The use of screens and technology in heated rivalry is genuinely so interesting because they represent such different things for each character. For Ilya, they are a sort of escape, a window into what he wants but feels he can’t have and in this way, also a reminder of and confrontation with what he lacks. He’s either shown sitting in a dark room, watching TV alone to further represent his loneliness (watching the NYE celebrations in ep 1, watching Shane do his post-game interview asking him what it’s like to be perfect, watching the cottage documentary) or surrounded by lots of people, being confronted with things he is not allowed to react to in the way he wants to, thereby separating him from those around him by having to stifle his emotions (when he’s being shown the rose & Shane news or watching the gossip segment on TV or even scrolling through comments about them, he’s always in public, surrounded by lots of people, mainly his teammates).
Shane is mostly shown looking at his phone, I think the only shot we get of him watching tv (besides when he’s watching hockey - though I’ll get into that) is when he’s waiting for Ilya before their first hook-up, when he’s nervous. Whereas for Ilya, screens are an escape or a confrontation, I’d postulate that to Shane, they don’t symbolize the same thing (he does turn the TV off, since the distraction is not working for him). They are just as ambivalent for Shane, though in a different way; for him, they act as a mirror. They represent both his most private desires and his curated public image. A good example of that is when we see him reading comments about himself and rose after yet another failed attempt at intimacy with her, checking that the public image is still intact even though he is failing at actually playing the part in private. The only other time I can recall him looking at his phone (when not texting, but watching something) is when he watches Ilya’s interview in episode 1, which of course represents the hidden desire. Something we see from Shane a lot as well is typing out things he doesn’t actually send thereby voicing his deepest desires/wishes/concerns - “we’re about to play a game against each other, are you trying to fuck with me”, “we didn’t even kiss”. Not only that, we see him re-reading his and Ilya’s old chat multiple times - both in Sochi (waiting for a reply to the “are u okay?” text) and after messaging Rose in the locker room, when he scrolls down to Lily’s chat just to look at their old messages.
Another significant moment is of course Shane watching Ilya win the cup surrounded by his teammates. Here, we have two of his deepest desires wrapped up into one playing out in front of him - excelling at hockey and Ilya. Still, he can’t lose himself in the moment, all too aware of having to uphold the image, surrounded by his teammates (a good contrast to this is Ilya watching Shane win the cup, alone in a dark room again, during the ep 4 montage. We see him the second time with friends, though he’s more obviously playful and admitting to his desires - “it should have been me” rather than trying to suppress them. At the same time, Shane is slightly more earnest in his moment, saying Ilya is the best player and actually meaning it).
This of course all culminates in the big Scott&Kip kiss moment, which Shane & Ilya also witness through a screen. That this is the moment setting both of them free, is evident when you look at the way technology was used until then and after then. Whereas Shane used it to hide his true self as well as try (and fail) to admit to his deepest desires, Shane now witnesses someone’s carefully curated image be shattered in favor of allowing himself to live without fear and follow his heart. Meanwhile though for Ilya, screens showcased his loneliness and confronted him with everything he thought he couldn’t have, this is the moment actually making his deepest wish possible, motivating him to actually follow his heart as well (“I’m coming to the cottage”).
In episode 6, with them spending so much time together, they’re rarely on their phones. We see them sitting on opposite ends of the couch staring at their phones in the “I could marry Svetlana scene” which is fitting, but other than that, they are mostly present and in the moment, which of course also leads to them being outed (“your phones on the table, it’s been ringing all morning”). Shane forgets about protecting his image and that is when it comes shattering to the ground pretty violently.
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