to stop reading. It was great to see why this one didn’t bother me - and to have it so well analyzed

I think how Shane moves away and then turns around to shake Ilya's hand (like an afterthought) is to distance himself from an emotionally upsetting situation through social niceties (in my mind, no doubt trained by Yuna, who helps him present well at events, like with the award on the stairs.) It's an attempt to save face while reestablishing (professional) boundaries so he can excuse himself to break down/process in private, which we see again at the Tuna Meltdown.

I hadn't previously considered Ilya kissing Shane on the rooftop as a fucked up thing - reckless, sure, but I've always considered it romantic in the sense of it being an expression of their desperate need for connection with each other. as you said, there is a disconnect, partially from Shane's inability to read the subtext that Ilya takes refuge in, and partially from other differences -as someone else mentioned, they have opposing comfort and trigger topics of sex and family. But it boils down to them being drawn to each other but too young to act on it without hurting themselves and each other

I always took Shane's "all you do is beat me" comment as in he feels "inferior" to Ilya due to his feelings. We obviously know Shane has beaten Ilya a couple of times and they are both aware that the trophy could have gone to either one of them. But I don't think his comment, or his feelings of inferiority, have to do with that. I take it as "I've been pinning away for you and you seem to not give a fuck", and for that reason, from Shane's perspective, Ilya is always going to be above him, because Ilya is who he actually desires but cannot reach for. While Ilya acts very blasé about it, like their hookups are another tuesday for him, and for Shane the world turned upside down. So, he is frustrated for the seemingly lack of reciprocity from Ilya and words it that way. Anyway, thanks for the analysis, you helped understand a scene that was quite confusing for me on a first watch. And thanks for creating a space of intellectual discussion, all the comments add nuance to the scene and it's super interesting to read everyone's take on it