Heated Rivalry's Sasha
A peak into Ilya's past
Picture from: Wiki fandom
When I started writing this article, it had a dry start. I just ran right into the plot. And, I felt like I needed to get going with something a little more fun or relatable at least.
This shot above is from one of my favorite movies as a child, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” (1989). I even learned how to roughly play some of the songs on the piano. I loved it so.
Wanting to spread my love for the movie to my own children, I watched it with them years ago. It honestly doesn’t age well now that I’m an adult. Ariel seems whiny and impetuous whereas when I was younger I could feel her need to be understood and to find her place in this world (even if it was a world she didn’t belong to). Filled with horrible tropes, my kids never really loved the movie despite my futile attempts. Maybe they knew more than I did as a kid or maybe they just have better movies to watch now (perhaps like Pixar’s Turning Red, 2022).
Little did I know at the time that this movie would help me now talk to you about how mirrors in film, specifically characters in front of mirrors in film, can help us learn more about the main characters we mostly show up for.
If you’re not familiar with the plot of Disney’s version of this story (because they took huge liberties with the story originally published by Hans Christne Anderson) you’re looking at a beautiful, young woman with a shell necklace who views herself in a mirror. But, instead of seeing a perfect reverse version of herself in the mirror, she sees the evil octopus witch. We are to know they are the same person based on how their bodies are positioned holding the mirror, their unrealistically high eyebrows and their very red, matching lipstick. And, the fact that she isn’t having a stroke about the disparity in her reflection and her body. The evil octopus witch, Ursula, disguised as a beautiful young woman plans to foil Ariel’s plans to make a prince fall in love with her instead. The ultimate goal is to lure Ariel’s father onto the scene. He happens to be the ruler of all of the ocean.
We can spend whole articles on the many now taboo topics presented in this film that we gladly gobbled up in the 80s and 90s. But, that is an article I’m not going to write. Someone smarter than me probably has already done that.
The main point I’m trying to make is, even as a child, I understood what that scene meant. I knew that Ursula was now thin, white, and beautiful in this new form. She would be physically enticing to the prince and socially acceptable to the prince’s subjects as a potential future queen. Because Ursula needed to take this alternate form to achieve this level of access and acceptance in the prince’s life. And, everyone knew the octopus witch Ursula was evil. She had to hide in plain sight in order to foil Ariel’s plan. One character existed in two different forms.
Cartoon movies can do more with less though. We only see two people in the “The Little Mermaid” shot - the person standing at the mirror and her reflection that reveals her true self. In most movies with real people, filmmakers have to use at least three bodies to convey this message depending on how the scene is shot. They need two actors and at least one reflection of one of those actors. Or, we need a mirror in which we may see two reflections but in the real world the camera only keeps one of the actors in the frame. Of course, two bodies and two reflections works too.
But, if filmmakers used the cartoon method we would be taken out of the scene. We know one person’s reflection in a mirror will look like a reverse image of them, not a completely different character or characterization of a character. In order to keep us invested in the telling of the story, filmmakers can’t stray too far from reality in a series based in reality. We know cartoons aren’t reality and the filmmakers know we know that cartoons aren’t reality. So, they can get away with that in-your-face mismatch in a cartoon like The Little Mermaid but not in a series like Heated Rivalry.
If filmmakers could use the cartoon method we would be much more aware of the subtext in any given film. But, they can’t so most people don’t even catch on. I didn’t for most of my life. Of course the evil witch concocted a potion that would turn her into this new form so there really aren’t two witches running around in Ariel’s world. But, again that’s not realistic for films with real people and it doesn’t work with most stories in most films. Ursula dabbles in potions (somehow mixing liquids in the depths of the ocean). So, a potion to change her appearance isn’t out of the question even if the audience didn’t see the potion creation or the change in appearance occur on screen. And, that is how we get one woman on our side of the mirror and one octopus witch on the other side of the mirror.
Octopus witch aside, you might be thinking ‘more mirrors’? Yes. More mirrors.
We’re going to use this idea that a character reflected in a mirror represents a more important character in the story. The actions and dialogue of the minor character reflect back onto the main character. Do you see how the octopus witch and the human witch are in that mirror together? The mirror shows us the true self with the alternate self in the same film shot. We are going to explore that type of mirror use here today and in another article later.
Now, I’ve written two other articles about mirrors. In one article, we discussed how physical mirrors in Heated Rivalry are used to hide things in the person in front of said mirror. While writing that article, I had actually forgotten about one of the most obvious mirror scenes in Heated Rivalry, the scene in which Svetlana brings Ilya to the incredibly ostentatious looking bathroom to see Sasha. There are two huge mirrors on either side of the bathroom which take up most of the whole wall to the left and right of the screen or when one of the characters is positioned in front of it. In between lies a bathtub where Sasha spends a good deal of time during their conversation. It was probably good to have forgotten about that scene because while Ilya does hide his sexuality in Russia, the theme of those mirrors in that scene have, for the most part, nothing to do with hiding.
(Small side quest here: that massive bathtub in what appears to be a public venue is strange - akin to having a bathtub in a theater or banquet hall bathroom. Someone who knows about that building and why there is such a large bathtub in the center, comment below about it. I’ve been to theaters in London and other major cities. You can almost not even close the stall door unless you’re standing on the toilet. And, I’m a tiny woman. There is no room for a huge bathtub like that.)
We did talk about why Sasha is in that empty bathtub though. If you haven’t read about it yet, read here. Though knowing about the meaning behind the empty bathtub is not paramount to understanding this article. But, it does support what I’m proposing below.
I also wrote this article about Mirror Characters and how they can disclose more about the main characters if you know where to look. This Mirror Character article is important to read before diving into this one here before you. We’ll jet through some concepts about Mirror Characters that might not make much sense if you don’t read the linked article above first.
In film, using Mirror Characters is fairly ubiquitous. Additionally, Jacob Tierney’s use of hiding in mirrors is either novel to this series or rarely used. I’m not saying he’s a genius here in this regard. Filmmakers use visual tools all of the time to show the audience a theme or concept unable to be described in dialogue. But, when we see a character in front of a mirror onscreen, we’re supposed to understand that there is something else going on here beneath the text or what we see and hear in the scene. And, this scene in the Russian bathroom very much falls into this third category of mirror use in Heated Rivalry: Using mirrors and characters in mirrors to tease out an underlying message.
If I thought hard about this, the instances in which we just see Shane and Ilya in front of a mirror, either individually or together, the message portrayed is more about what they are hiding from the world or each other rather than some deeper layer of meaning. Though, that’s pretty deep.
When we see either Ilya or Shane in front of a mirror with a supporting character, this mechanism of using a mirror shows us a story layer deeper in the subtext. This new information in the subtext will tell us more about a main character’s present, past or future. Or, it can cue us into the inner workings of a more important character who may or may not currently be on the screen. Also,whatever that character says or does in front of that mirror can represent a completely different character in the story. This concept is definitely what we’re seeing in that Russian bathroom scene.
Less often used is when we see one person in front of a mirror who is also reflected in that mirror with no other characters in the shot. They are just looking at themselves even though we are to understand an underlying message exists here. And, sometimes the use of a mirror in a shot can just tell us to look deeper into the story to find out even more even if the actors aren’t interacting with it like Ursula or Sasha do.
Now that we know there are three functions for using the word ‘mirror’ when discussing the subtext in this particular series, I realize that it is confusing. You’re probably wondering if this is all worth it - knowing the differences behind all of these mirror functions. I promise it is. But, you have to determine in each scene the reason for the mirror in Heated Rivalry by looking at all of the elements in the shots. Because, a mirror can mean hiding from something or exposinganother story. And, I have to be very clear in my writing about which type of mirror function is up for discussion as to not create further confusion.
Like I said before, I think when Ilya or Shane are in front of a mirror with another (more minor) character, there is a meaning under the text we need to look for. That extra character tells us something about Ilya or Shane (maybe just Ilya for now) that we might not know from the dialogue.
You can partly blame Tierney for this confusion. Usually there are only two uses for literal and metaphorical mirroring in film. He had to go and add that third use of hiding some inner thought of the main characters to the mix. Or, you can blame me for my poor communication techniques. If you haven’t heard yet, I am Definitely Still An Amateur in this business of writing.
So, it might be best to dive into this concept of using a physical mirror with another character to express more than just the surface text to see it in action. For now, we can mostly set aside the idea of using mirrors to hide something from us like Ilya’s love for Shane, Scott hiding his sexuality from the world, or Shane not hiding that he is indeed something worthy of love when he first puts on and then takes off his suit before their first hookup.
We’re interested in the intersection between how a character can be a Mirror Character for a main protagonist and how a physical mirror in the scene work together to indicate a deeper meaning.
Since Svetlana pulls us into this bathroom along with Ilya, you might think I’m going to finally reveal what she means to this series but I’m going to hold off on her for now. I WILL say Tierney is a genius for this move even though other filmmakers use this function in their films too. She gets her own article, she’s that special.
Let’s dive into Sasha instead. If you’ve read most of my articles, you know that I think it’s important to look at patterns in film to find subtext. Rose Landry is a Mirror Character for Ilya based on her name, style of clothing, status in life, ways she interacts with Shane and more. (Seriously, go read that article if that went right over your head.) We have to use those same skills when looking at different characters in the story to see if we can find other Mirror Characters. If Rose is a Mirror Character for Ilya in Shane’s world, could there be a character in Ilya’s world that is also a Mirror Character?
Also, remember what I said about physical mirrors with Ilya or Shane and another character? I present to you this opening shot of Sasha. Sasha keeps his profile to the camera and looks into the mirror at Ilya instead of turning around to look at Ilya to his face when Ilya enters the bathroom. Notice that Svetlana does not appear in the mirror at this time even though we know she is in the bathroom with them.
Like the frozen water on the icy slopes of the mountain in Sochi Olympics, a shot forced on us after Shane and Ilya’s cozy kiss in the stairwell, those frozen feelings were alarm bells set off by Tierney for the audience’s benefit. The filmmakers wanted to prepare us for what would unfold in Russia.
This shot of Sasha staring at Ilya through the mirror is another one of those alarms. Sasha is literally looking into the mirror at Ilya with Ilya also shown in the mirror. This shot here tells us to pay attention. We are being told that Sasha mirrors Ilya. Did I get that on the first watch? No. But, that’s okay. There is no statute of limitation on discovering and understanding film techniques used in the art of subtext.
Just a note here, the character doesn’t have to stand in front of the mirror the whole time for us to know we should pay attention to this character’s words and actions. But, the filmmakers WILL leave little clues that the mirroring scene is over. For this final scene with Sasha, we see a wide shot below of Ilya’s back to the mirror and Sasha standing, untethered, in this huge space. This shot book-ends the beginning frame where we see the mirror on the stage right of the frame. The view of the mirror one last time tells us this mirroring scene ends. The whole scene ends here actually.
Picture from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
Yes, Ilya has another Mirror Character, Sasha, and it’s in his own life this time.
But, like any good analysis of film, we should probably check some other clues and characteristics of Sasha just to be sure we figured him out correctly. Otherwise, trying to parse out subtext from an incorrect assumption can lead to frustrating dead ends. I’ve been there before. My friends were subject to a 3 am musing about Sasha that was dead wrong. It all made sense to my addled sleep-deprived brain at the time. A closer inspection of my theory in the morning provided me with a much less clear vision of my hypothesis. But, I finally got back on track when I kept looking further.
The loudest piece of evidence possible, beyond this opening shot, that the costume designer, Hanna Puley, could throw in our face is Sasha’s rose printed shirt. Those roses are as big as Kaden Connor’s, who plays Sasha, head. It’s almost laughable how loudly they want us to understand that Sasha is a mirror for Ilya Rosanov just by that shirt alone. Think neon sign loud. Bright? I’m mixing senses and sense descriptions. Something can be visually loud, right?
Picture from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
The only time Sasha appears on screen is in “Olympians” episode 2 - the bathroom scene discussed before. So, he has only one costume to showcase for us. Bold choice Puley.
Besides the roses on his shirt, what else about his costume points us in the direction of Ilya? We’ve seen that deep V neck on Ilya, yes?
Picture from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
Also, what are the chances they both wear a gold necklace? Everything on screen is a choice (conscious or not), especially costumes! Sasha and Ilya both give off Slavic-man vibes through their clothes.
Can we think a little about why Sasha would be wearing that outfit in this context? Every other man at that gala is dressed in a suit and tie or formal military regalia. Sasha’s somewhat dressed down appearance excludes a jacket and tie. This is another clue that the costume designer used to indicate to us that Sasha mirrors Ilya. Sasha would otherwise wear a suit and tie. That costume choice benefits our spidey subtext detectors. If Sasha wore a jacket and tie as well, he would look like any man in the event. The filmmakers had one scene and one costume to convey to us Sasha’s role.
Besides his appearance, the dialogue and other contextual evidence provide us with some clues that help us connect Sasha to Ilya.
Sasha is Russian. While this is not completely unusual as Ilya knows Sasha from Russia, it is one more piece of evidence to support our theory. Both Ilya and Sasha were born and raised there. They have that shared characteristic.
Sasha mentions how he thinks Parisian women “are hot” and implies heavily that he thinks the same of Parisian men “Well, you’ve seen French boys, right, Ilya?” From this dialogue, we can assume Sasha is bisexual much like Ilya.
Sasha lives in a different country from his mother country Russia. He lives in Paris, France specifically, and “I fucking love it there.” Ilya lives in the US. We’re not sure if Ilya “fucking loves it there”. We do know that he “fucking hates it” in Russia per his monologue in “I’ll Believe in Anything” episode 5. He’s also mentioned he wants to get a Canadian or US passport later in the series. If anything the US will suffice for now. But, they both have in common that they prefer living outside of Russia.
What about the name Sasha? Though not as on the nose as Rose Landry, a quick etymology check states that Sasha is a diminutive for Alexander or Alexandra.
What is a diminutive you say? In English, it’s often a noun given extra bits on the end, or beginning, to imply smallness. Ex. Doggie or piglet. It can also be used as a way to make a name more cute. Ex. Mommy instead of Mom or Mother. In Russian and other Slavic countries, most people are given diminutive names by their loved ones like Sasha for Alexander.
When you think of world history, which is the first Alexander that comes to mind? Alexander the Great. Yeah.
Here’s where we can go a little hogwild with these puzzle pieces in the subtext journey. Did Rachel Reid know Sasha was a diminutive for Alexander? If so, was that name intentional based on Alexander the Great? Since Sasha was mentioned for all of 3 seconds in the book, Heated Rivalry, did Tierney intentionally expand on the character with that name to imply something about Ilya? Maybe Reid didn’t have a specific goal for that name but Tierney seized upon the coincidence that Sasha is a diminutive for Alexander.
Because Alexander the Great was, by today’s standards, bisexual. And, he was a conqueror. Without going into too much history (cause yah girl here doesn’t know it anyway) he didn’t get the title ‘Great’ for being a run-of-the-mill leader. He literally conquered much of Asia Minor and the area we call Egypt today in about 10 years and had his sights set on the whole of the super continent of Eurasia east of Greece before he died at 33. His empire was the largest of its kind at the time around 330 BC.
Ilya quite literally is one of the greatest hockey players in the league. He actively competes with other players to score as many goals as possible. He can outsmart and outwit any player physically and mentally. Hockey players aren’t known for their high IQ off the ice but he displays incredible depths of perception and empathy towards his teammates and Shane. He literally one the World Cup on season conquering all of the other teams. And, if you ask Hollander, he would probably say that Ilya conquered him in more ways than one.
Is making the leap from Sasha to Alexander to Ilya a big gamble and highly speculative on my part? Heck yeah, it is. So, you decide if Ried and Tierney also made that leap or if the names have no connections at all to our beloved characters. Maybe you think Ried just picked a name and Tierney liked the connection which made it easier to develop Sasha into what we see on screen. That’s fine too.
Either way, Alexander or not, we probably have enough evidence that indicates Sasha is a Mirror Character for Ilya. But, can we find any other similarities? Other characteristics might include common goals or challenges they face. Also, status in life.
There isn’t enough information about Sasha to surmise anything about his goals in his personal or professional life. But, Sasha and Ilya both seem to enjoy a life of opulence and privilege. Neither seems exceptionally impressed by that massive bathroom. And, at least Sasha once thought Ilya didn’t have much regard for being careful having sex with another man in public. Possibly, they once were shielded by money and status when they committed minor crimes in Russia as teenagers. Possibly, they once were able to get out of trouble because of the status of their parents which is why Sasha has no issues cozying up to Ilya when anyone could walk in. It’s a huge gamble on his part because Russia’s homophobic attitudes and laws had worsened for the LGBT+ community at this moment in time in which the gala was set. So, at least in this regard they seem to have similar backgrounds even if Ilya no longer feels comfortable being careless anymore.
Can we squeeze any other common characteristics out about these characters from just the few short minutes Sasha graces the screen? I can’t. If you can come up with anything else, please feel free to put it in the comments.
Here we stand now sure that Sasha is a Mirror Character for Ilya but is he a general mirror or a specific one? As in, does he represent the whole of Ilya, something like Rose Landry? Or, a small portion of Ilya’s life which would give us specific details about a time in Ilya’s life or something specific about his character?
As we go through the dialogue to try to see what Sasha can tell us about Ilya, I’d like you to think about what in that scene allows us to be sure that Ilya, played by Connor Storrie, is the real Ilya.
Because, we’re seeing a reflection of Ilya in Sasha. What would stop a filmmaker from switching those characters completely? A double mirror situation isn’t out of the question especially in front of those double mirrors. There could have been a signal in the scene that indicates Sasha, for the time being, takes on the main role of Ilya. Whatever Sasha says or does represents Ilya right now. Ilya, played by Storrie, would represent Sasha instead. And, Ilya would be Sasha’s mirror. Whatever Ilya says and does represents Sasha until a signal by the filmmaker indicates their roles have switched back to Ilya being Ilya and Sasha being Sasha.
Sounds crazy. But, I’ve seen it happen and very possibly in this show. And, with all of those mirrors in this shot it could very well mean that there is some double mirroring. Unfortunately, Sasha isn’t a significant enough character for us to need to know more about him so this double mirroring scenario is unlikely. Writing one Mirror Character is hard enough. Having those Mirror Characters talk to each other meaningfully to match the character who speaks the line but somehow also revealing information about the other character they’re mirroring raises the film writing challenge exponentially. Tierney left us a clue about the real Ilya in that shot so that we don’t have to stretch our subtext brains that far.
So, go back and watch the scene and try to figure out how we know Ilya is Ilya and Sasha is Ilya’s Mirror Character.
The first time we hear about Sasha in the show, Ilya admits to Shane that he has indeed been with at least one other man (young man? boy?) when he was younger. The person had been his coach’s son, Sasha. Considering how young Ilya (19 or 20?) is during his first hookup with Shane in episode 1, it’s fair to say Ilya and Sasha were minor teenagers at the time, as in less than 18 years old probably. That estimated age is important; Keep it in mind for later.
The next time we get mention of Sasha is after Svetlana rescues Ilya from their fathers. She lies about taking him to get a drink just to get him away from this bad situation. She seems to know Ilya does not do well with his father and the shot shows us how much he dissociates from the conversation between the Minister, who is Svetlana’s father, and Grigori, who is Ilya’s father. When they walk away from their fathers we hear talk of Svetlana always leading Ilya around even when they were young. So, we are left with the fact that Svetlana and Ilya have been friends for years, maybe even when they were small children. We are primed here to think of the past; a young Svetlana and a young Ilya.
Picture from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
Our first two introductions to Sasha include some mention of youth: when Ilya had sex with Sasha as a younger teenager and when Ilya and Svetlana are mentioned as being childhood friends.
When Ilya walks into the bathroom room it’s clear Ilya does not approve of this encounter. He’s short with Sasha even if Sasha seems very comfortable seeing Ilya again just by the delivery of their lines. “Long time Ilya” “Long time Sasha.” Why would Ilya be annoyed about seeing this old friend? We know that they have had sex before. Has Sasha done anything that would account for Ilya’s cold reception? Does Ilya know what to expect? That Sasha will proposition him or try to coerce Ilya into something he doesn’t agree with? While it’s not out of the range of possibility that Ilya would proposition Shane or women he’s interested in, it is not in Ilya’s nature to coerce someone. But, those are surface level issues. And, maybe this train of thought is a dead end.
Since Sasha is a Mirror Character of Ilya, what part of Ilya does he not want to see or engage with more than he has to? And, why would Svetlana not really understand this is something Ilya does not think “will be more fun” than getting a drink? This seems out of character for her as she’s usually incredibly in tune with Ilya’s moods.
Then we cut to Sasha in the very empty bathtub while Svetlana pours him a drink. We are reminded that Ilya and his team just lost a game that will knock them out of the Olympics competition. Ilya has taken off his jacket so some time has passed between the introduction to Sasha snorting a line of cocaine and Ilya sitting on the vanity with Sasha in the tub.
Let’s keep looking for how Sasha mirrors Ilya.
Sasha claims he doesn’t think Ilya played that bad and Ilya knows from past experience that Sasha did not watch any of that Olympic game. Svetlana also quips that Sasha’s father has been a hockey coach his whole life and Sasha somehow avoided learning anything about hockey at every turn. But, Sasha counters with “I pay attention sometimes. When there is something worth paying attention to.” At this line, he cuts his eyes to Ilya. (Me too, Sasha. Me too.)
Here is yet another reference to their childhood. The third, in fact. Quick recap: Ilya mentions that he has had sex with his coach’s son when he was younger, Svetlana’s and Ilya’s fathers mention their childhood as Svetlana has an unknown-to-us plan to connect Ilya and Sasha and, now, we know that Sasha was exposed to hockey his whole young life. Whenever you see or hear some element or idea on film three or more times that’s a cue to us to pay attention.
I think Sasha is a mirror for Ilya’s childhood in Russia. At least the years that Ilya was something significant in hockey.
To circle back to the evil witch in the mirror from the top of the article, if we could use a cartoon-like representation for Sasha here, you’d see Sasha on our side of the mirror in the scene and young Ilya in the mirror perfectly reflecting the stances of each other. But, both with normal eyebrows and no red flashy lipstick. However, there would be no one else in the frame either standing in front of the mirror or in the reflection of the mirror. I mean I don’t care if they have crazy eyebrows or rock a red lip. It’s just not in their character profiles in the show thus far.
But, you can see how ridiculous that would seem to the audience. Having that sort of representation not based in normal, everyday experiences would remove us from the story. We’d ask ourselves if this was a different sort of film. So, three bodies were necessary in the opening shot of the bathroom scene to convey this specific message.
If you’ve read enough of my articles you know that now we’re going to go back through that dialogue one more time with that idea in mind, that Sasha represents Ilya’s childhood in Russia, and then look at their proceeding dialogue and actions to find out more about Ilya.
First off, Ilya’s cold reception to Sasha the first time we see Sasha. We know that Russia is awful for Ilya. I think we can also jump to the conclusion that much of his childhood wasn’t happy. His mother was very depressed, we know she died when Ilya was the age of 12 from an overdose (not an “accident”), and we know he found her body. Any child would have trauma just from that moment alone.
It’s possible Ilya’s father may have not taken her depression seriously which means their married life was probably less than harmonious. Ilya does not have the best relationship with Alexie just by the way Alexei uses Ilya for money in their phone conversation and Ilya’s frustrated responses. Nor does he have a good relationship with his father considering how he called Ilya ‘lazy’ to the man who hired him to play hockey and how hypercritical he is of Ilya in person. We also know how Ilya truly feels about his father and brother per his own admission during the All-Star Weekend game, in the monologue and some lines at the cottage but we don’t know this at the time of this point in the series.
But, we could guess that Grigori was some sort of abusive towards Ilya at a young age, whether that be emotional, physical or mental (possibly financial too), just by how he treats Ilya in the few shots Grigori graces the screen. He belittles Ilya in front of important people. We know Ilya is used to this behavior because of how he reacts. Ilya reassures the manager that he won’t be lazy and implores him with begging eyes “please believe me and not my father.” He knows it’s better to just placate and agree with his dad than push back on blatant lies. His reaction tells us that once (or twice) when Ilya did push back, Grigori was less than kind in return and Ilya suffered the consequences.
And, Alexei seems to think he can use Ilya as a bank whenever he needs money without ever giving anything in return. He learned that behavior somewhere and it probably didn’t begin with cash demands. Alexei probably learned how to bully Ilya from their dad. Either dad never saw the abuse from Alexie or co-signed on the behavior to make Ilya’s life even more miserable. The result is the same. Ilya was used by his brother probably from a very young age.
Besides Svetlana, we do not see any joy come from Russia. The cold reception to seeing Sasha makes sense. Ilya’s young life was pretty terrible. And, from the greeting “Long time Sasha” and just time passing, we can agree that Ilya’s childhood was many years ago. Additionally, it’s very likely that Ilya avoids actively thinking about his childhood.
This might be a good time to get that scene loaded up on your device of choice. We are going to go through almost every line in that scene with Sasha.
What is all this business about Sasha not paying attention to any of Ilya’s games? We know Ilya pays attention to hockey today and he probably studies teams before playing against them. So, that line doesn’t quite match with the current reality. This to me is young Ilya saying that he didn’t really pay attention to hockey that much except when it comes to what he was actually doing. “I pay attention sometimes. When there’s something worth paying attention to.” He’s the only one worth watching, he’s that good. No one else can really hold a candle to his talent.
While I think it’s cocky of young Ilya, it’s also true. He’s innately talented and doesn’t really have to worry about how everyone else performs as he is a cut above the rest. And, most teens who have such great talent have been told that over and over by coaches, team mates, parents of teammates, news organizations, and recruiters. That constant attention and admiration can easily go to someone’s head, especially one so young. Considering he probably didn’t get much praise from his father, it probably felt great to receive such positive outside validation.
Svetlana notes that Sasha’s father was a hockey coach. While there is no hint that Grigori was a coach, we can assume that he was greatly invested in Ilya’s hockey career from a young age from that line. I’ll add that how much Grigori comments on llya’s current performance in just the few short scenes he stars, I’d wager Grigori was very invested in Ilya’s hockey trajectory and his hockey accolades if only to benefit himself. Sasha’s flippant attitude is almost like Ilya was purposely avoiding studying and improving his hockey because his dad wanted him to pay attention. He was “lazy”.
Well, Grigori, Ilya did just fine on his own. Thank you very much.
The scene sort of steps away from Sasha for a bit. Svetlana lays out her prediction about Ilya’s chances of winning the cup, we don’t hear at all from Sasha or see him. No significant camera cuts to him lonely in that tub. He’s from the past and this conversation about winning the cup is about the future. What could he add to it? Yes, he did say that Svetlana is a psychic. But, that line is more about Svetlana than what we can learn about Ilya through Sasha.
The only time the shot cuts significantly to Sasha is when Svetlana mentions Hollander. Ilya actually looks at Sasha who happens to be taking another hit of cocaine. I likened cocaine to snow in the “Feeling Wet?” article.
Snow is cold and freezing water shows us Ilya’s indifferent feelings with Shane. That’s what’s happening right now in the larger story. Ilya has frozen out Shane.
But, Sasha is also Ilya’s younger self. So, does Ilya look at Sasha at that moment because young Ilya had a crush on Shane? If you think about their first meeting with the cigarette lighter and the subtext of Rose as another of Ilya’s Mirror Characters introducing herself without needing Shane to tell her who he is, yes, young Ilya very much had at least a hockey crush on Shane as a teenager. Ilya had been paying attention to Shane for a few years leading up to that meet cute. Also, Ilya seemed very indifferent to Shane in their first meeting, cold almost. So, Sasha snorting coke at the moment Hollander is mentioned tracks presently and in their first meeting in Ilya’s youth.
What happens next? Sasha offers Svetlana the cocaine (snow) but she doesn’t want it. Like I said, I have thoughts on Svetlana. This line will make more sense in that article so I will address it then. As Svetlana leaves, she encourages the boys to catch up. They are friends at least in the text as far as Svetlana knows. But, now that we know that Sasha represents Ilya’s childhood, that phrase means something else entirely. Svetlana possibly wants Ilya to deal with some of his past issues. Maybe Svetlana thinks that if Ilya connects with his past, he can sort out some of his issues to be happier today.
So, let’s look specifically at Kaden Connor’s portrayal of Sasha who represents Ilya’s childhood: Sasha is a mess. He seems like a slimy and lazy trust-fund baby who fills his life with meaningless sex and drugs, maybe even excessive drinking. We don’t see or hear of Sasha drinking but it comes with the territory. He has no qualms about groping another person without their permission or pushing at the boundaries of personal safety (having gay sex in a public bathroom accessible to some of the most influential members of Russian high society). He makes fun of Ilya complaining that “You used to be fun. Remember?” (This whole line harkens back to Ilya’s youth.) Sasha seems almost disappointed at how boring Ilya has become. If Sasha is Ilya in his youth, Ilya has matured. Ilya might drink alcohol but he doesn’t do drugs anymore (assuming he did if Sasha currently does), he’s more careful with his male sexual relationships, and doesn’t make choices that could sacrifice his career or endanger his freedom. (Thanks for that last fear Russia.) Overall Sasha gives me the ick. Not at all the same person we see in today’s Ilya.
Let’s keep diving into the dialogue. Sasha tries to engage with Ilya by offering Ilya a line “How is Paris, Sasha?” This whole time Sasha is in that massive bathtub with no water. As Sasha, the ex-lover, Ilya is not at all emotionally interested in Sasha at all. As Sasha, Ilya’s childhood, Ilya is not interested in thinking about his past. He doesn’t respond to Sasha. Maybe Sasha will just go away if Ilya doesn’t talk to him now that Svetlana has left.
Sasha continues to try to engage Ilya. He asks Ilya if he’s seen the French boys. Shane being French Quebec of course Ilya thinks French (Quebec) men are sexy. Well, at least one of them. So, past Ilya pesters current Ilya that he knows Ilya has feelings for Shane and has for some time.
As Sasha complains that Ilya isn’t like he used to be (the past again as a clue to who Sasha really is), Sasha walks into Ilya’s personal space, coming on to him. Now, this is not a moment where we can take literally what we are talking about figuratively. The character Sasha tries to entice Ilya into sex. But, I am not saying the childhood Ilya is trying to have sex with the current Ilya. The past Ilya is trying to elicit a reaction from present Ilya; Trying to engage current Ilya into thinking about past Ilya, dragging up bad memories, negative feelings, stuffed down emotions about family, his sexuality in Russia and his relationship with hockey. This all makes sense because he is currently in Russia, having lost to Latvia which took him out of the Olympic running. He has disappointed his dad and can’t connect with the one person who can make him feel better. Ilya’s cold encounter with Sasha is his internal self grappling with everything he feels insecure about and that makes him throw up walls as tall as the ceilings are in that bathroom.
When it’s clear to Ilya that Sasha as the character on screen wants to engage in sex in that bathroom he asks “Here? Serious?” He is asking Sasha, the character, if he’s serious about having sex in a public place with high ranking officials nearby. But, what’s really happening is Ilya is asking himself if he’s seriously considering bringing up all of this stuff up in his head in this place he doesn’t feel safe or comfortable showing these emotions. Because this bathroom is really the inside of Ilya’s head. (Thank you Fiona for reminding me of that.) He’s talking to himself in this space. He is telling Sasha, having sex in a public place could ruin everything for him. This is Ilya asking himself “Here? Serious?” Having an emotional breakdown over childhood memories could be dangerous. The fall-out from this journey down memory lane could set Ilya back emotionally even farther and potentially harm his ability to play.
If found by his father in an emotional state, he could look like what happened when his mother couldn’t process her emotions well. First, he doesn’t want to be depressed. No one does. And, he’s seen the fallout from an untreated depressed mother as revealed in “The Cottage” episode 6. That outcome would scare anyone. Second, if Grigori finds him, he can likely predict how Grigori will react. Ilya doesn’t want or need that either. He needs help.
Sasha says “Danger used to get you going, if memory serves.” (Yet, another reference to Ilya’s youth.) Ilya, in return, “We’re not kids anymore Sasha.” (Youth again.) To Sasha, Ilya explains that he can’t be sexually careless with a man. He has responsibilities that would be ruined if he was caught having sex with a man in Russia. We don’t even know what Russia would do to Ilya if he was caught. Ilya might never see Shane again. And, if he is cut off from his career, he can’t financially support his ailing and financially destitute father or his brother and his family. There is too much to lose to be this careless.
“We’re not kids anymore Sasha” to young Ilya sounds like Ilya wants to move past this trauma. Thinking about these bad memories frustrates Ilya and he’s over them. They’ve plagued him for years and maybe when he was younger he let them run roughshod over his mental health. It sounds a bit self-loathing too. As in “Why can’t I just get over these thoughts and feelings and grow up? It’s childish to keep thinking about my past traumas.” If Ilya can’t keep these thoughts at bay, he might have a breakdown and not be able to play hockey anymore. The thoughts might become all too consuming. If you’ve read “The Long Game”, that all tracks.
To younger Ilya, the current Ilya needs to protect himself from the things in the past and present that harm him. “We’re sure not” said by Sasha at the same time Sasha grabs Ilya’s groin. Real Sasha is trying to see if Ilya is at all aroused by Sasha’s advances. Crudely, I could think literally here that young Ilya is checking to see how well-endowed adult Ilya became. Because, Sasha does feel with his hand that Ilya does not have prepubescent or pubescent body parts anymore. But, more I think this current Ilya’s lack of arousal is Ilya holding his ground. He’s holding at bay these encroaching ideas about his traumatic past. He’s trying to keep his emotions in check by not becoming aroused. You can use the word ‘aroused’ here both sexually with Sasha and in context to Ilya’s emotions.
When Ilya tells Sasha ‘no’ to sex here or elsewhere, he explicitly means he really is not interested in letting these thoughts run wild here or elsewhere in Russia. He has to bottle up his emotions all of the time in Russia. This is just one more time. He doesn’t just bottle up his emotions in Russia though. He notoriously does not let anyone in to his emotional state at all. It took years to let in Shane at the All-Star Weekend game.
A question that remains is Sasha literally representing how young Ilya used to solicit sex? Sasha seems almost predatory. Did past Ilya conduct himself poorly when first figuring out sex as a teenager? We see Ilya quite aggressively pursue Shane sexually but he always asks for consent. Maybe this difference in their approaches gives us a peek into Ilya’s growth. He now understands how to respect boundaries. Thankfully Ilya matured because Sasha gives me the creeps and Shane deserves better than that. Or, maybe the sexual aggression only represents how insidiously the thoughts of Russia and his past trauma unwillingly creep in.
And, I just realized how badly that looks for Svetlana once you know her function in the text. It sort of breaks my heart a little.
When Sasha says he wants to go to a party, suggesting Ilya could go as well, this sounds like how a young Ilya would have dealt with his trauma. Drown out the pain with chaos. Current Ilya does not go and is not interested in this other party, probably filled with more alcohol, lots of drugs and the eventual promise of sex. Instead Ilya checks in on his text from Shane to ground himself and remember what he has to look forward to when this Russia visit ends. This means also when Ilya suffers through his past grief, Shane will always be there waiting to help him through whatever Ilya faces even if Ilya can’t reach Shane now.
Though, I don’t think Ilya believes that to be true right now. If he did, I bet he would risk a text to Shane while in Russia. We do see Ilya reach out to Shane in Russia later after Grigori dies. But, at that moment there is not a hateful father lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on any of Ilya’s mistakes and Shane and Ilya have moved into a new phase in their relationship by this time.
The way they close out their conversation is quite sad. Ilya doesn’t say “Bye” to Sasha but rather “Nice to see you, Sasha.” He says it straight faced and in a sarcastic manner like “It wasn’t great to feel these emotions again and it’s time for them to go now. But, this isn’t ‘goodbye’ because memories and the past traumas never really go away.” He knows he will see Sasha again some day as a friend or old acquaintance just like he knows those memories will come back again to ruin another day.
So, this whole scene shows us that Ilya experiences these terrible feelings about Russia and his childhood, possibly on a consistent basis. They aren’t just fleeting thoughts either. They are very persistent and evocative thoughts that take a considerable amount of determination not to engage with.
Because, Svetlana brings Sasha up again in the car a few episodes later. Ilya stares daggers at Svetlana for bringing him up when it doesn’t seem like a welcome time to bring up childhood memories. Ilya doesn’t verbally acknowledge or engage with Svetlana about Sasha which makes me think in this instance Ilya is able to keep those thoughts from creeping in too aggressively…this time. He is very likely reviewing old texts from ‘Jane’ on his phone which would help ground him.
I’m not saying Ilya should permanently banish these thoughts. Ignoring trauma never did anyone any good. Clearly ignoring them hasn’t done him much good to this point either. Svetlana does bring Ilya to Sasha in this scene so she must think he needs to address these underlying issues too.
Would I like to never see Sasha ever again in Heated Rivalry again? Yes. Do I think that is realistic for Ilya’s character arch? No. Will we see Sasha again in Season 2? Maybe, but I have my doubts. Considering Sasha, the character, lives in Paris it doesn’t make sense to bring him to North America for the sake of Ilya’s misery. And, what reason does Ilya have to go to Paris? None that I know of. Could Tierney concoct a premise for Sasha to be in North America? Sure. Anything is possible. But, since Sasha is not mentioned in “The Long Game”, I think the representation of Ilya’s internal struggle will be transferred to another character.
But, I’m not in the business of making predictions. I’ve been burned before.
Did you figure out how we know Ilya is the true Ilya in this bathroom? That big blue vodka bottle he nurses throughout the scene. Yup. That’s the clue. Because vodka represents Ilya every time, the real Ilya.
On the surface level, does Ilya drink because he knows he can’t handle these thoughts completely sober? Or, do these thoughts swirl around in his head because he has been drinking? Both scenarios are plausible.
If Sasha represents parts of his childhood that include many bad memories, we see Ilya greet him (mostly) sober. If memory serves, the reason for the bathroom meetings is because Svetlana drags Ilya away from their fathers to take Ilya to the bar to get “another drink”. He had already had at least one alcoholic drink before this moment. And, there was at least one vodka drink at home with his father before the gala. Jury is out if that is a total of two drinks prior to the bathroom scene or one. Either way Ilya’s blood alcohol volume could definitely be the reason for the conversation or a reason to ‘medicate’ himself for having these thoughts.
Did you ever wonder when Ilya acquires the bottle? Because Svetlana intentionally does not take him to the bar to get a drink before she takes him to see Sasha. Then, it’s magically there. There is actually a cut in the scene prior to the bottle appearing or a short time jump. The scene starts with Sasha snorting cocaine then greeting Ilya still wearing his full suit. Which then cuts to Ilya sitting without his jacket on the vanity with said blue bottle in hand while Sasha lounges in the empty bathtub.
Ilya didn’t have to take his jacket off or sit on the vanity. But, he did. That scene could have been one long continuous shot. But, it wasn’t. He could have walked into the bathroom with the bottle. But, he didn’t. The filmmakers specifically show us a new shot with slightly different elements to show us time passed between those two shots.
Picture from: TellTaleTV
But what time? Considering all that we have already talked about as Sasha representing Ilya’s youth and Ilya’s bad childhood memories having a field day in his head, that jump in time seems related to these ideas. My subtext senses say this intentional choice is not related to the pacing of the scene.
I believe that the jump in time mirrors the development that happened between who Ilya used to be, Sasha, and who he is now with the vodka bottle, or the real Ilya. Otherwise, why would the editors cut that scene that way?
We will talk about other mirror scenes with minor characters again in a later article. But, knowing about the use of physical mirrors in this manner in film will help guide you to some subtext gold. We now have a whole back story of Ilya’s mental health related to his memories from Russia that are not obvious in the text. We know he hates Russia but Sasha helps us see how often these intrusive thoughts rear their ugly head and the degree to which Ilya struggles to keep them away. This will most likely become a bigger problem in the next two seasons and we’ll have to see how the screenwriters present it to us in the subtext and how it they bring it to the text as it is large part of the premise of “The Long Game”. We also can guess that Ilya matured incredibly quickly from someone who was not careful to someone who is overly careful now to protect his career, and, by extension, Shane’s.
Did anyone count how many times youth or the past was mentioned in this scene or leading up to it? I lost count but I know it’s at least five plus this subtle edited time jump which brings the number up to six references to the past. If someone cares to update the number below in the comments, feel free. I won’t judge you for your 27th watch. This was me with another series.
Before we part ways, I want to give a big shout out to Reddit u/Federal-Ad5944 for posting the whole Russian gala and bathroom screen with the English subtitles in r/heatedrivalry. This work wouldn’t have been possible without you.
Other housekeeping notes are that most of the pictures in my articles are taken from this site. I do my best to try to hyperlink the picture whenever I grab it from there or other sources. They have a fantastic site and the picture quality works well for my articles. Please stop by there to find lots of fun goodies.
If a picture comes from my own screen shot, I don’t link any source.
Now that you know that physical mirrors when used with characters can show us more about a main character, you should go watch Saltburn if you have the stomach for it. The one and only time I watched it, I couldn’t escape all of those mirrors. It was never a movie that I wanted to dive into the subtext for as that particular genre, being gore, is not my cup of tea. If anyone wants me to watch it again and try to figure out what those mirrors mean, I will for you and the sake of this blogdear reader. We can try to determine the meaning of the mirrors in the comments below together. But, YOU can just watch the film and report back your thoughts without my input. Right? RIGHT?!
Are there any other movies you can think of that use mirrors in this way? Or, maybe, you feel like a scene in a movie is significant because it has a mirror in it but you don’t know exactly why it’s important. Feel free to add scene, TV and movie mirror scenes below so we can watch your recommendations.