time for my hot take thesis on episodes 1 & 2 of heated rivalry (spoilers ahead).
For context: I first read the GCU books for the first time last year, and have subsequently re-read Heated Rivalry and The Long Game in particular a handful of times. Ilya and Shane's love story is one I could wax poetic about for days on end (and have, honestly) - I was invested in them from the first page of Heated Rivalry and have loved their love story for a good chunk of time (though admittedly not as long as some others have).
I'll also say this to acknowledge something else off the bat: adaptations have to make concessions - there's virtually no way around that. Now that those two things are out of the way - let's dig in, shall we?
I don't want to say I'm disappointed in the first two episodes, per se, because there was SO much that was fantastic about them. I mean, the elevator stopping and Yuna being right there about took me out. The stairway kiss outside Shane's apartment. The Scott Hunter of it all. And really, so much more I'm happy with.
That being said, something just fell flat for me, and that was how Shane was written. To be clear, I love Hudson Williams' portrayal of him thus far, and this is not a critique on how he plays Shane (I actually think he's a really perfect Shane) with the material he's been given. His micro expressions are just off the charts, and he and Connor's chemistry should be fucking illegal. Like give the man an Emmy (give both him and Connor an Emmy right now, actually).
Something that has always connected me to Shane, however, is his internal struggles. He agonizes over whether and how and if he should be with Ilya for so long, and despite that agony, Shane keeps going back to Ilya, over and over. And we see the emotional fallout of him going back to Ilya, over and over.
And it's not that we don't see Shane struggle in the show. We do - just look at after they hook up for the first time and Shane asks Ilya "you're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?" or meeting at Shane's building for the first time when he insists Ilya come inside in only to immediately ask him what the fuck Ilya was thinking sexting him before their game, or (and this scene may warrant a whole new thesis on yearning) VEGAS 2014 BATHROOM SCENE.
Sure, there's only so much a visual adaptation can do to portray internal monologues like the ones within the book, and I actually think the use of texts was a really clever way to do it (kick me straight in the teeth with "we didn't even kiss" being slowly deleted after Shane leaves Ilya's hotel room in Vegas, why don't you), but this on-camera version of Shane still reads and feels cockier, more confident, and seemingly less conflicted when he and Ilya do actually hook up, and eventually have sex that's more than just a blowjob or handjob.
I feel like the first years of their relationship/situationship/whatever you want to call it are just so formative in the book, especially because of how Shane basically tortures himself about being with Ilya. He doesn't let Ilya into his Montreal apartment the entirety of Heated Rivalry - the first time in that book where Ilya is in a space of Shane's own (that wasn't bought for the sole purpose of them hooking up) is the cottage, and that's not until the very end.
From the adaptation perspective, we got Ilya coming into Shane's home by episode two. It just feels that despite the show alluding to them never hooking up over a period of three years (and seemingly doing nothing but sexting/exchanging banter via text in that whole time, which, do not get me started on that), Shane has already fallen for Ilya (the aftermath of their first tryst while Shane holds Ilya and proceeds to be incredibly tender is what makes me lean that way, not to mention the aforementioned Vegas bathroom scene where you can see how Shane almost immediately falls into Ilya once he's close enough to touch after not hearing from him for six months- you cannot tell me that Shane is not down bad).
And from a timeline perspective, we got six years of their story crammed in two episodes, so even though there's not as many ways to show just how much agonizing Shane goes through in the books, this is where I think the narrative the show presents to viewers suffers and feels rushed to me. It's pretty clear the adaptation is going to focus heavily on the later part of the books into the last three episodes, starting specifically with Rose Landry.
I do think overall that the show is faithful to the spirit of the books (I mean, top notch banter, said insane chemistry between Connor and Hudson, and obviously there was no holding back when it came to any of the sex scenes? May your pillow always be cold, Jacob Tierney.), and even if it doesn't seem like it - I am excited to see what the next four episodes bring.
