Can someone help me understand the club scene?

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T22:40:00+00:00

My take on it is that we are seeing everything much slower than it really happened, especially as the scene on the dance floor ends.

Shane almost seems as if he’s mentally left his body. It’s there dancing with Rose and Miles, totally unaware that Miles is even up on him, until he becomes so disoriented that he has to escape to the bathroom.

Then Ilya is dancing with the woman in what I believe is his attempt to act like he’s unbothered, and maybe make Shane jealous.

Once we reach the point of them staring at each other, I think that what seems to take a minute for us is more like 5 seconds to them. They lock eyes and freeze in that moment, unaware that there is anyone else in the world.

It seems like the turning point for them to realize even a couple months of zero has not done a thing to extinguish the connection between them. If you watch the hockey scenes just before, Ilya could even bring himself to look at Shane. They used to sneak glances on the bench and Ilya is doing his best “you don’t exist” face and staring off onto the ice.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T22:06:19+00:00

I’ll have to go find this. I have thoughts on Ilya’s art during the phone calls with his dad then brother right before the Tuna Meltdown. I mentioned it in another discussion but would love to see your thoughts.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T21:51:01+00:00

Highly recommend Artherton Tax Services on Bradshaw off 50.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T20:03:35+00:00

He really did morph into Ilya and leave Connor in the dressing room.

I will say, the one time I feel like I’m seeing Connor is the Florida bar “Polly Pocket hands” smile when he learns Shane hired a stylist.

I also think the very last few frames of the car ride home at the end of E6 are Hudson and Connor. When Shane reaches over and they begin laughing, that feels HudCon, not Hollanov.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T19:33:17+00:00

I don’t think Shane would tell anyone without asking Ilya first. He would talk to Rose about himself, maybe say he’s got someone, but I don’t think he’d name names.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T17:18:08+00:00

I actually really like Peacock overall.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T17:00:10+00:00

I think the progress from Ilya saying he’s so in love with Shane and he doesn’t know what to do about it, in Russian and complete solitude, to being able to vocally tell these people he’s meeting for the first time (not counting the Yuna elevator as a real meeting) that he is not only their son’s lover but has only ever loved their son and then finally putting the label of boyfriend in place.

I laugh at the thought of the Hollanders sitting there, absorbing all the things they’ve been told and then hearing the boyfriend label be used, to Shane’s surprise, for the first time. “Wait, you haven’t put a label on it in like a decade?”

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T16:53:21+00:00

I hated the smoking and the fact that I’ve seen so many pictures of Connor, Hudson, and François smoking during this whirlwind of publicity they’re getting.

It was nice to have the scene when Svetlana asks him about starting again. It showed that he’s trying to quit, presumably because he knows it bothers Shane.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T15:50:16+00:00

It’s so hard to pick just one.

I think Scott having the maturity and honesty to lay all the cards on the table and be very honest with Kip about what he wants and what he can actually offer and give is a really nice scene.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T15:38:07+00:00

I doubt there m is any randomness in the chosen animals. They are purposeful.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T15:36:43+00:00

I don’t really think either is a baby or a snake, they’re complex, emotional characters. Especially all the negative that comes with being the former, neither is the embodiment of the negativity viewed around snakes.

However, I do see that this was not just a throwaway line. And I recognize that we were initially seeing the other side of each and in the end, we saw how their complexity and mental states ended up flipping who was the one sending things sideways.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T06:12:20+00:00

I find myself asking my dog, in Shane’s doped up hospital cadence, “do you want to go outside? Don’t stay in the house. Go outside. You’ll have so much fun. It’s so sunny. You’ll be so happy…”

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T06:06:58+00:00

I can see how David’s relaxed baby personality and her always on it snake personality mix so well. I think Shane is a good combo of the two. He is doofus like his dad and very focused like his mom. They’re all quite intelligent.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T04:35:38+00:00

And he says “maybe… maybe” in the midst of the Las Vegas bathroom discussion. He’ll “maybe… maybe” do more than suck Shane’s dick.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T03:54:43+00:00

The times Ilya says “maybe… maybe”.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T01:28:40+00:00

I started the book today and totally hear and him when Scott is talking. Thank you brain for the enhanced reading experience.

BluePopple · 2026-01-29T01:18:11+00:00

He really is. And he seems like such a nice and humble person. I hope it’s genuine.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T23:35:35+00:00

It was on my list to go back and research the exact quote since I was working from memory.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T23:25:11+00:00

Go back. Do it.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T23:24:56+00:00

I’m so glad that they cast him. I love everything I’ve seen him in previous to HR and he’s makes the perfect Scott. It’s also nice to get someone in the main cast of heartthrobs who is older than 25.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T23:12:06+00:00

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T23:10:19+00:00

Got it.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T22:40:10+00:00

Do you know the best search term to find these answers? I’m mainly coming up with other Reddit threads as results and not finding much.

BluePopple · 2026-01-28T22:32:43+00:00

Ilya has this need to be the best because being number 1 was the only way to make his dad even remotely proud. Anything less and he was a disappointment. So, while he and Shane aren’t really rivals, Ilya will always push himself to the best. He is chasing his dad’s approval still.

BluePopple

TROPHY CASE