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048: heated rivalry (part 2) + the spoiler moments that destroyed us

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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:

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Have a sob story or cry recommendation that absolutely wrecked you? We'd love to be wrecked, too. Submit your story at brbcryingpodcast.com or email us at hello@brbcryingpodcast.com.

brb crying—hosted by longtime best friends Nins & Arns—is a podcast where we explore the songs, books, TV shows, films, pop culture moments, and personal stories that help us laugh, cry, heal, and feel a little less alone. Crying is our superpower, and by sharing what makes us cry in a way that makes us laugh, we show how crying helps us connect with ourselves and each other.

Preview

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 for you. Oh What the fuck? Heated rivalry. Wow. Part two. I love the She's a fucking Virgo. This is BRB Crying. Hello

Intro

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 about crying. If you're new here, she always tries to do something really innovative. She loves reinventing the wheel. So You act like we don't all love it, is the thing. And I just hate to disappoint, you know. I'm just saying that it's a burden that you really put on yourself. It's not a burden. It's a joy, but it's just not a joy today. Okay. Fair. Have you come up with something in the 10 seconds that we were chatting? Um no. Something about like tale of tears for you. Okay. Yeah, that's what I got. This is a podcast where we talk about things that make us cry. If you're new here, hello, welcome. If you're old here, welcome back, 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 at beerbecrying.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 very special announcement today

Announcement: blind book swap on 6/6 in SF!

because this Saturday, June 6th, we are going to be having a blind book swap at Third Realm in SF. So anyone who is in the San Francisco Bay Area, come through. Check the registration on our Instagram. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It is gonna be a lot of fun. It's gonna be a blind book swap. So we have a little station where you're gonna wrap your books 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 of collaboration with Third Realm. I love what they're doing, just offering another place to build 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 story so all of you could get to know her a little bit. So I'm just gonna, I'm gonna dive right in. I haven'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

Hi, Arns, Nins, and fellow crybabies. This is Serena. Thank you so much for welcoming me onto the BRB Crying Podcast. I'm currently sitting inside of the depths of my closet to record my sob story for you all, and I'm so excited to be here. My story is many things, but it really is around a healing journey of making space to regulate my nervous system and rest and recover and heal through art. About a year ago, actually, I uh left my tech startup job to take a few months for medical leave for burnout and then ended up quitting the job and took some time to like really rest and recover, explore some somatics and healing and I mean therapy and all the things. But also working on my first poetry 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 and create a sense of safety and security for myself. And it includes also poetry recipes for nourishment and maybe also some science fiction that I'm writing a little bit of right now to process the burnout and the healing, and also steps people can take to take family medical leave. Um so before you consider rage quitting your jobs, look into FMLA. Um I also uh last year started my own first small business called Third Realm, and it's in the Inner Sunset NSF. It's a co-working art and community space, and it kind of came out, you know, it was me, my partners, and friends all going insane, working from home, feeling really isolated. So we uh found an office space that used to be this beautiful old Victorian building that since then has had Craigslist and Zappos and Indiegogo start their offices there. And so we're a co-working space during the day. You can come join us. We have desks and monitors and these beautiful light-filled meeting rooms. 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 space and you're able to stay for your first day for free. We do day passes and monthly memberships. 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 more community events, including an event with BRB crying. Super excited for our event together and to hear about what books, what stories have moved you and made you cry. So hope to see you all there in person, and thanks again, gals. She brought up a great point that I forgot to mention here, which was that the blind book swap is about books that make you cry. I when she said that, I was like, oh yes, that's right. The whole point. Yeah, if you didn't know, crying is kind of our brand. So we thought that was implied, 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 I I don't love, obviously, that she had such a intense bout of burnout and was going through a lot of struggles. But what I love is how she was able to transmute that pain into art. And I I think that for all of us that are on our healing journey, there comes a point where you're like, okay, therapy, okay, let me journal, let me like figure out what's going 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 that was like the next step for her was there's not really a lot of community out there. Let me fucking do it. Yeah, let me be that community. We all just want community, right? We all just want it. And she's incredible. It's so cool what she's doing. I didn't know about the poetry book either, but that's so exciting. Serena, hello. Uh but yeah, she didn't really talk about it too much, but it is a fucking gorgeous space. I mean, one room, just I swear to god, like half of it is just windows. I when when I visited, yeah, like I don't even think there were lights on. It was just, oh my god, it was so beautiful. There's like a little balcony you can go out to. And when I was there, someone who had never come before stopped in. She was like, Hey, I saw the sign. I live kind of in the area. I thought I would check it out. And I was like, that's so fucking cool. Yeah. Like people feel so welcome even 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 what she's extending to everyone else. Yeah. Oh, I can't wait. I'm so excited to be there and see 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!)

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 me whether I had a chance to watch Heated Rivalry, which she covered in episode 46. So she was curious if I had gotten a chance. She likes to give me shit about the fact that I never watch what she recommends. But this time I told her during the episode, I was like, 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 talk about it? And I was like, uh, yeah, because I have a lot of things to say. And then she was like, 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 some point. And I was like, by the way, did you did you end up watching it like you said you would? And then she looked at me like, bitch. Yeah. And then she was like, do you want me to tell you? And I was like, maybe you shouldn't. Yeah. So you can actually see or hear what a normal conversation is like between us when we order something. I love when we do episodes like this because it is so much more what our normal conversations are like. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but again, we talked about this. Ninz gave a ton of context in episode 46. So if you haven't listened yet, go and listen to that right now and then come back. But pretty much this is Because you haven't watched Heated Rivalry. Yeah. Yeah, that too, second part of this. Um, huge spoiler alert. Pretty much don't listen to this unless you've watched the show, or if you absolutely don't give a shit about everything being spoiled, because that's what we're doing here. We're just gonna fucking yap about heat and rivalry more. That's what we have today. That's all I have. 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 be really 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 have prepared a PowerPoint for you. Oh what the fuck? Heated rivalry. Wow. I want the She's a 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 crying podcast. 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 the fuck is this? Who wants to yap about really fucking incredible television? So let us live. I had so much fun making this for you. I okay, really quick story. For Ninza's birthday three years ago. Yeah. Rented a cabin in Lake Tahoe. She forced us all to make PowerPoint presentations. What do you mean, forced? You loved it. Yeah, but everyone else was like, fuck. Kidding me? Yeah. Yeah. The topics really all over the place. Yours was uh hottest US presidents. And mine was talking about crash landing on you, our favorite Korean drama. Uh Joe Mar did not even submit anything. Yeah, he was like, fuck in classic Aries fashion, fuck this shit. I'm not gonna fucking do a PowerPoint. So what are you gonna do? That fucking guy. I'll talk to him after this. Alright. Okay, so recap. In episode 46, Ninz covers Jacob Tierney's HBO adaptation of Rachel Reed's novel Heated Rivalry, 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 word for emphasis.

Scott & Kip: Secrets, Sunshine & The Championship Kiss

Okay, topic number one. Oh my god. Scott Hunter, you knew this was coming, and Kim Greedy. Well, I know. Okay, can I just say fuck? When I was putting my story together, I absolutely obviously. Yeah. Obviously, I wanted to fucking talk about it. But then I was like already five, six pages deep into my story, and I was like, I haven't even introduced them. What the fuck am I gonna do? Yeah. Yeah. What the fuck am I gonna do? What you'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 of episode 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. Episode three, I'm ready. End of episode five. Let's fucking get into it. Okay, let's get into it. Oh my 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 has already watched, right? No, I think there are some people that are like, no, but they're just so funny and they just want to listen. All right. Okay, okay. All right. Scott, New York Admiral'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 just gonna go straight into it. Episode three at the three-minute mark, the meeting. This episode is just gonna be us literally re-watching. You know, when I was putting this together, I ended up re-watching almost this entire episode. Oh, I've already watched the season twice over. It's so good. It's so fucking good. It's so fucking good. So to set the scene, Scott is not doing so hot in hockey. Looks hot though. He looks hot, but he's not 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 is like sleeping, so he's like, hey, hello. And Kip is like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. And they are shamelessly 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 just wanted 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 like tears. We know that they end up falling in love a little bit. Kip pretty much moves into Scott's big ass penthouse suite kind of shit, whatever it is. And he's like being the little housewife and stuff. But there is a scene where they decide to go to an art gallery because Kip is super into art history. He's trying to like get his masters, I think. And they go to this art gallery and they're kind of like shopping around for and Kip says something like, Oh, I think this would look really great in the living room. And Scott has a full-blown panic attack because Scott is not out the way Kip is out. So they have to head back home, and Scott is like, I'm sorry, like I can't fucking, I can't do this. I thought I could do it, I can't do it. It's fucked. Yeah. And I just want to add the context of I think in the 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 just like your average dude. He has like a really tight-knit community. He has really good relationship with his dad and his friends. And I think you see yourself in Kip, right? And you get kind of blown away and enamored by this lifestyle that Scott can offer. Like, oh my God, he's tipping me so much money. Like, yeah, oh no, right. Oh no, I have to move into his penthouse. Yeah. And I think that a lot of us would probably be like, this is fucking incredible. But the reality is that you want to find someone to share your life with. 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. We don't have to watch it. I can just talk through it, but they are at a little charity gala. Kip is accompanying his friend Elena, who's at the gala, and Scott is also there. And Elena coerces Scott into dancing with her. And she is spitting some hard fucking truths. She's like, at one point, I think she says, So are you also miserable? And Scott is like, What do you mean? Mm-hmm. And Elena's like, Kip is fucking miserable because he is your secret. I think she says, no one wants to be anyone's secret. And that's exactly what you're saying. Kip is, yeah, it's lavish and luxurious, but he can't even tell his fucking dad who 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 that it's hard for Kip, obviously, having to lie to his friends and family. But she also knows that as grand as Scott's life seems, he's also probably buried deep in there, a little fucking miserable too. Yeah. Alright, bringing it home. At the 46-minute mark, what's happening here is that Kip has had it. He goes home to his dad and cries in his dad's arms. And then 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 have anything to be sorry about. Which is highlighting again what you were saying about he has the friends and the family. Like he has the support system. Scott doesn't have anyone. 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, singing happy birthday, and it zooms out. Scott is staring through the window. He's just lurking really hard. Lurking so hard, but probably fucking clicks, like, okay, yeah, I don't have like I don't have anyone now. Fucking tragic. And that's how the episode ends. Except, is that where the story ends? I think not, because what happened? At the end of episode five, we get a little a little taste once more of the Scott and Kip love story. Because three years later, Later. Was it really that long? 2017. I didn't realize that. Yeah, I know. That's what 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 a championship. I I'm I don't know. It doesn't we don't know. Well, actually, did you know that this the story surrounding Scott and Kip is actually the first book in the Game Changer series? I'm sure it clarifies in the book what happened to them during those three years, but I guess we have to read it. But regardless, whether or not they were together, three years of keeping that secret. So at the end of episode five, we can watch it if we want, but we're gonna. Oh, yeah. We're gonna watch this. 5130, Mark. At the end of 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, hugging their 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 he looking for? Then everyone's kind of like, What is happening? What happened? What happened? Oh

Why Scott & Kip's Story Made Us Cry

my god. Okay. I need you to walk me through what happened to you when you watched that scene for the first time. Uh, I was bawling. I was bawling because I didn't expect I didn't know that they were just gonna throw that in two episodes later. No, I did not see that 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 a fucking treasure. Yeah. Fuck, dude. When I was watching it, I think I had been watching the show all day. I think we watched like three, four, and five on the same day. Okay. And so I really had to pee at the end of watching episode five. But like I went to the bathroom and I was peeing, and I was like, wait, wait, what did I just see? Also, I need to find 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 you know, I when I'm watching something, like I don't fucking know what I'm listening to. I don't pay attention to things like that. But watching it again, the lyrics. Oh no. Give me your eyes. I need sunshine. Oh, and you know, Elena has said, like, Kip deserves sunshine, and so do you. Like, I so quick recap for everyone who didn't just watch the scene 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 what they're exuding in this scene. Like, I finally get to, I finally get to be me. Yeah. This this is me, you know? Like the the joy of this championship win is not complete if I don't have the person who I love the most in this world to share it with. I was actually going to say something different. Okay. Well, I think one, I just empathize so much with Kip in this moment because I think that to be affirmed and loved so publicly, like it's one thing to be alone with someone and to have their undivided attention and to have them tell you in private, I love you, and whatever. But like there is such a difference to like having that person 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 for someone 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 even keep this in. I need everyone to know. Yeah. Yeah. So there's that. But the reason I cried so hard was watching Ilia and Shane watch this. So at this point in the story. Shane wanted Ilya to come to the cottage. Oh, that's right. This summer. Okay. Yes. They had already finally confirmed with each other, like, we have feelings for each other, but there was still a sphere of commitment, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, because Ilya was like, no, I can't, I can't do that. Like he was, he was not for it. Um but yeah, and then just like watching Ilya take this in and like seeing like, oh, if he can do it, then I can do it too. Just like the relief that he must have felt seeing like I'm so afraid to do this, but maybe I don't have to be anymore. Yeah. Like that's the part that fucking kills me. Like the decisiveness with 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, gray babies, that was topic number one only. You know I have multiple topics. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So

Ilya & Shane's Cottage Love Story

my second topic is the confession. Pretty much all of episode six. So, what I like to call the confession. In this episode, of course, we know that Ilya has agreed with the fire of someone who is lit up to go to Shane's cottage. So he goes and they spend this whimsical couple of weeks together at Shane's gorgeous cottage, which, by the way, is available to rent on Airbnb. So is it in my favorite country? Canada. Canada. Yeah. And it's so beautiful. They get to spend time as just lovers. Uninterrupted, blissful time in nature. They're cozying up in Shane's cabin. They're falling asleep to the crackling of the fire. They're waking up to the sound of birds. It's fucking glorious. They're even devising at one point a plan on how they can secretly continue this relationship. Maybe Ilya can move closer, and then we don't have to be so far away. So at this point, I actually cried a little 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 this scene, they're lying in bed, and Ilya says, Is that what you want to be together? And Shane is like so much. And Ilya says, presumably in Russian, I love you. And then he says it in English, I love you. And Shane is like, holy shit. And then Ilya is almost like gonna I don'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 shared emotion. I I don't think I played this, but at the end of that scene, Shane asks, Does it fucking kill you too? Oh my god. I I watched episode six today in preparation for our recording tonight. So that was one that I also rewinded as soon as it was done. And I like when 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 is the show? Yeah, yeah. I think what I love about this is there's so much emotion in just the 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 little hockey, as you said. They're lying in bed again, and Shane has this idea. He has so many ideas, and he tells Ilya, what was your mother's name again? And Ilya's like Irina. And Shane says, I was thinking we could start a hockey school, and basically alluding that they would name it after Ilya's mom who has passed. The one person in his life who he fucking loved to pieces. And Ilya says to Shane, she would have loved you like I love you. Messed me up. You forgot when he like paused and looked away again as he was processing 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 words on your facial expressions, on your acting. On the fact that he's from Texas and that he can pretend to speak fluent Russian. It's fucking insane. Have you been watching his interview clips? No. I don't even recognize him because the way he forms facial expressions is completely different. Different person. It's a different person. I genuinely feel like I'm in awe. You know how they say with method acting, you are not just acting like 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? Like they're so they become so engrossed. Like when I watched that this is this is a different slide, but we can get to it now. Yeah, yeah. When I watched one of their buzz feed, I think they were reading Thirst Traps, the Thirst Trap tweets. Okay. Did you watch this one? No, I didn't. Oh my god. Oh. Oh my god. Oh uh I was I was floored. My mouth was open 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'm taking a long time here. Okay,

Shane Comes Out to His Mom

topic number three coming out to mom. Also, episode six. So in this scene, Ilya and Shane are now fully out to Shane's parents because Shane's dad caught them. So Shane is dealing with the aftermath they're at. Shane's parents' cabin, which is equally beautiful, just a ways away. And you see a mix of emotions on Shane's mom's face, and you I at least I couldn't quite read what she was feeling, which fucking props to the actress because, like, that's exactly what I'm sure it would have been like, all those conflicting emotions. But basically in the scene, Shane finds his mom outside because she's kind of just like wanting to be alone. So he finds her, brings her her sweater, and they're gonna have a little conversation. And he tries to apologize. He says, I'm sorry. He said, I need you to know that I tried really hard. I just can't help it, and I'm sorry. Fucking wrecked 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 and with 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 her mind, right? Like betrayal, right? Like you're not sure. But it turns out it's shame. It's shame that she couldn't be a safe space for her son. I just wanted to add that in my research for when I covered it, I read that this scene between Shane and his mom was actually an addition for just the show. This was not a scene that was written out in the original book. But I think Jacob Tierney had said that it was really important for him to include this because this scene is like it's meant to be what every person deserves this sort of unadulterated love and acceptance from a parent when you are telling them the truth 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, but whether 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 also said you have nothing to be sorry about. Exactly, exactly. And that is what I imagine everyone just wants to hear. And you're right, what we all deserve. Yeah. Alright. I got

The Women of Heated Rivalry

one last topic here. Bonus topic. Not necessarily something that made me cry, but it the women. No tears, just really fucking impressed. So I have three women listed. Number one, 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 five at 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 his name. He doesn't even deserve. I think it was piece of shit. Yeah. P-O-S. Yeah. Yeah. So Smetlana is comforting Ilya. And we know that they are kind of ex-lovers. They've been involved in the past, but mostly they are childhood friends. But they have like hooked up and you know, it's been kind of blurry. But Ilya says to her, I don't deserve you. And she says, 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. I love you too. And whatever you need, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. I just hope Jane knows how lucky he is. She's gorgeous and she fucking gets it. And she is she is family. She is Ilya's family. I'm just like trying to imagine. I could not do that. I mean, just like from how incredible Ilya is, I'd be like, man, like I know. Like there's a selflessness there that she has. Wish I had it. Yeah. I know. You know? You're yeah, that you're so right. I don't think I would be like that chill about it. No, no. I'm imagining this is kind of crazy. I don't know why my mind just went here. Like, you know how they say like Mary Magdalene 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, love is letting go. Okay, woman number two, Elena. We saw this a little bit in the episode with Kip and Scott, but she is, I say here, the fierce defender. So she is fucking going to bat for Kip, and she's telling Scott, like, like we saw in that scene when they're dancing together, like, you need to get your fucking shit together. And you need to basically let Kip be happy. Like either you you let him I don't need to get into it. You fucking, you know. But I love that she is not enamored with Scott Hunter the way the rest of the world is. She's like, you are just someone who, yeah, loves my friend, but it's also really fucking hurting him right now. I love that she has no hesitation to be so fucking rude to his 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 I don't know that I would have ever inserted myself in that way. But obviously, it was so from a protective place of like, I really care about this person. And if you're gonna hurt him, I'm gonna say something. Like we all deserve a friend like that. Yeah, yeah. I was like, oh, that's scary, but but then she also was spitting those hard truths to Scott too about him deserving happiness too. Like that's also something that I don't think anyone ever said to him until that point. Yeah. So Elena, love her. All right, woman number three. Don't worry, I'm wrapping it up. Rose. Rose Landry. So, Rose, the safe space. So in episode five at the six-minute mark, Rose and Shane, they're having dinner, having some problems with their sex life. Why? I wonder. And she says, I really like you, but I have 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 has decided to even bring this up. She says herself, like, oh, maybe I'm not going about this the right way. Like she's even a little awkward in her own, but she feels like it's important enough 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't even owe me an explanation. Like, she's so fucking gracious in this moment. And she's helping Shane navigate this confusing feeling because, again, no one knows about Shane except Ilya. So he does not have someone in his life to share this with. And the fact 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 ever been with another guy? And have you ever told anyone that before? Was it different with a guy? Was it better? Like, I could fucking cry, honestly, like thinking about how thoughtful 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 doing and he's never done this before. And I don't know. I'm just like fucking Rose. Yeah. We love Rose. We do. She she really was a sweetheart. Yeah. Before I got into this, so for months, my youngest sister, Blue, hey Blue. I don't even know, she's fucking listening to this. But she she was like on, she was on me to watch the show from the fucking beginning. And when I told her that I was about to dive in because you had talked about it on the pod, one of the first things she said was like, the women, the women. In this show are so fucking wholesome the way they're written, and in a way that like women aren't often portrayed in like a male-dominated show. So I had that in my mind. And so yeah. 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 all I got. I mean, I shout out women. I shout the fuck out women. I sorry. I want to bring up one more scene. Please. Which is the very, very, very last scene of the show. Okay. And it's after Shane and Ilia have spent time at Shane's parents' house and they're driving back to their cabin. And they're just driving in the car. And they are just so completely themselves. And they're so relieved that the conversation with Shane's parents went okay. Like, you know. Beautifully. Beautifully. And they're just being together and they're just having this moment of pure domesticity. And it's just it's so healing to watch. These two characters like just drive down the road together. Something that they could not have fathomed doing just eight years ago, you know? Like even at the beginning of the episode, 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 them being together. But yeah, that as the end credits are rolling and they are fucking driving off 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 believe I have to wait for this shit. Yeah. Yeah. But that was a beautiful way to end it. And I was gonna say, like, right before that, too, before they get in the car, they're like, Thanks for the pasta. You know, like it's so fucking normal talking to Shane's. And I also had this written down, but right after that scene where Shane's mom apologizes to Shane, they get 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 looks to the press. But in that moment, it's like her bubble has extended, and now Elia's in this bubble. Like, here you are mine too. And let me like, let me take you in, and like this is what we're gonna do. Like, and to have that normalcy, and that's what I feel sets the tone for like by thanks for the pasta. Yeah. Like everything so fucked, like the relief, the joy, and the simplicity of just being able to say, like, thanks for the yes, thanks for the meal. Like, yeah, everyone just wants to feel accepted exactly as they are, everyone deserves to feel accepted exactly as they are, and it is like a palpable feeling when you get to see them actually live that heated rivalry, uh everyone. I

Actor Appreciation & Behind-the-Scenes Tea

had another slide that was like general tea, but it was just like talking about the actors and how like how I'm so fucking impressed by them. Yeah. Okay, I will add one thing to general tea. Okay. Because I think Yeah, this is this is the part where I wanted you to give me. 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, I think Evan was asking him about like, how did you prepare for that monologue in Russian, the phone call, where he literally talks in Russian for like five minutes? And dead ass, Connor Story goes into the story about like how ever since he was young, he wanted to be an actor, and he would literally look up different monologues in different languages, and then try to practice just imitating the sounds. And then he took his vision even further and was like, and then I would also play the background music that ended 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 in the background, and then all of a sudden it was manifested onto this show. And I didn't know that. Like the whole time that we were filming that scene, like you add the music at 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, I love that so much, right? Oh, I love that. Crazy. Wow. Yeah, and he straight up was like, I don'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 did another 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 in every press thing that they do. I was watching this. I was watching, I don't even remember what interview it was, but someone was asking Connor. Sorry, I keep talking about 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 like specific way that Ilya would say it. And so now people just quote it to me all the time and 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 funny because Hudson Williams is like, like, I want like the filthiest, like, bring it on. Like, he's just so like for it. And the entire time Connor story is like, like she's aghast by like how filth. 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. Someone was like, um, Hudson Williams, what message do you have for the gay community? And like without skipping a beat, Hudson Williams was like, Love y'all. Uh keep that sound but 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 Williams coming. He's so unhinged. So unhinged. I love it. And honestly, not to toot our own horn, but I feel like I see in that banter between them, like this like chemistry that they just so naturally have. Like that's how I feel when we talk sometimes, where it's just like you say, you you know, you just say whatever the fuck you want to say. Yeah. And they're so fucking funny. Yeah. So like that's us. Who

Character Drafts, Final Thoughts & Season 2 Manifesting

would you be and who would I be? Ooh, I don't know. Um, because I've only really watched 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 that you're more Connor story. Okay. Like a little bit. That was what I was yeah, like just very like gleeful and like happy to be alive and excitable. Yeah. And like Hudson Williams a little bit more like mysterious, harder to crack. Yeah. Is more me. That's that's what I would say based on the one video I watched too. Yeah. Okay, which character are you more in love with? That's actually really hard. I would say Ilya only because I feel like I don't know. Ah, I don't know. I'm gonna need to think about that. Okay. Tell me your answer. I was gonna say Ilya too. Yeah. I like a lot of goofiness and playfulness, which I think Ilya has more on the surface. Like he is like a crazy dude, yeah. Which is like entertaining to be around. Yeah. I feel like Shane is very much in his head, and I would just be like, Shane, it's okay. I can't tell whether I'm in love with Shane or I am Shane in that way. Like the way he's always like, I gotta plan ahead, like I gotta do this, I gotta do that. Like I see myself in a lot of that. But I don't know, both. Can I have both? Well, did you have a different answer for why Ilya? I would say the elusiveness of him. Like I like girls and guys, like being able to crack the code of Ilya. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And him being 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. So mine was which girl are you playing? Which woman are you? Ooh. I would love to be Rose. I really hope that I would offer that same safety and that same sort of friendship to people. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. I don't think I could be fucking Ilya and then like not be in love with him. Yeah. I did though, like how Svetlana was like, fucking knows everything about hockey. You remember that scene? Yeah. Where she was like, you need to do this and you to like blah blah blah blah. I was like, okay. Yeah. Okay. Did you hear that she referenced the San Francisco team? I was like, San Francisco. Yeah, I was like, you mean the San Jose Sharks? Girl. I was like, I literally Googled just San Francisco hockey team because it's the fucking sharks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Guess she doesn't know everything. Yeah, I guess she's dumb. How about you? I I I would say Rose. For that. I mean, that's why I've pulled up that fucking scene. Yeah. Because like everyone wants that, and I would love to be that for someone. I would hope someone would feel safe. Yeah. Or the mom. Or I would be Shane's mom. I don't know. Oh, you want to be a stage parent? She's so hot too, though. I mean, yeah. MILF? Sorry, was there a single ugly person on this entire show? Oh, the brother. The dad. Yikes. Damn. Shout

Outro

the fuck out. Shout the fuck out. See, I love how we were like, oh, can we make this episode long enough if we talk about help? We can't shut the fuck up, actually. This was fun. This was fun. This felt really good. To everyone who listened to that, I hope you enjoyed it too. Uh I know you did. If you listened and you haven't watched, what are you? What the fuck are you doing? You basically have now. Yeah. So all right. All right. I think we've exhausted this topic. I think so. Until next year. Ooh, season two. Season two. But yeah, thanks for tuning in. Thanks for fangirling with us. Cause it's like the best part about watching something is having the joy to share it with someone else. So that was you for today. We hope you enjoyed. That is the conclusion of our pop culture podcast. We are now next week getting back into cozy cry comedy. Except we might have 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 stop recording and then we'll just do it offline. Okay. Spare them. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. But until then, BRB crying.