Let’s take a moment to compare and contrast these two bathroom scenes, which are about 5 minutes apart in episode 2.
These scenes are all about trust.
The scene with Sasha is taking place in a hotel suite bathroom because, in Russia, that’s one area Ilya is less likely to be under surveillance. It’s also pristine, opulent, comfortable. It looks like it smells great. Ilya is speaking his native language. Once Sasha and Ilya are alone together, Sasha starts complaining in a sarcastic way about how Ilya hasn’t kept in touch. He tries making him jealous. He comes on to Ilya oh so smooth, never drops the flirtatious, too-cool party boy persona. Ilya rejects him firmly but with no hard feelings - a big blowup means risk, and it isn’t meaningful enough to Ilya. There is a long history between these two but not real trust, only an understanding of mutually assured destruction (“we have same secret”). Sasha’s dad isn’t mentioned but he’s a sort of invisible danger in the room.
Skip to the MLH awards bathroom. Filthy, grey, bad lighting. Shane also starts complaining about how Ilya hasn’t kept in touch - but unlike Sasha he is full of emotion, unable to hide his hurt feeling, not even trying to hide. He loses his cool (was never cool to begin with), propositions Ilya by accident, blurting out an insult that Ilya turns back around on him, calling out the transparent want behind it and telling him to voice it directly. Shane makes himself so vulnerable, and Ilya has to pull that thread and unravel just a little bit more. When he says no to Shane they are curled close together, faces touching, and Ilya knows when Shane says “what?” that he’s really listening for an explanation, that there is this directness and trust between them that makes all this teasing meaningful. Once a firm (heh) sex plan is in place they go back to fondly ribbing each other about Ilya’s English and Shane’s boring dad.
It’s just. Brilliant writing. Okay that’s all. Bye.
