048: heated rivalry (part 2) + the spoiler moments that destroyed us
Nins & Arns return for a follow-up episode on Heated Rivalry that absolutely no one asked for (because one emotional breakdown over yearning, hockey, and devastating eye contact was clearly not enough!!).
After finally bingeing the series, Arns comes fully prepared with a spoiler-filled PowerPoint presentation covering the scenes, confessions, relationships, and tiny emotional moments that wrecked her. Together, the hosts spiral through Scott & Kip, Shane & Ilia, coming out scenes, public love, emotional repression, and why this show made domesticity feel romantic as hell.
Also in this episode: a heartfelt sob story from Serena—founder of Third Realm in San Francisco—about burnout, healing, poetry, community, connection, and creating spaces where people can feel less alone.
NOTE: This episode contains full on spoilers for Heated Rivalry. Please we are BEGGING you to watch it first!!
Topics discussed:
Heated Rivalry episode breakdown
Scott & Kip discourse
Shane & Ilia analysis
Burnout & healing
Third spaces & community
Emotional repression in sports media
Queer love stories & acceptance
Strong female supporting characters in media
The importance of slide decks in proving how deeply you care
Chapters:
0:00 - Preview
0:36 - Intro
1:55 - Announcement: blind book swap on 6/6 in SF!
3:12 - Sob story: Serena from Third Realm
8:55 - Heated Rivalry Part 2 Begins (Spoiler Alert!)
14:00 - Scott & Kip: Secrets, Sunshine & The Championship Kiss
23:23 - Why Scott & Kip's Story Made Us Cry
28:10 - Ilya & Shane's Cottage Love Story
34:06 - Shane Comes Out to His Mom
37:30 - The Women of Heated Rivalry
47:25 - Actor Appreciation & Behind-the-Scenes Tea
51:48 - Character Drafts, Final Thoughts & Season 2 Manifesting
55:30 - Outro
Referenced in this episode:
brb crying x Third Realm book swap on June 6
Heated Rivalry TV series on HBO
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Preview
0:00
We didn't prepare anything special. Oh, she did. Okay. Sorry, I forgot she's a Virgo.Sorry. Yes. Yes. Could not help myself. Okay. Today I have prepared a PowerPoint foryou. Oh What the fuck? Heated rivalry. Wow. Part two. I love the She's a fucking Virgo.This is BRB Crying. Hello
Intro
0:36
everyone and welcome back to BRB Crying. I'm Arnt. And I'm Ninz. And I don't know.And this is a podcast where we talk about things that make us cry. Something aboutcrying. If you're new here, she always tries to do something really innovative. She lovesreinventing the wheel. So You act like we don't all love it, is the thing. And I just hate todisappoint, you know. I'm just saying that it's a burden that you really put on yourself. It'snot a burden. It's a joy, but it's just not a joy today. Okay. Fair. Have you come up withsomething in the 10 seconds that we were chatting? Um no. Something about like taleof tears for you. Okay. Yeah, that's what I got. This is a podcast where we talk aboutthings that make us cry. If you're new here, hello, welcome. If you're old here, welcomeback, crybabies. Today we have kind of a special episode. But before we get into that,I'm gonna do some quick little announcements. If you don't follow us yet, we are atbeerbecrying.podcast on all socials. Follow us, rate, review, subscribe, do all the things.And we usually only post announcements on Instagram. But we're gonna do a veryspecial announcement today
Announcement: blind book swap on 6/6 in SF!
1:55
because this Saturday, June 6th, we are going to be having a blind book swap at ThirdRealm in SF. So anyone who is in the San Francisco Bay Area, come through. Check theregistration on our Instagram. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It is gonna be a lot of fun. It'sgonna be a blind book swap. So we have a little station where you're gonna wrap yourbooks and then we're gonna do some fun little things, and we're just gonna fucking yap,maybe cry. Yeah. Book girlies. Lock in, dude. Lock in. This is your fucking weekend. Mm-hmm. So yeah, really, really excited about that. So excited to do any sort ofcollaboration with Third Realm. I love what they're doing, just offering another place tobuild community, which again, kinda what we're doing here. So it made perfect sense.Yes. And the founder of Third Realm, Serena, has so graciously sent us a little sob storyso all of you could get to know her a little bit. So I'm just gonna, I'm gonna dive right in. Ihaven't I haven't listened to it beforehand, so I haven't either. We'll see what she says.Okay, let's see, let's see. Okay.
Sob story: Serena from Third Realm
3:12
Hi, Arns, Nins, and fellow crybabies. This is Serena. Thank you so much for welcomingme onto the BRB Crying Podcast. I'm currently sitting inside of the depths of my closetto record my sob story for you all, and I'm so excited to be here. My story is manythings, but it really is around a healing journey of making space to regulate my nervoussystem and rest and recover and heal through art. About a year ago, actually, I uh leftmy tech startup job to take a few months for medical leave for burnout and then endedup quitting the job and took some time to like really rest and recover, explore somesomatics and healing and I mean therapy and all the things. But also working on my firstpoetry book, uh, which is called Burnt, and it's on burnout, grief, and becoming again.And so much of it is, you know, how do I like stay with myself and feel the feelings andcreate a sense of safety and security for myself. And it includes also poetry recipes fornourishment and maybe also some science fiction that I'm writing a little bit of rightnow to process the burnout and the healing, and also steps people can take to takefamily medical leave. Um so before you consider rage quitting your jobs, look intoFMLA. Um I also uh last year started my own first small business called Third Realm, andit's in the Inner Sunset NSF. It's a co-working art and community space, and it kind ofcame out, you know, it was me, my partners, and friends all going insane, working fromhome, feeling really isolated. So we uh found an office space that used to be thisbeautiful old Victorian building that since then has had Craigslist and Zappos andIndiegogo start their offices there. And so we're a co-working space during the day. Youcan come join us. We have desks and monitors and these beautiful light-filled meetingrooms. We do a monthly free First Friday where you could just drop in and check it out,and you can also book a tour online if you would like to come and check out the spaceand you're able to stay for your first day for free. We do day passes and monthlymemberships. And then we also have community events. We do a monthly craft night,mahjong, open mic night, that's always free to the community, and also doing morecommunity events, including an event with BRB crying. Super excited for our eventtogether and to hear about what books, what stories have moved you and made youcry. So hope to see you all there in person, and thanks again, gals. She brought up agreat point that I forgot to mention here, which was that the blind book swap is aboutbooks that make you cry. I when she said that, I was like, oh yes, that's right. The wholepoint. Yeah, if you didn't know, crying is kind of our brand. So we thought that wasimplied, but you never know. I don't know. You never know. Um, thank you, Serena.That's so beautiful. Like, I didn't know about her poetry, but or like just her writing. I just II don't love, obviously, that she had such a intense bout of burnout and was goingthrough a lot of struggles. But what I love is how she was able to transmute that paininto art. And I I think that for all of us that are on our healing journey, there comes apoint where you're like, okay, therapy, okay, let me journal, let me like figure out what'sgoing on with me. But there does come a point where you can't really heal alone, right?What really does help is having a community to carry you through it. And I love that thatwas like the next step for her was there's not really a lot of community out there. Let mefucking do it. Yeah, let me be that community. We all just want community, right? We alljust want it. And she's incredible. It's so cool what she's doing. I didn't know about thepoetry book either, but that's so exciting. Serena, hello. Uh but yeah, she didn't reallytalk about it too much, but it is a fucking gorgeous space. I mean, one room, just I swearto god, like half of it is just windows. I when when I visited, yeah, like I don't even thinkthere were lights on. It was just, oh my god, it was so beautiful. There's like a littlebalcony you can go out to. And when I was there, someone who had never come beforestopped in. She was like, Hey, I saw the sign. I live kind of in the area. I thought I wouldcheck it out. And I was like, that's so fucking cool. Yeah. Like people feel so welcomeeven before they step in. Right. And and Serena does such a great job of fostering that.And I'm gathering it's because that's what she wanted for herself. And so that's whatshe's extending to everyone else. Yeah. Oh, I can't wait. I'm so excited to be there andsee it. I'm so excited for this collab. We really, really hope that for those that are able,you can come and join us. Yeah. See you there. All
Heated Rivalry Part 2 Begins (Spoiler Alert!)
8:55
right. Okay. Okay. Now we're getting to the meat of the episode. And as I alluded earlier,this is a little special in that when Ninz and I met sometime last week, she was asking mewhether I had a chance to watch Heated Rivalry, which she covered in episode 46. Soshe was curious if I had gotten a chance. She likes to give me shit about the fact that Inever watch what she recommends. But this time I told her during the episode, I waslike, I'm gonna do it. I binged that shit in maybe two days. So that sounds right. Yeah.That sounds right. I really did the work. Okay. So she was like, okay, so should we talkabout it? And I was like, uh, yeah, because I have a lot of things to say. And then she waslike, actually, maybe we should have this conversation on air for other fans to listen to.We were doing a meeting for the pod, and then I think we were just like bored at somepoint. And I was like, by the way, did you did you end up watching it like you said youwould? And then she looked at me like, bitch. Yeah. And then she was like, do you wantme to tell you? And I was like, maybe you shouldn't. Yeah. So you can actually see orhear what a normal conversation is like between us when we order something. I lovewhen we do episodes like this because it is so much more what our normalconversations are like. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but again, we talked about this. Ninzgave a ton of context in episode 46. So if you haven't listened yet, go and listen to thatright now and then come back. But pretty much this is Because you haven't watchedHeated Rivalry. Yeah. Yeah, that too, second part of this. Um, huge spoiler alert. Prettymuch don't listen to this unless you've watched the show, or if you absolutely don't givea shit about everything being spoiled, because that's what we're doing here. We're justgonna fucking yap about heat and rivalry more. That's what we have today. That's all Ihave. We didn't prepare anything special. Oh, she did. Okay. Sorry, I forgot she's a Virgo.Sorry. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I told Ninz, I very explicitly told her last time we talked. It'll bereally casual. I'm not gonna prepare anything. Uh, Virgo could not help myself. So Okay,okay, let's do it. Okay. I would apologize, but I have nothing to be sorry for. Today I haveprepared a PowerPoint for you. Oh what the fuck? Heated rivalry. Wow. I want the She'sa fucking Virgo. We're gonna just get right into it, everyone. Okay, so today's agenda.Intro and recap. I feel like I'm in school. Scenes and storylines that we must discuss,general tea about the show, and then a couple of maybe lightning round questions.Except it's not gonna be lightning. It'll be a slow drizzle because of how much we talk.Slow burn. Okay. So introduction. Today we shed the lens of a cozy comedy cryingpodcast. Today, instead, we shamelessly venture into pop culture podcasts. Mm-hmm.Mm-hmm. Do we talk tears? Perhaps. But mainly, we're just two girls. Doug, what thefuck is this? Who wants to yap about really fucking incredible television? So let us live. Ihad so much fun making this for you. I okay, really quick story. For Ninza's birthday threeyears ago. Yeah. Rented a cabin in Lake Tahoe. She forced us all to make PowerPointpresentations. What do you mean, forced? You loved it. Yeah, but everyone else waslike, fuck. Kidding me? Yeah. Yeah. The topics really all over the place. Yours was uhhottest US presidents. And mine was talking about crash landing on you, our favoriteKorean drama. Uh Joe Mar did not even submit anything. Yeah, he was like, fuck inclassic Aries fashion, fuck this shit. I'm not gonna fucking do a PowerPoint. So what areyou gonna do? That fucking guy. I'll talk to him after this. Alright. Okay, so recap. Inepisode 46, Ninz covers Jacob Tierney's HBO adaptation of Rachel Reed's novel HeatedRivalry, starring Hudson Williams and Connor Story. Arnes, me, had not yet watched,hence the partial spoiler warning. Now that Arnes, me, has watched, we're going full-blown spoiler alert. Do not listen if you hate spoilers. Exclamation points after each wordfor emphasis.
Scott & Kip: Secrets, Sunshine & The Championship Kiss
14:00
Okay, topic number one. Oh my god. Scott Hunter, you knew this was coming, and KimGreedy. Well, I know. Okay, can I just say fuck? When I was putting my story together, Iabsolutely obviously. Yeah. Obviously, I wanted to fucking talk about it. But then I waslike already five, six pages deep into my story, and I was like, I haven't even introducedthem. What the fuck am I gonna do? Yeah. Yeah. What the fuck am I gonna do? Whatyou're gonna do is talk about it in another separate podcast episode with me. Okay,walk with me here though. Because I was like, okay, I can't talk about the ending ofepisode five unless I talk about episode three, and then it's like too much. It's too much.That's why we have a whole separate episode for this. Yep. Okay, thank you. Episodethree, I'm ready. End of episode five. Let's fucking get into it. Okay, let's get into it. Ohmy god, there's fucking effects in this PowerPoint. No there or not. I'm pulling up HBO.Okay, okay. So for everyone who needs a refresher, because I know anyone listening hasalready watched, right? No, I think there are some people that are like, no, but they'rejust so funny and they just want to listen. All right. Okay, okay. All right. Scott, New YorkAdmiral's captain. It's a hockey team. He did rivalries about hockey. Is it? Is it? Kind of.Only a little. Like you said in the last episode. There's very little. Only a little. Yeah. Kip,charming smoothie barista. Forbidden love. Maybe for Scott, but not for Kip. Tension.Okay, here are my timestamps. So good. Episode three. We're gonna start. We're justgonna go straight into it. Episode three at the three-minute mark, the meeting. Thisepisode is just gonna be us literally re-watching. You know, when I was putting thistogether, I ended up re-watching almost this entire episode. Oh, I've already watchedthe season twice over. It's so good. It's so fucking good. It's so fucking good. So to setthe scene, Scott is not doing so hot in hockey. Looks hot though. He looks hot, but he'snot performing very well. Okay. What is your time sound? Three three-minute mark. Oh,so good. So in that scene, little refresher, Scott walks into the smoothie shop and Kip islike sleeping, so he's like, hey, hello. And Kip is like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. And they areshamelessly fucking flirting. There are banana innuendos, furtive glances. It's so good.Yeah. I am fucking giddy, like the entire time. Oh my god. So that was just for fun. I justwanted to reach out. This whole episode is just for shit. I just wanted to rewatch it. Okay,okay, okay. So as we know, the episode progresses. They end up going out. We're really,really skipping through it. I'm trying to get to the part where we actually talk about liketears. We know that they end up falling in love a little bit. Kip pretty much moves intoScott's big ass penthouse suite kind of shit, whatever it is. And he's like being the littlehousewife and stuff. But there is a scene where they decide to go to an art gallerybecause Kip is super into art history. He's trying to like get his masters, I think. And theygo to this art gallery and they're kind of like shopping around for and Kip sayssomething like, Oh, I think this would look really great in the living room. And Scott hasa full-blown panic attack because Scott is not out the way Kip is out. So they have tohead back home, and Scott is like, I'm sorry, like I can't fucking, I can't do this. I thoughtI could do it, I can't do it. It's fucked. Yeah. And I just want to add the context of I think inthe beginning you see that Scott and Kip are obviously from very, very different worlds.Scott is this full-blown celebrity, handsome, rich, famous athlete. And Kip is really justlike your average dude. He has like a really tight-knit community. He has really goodrelationship with his dad and his friends. And I think you see yourself in Kip, right? Andyou get kind of blown away and enamored by this lifestyle that Scott can offer. Like, ohmy God, he's tipping me so much money. Like, yeah, oh no, right. Oh no, I have to moveinto his penthouse. Yeah. And I think that a lot of us would probably be like, this isfucking incredible. But the reality is that you want to find someone to share your lifewith. Right. And this is not, it's not playing out the way that Kip wants to. Nope. So yeah,sorry. I just No, that leads me exactly to my next timestamp at the 39-minute mark. Wedon't have to watch it. I can just talk through it, but they are at a little charity gala. Kip isaccompanying his friend Elena, who's at the gala, and Scott is also there. And Elenacoerces Scott into dancing with her. And she is spitting some hard fucking truths. She'slike, at one point, I think she says, So are you also miserable? And Scott is like, What doyou mean? Mm-hmm. And Elena's like, Kip is fucking miserable because he is yoursecret. I think she says, no one wants to be anyone's secret. And that's exactly whatyou're saying. Kip is, yeah, it's lavish and luxurious, but he can't even tell his fucking dadwho he's dating. Like he's lying to literally everyone. So at the end of that conversation,Elena says to Scott, he deserves sunshine. And so do you. Also addressing the fact thatit's hard for Kip, obviously, having to lie to his friends and family. But she also knows thatas grand as Scott's life seems, he's also probably buried deep in there, a little fuckingmiserable too. Yeah. Alright, bringing it home. At the 46-minute mark, what's happeninghere is that Kip has had it. He goes home to his dad and cries in his dad's arms. Andthen we'll just watch it. We'll talk about it after. So in this scene, Kip has had enough.Comes clean to his dad, crying in his arms, and his dad is like, Oh, you don't haveanything to be sorry about. Which is highlighting again what you were saying about hehas the friends and the family. Like he has the support system. Scott doesn't haveanyone. Literally, no one knows that he's gay. And so at that last scene of episode three,we see through the window, Kip is having a little birthday celebration at their go-to bar,and he has his full ride to grad school. He has all his friends surrounding him, singinghappy birthday, and it zooms out. Scott is staring through the window. He's just lurkingreally hard. Lurking so hard, but probably fucking clicks, like, okay, yeah, I don't have likeI don't have anyone now. Fucking tragic. And that's how the episode ends. Except, isthat where the story ends? I think not, because what happened? At the end of episodefive, we get a little a little taste once more of the Scott and Kip love story. Because threeyears later, Later. Was it really that long? 2017. I didn't realize that. Yeah, I know. That'swhat it makes it like even sadder that like for three years. Okay, were they broken up?Because he was at the game. Yeah, but I'm sure it was because it was like achampionship. I I'm I don't know. It doesn't we don't know. Well, actually, did you knowthat this the story surrounding Scott and Kip is actually the first book in the GameChanger series? I'm sure it clarifies in the book what happened to them during thosethree years, but I guess we have to read it. But regardless, whether or not they weretogether, three years of keeping that secret. So at the end of episode five, we can watchit if we want, but we're gonna. Oh, yeah. We're gonna watch this. 5130, Mark. At the endof episode five, Scott wins the fucking championship with the New York Admirals.Again, this is three years after that last tragic scene. And everyone is cheering, huggingtheir loved ones, who all come out on the ice, and you see Scott scanning the crowd,and the announcers are like, What's happening? Who is he looking for? Who was helooking for? Then everyone's kind of like, What is happening? What happened? Whathappened? Oh
Why Scott & Kip's Story Made Us Cry
23:23
my god. Okay. I need you to walk me through what happened to you when you watchedthat scene for the first time. Uh, I was bawling. I was bawling because I didn't expect Ididn't know that they were just gonna throw that in two episodes later. No, I did not seethat coming at all. I thought it was gonna be a tragic ending for the rest of the series.We were just gonna have to say goodbye to like Scott and Kit. I didn't know, like, what afucking treasure. Yeah. Fuck, dude. When I was watching it, I think I had been watchingthe show all day. I think we watched like three, four, and five on the same day. Okay. Andso I really had to pee at the end of watching episode five. But like I went to thebathroom and I was peeing, and I was like, wait, wait, what did I just see? Also, I need tofind some way to like inject that song into my body. Oh, yeah, I wrote the song. Okay.Sorry, I said that weird. I wrote the song. Um I wrote a note about the song. Because youknow, I when I'm watching something, like I don't fucking know what I'm listening to. Idon't pay attention to things like that. But watching it again, the lyrics. Oh no. Give meyour eyes. I need sunshine. Oh, and you know, Elena has said, like, Kip deservessunshine, and so do you. Like, I so quick recap for everyone who didn't just watch thescene with us. Scott fucking brings Kip out of the crowd onto the ice and kisses him.And Kip is like, you don't have to do this. And Scott is like, no, I have to, I have to, dude.Oh my god. There's like so much relief watching that. Me thinking they're real people.Like they're feeling, you know, like they, but that's what I'm feeling. Like, that's whatthey're exuding in this scene. Like, I finally get to, I finally get to be me. Yeah. This this isme, you know? Like the the joy of this championship win is not complete if I don't havethe person who I love the most in this world to share it with. I was actually going to saysomething different. Okay. Well, I think one, I just empathize so much with Kip in thismoment because I think that to be affirmed and loved so publicly, like it's one thing tobe alone with someone and to have their undivided attention and to have them tell youin private, I love you, and whatever. But like there is such a difference to like having thatperson say that in front of the world. Maybe I'm just like an attention whore, but like, no,you know what I mean? Like, it's just such a beautiful thing to be acknowledged forsomeone to want the world to know about you. Yeah. You know? It is, it's so affirming.Not like it has to be public for it to be real, but there is an element of like I can't evenkeep this in. I need everyone to know. Yeah. Yeah. So there's that. But the reason I criedso hard was watching Ilia and Shane watch this. So at this point in the story. Shanewanted Ilya to come to the cottage. Oh, that's right. This summer. Okay. Yes. They hadalready finally confirmed with each other, like, we have feelings for each other, but therewas still a sphere of commitment, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, because Ilya was like, no, Ican't, I can't do that. Like he was, he was not for it. Um but yeah, and then just likewatching Ilya take this in and like seeing like, oh, if he can do it, then I can do it too. Justlike the relief that he must have felt seeing like I'm so afraid to do this, but maybe I don'thave to be anymore. Yeah. Like that's the part that fucking kills me. Like the decisivenesswith which he calls Shane and is like, I'm coming to the college. Yeah. Fucked me up.Fucked me up. Fucked me up. Fucked me up. Yeah. Alright, so ladies and gents, graybabies, that was topic number one only. You know I have multiple topics. Oh yeah, yeah,yeah. So
Ilya & Shane's Cottage Love Story
28:10
my second topic is the confession. Pretty much all of episode six. So, what I like to callthe confession. In this episode, of course, we know that Ilya has agreed with the fire ofsomeone who is lit up to go to Shane's cottage. So he goes and they spend thiswhimsical couple of weeks together at Shane's gorgeous cottage, which, by the way, isavailable to rent on Airbnb. So is it in my favorite country? Canada. Canada. Yeah. Andit's so beautiful. They get to spend time as just lovers. Uninterrupted, blissful time innature. They're cozying up in Shane's cabin. They're falling asleep to the crackling of thefire. They're waking up to the sound of birds. It's fucking glorious. They're even devisingat one point a plan on how they can secretly continue this relationship. Maybe Ilya canmove closer, and then we don't have to be so far away. So at this point, I actually cried alittle bit. This is episode six, the last episode of the series, and at the 30-minute mark.Okay, I just paid a little snippet for Ninz, and I cried when I watched this scene. In thisscene, they're lying in bed, and Ilya says, Is that what you want to be together? AndShane is like so much. And Ilya says, presumably in Russian, I love you. And then he saysit in English, I love you. And Shane is like, holy shit. And then Ilya is almost like gonna Idon't know if it's like a backtrack or like kind of like defend himself or what he just said,but then Shane says, I love you so much. Like he's what did he say? He said, Oh my god,I love you so much. And again, don't look at me with those eyes. The relief of this sharedemotion. I I don't think I played this, but at the end of that scene, Shane asks, Does itfucking kill you too? Oh my god. I I watched episode six today in preparation for ourrecording tonight. So that was one that I also rewinded as soon as it was done. And I likewhen Shane first says, like, yeah, I want it so badly it scares me, or something like that.And then like Ilya turns away and you see his eyes glisten. Oh I was like, what the fuck isthe show? Yeah, yeah. I think what I love about this is there's so much emotion in justthe glances and like the breaths that they take and like the way their eyes glisten.There's so much in what they don't say. Oh my god. Moving on. At the 3333 mark, uh,I'm not gonna play this, but basically, again I cried. They're lying in bed again, very littlehockey, as you said. They're lying in bed again, and Shane has this idea. He has so manyideas, and he tells Ilya, what was your mother's name again? And Ilya's like Irina. AndShane says, I was thinking we could start a hockey school, and basically alluding thatthey would name it after Ilya's mom who has passed. The one person in his life who hefucking loved to pieces. And Ilya says to Shane, she would have loved you like I loveyou. Messed me up. You forgot when he like paused and looked away again as he wasprocessing what Shane was offering to him, and then says she would have loved you.Yep. Connor, please. Connor story. Connor story. I have some words. I have some wordson your facial expressions, on your acting. On the fact that he's from Texas and that hecan pretend to speak fluent Russian. It's fucking insane. Have you been watching hisinterview clips? No. I don't even recognize him because the way he forms facialexpressions is completely different. Different person. It's a different person. I genuinelyfeel like I'm in awe. You know how they say with method acting, you are not just actinglike the person, you are literally that person. You assume everything about their identity.That is what I feel like fucking happens with these two. It's crazy because these two.Because they're not one and the same. No, no, because but you know what I mean? Likethey're so they become so engrossed. Like when I watched that this is this is a differentslide, but we can get to it now. Yeah, yeah. When I watched one of their buzz feed, Ithink they were reading Thirst Traps, the Thirst Trap tweets. Okay. Did you watch thisone? No, I didn't. Oh my god. Oh. Oh my god. Oh uh I was I was floored. My mouth wasopen the entire time because I couldn't believe how different they were. Yeah. And yet,in such a strange way, they still had so much fucking chemistry. Oh my god. It's crazy.It's it's crazy. It's too much. It's too much. All right. We need to. I'm I'm I feel like I'mtaking a long time here. Okay,
Shane Comes Out to His Mom
34:06
topic number three coming out to mom. Also, episode six. So in this scene, Ilya andShane are now fully out to Shane's parents because Shane's dad caught them. So Shaneis dealing with the aftermath they're at. Shane's parents' cabin, which is equallybeautiful, just a ways away. And you see a mix of emotions on Shane's mom's face, andyou I at least I couldn't quite read what she was feeling, which fucking props to theactress because, like, that's exactly what I'm sure it would have been like, all thoseconflicting emotions. But basically in the scene, Shane finds his mom outside becauseshe's kind of just like wanting to be alone. So he finds her, brings her her sweater, andthey're gonna have a little conversation. And he tries to apologize. He says, I'm sorry. Hesaid, I need you to know that I tried really hard. I just can't help it, and I'm sorry. Fuckingwrecked me. And she's shocked. She's like, You have nothing to apologize for. She's like,Look the way she was like, look at me, look at me. Like holding his face in her hands andwith tears in her eyes, she says, I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't tell me.I'm so, so proud of you. Please forgive me. And then Shane says, I forgive you, mom.And this fucking got me because again, I couldn't really read what was happening in hermind, right? Like betrayal, right? Like you're not sure. But it turns out it's shame. It'sshame that she couldn't be a safe space for her son. I just wanted to add that in myresearch for when I covered it, I read that this scene between Shane and his mom wasactually an addition for just the show. This was not a scene that was written out in theoriginal book. But I think Jacob Tierney had said that it was really important for him toinclude this because this scene is like it's meant to be what every person deserves thissort of unadulterated love and acceptance from a parent when you are telling them thetruth about who you are. This is how every person should be met. I was gonna say,Jacob Tierney loves he seems to love or maybe it was maybe it's Rachel Reed, butwhether it's the author or the creator, like I love how they the way they portray parents.And like when we were just watching that scene with Kip and his dad, too. Like he alsosaid you have nothing to be sorry about. Exactly, exactly. And that is what I imagineeveryone just wants to hear. And you're right, what we all deserve. Yeah. Alright. I got
The Women of Heated Rivalry
37:30
one last topic here. Bonus topic. Not necessarily something that made me cry, but it thewomen. No tears, just really fucking impressed. So I have three women listed. Numberone, Svetlana. The loyal excellent. You mean Gorgiana? Sure. They were all gorgeous.Oh my god. Like, okay. Everyone is just so hot, I guess. So there's a scene in episode fiveat the 3333 mark where Ilya has just had a really tense interaction with his brother,who's a fucking dickhead. And we don't like. We don't like. I don't even remember hisname. He doesn't even deserve. I think it was piece of shit. Yeah. P-O-S. Yeah. Yeah. SoSmetlana is comforting Ilya. And we know that they are kind of ex-lovers. They've beeninvolved in the past, but mostly they are childhood friends. But they have like hooked upand you know, it's been kind of blurry. But Ilya says to her, I don't deserve you. And shesays, Yes, you do, but you don't want me. Ilya says, You know I love you. I know you do,but it's not the same as it is with Jane. Is it? Jane being Shane's codename. So clever. Ilove you too. And whatever you need, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. I just hopeJane knows how lucky he is. She's gorgeous and she fucking gets it. And she is she isfamily. She is Ilya's family. I'm just like trying to imagine. I could not do that. I mean, justlike from how incredible Ilya is, I'd be like, man, like I know. Like there's a selflessnessthere that she has. Wish I had it. Yeah. I know. You know? You're yeah, that you're soright. I don't think I would be like that chill about it. No, no. I'm imagining this is kind ofcrazy. I don't know why my mind just went here. Like, you know how they say like MaryMagdalene was like in love with Jesus. Yes. That's exactly where my Jesus. Right, right,right. And it's like, how do you not fucking love this dude? Like you know what I mean?Sure, she's even a little bit fucking in love with him. But I guess that's what love is, right?You want them to be happy even if it means it's not with you. Letting go. You know, loveis letting go. Okay, woman number two, Elena. We saw this a little bit in the episode withKip and Scott, but she is, I say here, the fierce defender. So she is fucking going to batfor Kip, and she's telling Scott, like, like we saw in that scene when they're dancingtogether, like, you need to get your fucking shit together. And you need to basically letKip be happy. Like either you you let him I don't need to get into it. You fucking, youknow. But I love that she is not enamored with Scott Hunter the way the rest of theworld is. She's like, you are just someone who, yeah, loves my friend, but it's also reallyfucking hurting him right now. I love that she has no hesitation to be so fucking rude tohis face. She's like, yeah, we clean up nice when he like compliments, like how they like.I was like, yes, girl. So thoughts on Elena? I was a little taken aback. Yeah. Because Idon't know that I would have ever inserted myself in that way. But obviously, it was sofrom a protective place of like, I really care about this person. And if you're gonna hurthim, I'm gonna say something. Like we all deserve a friend like that. Yeah, yeah. I waslike, oh, that's scary, but but then she also was spitting those hard truths to Scott tooabout him deserving happiness too. Like that's also something that I don't think anyoneever said to him until that point. Yeah. So Elena, love her. All right, woman numberthree. Don't worry, I'm wrapping it up. Rose. Rose Landry. So, Rose, the safe space. So inepisode five at the six-minute mark, Rose and Shane, they're having dinner, havingsome problems with their sex life. Why? I wonder. And she says, I really like you, but Ihave a feeling maybe I'm not doing it for you. I feel like maybe you'd rather be kissing.And she says Miles, who is her gay friend. And I love that she in this moment, one hasdecided to even bring this up. She says herself, like, oh, maybe I'm not going about thisthe right way. Like she's even a little awkward in her own, but she feels like it's importantenough to bring it up. Like, like, are you gay? Basically, like, you know, she's saying, like,it's okay, because Shane is like, no, it's not okay. She's like, no, it's okay. Like, you don'teven owe me an explanation. Like, she's so fucking gracious in this moment. And she'shelping Shane navigate this confusing feeling because, again, no one knows aboutShane except Ilya. So he does not have someone in his life to share this with. And thefact that she offers herself as someone who's probably a little bit in love with him, again,offers herself as that person, that confidant. But she asks, like, can I ask if you've everbeen with another guy? And have you ever told anyone that before? Was it different witha guy? Was it better? Like, I could fucking cry, honestly, like thinking about howthoughtful of a friend she's being right now. Like the questions that she's asking him,she's being so gentle with him because she knows that he doesn't know what he's doingand he's never done this before. And I don't know. I'm just like fucking Rose. Yeah. Welove Rose. We do. She she really was a sweetheart. Yeah. Before I got into this, so formonths, my youngest sister, Blue, hey Blue. I don't even know, she's fucking listening tothis. But she she was like on, she was on me to watch the show from the fuckingbeginning. And when I told her that I was about to dive in because you had talked aboutit on the pod, one of the first things she said was like, the women, the women. In thisshow are so fucking wholesome the way they're written, and in a way that like womenaren't often portrayed in like a male-dominated show. So I had that in my mind. And soyeah. And then we see later on that she and Shane are like still fucking best friends.Yeah. He's inviting her to his cabin. Like, I don't like I hello. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So that's allI got. I mean, I shout out women. I shout the fuck out women. I sorry. I want to bring upone more scene. Please. Which is the very, very, very last scene of the show. Okay. Andit's after Shane and Ilia have spent time at Shane's parents' house and they're drivingback to their cabin. And they're just driving in the car. And they are just so completelythemselves. And they're so relieved that the conversation with Shane's parents wentokay. Like, you know. Beautifully. Beautifully. And they're just being together and they'rejust having this moment of pure domesticity. And it's just it's so healing to watch. Thesetwo characters like just drive down the road together. Something that they could nothave fathomed doing just eight years ago, you know? Like even at the beginning of theepisode, you see the contrast because they're so scared to even see like Shane's like,did anyone like no notice you at the airport? And like there's so much tension in thembeing together. But yeah, that as the end credits are rolling and they are fucking drivingoff into the sunset. That was the moment where I was like, I can't believe it's over. What?Yeah. And then I Google, season two? Yeah. You know, like what the fuck? I can't believeI have to wait for this shit. Yeah. Yeah. But that was a beautiful way to end it. And I wasgonna say, like, right before that, too, before they get in the car, they're like, Thanks forthe pasta. You know, like it's so fucking normal talking to Shane's. And I also had thiswritten down, but right after that scene where Shane's mom apologizes to Shane, theyget back in the cabin and she's back on mom mode. Like she's been the entire show.Yeah. And she's like, okay, so this is what I think we're gonna. Yeah. And I loved that too,because it was like the entire show, she is solely focused on his career and how he looksto the press. But in that moment, it's like her bubble has extended, and now Elia's in thisbubble. Like, here you are mine too. And let me like, let me take you in, and like this iswhat we're gonna do. Like, and to have that normalcy, and that's what I feel sets thetone for like by thanks for the pasta. Yeah. Like everything so fucked, like the relief, thejoy, and the simplicity of just being able to say, like, thanks for the yes, thanks for themeal. Like, yeah, everyone just wants to feel accepted exactly as they are, everyonedeserves to feel accepted exactly as they are, and it is like a palpable feeling when youget to see them actually live that heated rivalry, uh everyone. I
Actor Appreciation & Behind-the-Scenes Tea
47:25
had another slide that was like general tea, but it was just like talking about the actorsand how like how I'm so fucking impressed by them. Yeah. Okay, I will add one thing togeneral tea. Okay. Because I think Yeah, this is this is the part where I wanted you to giveme. I think you'll love this. Okay, I listened to Connor Story's episode on Shut Up Evan.Okay. We did like a podcast with Shut Up Evan. And he was telling the story, or like, Ithink Evan was asking him about like, how did you prepare for that monologue inRussian, the phone call, where he literally talks in Russian for like five minutes? And deadass, Connor Story goes into the story about like how ever since he was young, hewanted to be an actor, and he would literally look up different monologues in differentlanguages, and then try to practice just imitating the sounds. And then he took hisvision even further and was like, and then I would also play the background music thatended up being the background song that Jacob Tierney chose for this particular scene.And in my mind, it was like this dramatic dialogue in the snow with this song playing inthe background, and then all of a sudden it was manifested onto this show. And I didn'tknow that. Like the whole time that we were filming that scene, like you add the musicat the end, so I didn't even see it until the very end. And I realized that that like I was like,what the fuck? That is the craziest manifestation story I've ever heard in my life. Oh, Ilove that so much, right? Oh, I love that. Crazy. Wow. Yeah, and he straight up was like, Idon't know how like I did that, but crazy. No, we're so our minds are so fucking powerful.That's insane. Yeah. I love them. I love them so much. I love them. This is why we didanother episode. Just about this. Yeah. Please go. I'm gonna link this in the show notes.Watch the thirst trap video of them too. Yeah. It's so funny because they're so funny inevery press thing that they do. I was watching this. I was watching, I don't evenremember what interview it was, but someone was asking Connor. Sorry, I keep talkingabout Connor. I also really love Hudson Williams. But anyway, they were asking Connor,like, do you have any favorite lines from the show? And then Connor was saying that,like, yeah, I guess I didn't even notice this, but like, I guess I say okay a lot in a really likespecific way that Ilya would say it. And so now people just quote it to me all the timeand they just go, okay. Okay. Yeah, he really did do that. Okay. God, so I'm so impressed.I think the reason why we keep talking about Connor is because the Russian part. Yeah,the fact that he's so different. No, yeah, but in that in that thirst trap video, it's so funnybecause Hudson Williams is like, like, I want like the filthiest, like, bring it on. Like, he'sjust so like for it. And the entire time Connor story is like, like she's aghast by like howfilth. Oh my god, there's so much. It's literally golden retriever, black hat. It's so funny.It's perfect. I love it. I think my favorite Hudson Williams, he's like, he's like, wait, Nince,you're not talking about me. So I'll mention my favorite Hudson Williams one. Someonewas like, um, Hudson Williams, what message do you have for the gay community? Andlike without skipping a beat, Hudson Williams was like, Love y'all. Uh keep that soundbut in there too. The the the comments on the YouTube videos are so fucking funny too.Oh my god. Because they were like, media training hates to see Hudson Williamscoming. He's so unhinged. So unhinged. I love it. And honestly, not to toot our ownhorn, but I feel like I see in that banter between them, like this like chemistry that theyjust so naturally have. Like that's how I feel when we talk sometimes, where it's just likeyou say, you you know, you just say whatever the fuck you want to say. Yeah. And they'reso fucking funny. Yeah. So like that's us. Who
Character Drafts, Final Thoughts & Season 2 Manifesting
51:48
would you be and who would I be? Ooh, I don't know. Um, because I've only reallywatched that one. After that, I was like, I gotta go. I was like, I fucking gotta go to sleep.Oh bitch, I you gotta do a deep dive. No, I know, but I was like, oh, this is a lot. Okay,based on everything you've seen, what would you say? I would say I would say thatyou're more Connor story. Okay. Like a little bit. That was what I was yeah, like just verylike gleeful and like happy to be alive and excitable. Yeah. And like Hudson Williams alittle bit more like mysterious, harder to crack. Yeah. Is more me. That's that's what Iwould say based on the one video I watched too. Yeah. Okay, which character are youmore in love with? That's actually really hard. I would say Ilya only because I feel like Idon't know. Ah, I don't know. I'm gonna need to think about that. Okay. Tell me youranswer. I was gonna say Ilya too. Yeah. I like a lot of goofiness and playfulness, which Ithink Ilya has more on the surface. Like he is like a crazy dude, yeah. Which is likeentertaining to be around. Yeah. I feel like Shane is very much in his head, and I wouldjust be like, Shane, it's okay. I can't tell whether I'm in love with Shane or I am Shane inthat way. Like the way he's always like, I gotta plan ahead, like I gotta do this, I gotta dothat. Like I see myself in a lot of that. But I don't know, both. Can I have both? Well, didyou have a different answer for why Ilya? I would say the elusiveness of him. Like I likegirls and guys, like being able to crack the code of Ilya. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And himbeing more closed off in a different way. You know, he deflects and he but not to me.But not to me. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Okay. Those are my rapid fire questions. Somine was which girl are you playing? Which woman are you? Ooh. I would love to beRose. I really hope that I would offer that same safety and that same sort of friendship topeople. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. I don't think I could be fucking Ilya and then likenot be in love with him. Yeah. I did though, like how Svetlana was like, fucking knowseverything about hockey. You remember that scene? Yeah. Where she was like, youneed to do this and you to like blah blah blah blah. I was like, okay. Yeah. Okay. Did youhear that she referenced the San Francisco team? I was like, San Francisco. Yeah, I waslike, you mean the San Jose Sharks? Girl. I was like, I literally Googled just San Franciscohockey team because it's the fucking sharks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Guess she doesn'tknow everything. Yeah, I guess she's dumb. How about you? I I I would say Rose. Forthat. I mean, that's why I've pulled up that fucking scene. Yeah. Because like everyonewants that, and I would love to be that for someone. I would hope someone would feelsafe. Yeah. Or the mom. Or I would be Shane's mom. I don't know. Oh, you want to be astage parent? She's so hot too, though. I mean, yeah. MILF? Sorry, was there a singleugly person on this entire show? Oh, the brother. The dad. Yikes. Damn. Shout
Outro
55:30
the fuck out. Shout the fuck out. See, I love how we were like, oh, can we make thisepisode long enough if we talk about help? We can't shut the fuck up, actually. This wasfun. This was fun. This felt really good. To everyone who listened to that, I hope youenjoyed it too. Uh I know you did. If you listened and you haven't watched, what areyou? What the fuck are you doing? You basically have now. Yeah. So all right. All right. Ithink we've exhausted this topic. I think so. Until next year. Ooh, season two. Seasontwo. But yeah, thanks for tuning in. Thanks for fangirling with us. Cause it's like the bestpart about watching something is having the joy to share it with someone else. So thatwas you for today. We hope you enjoyed. That is the conclusion of our pop culturepodcast. We are now next week getting back into cozy cry comedy. Except we mighthave a little surprise up our sleeve again. Who knows? We're so mysterious like that.We're like Ilya. Yeah. Both of us. Actually, no, Shane's pretty mysterious too. Yeah.Should we talk about it for another half hour? Absolutely. Okay, but I'll at least stoprecording and then we'll just do it offline. Okay. Spare them. Thanks for tuning in. We'llsee you next time. But until then, BRB crying.
Until next time…brb crying :’)