#bfgpost

[bridferchglyn]

“Yuna Hollander POV” this, “Imagine you’re Yuna Hollander” that… Valid, valid. But let’s shine a glorious light on DAVID Hollander for a minute.

Imagine you’ve spent most of your son’s teen and adult life supporting the hell out of him and your wife as they jointly steer his career into the astral plane of international hockey stardom. You’re so proud of him, but you also worry that the focus of his life may be too narrow. You gently encourage him to smell the roses - go down Youtube rabbit holes (whatever those are), take a holiday to London, maybe even date? After years of only surface-level relationships, he develops a true friend in Hayden Pike, and you breathe a sigh of relief. He shows an interest in real estate and design, and you’re delighted to encourage him.

You’re thrilled when he gets a girlfriend after so many years alone. When they seem to break up but remain on good terms, this fuels your growing suspicion that he might be gay. Then Scott Hunter kisses his boyfriend on the ice. Shane immediately takes a call and comes back with a giddy smile on his face. That’s really all the confirmation you need.

You gently break this to Yuna (I love how the show changes that “we know you pretty well, Shane” line from her to him, because it matches characterisation they’ve added to David as an insightful father and husband). Yuna immediately wants to talk to Shane about it & make contingency plans for how it might affect his life & career if true, because she loves her kid & wants to cover all bases ASAP, but you talk her down. “Let him come to us,” you say.

Shane tells you he’s doing a silent retreat for his time off this year, but you need to charge your phone, and it’ll be good to check in on him (you always worry about him being too isolated, too lonely). So you head over only to be… well, astonished to see him kissing his arch-rival with an easy familiarity. Shit, shit, you should NOT be here. You panic & leave - let him come to you (Shane’s flight response is also inherited).

Just as you and Yuna are discussing whether you should go back to the cottage, he does come over. With Rozanov. You’re a bit shellshocked, and the whole thing is awkward as hell at first, but also… Rozanov looks at your son like he hung the moon, talks him down from a panic attack, and it turns out they’ve been doing this for almost ten years. The same ten years that you spent encouraging Shane to pursue happiness and live a full life. Of course it breaks your heart that he felt like he had to do it in secret, but he still did it.

That’s your boy.

[bridferchglyn]

There are plenty of reasons to be obsessed with Heated Rivalry, but the one I can’t get over is the JOY of finally seeing sex scenes taken seriously as interactions. As a way to convey thoughts, feelings, neuroses, fears and deep fondness between characters. It’s so rare & gorgeous to see on TV.

The way Shane always folds his clothes. The dropping of eyes and minute twitch at the corner of Connor Storrie’s mouth as Ilya notices but chooses not to make fun of him for it. The hypnotic state Shane gets in when he’s close enough to Ilya, the total mask-dropping when Ilya Ice Princess Rozanov is fucking Canada’s Golden Boy, probably-too-good-for-me Shane Hollander. These aren’t just smutty treats for a horny audience to bring in ratings, they’re ALL character moments.

The actors, the director, the whole team on the show just GETS it. Truly a masterpiece.

[bridferchglyn]

“Is he okay? Fucking tell me!”

“Go to your bench, Rozanov. I’m not going to tell you again.”

There are a million reasons why the concussion scene works, but what hit me the hardest is that it emphasises one of the biggest costs of being closeted: Not being considered Next of Kin.

If Ilya was Shane’s acknowledged partner, he would be given information immediately and supported to follow Shane to the hospital. Instead, he drifts backwards on his skates, all alone in an arena where the only person who understands why he *needs* to know is unconscious.

This has been the cost of the closet for as long as queer people have lived under the radar. Partners get injured, or die, and the love of their life isn’t “family” enough to be in the room. In that moment, Ilya understands so much more about what’s at stake.

[bridferchglyn]

Bridgerton S4’s treatment of the upstairs-downstairs issues and dynamic is just brilliant.

Yerin Ha really anchors it as Sophie Baek, and I adore the way Jess Brownell et al use her role as a POV character to introduce a whole expanded world & style of shooting that world, whilst still tying it into the Bridgerton style. It feels less like a “new world” and more like an extension of the world that we’ve just never seen before, still beautiful but also more grounded.

The way the background characters of the past 3 seasons become POV characters? GOD, it did something to me. Really highlighted the way servants are mostly furniture in the world of the upper class. Gorgeous work.

We finally get to see the Bridgertons as mostly spoiled and a bit useless, whilst remaining as loveable and complex as ever. Ben is WILDLY naïve about basically anything practical, and particularly about Sophie’s position in society. This is treated as his arc to overcome, alongside his own fundamental mismatch with the Expectations of Society (TM). Perfect use of the conventions of the romantic male lead to explore class themes.

The mistress issue is SO well done. The highlighting through Sophie’s backstory that being a mistress is a second-rate relationship that does not guarantee permanent safety for women or their children, versus the way it is presented to Ben by other rich men as a way to find genuine love without disappointing his mother. The scene where we get the big romantic swelling and confession of love, and then Ben asks Sophie to be his MISTRESS?! And he means it so sincerely, not having a clue how un-romantic that offer is? I love you Jess Brownell, this is wonderful narrative work.

Also, and this could easily be a whole post in itself: THE MAID WARS.

The whole team are exploring labour rights, consent and class issues with a far more unflinching approach than I expected. It’s still Brigerton — optimistic, tongue in cheek, fun, stylised and beautiful — but it’s also more mature, more grounded, and better for it.

GOD I love the romance genre when it’s done right.

[bridferchglyn]

Some serious projection going on from people calling Svetlana & Ilya a “situationship”.

They are loving, platonic friends who have sex! This is a real thing that adults do, especially queer adults. Nobody’s fucking around on anyone else, being unclear or secretly yearning, ok? Acting like Ilya is playing with Svetlana’s heart does such a disservice to both of their characters.

[bridferchglyn]

Jacob Tierney delivering 4 episodes in a row with multiple narratively relevant, hot as fuck sex scenes & then episode 5 has NONE AT ALL and is still just as good in a way that is like… tonally & aesthetically cohesive?!?! But also introduces new elements such as our two idiot heroes actually communicating & comforting each other, the profound, heart-healing hope of Scott Hunter kissing Kip Grady on the ice, and me bawling over a man confessing love in Russian?

Unbelievable vision and execution. A generational talent.

[bridferchglyn]

Ilya Rozanov: Staring at an unconscious Shane Hollander in gut-frozen horror.

Hayden Pike: Target acquired, frenzy initiated, snarling and barking at Marleau like a feral lapdog.

[bridferchglyn]

“Things and stuff can be tricky for me.” Autistic Shane Hollander coming out twice in one evening, good for him.