The Reel Rejects - Heated Rivalry Episode 6 Review Aaron Andrew

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Starting point is 00:00:45 So yeah, we'll get it up and ready, Erushige. All right, let's rock and roll. All right, guys, well, that was the finale for season one, episode six of heated rivalry. If you are on YouTube, make sure you do all the YouTube stuff. Make sure you share the video. Like it. Most importantly, ring that bell. So you can notify our new videos are coming out. Also, special likes to find folks over at Prepper for editing and these highlights.

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Starting point is 00:02:18 Ehrushige, my real roommate. Yes. Wow. Just quick thoughts before we get into questions. What did you think of this episode? And then really quickly, just the season as a whole, before we get done. questions. I thought this episode was great. I thought it was a really cathartic experience getting to finally see these guys embrace each other, spend time with each other. And usually my favorite

Starting point is 00:02:43 types of stories other than coming of age stories are sort of bottle episodes or the experience of two characters experiencing and getting to know each other and getting deeper and closer more intimate over the course of a single location or just following these. too in an adventure. So us finally getting that in a prolonged form was very cathartic to see. And seeing them fall in love further, you know, they've never spent the night together in an extended capacity for two weeks at least. And the fact that there weren't any hitches or exasperated drama coming up within their

Starting point is 00:03:26 relationship, there wasn't any pushing and pulling. It was just all support and love and discovery. We saw, you know, the heated moments, and we saw the more lax moments, the fun moments. And I really like that we got a glimpse into what a relationship between the two of them would look like. And also the stuff with the coming out was very beautiful. And I feel like it's something that a lot of people who have to live in secret wish that they could experience with their family. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people aren't fortunate enough to be able to have that embrace. from their family or their parents or their siblings or what have you.

Starting point is 00:04:03 So the fact that we were able to get an example of how this could be, what this can look like, the fact that your kids are still your kids, your brothers, your siblings, your sisters are still who they are. And this is just an aspect of them. And I feel like you still can love them fully because you can't imagine how hard it is for them to carry so much. and fear of how it will be perceived. So I think the scenes with the dad and the mom were really heartwarming, really lovely. I think this season as a whole has been really great because we got to see the development,

Starting point is 00:04:45 the highs, the lows, the woes of these two guys kind of navigating their feelings and relationship with one another. It started off as this physical thing. And over the course of their own lives, we're trying. trying to navigate the drama around them and some of that stuff affected their relationship internally. And listen, I may have miscalculated, but I do. No, no, no, I do. But, you know, humans are complicated.

Starting point is 00:05:19 And especially adults have the autonomous experiences. And though somebody may not have the courage to express their feelings, doesn't mean that the experience of how it's being portrayed as one-sided because essentially these are two guys who are forming a relationship in a hyper-masculine world where feelings are not exactly valued as something that should take president within their lives. So for them to navigate the softer sides of a relationship while also dealing with the traditional harder and more masculine sides of their public relationship is a tricky balancing act too to have.

Starting point is 00:05:58 over the course of multiple years, no less. But yeah, the way that the other story with Kip and Hunter was interwoven to this was also very lovely and very well told and very well done. I hope they can all be friends. I would really like to see them interact next season, those two couples together. And the way that they were able to integrate the stuff about

Starting point is 00:06:20 Ilya's past and his mom and, you know, the fact that, you know, she had her own mental health struggles. I thought all of it was lovely, really great. I'm so happy that they assigned us to watch this show. There's no one else I'd rather be watching the show with. My buddy. And I am, yeah, I'm grateful for having experienced. I feel like this is something more people should be able to experience.

Starting point is 00:06:43 And if they're not exposed to more queer media, I feel like it should be something that is normalized to destigmatize, you know, the stereotypes. and what it is for somebody to be gay in pop culture. So, yeah, those are my thoughts. What about you? No, very, very well said. I agree with everything you said. And it was a great season.

Starting point is 00:07:08 I am so glad we got to experience it together and got to share it with greatest fans in the world, Reject Nation. And this episode, I love the way the first moments, I think with Hunter really set the tone and the foundation for the episode as a whole of just, you know, the brave action. and also just why what a courageous thing that he did at the bookend of the last episode and episode five of coming out so publicly and just the experience that he talked about like when he was talking about you know in the locker room where you know being thrown around and why he's so afraid to come out and it was like that really hit me hard and i've heard the locker room talk like that so i know exactly what he's he's talking about. Yeah,

Starting point is 00:07:57 but it's a great scene at the beginning. Yeah, no, and I can, and I really like, besides the fact that we were talking, we've talked about this at, at,

Starting point is 00:08:05 uh, at length where many times where we're like, we get like from a, from a, um, professional athlete why he's afraid to come out, like what the consequences and ramifications can be. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:17 But then also too, when he went in depth in that, in that monologue about why also, um, when it comes to like how, you know, that, and energy can like, how they talk about, you know, gay people in the locker.

Starting point is 00:08:30 I'm like, yeah, I can understand why you would be afraid to do that. And then also, too, when you saw the initial reaction, at least from Shane's father, it seemed like rejection just when he stormed out of there. It could have been a possibility of like, hey, he didn't tell me, he was lying to me, that type of reaction at first. But either way, you can understand, like, why you're afraid to tell people these types of things. So I think that that monologue was so beautifully done. I'm so sorry, I don't know that actor's name, but he just delivered it in such an incredible and emotional and visceral way. I also love how

Starting point is 00:09:10 deliberately slow, slowly paced this episode was so we could really feel all the intimate moments in this episode too. It wasn't frenetically paced, and I'm glad because the episode really got to breathe. We got to feel everything with these characters, with Shane and with Ili. when we were in the cottage with them. And I mentioned while the credits were rolling that my heart was racing and the reason being is because I'm so emotionally invested in these characters and in this relationship.

Starting point is 00:09:37 I was afraid that because they have only, you know, they were friends with benefits up until this point, even though there was that love and that camaraderie throughout the 10 or 12, however long they've been hooking up, they've never spent a considerable amount of time together like this. So when you, you know, when you up the ante in a relationship, there's a possibility. You know, you might find some

Starting point is 00:09:59 negative tendencies with each other and something might go awry. So that was, that's why my heart was racing. I just didn't want something like that to happen where something bad happens in the relationship to where they break it off. So that's why my heart was personally racing throughout the entire episode. But that's good writing. That's good drama. And also that's good characters because I'm so heavily invested in the characters. And then the, the part that broke me a little bit was when the father stormed and raised off, but then we got the vindication and the resolve is when they went over to the parents' house, had an understanding of that, hey, it's the same, Shane's the same person, he's still the superstar, still the, nothing has changed, you know.

Starting point is 00:10:43 And I think one of my favorite scenes, as I mentioned earlier, was the one with his mom where I love that Shane was being so vulnerable with his mother and was just telling her, like, I really tried. And it was not only that he was saying that, but he tried to have a relationship with Rose. He just didn't feel, like, it didn't feel what he feels with Ilya. He did not, like, he really does love Rose,

Starting point is 00:11:07 but as a friend. He didn't love her as a partner, as a lover in that way. And I appreciated that he was being vulnerable and truthful with his mom. And his mom saw that and like, and that his mom also had the accountability to say, I'm so sorry that I ever made you feel

Starting point is 00:11:24 that way because I can't even possibly imagine in the past how many people who have been afraid to have been afraid to come out because of family members who have, you know, acted in a way like this or have been afraid to been judged like this in that way. So it's a scary thing. But I love that the mom at least had accountability and was afraid to say, I'm so sorry. And that was just such a beautiful moment. So great episode, a great season. and I can't wait to see more. And just, I love those two so much when it comes to Shane and Ilya

Starting point is 00:12:01 and just the entire show. Rose and Ilya's friend and Kip and Hunter. It's just incredibly well-casted. Music was so good. Cinematography, fantastic, the framing. Just so many different things I could praise about the show,

Starting point is 00:12:15 but I'm kind of glad. I'm grateful and glad we got to react to it, but I'm also bittersweet and sad now that season one's over, but I just want season. too now, is what I'm trying to say. But we have questions, as we always do here. So if you want to ask

Starting point is 00:12:30 questions, make sure you join us over on our Patreon, and you can ask questions where we will shout you out individually. So we are going to start here with Lucelita, and apologies if we mispronounce anyone's names. Thank you so much for being a royal reject, and for asking a question. We appreciate you so much.

Starting point is 00:12:48 The popularity of this show signals that audiences are tired of romances that treats harm as intensity and control as chemistry love. Do you think this show could culturally impact the way people, audiences renegotiate what healthy masculinity looks like on screen in real life? Sorry for my broken English and thanks for reacting this show. I thought your English was fine there.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Thank you. Thank you for the question. Yeah, I think that it was definitely something that changes the way we can perceive traditional or conventional masculine love within pop culture and mainstream media. I think it does a great job of showcasing that

Starting point is 00:13:34 just because somebody does something that is more masculine doesn't mean that they can't also show a softer side of themselves. I feel like both men and women have both masculine and feminine traits within them and really it's about what

Starting point is 00:13:50 qualities are nurtured and the integrated of both sides of the self. You know, I feel like this show did a great job of showcasing that and showcasing that it's okay to embrace both those things in a way where they don't have to be contradictory or competition with one another, but integrated within the single self or with one another.

Starting point is 00:14:16 You know, it ebbs and flows. And that could be, you know, within a queer relationship or heterosexual relationship. and even within your friendships, you know, like we should be able to tell our guy friends that you're like, yo, your fit looks fire today. You're like, yo, you did a good job today or compliment each other. I feel like we don't give each other their flowers or showcase that love that maybe some women do or even, you know, people who are queer do. And I think that this show can give people the courage and encouragement to be able to express themselves in a way that does showcase masculinity in a more prominent, fluid kind of way. Yeah, no, I completely agree.

Starting point is 00:15:05 I mean, one of my favorite arcs in this show was Ilya. And to see, again, how stoic he was throughout the entire show, how hard he was. and understand from the culture he comes from in Russia and the way his brother treats him and the way his father raised him. And then to see like blossoming throughout the relationship and to see how he was being so soft-hearted and so sweet towards Shane.

Starting point is 00:15:31 And like it really like I was just so like wholesome to see him like being so soft-hearted in that way. I was like, oh my God, Ilya has changed but Shane has brought that out in him. and I appreciated seeing that and like he can still be masculine at times but also like be in in a just more just in a more sweet way as well I mean it doesn't mean you can't be masculine and sweet at the same time but I just thought it was I just like how the relationship developed and he just emotionally matured a lot more as well and I just appreciated so much how much that Ilya had grown throughout and I think it was so beautiful to watch. Like to see him comforting Shane when Shane was really struggling there at the end, like about his parents finding out and saying like he's here for him and all that.

Starting point is 00:16:23 Like it was just really touching to watch. Like that was probably my favorite arc to watch was, was Ilya growing. And I understand why he was so afraid to be vulnerable, especially with where he comes from and how his dad was so hard on him. And his brother literally treated him like a piggy bank. So yeah, but I'm with you though. I think audiences are tired of that and I'm

Starting point is 00:16:47 hoping this show is a change for the better. So we shall see. Thank you for the question. We appreciate you so much. All right. Tracy Lowe I think that's how I'd say your name. If it's not, I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:17:03 This show had a tiny budget and used a lot of tricks to get around that. All the award ceremonies and the press briefings were in an empty auditorium. Yeah, the same hockey rink was used for all the games in the Olympic scenes, and sometimes you can see the empty seats in the audience. The same park was used for both Canada and Russia outdoor scenes. Looking back, were there moments in the series where you thought you could tell there were budget constraints?

Starting point is 00:17:30 Do you expect a bigger budget for season two to improve the show, or is it not necessary? If you had not written that, I wouldn't even have known about empty seats or any that. it always felt like the crowd was lively and full of people. Yeah. So I never felt budget constraints. I always go back to, I know I always use examples of other films when I say like, use this as a staple, but like the Terminator 1, for instance, that's a $7 million budget, but that feels like a $50 million film, right?

Starting point is 00:18:01 I like when I read stuff like this and, you know, you hear that they didn't have much of a budget, but it feels, granted, there's not like a bunch of visual effects or anything, but the choreography of the hockey is fantastic, and you always feel the energy of the crowd and that it's full at time. So for them to be able to do that and pull it off without me second-guessing anything, I think is a testament to not only the hockey choreographer,

Starting point is 00:18:28 but also the visual effects team, whoever worked on that, and also just all the people that came together to make this feel as real and authentic as possible. So that's impressive. Do they need to go bigger? Do you expect a bigger budget? I mean, the show is one of the most popular shows now of the end of 2025 beginning of 2026.

Starting point is 00:18:49 So I'm sure that they're probably going to get a bigger budget. But if, I mean, I would only use it for like just to get the right actors. I mean, I don't know if you need, if you're able to still pull off scenes like this where you're able to convince Aaron and myself and others that the crowds are full and you don't need to waste money in areas like that. I would say just focus on continuing to get the best actors that you got like you did in season one. Because I thought the casting in season one was A-plus. So I would continue to focus on areas like that and not, we got to, you know, wasted in other areas for like crowds and stuff like that. But what about you?

Starting point is 00:19:27 Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree. I was none the wiser to there being any sort of budget constraints until you and I had missed. So thank you, Tracy. Yeah. I think that they'll probably get. get a bigger budget in season two. I think that's safe to say. And if it were to be used somewhere,

Starting point is 00:19:46 at least in the visual side of things, I imagine maybe longer scenes for hockey games. You know the show's not really about hockey, but I feel like maybe like cooler ways of shooting that or filling your audiences up. I can't imagine you have any shortage of getting extras. Or, you know, with how popular it is, how much money I'm sure this shows brought the studio

Starting point is 00:20:07 and both Crave and HBO Max that they're going to get a big boost. But ultimately, at the end of the day, it's really about these characters and the character drama. I don't really think you need to throw a ton of money at a show if it's really about the heart and the relationships with these characters. I think you can have it in an isolated space like this last episode was, and it would still be just as great. It's about the connection. I was going to say, that's a great point. Like, 90% of this episode's in one location. And like, I was just so invested and locked in.

Starting point is 00:20:38 So I, but I love when, I love movies or TV shows when you can stay locked in at one location. Feel so much more intimate like that. Like bottle episodes. Yeah, totally. So thank you so much, Tracy, for the question. We appreciate you. All right. Last question here.

Starting point is 00:20:53 Bree Garcia, thank you so much for being a royal reject and for asking a question. We appreciate you. Rachel Reed, the author, has come out and said that Shane is canonically autistic. Does that change y'all's opinion or expand anything that you've seen of Shane throughout the season? Hudson Williams has said that he used his father's autistic traits in his portrayal of Shane. I think it really came out during this episode and last one in the hospital when he's just internally dying at the kitchen table while everyone is eating, although the folding of clothes before banging every time is also a subtle hint as well.

Starting point is 00:21:31 Oh, why did I not notice the fucking of clothes? I've got to, next time I watch it, I'm going to, now that it's subconsciously put in my head, I will definitely notice that. And also now I've noticed more than Gingerell stuff. Did, so what do you think, first of all, is that change or expand anything with Shane now that you know he's autistic? No. To be honest, it wasn't until the audience kind of pointed it out that I didn't realize he was autistic. Yeah. After I was enlightened to that fact. I did sort of see some traits here and there. But it's not anything that changes your view of the show because one is it's awesome to have more autistic representation. Especially it being part of the character in an open kind of way.

Starting point is 00:22:21 But I also think that it doesn't change the heart of who this character is. I think that the fact that it's about these two guys living in secret and developing this relationship, I don't think that has a narrative impact on who the character is. And I think that it's awesome that we are getting a show that can normalize autistic characters as, you know, not. Obviously, we've seen movies with autistic characters before, but autism is a spectrum, and we've seen people on, like, the farther end of the spectrum, and that becomes their character. But I feel like this is a great job of showcasing that it is a spectrum and normalizing people. who do have it and it not being necessarily about that or not about them overcoming some struggle with their autism,

Starting point is 00:23:13 but just it being who they are. And I feel like the fact that it's not overstated in a way where it makes it about that is just goes to show the quality of the show of it, just being about people learning how to navigate love. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and when it was pointed out, I think a couple episodes, I could definitely see a couple tendencies,

Starting point is 00:23:35 like missing social cues or some emotional beats when women or even Ilya were giving him some subtext lines in romance, and he's like he wasn't understanding that or locking into what they were saying, so I was like, yeah, I could tell a little bit,

Starting point is 00:23:50 but I also, it doesn't change anything. He's still a heartfelt, compassionate, very giving and sensitive human being, and that's why I love them, and I resonate with him. It's so much. He's just such a, a wonderful character. So, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:05 it, in no way, shape, or form him, having some, some type of autism change in any way, how I feel about him.

Starting point is 00:24:14 I love Shane. He's such a great character. And he's such a resilient person as well. And, um, I love also, too, that Hudson Williams,

Starting point is 00:24:23 uh, it seems like, as you pointed out, that, uh, the portrayal of Shane, uh, he used,

Starting point is 00:24:28 uh, some of his father's autistic traits. I think that brings a lot of authenticity to the role. Yeah, it's like, it's honoring his father as well, you know? So I think that's wonderful

Starting point is 00:24:38 and I think that's beautiful. So, great performance. And I think Aaron said it best. It's like, you know, it's not we're not, this isn't enlightening, this isn't like drawing a light on this is, um, uh, in terms of like being autistic.

Starting point is 00:24:55 It's not, we're not forcing to, you know, show the light on. This is exactly who the character is, but it's just, it's a part of the character. And I appreciated that. So, yeah. Great season. Any final thoughts that you want to mention before we wrap up here?

Starting point is 00:25:11 I really love the show. You know, a show that I was not expecting to cover, but I'm glad that we did. Yeah. And I hope we see them further their relationship. We see them come out in public. And I hope we see them talk to Scott and Kipp and see how their relationships are similar and different. if they can form a friendship between the four of them.

Starting point is 00:25:34 Yeah, that would be sweet. I would love, and wholesome, I would love to see that as well. I also did like to, once the mom had fully grasped the situation and, again, taking accountability of just like her own faults when it came to her son being gay. I love that. She was, like, back into PR mode of like, hey, we got to get on top of this. We got to do this. And that, like, in a positive spin, of course.

Starting point is 00:25:57 Yeah. I thought that was sweet and adorable. but I am curious, like, as we get into season two as well, like, just where Shane and Ilya, where their heads going to be at, like, when they're going to be ready to. And like you, I'm curious, like, if they're going to talk to Hunter about that, because I got to imagine that they're going to be cool with letting him in on the fact that they are dating. So especially now that he's come out publicly himself. So, yeah, really looking forward to season two.

Starting point is 00:26:26 Season one was incredible, such a beautiful show. and yeah, thank you so much for joining us for season one. We love you guys so much. If you stuck with us this far, we appreciate you so much. Let us know in the comments. Did you have a particularly favorite episode, favorite character, favorite moment in the show? Let us know. We'd love to hear all your thoughts down below.

Starting point is 00:26:47 Take care. Be safe. See you next time. Dusses.

The Reel Rejects - Heated Rivalry Episode 6 Review Aaron Andrew

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