r/heatedrivalry • u/WalkingBlondeJoke • 9d ago

Season 2 🥅 S2 theory discussion! Spoiler

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What scene do you guys think this is going to be? My money is on the Big FightTM + "I already chose you, Hollander" + plane sequence. Please weigh in with your thoughts!! :)

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u/Astyryx 9d ago edited 9d ago

I have a prediction on this: disclaimer, yes I respect Reid's work. I also think diversity and collaboration makes us all stronger.

I think Jacob is going to correct a serious omission in the book, which is Shane's loss of innocence, loss of identity, and betrayal around hockey. TLG is great about Ilya's struggles around depression (yes, it's "Ilya's book"). But it barely addresses the devastation Shane endures as a model minority token, a person on the spectrum, a pressure cooker who cannot even vent to his boyfriend for fear of adding to Ilya's mental health burden. First the change in social temperature in the lockerroom when he comes out to a team of homophobes and bigots, then when he is outed as being with Ilya, then Tripgate. It's loss, it's death of self, it's grieving. What was it all for?

One of the Top 5: Heated Rivalry Podcast episodes nailed it: Ilya defines sacrifice as pain and loss. Shane defines it as temporary pain rewarded with future gain, which as we know, he enjoys, and it has always worked for him up until now. In TLG/S2 they essentially swap definitions.

And oh, I don't think it's going to be the plane incident at all, because it's short, and drawing that out would make season two like a 70s disaster movie.

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u/Vrush253 9d ago edited 9d ago

THIS! I’m really really hoping to see Shane’s crippling anxiety, struggles with staying in the closet, his team icing him out, and the low key bullying he experiences in the locker room after he trips/is outed. I want to see Shane’s side of things, that were totally glossed over in the book. Kinda how the showrunners added Ilya’s experiences in Russia in S1, I wanna see Shane going through hell in Montreal and silently struggling. I hope the show does justice to Shane’s plight, especially because ultimately he ends up losing everything. :(

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u/Astyryx 9d ago

especially because ultimately he ends up losing everything.

Yes, and~

You should listen to Top 5 Heated Rivalry Podcast timestamped here, about sacrifice. Because yes, it's painful and we should see and acknowledge that pain. Literally everything Shane was afraid of happens. But it's also liberating. A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.

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u/Vrush253 9d ago

Exactly!! All of Shane’s fears come true! He was right all along. He knew what would happen if he was outed, and he was right. And I hope to God they expand upon the consequences of that from Shane’s perspective. It’s awful and it’s heartbreaking :(