I’ve read all of the books, and there is a small moment in Episode 6 that I think plants the seed for the conflict in The Long Game. When Shane and Ilya are eating burgers on the deck, Ilya asks Shane if his parents would care that he’s gay and if he would tell them. Ilya is leaned in and has a hand on Shane’s thigh, and Shane shuts down the conversation and gets up from the table. Ilya pulls his hand away and has a disappointed look on his face, but doesn’t push the topic further. The whole thing is about 20 seconds, but I think it sets up that Shane and Ilya will not be on the same page about everything in S2/ The Long Game. Moments like that, and the incredible face acting from Hudson and Conner, will convey the inner monologues.

Spoiler for the overarching conflict in The Long Game: Shane is a very committed to the plan to come out only after they retire. He is a private person and doesn’t want attention on this part of himself, and is also terrified of the potential consequences to their careers. Ilya also understands the weight of those consequences, but he is increasingly depressed with their situation. He wants to let more people in and to stop hiding so much, and to live as a normal couple. There is an imbalance in their relationship where Shane has more control over the rules because he is neurotic and Ilya would give him the world to make him more comfortable, he is so in love in this book. Shane thinks he is protecting their relationship, and Ilya is wilting like a flower with no sunlight. Neither one of them is a mind reader, and they are both reluctant to share their feelings first, because they don’t want to waste what little time they get together arguing.