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The Prestige TV Podcast
‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 1 Finale: Cottage Core | Prestige TV | The Ringer
01:04:25
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- [00:01]
Mallory Rubin
So good, so good, so good.
- [00:03]
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Mallory Rubin
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- [00:18]
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- [01:12]
Joanna Robson
Hello, welcome back to the Prestige TV podcast feed. I'm Joanna Robson. Joining me today, back again, the beautiful Mallory Rubin. Hello, Mallory, how are you doing?
- [01:19]
Mallory Rubin
Once again, I'd like to say it is the honor, privilege and thrill of my life to be here with you today to talk about this wonderful television program. Thank you for the invitation.
- [01:27]
Joanna Robson
We got some incredible feedback from the listeners. They were thrilled to have you here to talk about episode five. We are here, of course, talk about episode six, the finale of season one, the Cottage, written and directed as every episode is by Jacob Tierney. I want to start here. Mallory, tell me with my deepest apologies to Yuna Hollander, Shane's mom, who last week I was like, I don't know if she'll be cool with it and she'll be all worried about this, that and the other. I apologize you and I did not know your game. I did not know who you were, your character and I wasn't aware. So my apologies. I also want to flag this is the I don't know why it took me this long, but this is the first episode where I realized that Dylan Walsh, who plays Shane's dad, Nip Tuck. I don't know why I did not register with me until I was a little distracted by other things going on, I guess on the show.
- [02:21]
Mallory Rubin
But here we are, naturally.
- [02:23]
Joanna Robson
Yeah, naturally in Nip Tuck verse. And then last but not least, sort of as a preamble, I want to mention a friend of the pod, Katie Rich, wrote a really great piece over on the Ankler about heated rivalries Emmys chances and why it actually is not eligible for an Emmy because it's a Canadian production and it doesn't have a US GoPro. Anyway, Katie's agenda, and I would just like to invite everyone to join her is to basically like pressure the television academy to change the eligibility rules and or yes, encourage HBO to figure out a workaround. She's like, so surely campaigners as savvy as HBO can figure out a workaround around this. So I just, you know, I'm glad.
- [03:09]
Mallory Rubin
We'Re starting here because this is, I mean, I can't wait to talk about everything in the finale in the season, obviously. But this is also top of my list because this led me to gasp aloud in horror at the prospect that this wonderful television show that is beautifully written, filmed and performed might not be recognized at the emm. Part of my thought, because it's late December is just like, listen the content game on the Internet. We all know how it works. You're planning your scheduling. Everyone gets ahead on their year end list. Fine. I'm like, with respect to everybody's holiday plans, I would like all of the Internet to collectively agree to redo our best of the year lists to get heated rivalry where it needs to be, and then spend a day or two on that.
- [03:53]
Joanna Robson
Yeah. And then to the Emmy campaign, the television academy charge. Okay. All right. Well, here's my question. And so I should say, programming wise. Yeah. This, this episode, this heated rival reheated rivalry finale episode coming out this week. This holiday week. Rob and I also have our Pluribus finale pod this week. And we also have like a mailbag component to that. So we will be talking about sort of like some of our best shows of the year. And I will preview that.
- [04:20]
Mallory Rubin
This is why you're the best Heat.
- [04:21]
Joanna Robson
Of rivalry is on my list. And if I am wearing the same shirt in both of those podcasts, none of your business. Don't worry about it.
- [04:29]
Mallory Rubin
Remember, like, the one day that we had, I want to say something like 11 hours of house of the Dragon podcast in a row or something like that. And maybe like a rings of power pot on the same day. One day we did outfit changes at the office. Since then we haven't bothered.
- [04:45]
Joanna Robson
It's like, you know what, sometimes we.
- [04:47]
Mallory Rubin
Have multiple recordings in a row, and that's just how it goes. So I support you. And no outfit change. I did wear my Shoresy jersey today. It's not a hockey. It's not a hockey sweater. It's a baseball jersey, but it is shorts.
- [05:00]
Joanna Robson
And so we support it. Where would you put heated rivalry on your list of top shows of the year?
- [05:07]
Mallory Rubin
Oh, boy. Classic me to introduce this into the conversation.
- [05:11]
Joanna Robson
You're not prepared to follow it through? It would be my.
- [05:14]
Mallory Rubin
It would be in my top 10 shows of the year. No question.
- [05:16]
Joanna Robson
Yeah, like, is it in like 1 through 5 or do you think it's more in like 5 through. I put it in like the 5 through 10 range. Personally though, I love it.
- [05:23]
Mallory Rubin
Obviously I'll maybe by the end of the, the pot, I'll have a formal ranking set certainly. Andor is my favorite show of the year. That's, that's great. No question. Yeah, I would probably have this somewhere in the like 5 to 7 range if I, if I, if I'm going off the dome here. But I think, like, no question, it's one of the shows that I've loved watching the most this year and have, like, enjoyed and appreciated the most. No question. It's one of the shows that people, as we talked about last pod in our lives and the world have been celebrating and sharing with each other. It has just sparked something so undeniable that I think it's like inextricable part of thinking about television and pop culture this year. So it would just have to be there.
- [06:09]
Joanna Robson
Last night, last night I was, you know, I watched the finale in the afternoon and then I rewatched it last night after making Diana, who I live with, binge all of one through five, like over the last couple nights so that she could watch the finale with me. So, like, we did that. And while I was watching the finale, both Justin Sayles, who does incredible production work on this feed, and Apollo Mine is a publicist for another TV network, were both sort of like sending us texts about catching up with heated rivalry. And it really felt, I was just like, I. I haven't felt this eye of the storm sort of catching up with real time excitement about a show in, in a long time. So it made me, and you know, this is a great year for television, honestly, like, really, really great year for television. But like this moment and part of it is like, it's the end of the year. There's, you know, stranger things is happening, but there's not like a ton of competition. Pluribus, of course, is like happening, but. And like, and it's just one of those, like, it feels like one of those, like, Squid Game surprise, end of year, nobody saw this coming. Everyone gets excited about it. There's something about, like, not planning for it, but being hit by it at the end of the year when you're winding down and you just want to get like absorbed into something that feels, I mean, Squid Game is pretty murdery, but like, you know, something that feels kind of like cozy or absorbing or, you know, that sort of stuff. So, yeah, I'M loving this moment in the culture and I'm sad that it's over, you know?
- [07:34]
Mallory Rubin
Me too. I mean, that was one of the first things that we texted about. I was a few hours behind you watching the finale last night because I had to see Monday Night Football through and ensure that I knocked our colleagues out of the playoffs, beat Heifetz. Fantasy football league semifinals got him out of there. I'm in the finals against fellow Shores. He had Cris Ryan himself. What a time.
- [07:58]
Joanna Robson
CRM are outlasting all the football bros into the finals.
- [08:04]
Mallory Rubin
Makes me knocked out Dan Kelly and I knocked out Danny Heifetz. Really, really just a wonderful, really good.
- [08:11]
Joanna Robson
I have been like a one agenda voter on this whole draft that you guys have been doing, which is like, I'm team Ruben the whole way. And so I feel like, really, really good about myself right now.
- [08:20]
Mallory Rubin
It's been, it's been really fun. So I was just like watching every Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Taylor, Carrie, chip away at my lead in terror. Really intense emotional turmoil for a few hours. The euphoric high of, of confirming that I had beaten Heifetz and made it to the final.
- [08:34]
Joanna Robson
And then.
- [08:38]
Mallory Rubin
51 minutes of just pure bliss watching this finale. And one of the first things that we texted each other about was like, the abject despair that it was over.
- [08:52]
Joanna Robson
Something that I thought was really. I didn't, as I told you when I watched it before you watched it is I didn't want to, like, tell you anything about it. Not even like a single. Not in any direction. Because you're so good at reading the tea leaves of my reaction to things. And so, like, I didn't want to say, like, oh, my God, I have such a good time. Because, like, I think the tension of this episode of, like, will everything go wrong is important. So I didn't want to be like, I feel great, like sunshine and puppies or whatever. So I wanted to try to preserve that for you. But the one thing I think I did say was, like, I was. I didn't want to leave it. And the gift that Jacob Ty gives us at the end of this episode is like the closing credits to just getting to, like, sit in the backseat of the car with them. But I just let the whole thing roll, obviously, because I was like, I'm just to clock every gesture, every glance, until there's none left for me to clock. And I just thought it was like a. A perfect ending for a world that we, all of us, I think, want to linger longer in. And yeah, it Just.
- [09:47]
Mallory Rubin
I agree too. Like, obviously just witnessing the, the little gestures, the touching of the cheek, the reaching across to put a hand on a leg, all of that. But like what it captures on the spoilers obviously from the episode that, you know, on the heels of this massive seminal moment in their relationship and in Shane's life, there was something about the routine nature on the heels of something life altering that's like you're just driving home now, right? And to be with them for multiple minutes and just the rhythm of the day and the rhythm of a new life was really perfect.
- [10:25]
Joanna Robson
Final note, golden future that they're driving towards. And also like, and this is something that, you know, Shane brought up at the beginning of the episode of just like, I do just want to relax with you for the first time. And so this, this opportunity to just be.
- [10:38]
Mallory Rubin
Yes.
- [10:38]
Joanna Robson
Not like a furtive assignation or like we only have, you know, this, this night or this 24 hours or whatever it is. It's just like we can just be. You can just sit and watch the sunrise and I can bring you a blanket and a cup of coffee. Like we can just be here and, and my, my, my second hand anxiety. Because I don't know if Shane felt this way, but like, I have a lot of anxiety when I like host people and stuff like that. I have a lot of anxiety of being like one on one with people. I get like social anxiety about it, barring, you know, there's some like, few exceptions. You're certainly an exception. But like in general that gives me anxiety. Yeah, sure. And then there's always the question of like, is this a person I can just hang out with or am I going to forever be in the like stressful, like hosting space? So Shane, in the initial like car ride and like very initial, like tour of the house, this sort of like, I got food, there's coke for you. The water's good here. Like I have my own. Well, you know, like all this sort of stuff like that until sort of like the first kiss and the I haven't slept with anyone since the last time we slept together sort of moment. And then they're into the sort of like bellhop play acting, sex, sex, sex, like whatever from there. But like that initial tension of like, is this a relationship? Like we've been texting for years, we've been having sex for years, but is this like, can I just be. Yeah, this person, can I just sit and look at a fire? He's gonna tell me it's boring. But like, then he's not gonna want to leave. You know, like, it's. It's that all of that being captured here, that anxiety about it, and then the. The comfort and ease and joy of it was really important to me.
- [12:18]
Mallory Rubin
I. I really agree. I thought this episode was. And it's a hard thing to do, period, in the capture world, but it's a very hard thing to do inside of a relationship that has spanned in its evolution a decade inside of these six episodes. Obviously, when you are about to be intimate with somebody physically, that's scary, that's vulnerable, that's taking a step in your relationship, but to your point, capturing the different type of intimacy of, like, this is just what it's like to spend a day with me. Okay, I'm, like, gonna go use the bathroom now. And like, I. One of the little moments that I loved. Well, before we get to the I love you, which just had me in fucking tears. I cried multiple times in this episode. I was weeping like a baby, like.
- [13:02]
Joanna Robson
In three distinct parts of this episode.
- [13:04]
Mallory Rubin
And I thought it was just so lovely and so beautiful, but just the waking up together that first morning, and it's just like, you think of the rhythm of their relationship where it's so often like, are we in the same city as each other? Are we at an all star game together? Right? Are we at an event together? Is it an award?
- [13:20]
Joanna Robson
Do we have practice? Is there meeting that a meeting I have to get to?
- [13:23]
Mallory Rubin
You know, can we take something in? Or, like, even if there's more time, like, okay, I am gonna go now. And that just like, newfound intimacy of we woke up together and the good morning, just exchanging a good morning. And the I like you before I love you, like, all of that just felt so great. And I, you know, I think that the show, while obviously being across the six episode run, extremely sexy and also deeply moving. I don't want to downplay how funny the show has been. And the. The way throughout this episode that that classic, like, humor was stitched in. You know, you mentioned already the, like, boring car and. Yeah, okay, is that what we're gonna do? Relax or like, oh, my God, Canada. It's so. Canada's so fun, right? We're just gonna sit here and look at the fire. Like, all of that humor, but also, like, wolf board.
- [14:17]
Joanna Robson
Like, you know, like the balloon reaction. Oh, you speak bird now. Like, okay, great.
- [14:23]
Mallory Rubin
I loved the, like, you know, is that where you get your looks from your mom? Half of them. And like, how about your dad? Like, is that where you get your. The boring from like that, but like.
- [14:31]
Joanna Robson
Remembering, remembering from years ago. Like, oh, your dad reads the New Yorker, you know what I mean? Like this is a conversation they had literally years ago. So I did want to ask you. You've already mentioned like a few highlights for yourself, but like I have like only three pointed questions for you that I sent over to prepare you for this episode. Otherwise we're gonna have like a fairly free form conversation. I do have a couple emails that I wanna get to, but I wanted to ask you, was there like a small detail from this episode that particularly stuck out to you there?
- [15:05]
Mallory Rubin
There were, there were, yes. And I think there were. There were big, bold, gripping moments across the episode. But there were. One of the reasons that I think this will be an episode that I think about a lot and that really like lasts in its im impact is actually because of those little tender, quiet moments. I mean I do think that Ilia, the tears leading to the quiet Russian whispers into the I love you. That's not a minor moment, but that was like just a breathtakingly beautiful sequence to me. On the minor, quieter, smaller, subtler moments front. I think my number one pick here is the evening shot where they're both on the couch and they're looking at their phones and then we see like their toes are touching. It's just one of those perfect details that captures people who have moved into a different phase of like a shared experience with each other. I thought that was so wonderful. And then there was like kind of a, maybe like a, like, like a sister moment to. That was on the drive over to after Shane's dad has seen them and then, and Shane is very anxious and they're driving over and he's, you know, he's got his hand on the, on the gear shift, on the printle of the. By the way, a Land Rover. Nothing to mock about a Land Rover.
- [16:20]
Joanna Robson
But you know, Ilya will be. Ilya.
- [16:23]
Mallory Rubin
Gotta respect it. And Shane is so anxious and his fingers are just like tapping. He's restless and he's scared. He says like, this is my fucking nightmare. And just the way Ilya reaches over and just like quiets his fear with that little gesture of comfort and support. Just that way with his hand to say like, I'm here and no matter what, I will be here. And then the toe touch under the table, which calls back to the press conference, at the press conference. So those little like foot moments, those.
- [16:52]
Joanna Robson
Little touches, I just, I loved there was a moment. I don't know if your parents ever like shared this with you. Observing you and Adam. But I definitely remember, like, a time that my parents, like, like, observed me with a guy that I was dating. And like, you know, they were like, oh, he, like, kissed you on the top of your head. And we just like. And I didn't even notice it happened, but they were just like, to them, that mattered. So watching Ilya comfort Shane at the kitchen table and more importantly, watching his parents watch him do that, that was great. Really got to me. That was just like such a beautiful moment. My little moment actually comes from that same toe touching scene. But so the first time I watched it, Ilia is, you know, Ilya's lying on the couch there, Shane is sitting up on the other side. And I was like, I was like, this is so interesting. I've been like, sort of observing their wardrobe and I was like, you know, Ilia has been in these, like, black tank tops that I've talked about. We've talked about Shane hiring a stylist, like all that sort of stuff like that. But he was wearing something. I was like, this is so, like, soft and cozy for him. Like, this is just not a look that we've seen him in. Then when I rewatched the episode, I realized he's wearing Shane's shirt. Shane wears it in the burger eating scene. And like, when I, when I rewatched the episode and we got to the burger scene, I like, gasp because I was like, that's the shirt he's wearing later that I was like, that doesn't look like an Ilia shirt because he's wearing Shane's shirt. And that's just like a beautiful little like, you know, we're here, we're sharing clothes, we're like, you know, being cozy together moment. So that really stuck out. I love that. Okay, so let's. Let us. Oh, one thing I wanted to mention that I didn't before, just as sort of like a reaction to episode five, Table setter, that I wanted to say is we did get an email from listeners that let us know that in the books, Scott Hunter is actually in his 20s. And so this premise that we talked about last week of like Scott Hunter towards the end of his career, the stakes are different. Is not really the case in, in the book that Scott is like a little older than them, like in his late 20s or something like that, sort of when they start, but not, you know, Francois Arnaud is in his 40s. So that's like a different, you know, and the whole conversation about how washed Scott Hunter is and all this sort of Stuff like that. And so I thought that was an interesting sort of tweak of, of that premise. But what did you think about starting this episode with. With Scott's press conference?
- [19:20]
Mallory Rubin
I thought, first of all, it was a pleasant surprise because I wasn't sure, I wasn't totally sure we would say Scott and Kip. Again, just knowing that the episode was called the Cottage and like, you know, Jacob's here talking about how this was really gonna be like a two hander of an episode really fully, like, rooted around and centered around Shane and Ilya. So I just liked the connective tissue across the episodes. I mean, obviously we're gonna get in the conversation at the end with Ilya and Shane and Shane's parents. We get that Shane's dad, David, asking, like, have you guys talked to Scott? And I liked that that was actively invoked and that Shane's like, no. And then Ilya says he has. And he's like, not about that moment. And he says, it changed things for me at least, and maybe for us. And so it felt really appropriate to open with that speech at the awards ceremony. Not only because it's like, emotionally rewarding for us as viewers of the show to get to see Scott say what he says and see Kip receive it and hear him say I love you. And to hear that he was like, you know, both the acknowledgement of, like, growing up, I love hockey, but growing up in hockey culture, where you hear these insults and these slurs thrown around and like, and the way that he talked about how when you have a secret like that for so long, it's exhausting, but also just so lonely. Like, it was just a perfect, I thought, opening note for the episode to remind us of that context and where we are. And then we get to have that kind of closure of Scott and Kip, that beautiful, I love you with them. And all of that is in the backdrop as we watch Ilya and Shane, you know, take the next step in their relationship. And we talked last week how, like, it would feel appropriate for us, the. For the progression, for the next step in Shane's life to most likely be coming out to his parents before something like, more public and for the entire world or their teams or something like that. Well, I mean, that all felt right.
- [21:10]
Joanna Robson
The show did a, a great job of dropping the, like, crumbs of, like, parents house nearby. Parents house nearby. Like, this is. This is the. Yes, this is just the only nearby threat to this little, you know, bubble that they've created themselves.
- [21:26]
Mallory Rubin
The great, like, I told them I won like a silent ret. And it's like for anyone else that would seem like a lie, but for you, like, maybe people believe it.
- [21:34]
Joanna Robson
That's great. So on the Scott Hunter front, I will say that, you know, something that Richard and I had talked about was like, how, how. How we weren't constantly confronted with like seeing deeply homophobic culture in the locker room. That that wasn't something that the show was just like really driving home for us. That that was something that, like Dan Levy talked about in Schitt's Creek, that he didn want like the, the town, the people of the town of Schitt's Creek to be like, deeply homophobic and stuff like that. Like, that's just like, there's plenty of that out there. This is not what this show, no question, you know, and we got like a little pushback from listeners on that where they were like, well, here are some like, sort of hallmarks of. Of that without having people drop, like horrifying slurs inside of a scene or something like that. But I think Scott talking about his experience, rather than having to see it, hearing Scott talk about his experience of coming up in the world, you know, Ilya's brother calls him the F. Slurs. Stuff like that, you know, like, that happens. But like, yeah, you know, Scott saying like, I'm that bad word, you know, I'm that insult that people throw around and we know exactly like what that is. And so I thought that was a really good way to underline, you know, the environment that they are coming up in which we've gotten like sort of little signposts of. But I thought that was a really good moment. Okay. As I mentioned, part of the listeners wrote in. Listeners have been pretty good about not dropping book spoilers as we've made it really clear we haven't read the books. I will say one person wrote in being like, Joanna, you read romance novels, you know how this book is going to end. And I was like, okay, well, I guess that's a half way of her actor. I do know that's a romance novel. This is not a season one of television. We need to end on a dramatic, sad cliffhanger and figure out how to resolve it in season two. This was a contained book even inside of a series. So yes, it ends with us driving into a golden future, even though there will surely be obstacles awaiting for us in season two. So I was like, okay, that took a little bit of the tension on me, but it was still watching this episode. The tension of like, is Ilia gonna freak out? Is Shane gonna freak out? Is Shane gonna freak out so badly when his parent, you know, when his dad shows up that sh. A horror movie, when they're like, you. You're inside the house watching them come up the walk and the camera's panning slowly over and you know that someone's there just based on, like, where the camera is. And so, you know, and, like, you could tell it's his dad probably from the, like, silhouette. And so is that gonna freak out Shane so badly that he's gonna blow this up? But it's. But. But it's not. And when I was watching it with Diana last night, she turned to me, she's like, like, did Jacob Turdi just decide that we all needed just a nice show where people are happy at the end here, at the end of the year? And I was like, well, I mean, I think that's the text of the book. But yeah, this is just you. You have this just slow, for me, relaxation realizing that everyone is actually on pretty much their best behavior and everyone is. You know, when Shane's like, we should just be honest with each other, you're like. But then, like, okay, we go from I like you, I like you to, as you say, whispered I love you in Russian to professed, I love you, I love you from Ilia. And the. And the holy, holy shit from Shane. So that. That pause, that moment of like, I mean, and then Shane coming through with like, I love you too. And then it's just sort of like, everything's okay. Everything was okay.
- [25:15]
Mallory Rubin
You know, it was so perfect. I. In that I love you moment, the. The pause that you're noting. And then what I really loved was like, does it fucking kill you, too? That's what Shane says. And Ilya's response is, not anymore. And I was like, that's when I, Even though we do then get the tension with this dad spotting, which I had the same. Like, oh, no, because it's the fact that they've been discovered in, like, you know, as Shane says many times, this isn't how I would have wanted you to. To find out. Like, this isn't how I thought this was gonna go. The fact that his dad just, like, leaves, right?
- [25:55]
Joanna Robson
He.
- [25:55]
Mallory Rubin
He walks out, you're like, maybe he'll be standing on the porch. You hear the car turn on. And I'm like, oh, oh, no. My heart was racing and pounding. And, yeah, I think the gratitude that it doesn't mean, like you said, that there aren't going to be challenges and difficult circumstances in the future in season two and beyond. It doesn't mean that there will be. That there won't be other people in their lives inside of hockey, their families, anything else that doesn't go this way.
- [26:23]
Joanna Robson
Right.
- [26:24]
Mallory Rubin
But the fact that the conversation they had at that table was ultimately one of, like, embrace and love. And again, with the humor stitched in.
- [26:37]
Joanna Robson
Of, like, no loyalty to Boston.
- [26:40]
Mallory Rubin
No loyalty to Boston. Like, Ellie, I'm surprised you have such a reputation as a ladies man. You know, I really loved the. When Shane followed his mom outside and he. I mean, it was so heartbreaking because he, she's out there, she's tearing up. And, you know, he. He opens with an apology basically for being who he is. You know, he says, I. I tried really hard, but I just can't help it. And of course, for to, like we talked about last pod, there's this moment that you have that Shane certainly has that readers or viewers would have of, like, not only the fear of what will the response be, how will shame be received by the people closest to it to him in his life, but. But almost like, regardless of what the answer is, the understanding of, like, what his life has been like, where these. His parents obviously love him, they adore him. He's clearly the most important thing in their world. They say to him, like, you know, we thought it was kind of possible that he might be. Yeah, he might be gay.
- [27:35]
Joanna Robson
Yeah.
- [27:35]
Mallory Rubin
It's not like it had never occurred to them or anything, but, you know, that he is like, the pressure that.
- [27:41]
Joanna Robson
That'S followed up with his dad being like, we know you pretty well.
- [27:45]
Mallory Rubin
Pretty well. Like, yeah, we. You're our. You're our son.
- [27:47]
Joanna Robson
You're our boy.
- [27:48]
Mallory Rubin
But that he wasn't sure, like, will that stand? And then, you know, so his mother responding instantly to that, like, you have nothing to. Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one who should be apologizing to you for making you feel like you couldn't tell me who you were.
- [28:06]
Joanna Robson
And that was just lovely. What I loved about that is it's actually quite similar to the conversation that happens between Kit Connor's character and Olivia Colman in Heartstopper. It's a very similar. Her tearfully apologizing to say I'm sorry if I made you feel like you couldn't tell me. Almost identical language from both of these mothers. And like, I love that as a. Like, as a messaging of not like. It feels like steps forward of not like I accept you or I need a beat and I'LL figure out how to tolerate this or whatever. You know, whatever the sort of like earlier versions of these coming out scenes have been and now we're in a space of just sort of like, I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't tell me this earlier is like such a beautiful idea to see represented across these multiple shows. Queer shows in the 2000 and twenties.
- [29:05]
Mallory Rubin
So I, I really agree. And I think like, you know the moment where she's parents ask like, so are you guys just gonna keep this quiet until you retire? And they're both like, probably. And what's their response? That not like, okay, great, good. Where we have a We're on the same page. That's so sad.
- [29:20]
Joanna Robson
And not only once again, my apologies to, you know, Hollander. Like, not only like, my fear was that she would be afraid of the brand. She's like, actually let's.
- [29:29]
Mallory Rubin
I'm gonna reach out to some of the premium brands. They're gonna be thrilled. They're gonna see the.
- [29:34]
Joanna Robson
I was like, wow, what? I know.
- [29:36]
Mallory Rubin
She didn't miss a beat. She's like, we need a statement prepared.
- [29:39]
Joanna Robson
In case something leaks.
- [29:41]
Mallory Rubin
Gonna check in with Rolex while Ilia.
- [29:44]
Joanna Robson
Is shoveling linguini into his face.
- [29:47]
Mallory Rubin
He is the best the wear the, the wearing the Boston Raiders. Shane's like, really? And he's like, they don't know I play for Boston, the pasta, all of it. It's just, you know, also when Shane's.
- [29:56]
Joanna Robson
Like, baby should stay in the car and Ilya is like, it doesn't even say anything. It's just like.
- [30:02]
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Mallory Rubin
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Mallory Rubin
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- [31:32]
Joanna Robson
Front, I want to go back to something which is the burger scene.
- [31:37]
Mallory Rubin
I have a thought on this as well.
- [31:39]
Joanna Robson
Two things. I will lay this out to you. Three things actually. This is my three pronged conversation starter. Number one, friend of the pod, Katie Rich reached out to me to say on the product place in front, she's like generic condiment bottles. Not even product placement money. And I was like, actually I thought that was like a rich person thing that he had like decanted his relish into like bottles that matched the other. But she thinks it's like they didn't have money to pay Heinz or whoever. That being said, there was a pickle. We did get an email when we were talking about the email thing about there was like a.
- [32:13]
Mallory Rubin
The Boston pickles.
- [32:14]
Joanna Robson
A pickle that. That made a its appearance known. Katie and I both agree that the burgers looked terrible. And, and I was thinking about it, I was like, you know what? Shane who's been eating macrobiotic for a decade, I don't think he knows how to cook. And I think he's trying. He needs a burger recipe. He's trying because Ilya made him a tuna melt. And like making food for someone is like a way that you show love and affection and comfort and hosting and all this other stuff like that. And my third point on the subject is to say when they're coming up the walk later talking about what to have for dinner and he's like, do you want hot dogs? I have to defrost them. I was like, frozen hot dogs?
- [32:58]
Mallory Rubin
Yeah, sure. Well, what are we doing? Well, in Shane's defense on the frozen hot dog front, I will just offer up this though this is early in the two weeks still.
- [33:07]
Joanna Robson
They've only been there a couple days.
- [33:09]
Mallory Rubin
I retract the comment before even sharing because it's early enough in the week. But. But I wonder if. So he says one of the very sweet things he says when they're. When he. Because he picks up Ilya from the airport, which was so cute. First of all, like I went grocery shopping so like we don't have to go out There's a practical element to all of this. But also, as you said, like, I'm preparing to host you and make sure you have what you need. And so I wonder if he was just like, I've, I've kind of, I've strategized, I've sketched out the flow of meals for two weeks and like, fresh meat's not gonna last that long. I've gotta put at least some stuff in the freezer. But then Ilya's like, I don't want the leftover pasta, I want the hot dogs.
- [33:46]
Joanna Robson
If he had said, oh, I gotta thaw the chicken. Oh, I gotta thaw the steaks. Oh, I gotta thaw the pork chops. Whatever. Hot dogs.
- [33:55]
Mallory Rubin
This is all fair. This is all fair here. Hot dogs can last in the fridge.
- [33:59]
Joanna Robson
Yeah, this is totally fair.
- [34:01]
Mallory Rubin
I think you're right. That Shade is not a master Chef.
- [34:04]
Joanna Robson
This is my theory. I think Ilya is the chef and Shane is not. Not.
- [34:08]
Mallory Rubin
That's what I, Shane, I think certainly, as you know, he's entered this phase of his career. Obviously they're both loaded. This was the other thing I had been wondering earlier in the. Come back to the burgers in a second. And the product placement, actually. So great shout outs from you because I had another thought about the product placement elsewhere earlier in the season. I actually had, like, I did have a moment on the hockey sports, like, celebrity front where I thought it was, I thought that the absence of a. Their free agents and they have like moved into another tier of wealth was, was. I was surprised, actually. Even if it was just a quick, quick beat, you know that Rosenoff resigns with Boston and Hollander, of course, Reinks with his mom's favorite team, a Metro for life, etc. So when we got the discussion of free agency, my. There's no way they're still on the rookie contracts. Just simply too much time has passed, obviously, with the team captains at this point. Right. The endorsement deals, I mean, they've won the cups, they've both won mvp. Like, we're, we're, you know, we're a decade in here. But to get to the point where this is, you know, Ilya's deal is about to be up again. That, just the math of that. I loved the callback to the. Your real estate fetish really paid off because we've seen the kind of progression of their dwellings. All of that was great. Shane has gotten a stylist. He, I would assume would have a personal chef. I'm just throwing.
- [35:28]
Joanna Robson
Oh, yeah.
- [35:29]
Mallory Rubin
Long since Had a personal chef. Now, that guy wouldn't.
- [35:31]
Joanna Robson
I would say from.
- [35:32]
Mallory Rubin
That person wouldn't be invited to this private retreat.
- [35:34]
Joanna Robson
No, I would say from rookie season, he's had someone making him macrobiotic things in glass Tupperwares that sit in his meal prep. It's meal prepped.
- [35:45]
Mallory Rubin
Yes.
- [35:45]
Joanna Robson
It's refreshed every couple days. He doesn't even talk to this person. It just, it just shows up in his fridge.
- [35:50]
Mallory Rubin
100.
- [35:50]
Joanna Robson
I believe that. But you can be that person, that meal prep person and still have, like a cooking hobby. But Shane, who just sits home alone and reads with his little glasses in bed, you know, among us and drinks ginger ale, is not that guy. So he doesn't know how to, how to store hot dogs in the fridge.
- [36:11]
Mallory Rubin
He doesn't know how to cut the recipe in half to do math.
- [36:13]
Joanna Robson
Exactly.
- [36:14]
Mallory Rubin
It says, great moment. That was very funny. Here's my note on the burgers. In addition to that, there's not. I think this show is just a. An absolute jewel, a gem of a show. There's not a world where two professional hockey players can't eat eight burgers. There's not, there's no way.
- [36:33]
Joanna Robson
Especially since the burgers were not like, massive. They were like, there's no way they.
- [36:37]
Mallory Rubin
Can'T polish off those burgers. There's just no way.
- [36:39]
Joanna Robson
I think that's a great point. Here was Katie's note. She's like, does Canada only have bad burger buttons? So, you know, listen.
- [36:45]
Mallory Rubin
Yeah, these are all, it's all fair feedback. I, I, I, you know, I love a good burger. I love a grilled burger at home. I just want to say that Shane Hollander is living my real estate dreams. We are two of us. We've long since bonded over. We have an ocean.
- [36:59]
Joanna Robson
My main source of crying this episode was like all of the wood inlay and in the very glass, like, lakefront cottage dream. That was this house. Gorgeous.
- [37:11]
Mallory Rubin
I think my only note on the home. And then I do. I will come back to the product placement. My only note on the home. My only note on the home. Primary bedroom. Tad small. That's it, though. Other than that, absolutely perfect.
- [37:25]
Joanna Robson
Well, this is lake house dreams named Cottage. So, you know, maybe he's like, keep the footprint small to preserve cottage.
- [37:35]
Mallory Rubin
That's true.
- [37:36]
Joanna Robson
Yeah.
- [37:36]
Mallory Rubin
The charm and the intimacy. I actually like that because, you know, as we know, it's canon. He had it built.
- [37:41]
Joanna Robson
He did. And I love that progression too. When he, like, says he has it built. We already know that. Ilya knows that. Right. He's like, I know. But then later he like brings up the yoga to be like, yeah, I watched your crib, my guy.
- [37:51]
Mallory Rubin
I needed help falling asleep another year. So boring shot. Just one of the great through lines.
- [37:57]
Joanna Robson
Is it. Is it EA Sports? What's your.
- [37:59]
Mallory Rubin
It is correct. Thank you. Thank you for knowing that.
- [38:02]
Joanna Robson
That would be it.
- [38:02]
Mallory Rubin
Now obviously, as we talked about last pod, this is in the show, not the NHL. The league has a different acronym. However, the fact that this was not just overtly EAS and it wouldn't be NHL. They could have photoshopped the other league day, but the fact that they didn't have the EA Sports on the video game. And Adam, I was really trying. I like tapped in Adam for the video game controller because the EA NHL line, it's PlayStation or Xbox, we didn't get to see the controller in full. From the front, they looked like a more generic. I don't think they had either the game or the console.
- [38:37]
Joanna Robson
Season two.
- [38:38]
Mallory Rubin
So that was the product placement that caught my eye. Season two, Season two, get that in there.
- [38:42]
Joanna Robson
Get on that Stranger Things level of like, we're selling Bugles, baby. Product placement. You deserve it. All right. To talk about this scene that was the source of both of our sort of minor details, the toe to toe sort of moment. And I just want to use it as a. As a moment to really underline something that I've been trying to champion, which is Connor's story is getting a lot of the like attention in this. But I want to talk about Hudson Williams and his glistening tear eyeball action. I.
- [39:17]
Mallory Rubin
It's next level. It's astonishing.
- [39:19]
Joanna Robson
Yeah. Paul Mescal in Normal People like is some of the best cry acting I've ever seen in my life. But. Yeah, but Kara Waldron is like a weeper, right? Shane Hollander is a. I'm not showing you my emotion, except I have a tell, which is that my eyeballs are gleaming. Right. And I talked about this with Richard. This was like one of my favorite moments in the. In the scene in the bathroom when they're both at the. At the awards ceremony and. And they have this exchange and Ilya walks out and Shane just like gently wipes the tears from under his eyes, but they're not like streaming down his face. And so I think Shane thinks that he is playing it very cool when Ilya says, I could marry Svetlana, you know, for the passport. And you know, and he's like, oh, interesting, you know, and of re watching the episodes as I just did in the last like 48 hours to get Diana caught up. There's just, like, so many moments of that for both of them where it's just sort of like, Rose Landry. She. Is that why you've got a personal stylist? Like, what's. What's going on?
- [40:34]
Mallory Rubin
This, like, you jealous?
- [40:35]
Advertisement Voice
Yeah.
- [40:36]
Joanna Robson
Burning jealousy that they're both trying to play off is not something that they're, like, entitled to, but. But inside of that scene, because that scene ends with the toe touch, as you mentioned. But also the, like, don't marry Svetlana. We'll figure something out. Like, finally, he feels entitled to say something in. In episode four, when Ilya's like, you know, I like girls. They're beautiful and they like me. I fuck all of them, you know? And Shane's like, yeah, I know. Great, great. Yeah, I also like girls. Like, whatever. And now he can just be like, don't marry Svetlana. Like, we'll figure it out. And then he will sit up all night to figure out an elaborate plan that involves Ottawa and a char. All these other things. But that just, like, I really think Hudson is getting overlooked a little bit for the subtler work that he's doing. I think they're both extraordinary, but I just want to make sure that Hudson is not going unnoticed for the work that he's doing here.
- [41:32]
Mallory Rubin
So cosign. I think they're both sensational. And, you know, again, I think the fact that we started with them in very different places and have watched their respective endshare journeys has just been one of the more rewarding parts of the show. You know, even, like, we talked about this a lot last week, but it felt so present in this episode too. Like, Shane, obviously, we saw this in episodes four and five. Ilia was the one who started this all. And if not for. As we talked about last pod, where he's from Russia, the fact that he has that hanging over me says to Shane last episode, I could never go home. That he, from the. The start of the show, the start of the story, was more ready to say, this is who I am and this is what I want, than Shane was. Shane's journey is the journey of discovery. And Shane is the one, though, inside of the evolution of their relationship, who gets to the point a little sooner where he's like, what are we gonna do about this? And so then the balance of that across the episodes in the season. And it felt really perfect to me then, because that's where we were with Shane, that Ilya was the one who said, I love you. First, and it's just this, like, beautiful choreography and rhythm and dance, like, that feels true life to me.
- [42:50]
Joanna Robson
You know, who's like, who's the one step in front of the other person in any given scene? And that they've sort of just been doing this, like, two steps forward, two steps forward movement over, as you said, a decade. Yeah.
- [43:03]
Mallory Rubin
And like, you know, summer before, let's be honest, you know, summer before. Exactly.
- [43:08]
Joanna Robson
And.
- [43:08]
Mallory Rubin
But then Ilya is the one who says boyfriend first. And in front of Shane's parents, it's like, it's all perfect. I really agree. I think that the. That Hudson's performance and the what he is conveying with a look or an eye glisten is very, very powerful and gripping. And like, there's a magnetism for us as viewers and certainly obviously also for Ilya. The scenes, you know, that same scene that you're identifying where he's saying, don't marry. Don't marry Svetlana. I love that. What is paired with that performance from Hudson Williams and what we're seeing from Sheen in the scene, which is, as you just beautifully articulated this, like, what can. What am I showing? And what is someone else able to, like, clock about how I feel? But what is Ilya saying to him in that moment? It's like, yeah, like, you know, here's the problem with all of these other women that I could marry. It's not just they're not you. You could just say, they're not you. But that's not what he does. Right. I'm always thinking about this slow hockey player with beautiful freckles and a weak backhand.
- [44:09]
Joanna Robson
Like, the.
- [44:10]
Mallory Rubin
It's just these boring car. Right? He's like.
- [44:13]
Joanna Robson
But beautiful freckles.
- [44:14]
Mallory Rubin
Beautiful freckles like you. That's a thing you say about a person you are deeply, deeply, deeply in love with. So that's all. That's just all great.
- [44:24]
Joanna Robson
One other thing I want to mention is upon rewatch is, you know, we get these two conversations about Ilia's mom inside of this episode. The sort of telling him about her, about how her mental health issues, about. I don't want you to think she was weak. She was so beautiful. She was so funny. Like, you know, this is just someone who was so important to him. That was taken from him when he was 12. And then, like, we've seen his brother, we've seen his father. Like, he was just left without that source of, like, warmth and love and kindness. Like, since then. And then later when Shane is like, basically, like, we can Have a. Our charity be like, sort of basically in her honor. Connor Story's livery of like, she would have loved you just absolutely destroyed me. But rewatching it, there's an early in. I think it's episode four or five. I think it's five, actually. When. When Shane asks about. About his mom and he just says, like, she died. I was young, like, keeping it really. Like, this is the amount of information you have access to. And also inside of those episodes, the, like, you asked too many questions shut down from Ilia to Shane. So that progression of, like, ask your questions. I will tell you the. These. You are now allowed inside of this boundary that I drawn around myself and like, basically Svetlana, you know, like, inside of my life. And so I just. Just. I thought that was like a really beautiful. Again, like, deepening of intimacy between two people.
- [46:08]
Mallory Rubin
So, yeah, same. I. That was one of my favorite parts of. Of the finale. I. I've already mentioned the. The I love you moment a few times. And I think the way that. That Ilia initially turned away, you know, because he's like, is that what you want?
- [46:21]
Joanna Robson
Right?
- [46:21]
Mallory Rubin
Right, that we. Oh, is that what you want?
- [46:22]
Joanna Robson
And I was like. I was like, is he gonna reject this? Like, is that what you want? Is he like. And then it was the other. It was the opposite.
- [46:31]
Mallory Rubin
And, like, turning away because he doesn't want it. He's not even. Right then for just another microsecond, like, can he see the tears? And then when Shane grabs his face and turns to. It turns his face toward him again and they kiss. And the way he kind of chokes out that I love you. That was breathtaking to me. This. The quiet whisper of she would have loved you. Like, like, that was when I was like, I really should win an Emmy. Like, you really should. So I agree. I think both performances are incredible. I think I thought that, like, some.
- [47:03]
Joanna Robson
Of the deliveries from.
- [47:04]
Mallory Rubin
From Connor Story in this episode were just, like, really, really, really powerful. And I love what you're saying, and I agree. It's like, you know, again, they've known each other for so long, but that's part of how we understand. And I love the.
- [47:17]
Joanna Robson
The.
- [47:19]
Mallory Rubin
We as viewers are learning something new about Ilia, too, that is helping to inform and shape our understanding, like, of. Of his experience and his loss, why.
- [47:28]
Joanna Robson
He'S an asshole, who he is and.
- [47:30]
Mallory Rubin
Why he is the way he is. And, like, you know, for Shane to be able to understand him more deeply and for Ilya, as you know, to be ready to share that with Him. It's just. And I liked that, like, Ilia's family and his mother then is, like, she's present in this experience with them. Because so much of the episode obviously orients around Shane and his parents and his family, so.
- [47:53]
Joanna Robson
But also, like, yeah, watching Ilia at the table within Shane's parents and, like, like, being able to, like, talk to Shane's dad about the vodka or whatever, you know, you could just, like, see the future, you know, and then they're gonna, like, have chicken and salad and beer together, and you just, like, see a future where Ilya is welcomed into this family and has, like, that family that was. That warmth and comfort and intimacy that had been denied, you know, by his shitty brother and. And his father. I'm gonna wrap up pretty. Pretty soon. I just want to hit a couple of things before we go. First of all, I want to say.
- [48:27]
Mallory Rubin
Window blowjob, phone call. No, that's not where you're going. Okay, carry on.
- [48:31]
Joanna Robson
Both incredible stuff. I mean, the window being like, no, we're not pulling the shades. Not what we're doing. But I just want to. We got a ton of emails and. And the most popular subject, actually was the needle drop in episode five was, like, something that people were really, really struck by. And I thought that was really interesting. It was, like, a reason Justin Sayles told us he was, like, watching Heated Rivalry was the Wolf Parade needle drop that plays for Scott and Kim, which, upon rewatch, is the song that Scott is listening to in his earbuds when he runs into this movie shop for the first time. Like, when. When episode three started on my rewatch, I was like, oh, it's the song. It's. It's Scott and Kip's song here at the beginning that Elena in episode three says to Scott, quote, he deserves sunshine and so do you. Which is, like, you know, the. The refrain of that Neil Job. And I agree with, like, all the people who are writing in about that song, which Jacob Tierney has talked about as a song that, like, has been very important to him and his life. This is a very, like, Canadian. I think Canadian sleaze is the. Is the genre of. Of music that I've seen it identified as. Anyway, we did a Musical Moments episode on the House of Our feed recently, and that wasn't about needle drops. That was about sort of, like, more diegetic music. But if we were to do a needle drop, maybe not of the quarter century, but I would say of. Of this TV needle drops of this decade, I would be tempted to put this on there because this is such a perfect selection of a song that now forever I will hear and think about this TV moment. You know, with love and respect to the tattoo needle drop. I already had my associations with tattoo so like that's taken. But this I'll believe in anything by Wolf Parade needle drop I just think is I, I loved how many emails we got about it. I thought that was like pretty extraordina. We also got an email from a listener who just like wanted to enumerate nitpick all the thing in lovingly nitpick all the things that's wrong with the hockey. And I'm not, I'm not going to go into it because I have some pressing horny questions for you, but I just want to say this is exactly the kind of email that I love to get prestige TV@Spotify.com when I get like expertise from someone and they're like, well actually those helmets. Well actually those sticks. Well actually this with love with like a loving celebration of the show. It was great email. Thank you, Christian. Okay, so here's my question for you, Mali Ruben, these are two actually sneaky three questions here for you. At the end of all things, the two that we prepared is number one, what is your favorite moment of yearning of the season other than us for.
- [51:10]
Mallory Rubin
The the lakefront cabin? You know, certainly Scott looking up in the stands after winning the cup and seeing Kip and deciding to call him down as tough to top. But for me, the answer is also from episode five. It's the phone call. It's the, the yearning in both directions. The emotion in Ilya's voice as he speaks in Russian and shares all of his deepest thoughts and desires in Russian, but not yet in English. And Shane, his face, his closed eyes, the concentration, the fact that in that moment it is so clear that the thing they both want more than anything in the world is each other and their not quite, quite quite yet able to say that out loud. That is just this beautiful portrait of the yearning tendrils, that desire, the longing to be with someone else.
- [52:05]
Joanna Robson
Mine is, I think yours is the right choice, I will say. On rewatch Ilia's complete crash out over the Roselandry. Shane, like tabloid stuff. And when he gets off the exercise bike it's like like stubs his toe and just like screams about it because he's like so ups and he's like stub my. Stub my toe. Right? But he's just like so mad about this thing about yearning for someone who's in the Public spotlight. So you have to, like, see all of this. I just thought that was really good. And then. Mallory Rubin, professional horny person. Favorite sex scene or horniest moment of the season.
- [52:46]
Mallory Rubin
Boy, crowded field of. What a gift this show was on the. This is Vice front. This is why.
- [52:52]
Joanna Robson
I mean, here.
- [52:54]
Mallory Rubin
Here are your.
- [52:55]
Joanna Robson
No, you have, like a whole mount. I was gonna say your twin sort of pillars of strength, but you have, like, a whole mountain range of strength. So it's hard for me to narrow it down to two, but I will say access to emotion and horniness are like, among your many, many, many skills. And so this show is just sort of, like, built for you. And this is why people demanded your presence here on the feed. So, yeah. Sex scene of the season. Horniest moment, Mallory.
- [53:18]
Mallory Rubin
Oh, God. Thank you for saying that. I'm going to update my business cards, or I would if I. If I would if I had them. Professional horny person. Okay, so I. I'll take the. I'll take the prompts separately in two parts. The horniness and the sex scenes. Obviously, horniest moments and sex scenes are certainly entwined, but I'll. I'll actually. Actually, I'll take them separately.
- [53:39]
Joanna Robson
Oh, a smuggle for a reason.
- [53:40]
Mallory Rubin
I'll explain. For a horniest moment, I'm gonna just go with the. The first two episodes, like, the early stretch, you know, that first, like, legs open wide, sweaty water bottle sharing scene into the shower sequence.
- [53:58]
Joanna Robson
I think it's summer before rookie season. Sweaty neck, like the camera just, like, lingering on the sweat. Aud's neck essentially pulse in the nec. Glisten. I would say that's like one of Jacob Tierney's horniest moments. Like, real horny camera work from Jacob Tierney. Really good stuff.
- [54:17]
Mallory Rubin
The show doesn't cease being horny from there, but I think that's tough to top as the pick for horniest woman. Okay. For, like, favorite sex scene. I.
- [54:27]
Joanna Robson
It.
- [54:28]
Mallory Rubin
I'd like to thank you for. For what you just said about the. The twin pillars or mountain range. It's apt because my selections for sex scenes will track that progression. I am going both early and late here for that very reason. The thing that I loved so much about this show, but I think the way it's obviously just again, very, like, erotic and sexy and thrilling to watch the sex scenes across the season. I think the way that we evolved from lust into love, not that lust ceased being present when love entered the chat, but that. That. That organic evolution inside of the relationship that you could then feel in the intimate moments, was really really, really expertly deployed. So on the sex scene front, episode two had a couple Alzheimer's. Had many Alzheimer's. But the journey of discovery.
- [55:24]
Joanna Robson
If people are unfamiliar with Mallory's work on House of Our. This is classic where she's just like, I'm just gonna run through them.
- [55:30]
Mallory Rubin
Smuggle City.
- [55:31]
Joanna Robson
I won't.
- [55:31]
Mallory Rubin
I won't chronicle them all, actually. Believe it or not. But the. In episode two, the. You know, we have a lot of. A lot of sexy time in. In episode one. But then in episode two, we take the next step, right? And Shane's first time, that scene was just really, really memorable and really, really great. Then, of course, in that same episode, at the end of the episode, we get the post award show. Ilya in the chair drinking, Shane in bed across from him. And Ilya saying, touch yourself. Show off for me. I want to watch you that stretch at the beginning of the season on the. Just the lust and like, we need to fuck and we need to tear each other's clothes off and we need to touch.
- [56:15]
Joanna Robson
I saw a social media post of a fan who had had a T shirt made of that scene and then had met Hudson Williams and showed him the shirt that was just like Ilia in the chair and Shane on the bed. And I think Hudson Williams said something like, oh, I'm touching my asshole. Or like something.
- [56:33]
Mallory Rubin
Psychotic. The best. So that obviously has to be here. And I think this journey across the episodes from I need to touch you, I want to explore you, but also I want to help you understand and discover, like, who you are and what you want into. I know you, you and you know yourself. Which is where we are in episodes four, five, and six. The episode four couch scene, the post tuna melt scene where Shane leaves immediately after what that represented for, like, where they were with each other and where their relationship had gotten to and what it meant for Shane and what.
- [57:14]
Joanna Robson
And. And what.
- [57:15]
Mallory Rubin
What he was like, how he was processing that just I. Very memorable.
- [57:20]
Joanna Robson
I would like to identify that couch scene as. As a real moment in my rewatch this last couple days with Diana because I like, paused it and I was like, I would like you to tell me what you believe is going on here. And then. And then we were both like, we're just sort of like trying to. With our hands figure out. Exactly. I understand that this is a thing. I knew that. But like, to. I've never seen it done personally. And so to like, even though this very Canadian. It's on hbo, but it's a Canadian show, has not shown us Full frontal on anyone. That's okay, I don't need it. But like, so it's all out of frame. So then we're just getting like implications in that particular moment. But it was just like a really funny like pause. Let's have a conversation about the mechanics of what's happening right now that I would like to identify as one of the hornier moments of the show, but a very emotional, especially intimate moment as well. The first, the first trading of the first name sort of moment.
- [58:23]
Mallory Rubin
Yeah, that was great. What, what are, what are your picks?
- [58:25]
Joanna Robson
I mean, I think it's the, you know, the, the scene that sent me to urbandictionary.com to figure out what the. What the phrase that I should be using here is. So. Yeah, I mean, what a great fucking show. I also say I really, really enjoyed the artistry of the. Elia is jacking off in the shower. Shane is trying to have sex with Rose. But they're like staring down at the.
- [58:50]
Mallory Rubin
End of episode four that was, you.
- [58:51]
Joanna Robson
Know, cut across so they're really like each other even though they're not each other. I thought that was like a really good moment. Any, like briefly again, we're running a little long, but briefly. Any season two thoughts, feelings, wishes, desires that you want to share.
- [59:10]
Mallory Rubin
Just that it start tomorrow.
- [59:12]
Joanna Robson
Okay.
- [59:12]
Mallory Rubin
Like, I know that's not possible. I know that's not what will happen and that we will likely definitely be waiting until 2027 to resume our time.
- [59:23]
Joanna Robson
I will say this. They churn out. They have churned out seasons of Letterkenny and seasons of Shorzy. So there is a non zero chance.
- [59:32]
Mallory Rubin
Late 2026 that we could get.
- [59:34]
Joanna Robson
Especially since it's like that'd be great. Six episodes made. You know, I mean the budget will increase, but made rather cheaply. Like I think Jacob Tierney could give us this for Christmas 2026 if he wanted to.
- [59:47]
Mallory Rubin
What a gift that would be. So, yeah, I just can't wait to.
- [59:49]
Joanna Robson
Meet you want the Ottawa, Ottawa, Montreal sort of.
- [59:53]
Mallory Rubin
Yes, I do.
- [59:54]
Joanna Robson
Yeah.
- [59:54]
Mallory Rubin
I guess I'll have to decide if I'm going to read the books in between, which I think we should. You know, I. I think we probably. I think probably we should. Not only should we, we will. I think we will. I. Maybe we'll start tonight. So that'll be a different experience, which will be fun. And I feel like the, you know that Hudson and Connor are just going to be in our, like our lives every minute until until then, which is great. You know, they're both so famous so quickly which is really fun and really well deserved. They're on the COVID of the Hollywood Reporter. They have a GQ hype issue. Like, it's all happening and it's amazing to watch. So I hope not only that season two is with us soon. I can't wait to be back with them and continue their story. But I'm also like, you know, you, you, you and Richard started talking about this in your mid season check in. Like, the casting directors are paying attention. What else are they going to be in? How quickly are they going to be in our lives? And other things. Like, it's just been wonderful and you know, then we get on the tyranny front. We get another season of Shoresy soon. Like, it's great.
- [60:47]
Joanna Robson
We're living. I want to say, I want to flag when Shane was no bad ideas in a brainstorm. Brainstorming what their charity should be. And he was like a summer camp. Camp for kids, essentially.
- [61:02]
Mallory Rubin
Yep.
- [61:03]
Joanna Robson
And then thinking about that scene with Ilia with the kids in the pool and like, how like actually very charming that was. And thinking about Ilia, Ilia's, you know, relationship with his niece. Like, I'm gonna have a trust for my niece when Svetlan, when he's packing. Svetlana is like, remember the things for your niece. So like, Ilya and kids is like a thing that I'm excited to see more of this like, really sweet, like, side of him that was like oddly touching in the pool but like while teasing Shane at the same time, like when, when that pool scene happened. And so just like that being something that they do every year together as, as a possibility is very exciting for me. More Scott and Kip, other characters from the series being introduced. I was talking to Katie and she was saying like, because earlier she's like, I don't see how they do a season two. And then she saw the finale. She's like, okay, I see how they do a season two. She was like, but how do you recapture the like, will they, won't they. The yearning, the like first sexy, like, you know, all that sort of stuff like that. And it's like, it's true that that kind of tension is out of the story, but can you capture it with another, like, new couple from the series? That's like part of it. While we continue to get. Be emotionally invested in, in Shane and Ilya. Yeah.
- [62:31]
Mallory Rubin
But also, like, what is it like for them to take that next step in their relationship?
- [62:34]
Joanna Robson
No, all of that is like, good and interesting. But if he didn't rivalry has a reputation of like, here's the horny yearning show. That's a little different than perhaps, but maybe all the book readers are sitting at home being like, you don't know what the you're talking about. I've read the second Ilia and Shane book and I know it's great and I'm sure it is. Okay. Thank you, Bali Rubin.
- [62:54]
Mallory Rubin
Thank you.
- [62:55]
Joanna Robson
Happy holidays. If you want more from us, we've been covering stranger things over on House of R. We also got some like end of year stuff that we did on that feed. So we spend hours and hours and hours every week talking to each other. So my understanding from Justin is that these heated rivalry episodes have been perhaps an exposure to a new audience that have not been listening to the Prestige TV feed. Is public possible. So if you've never. This is a thing we do. We talk to each other a lot. It's called House of R. It's a great podcast. You should go listen to it. Thank you to Devin for working on these heated rivalry episodes. Absolute legend. Experiencing heated rivalry by listening to us talk about it rather than watching it. My apologies for that. Thank you to Justin Sales, you know, for catching up with heated rivalry and all, all the rest. And as I mentioned, Rob and I are wrapping up pluris. We might have like an extra plurus episode for the end of the year. We'll see. And we'll see you all in this feed in the new year for the pit and industry and everything else that's coming in January. All right, bye.
- [64:19]
Mallory Rubin
I want a new beginning for our.
- [64:21]
Joanna Robson
Family on January 9th.
- [64:22]
Mallory Rubin
The sequel to Greenland is so massive you have to see it on the big screen. A promise, no Gifts to safety.
- [64:28]
Joanna Robson
Starring Gerard Butler and Marina Baccarin. Oh, my God. Hang on. Greenland 2 migration. Rated PG 13.
- [64:34]
Mallory Rubin
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