Feeling wet? How Heated Rivalry filmmakers use water in subtext
Feeling Wet?
How Heated Rivalry filmmakers use water in subtext.
Have you seen The Great Flood on Netflix? A young mom attempts to rescue herself and her child from the rising waters caused by relentless city-smashing tsunamis. She loses her son in the chaos and realizes that he has died. But, she wakes up, presumably the next day, to the same scenario, her son is alive and she is faced with the same harrowing task of saving her small family. This happens over and over again; Think Groundhog’s Day but with very wet life and death choices. We soon find out her mission is to understand how a human would and should react to each dilemma she encounters. Every time the audience sees her make the right choice that drastically alters the events we see on screen, another tsunami hits, unlocking another layer of horrors. We learn she is part of a simulation and we can tell just how many times the simulation starts over by the number that climbs higher and higher on her shirt. It’s a staggeringly high number. Human emotions are not easy to understand.
The appearance of another tsunami demonstrates that she engaged in the correct human emotion that led her to make that right decision that saved lives, reunited families, or killed the enemies. She, or this simulation, was learning how to feel. She was literally drenched in her feelings. This summary is not a ringing endorsement for this film. Honestly, I felt waterboarded with this metaphor. Seeing the characters constantly drenched and wading in knee-deep water only made me wonder how much chafing the actors were subjected to. But, if you’ve never noticed water in film before used to represent something other than water, this should have been the movie that clued you in.
Many movies and films use water to demonstrate feelings. Water serves important emotional roles in film but film makers use it many different ways: The iconic kiss from The Notebook where rain falls down around the lovers representing joy, reconciliation of past misunderstandings, and starting anew; Disney’s Moana where water acts as an important member of their village providing food, comfort, adventure and a fair bit of comedic timing; in Jaws where water instills terror and hides a killer provoking fear of the ocean for many in real life too. When you find water in most films, it usually represents feelings.
Some feelings are simple like the pride of landing your perfect job or the pain of a broken heart from a relationship that didn’t last. Though other feelings can be hard to define. Even when we can put words to them, sometimes describing something like fear, love, sadness, or joy is intangible at best and often different for each individual. Emotions do not always exist in a vacuum either. We can be joyful on the day of the birth of our child and also feel immense sadness that a grandparent passed away before meeting their grandchild. Sometimes we can’t even verbalize our feelings leaving us confused but we know we’re feeling those feelings.
When an internal monologue in the form of a written narrative is not available, how can a filmmaker present to the audience a feeling a character experiences without them turning to the camera or another character and saying “I’m sad”? Of course a director can hope the actor shows those emotions on screen but sometimes the scene doesn’t allow for a character to reveal those feelings through their facial expressions, dialogue or blocking. In these instances there is a gap between what we see or hear and what we are supposed to understand in the scene. Subtext fills in those gaps.
Since this series is based on a novel, many fans insist one has to read the novel in order to understand Ilya’s and Shane’s unspoken thoughts. But, that is where film subtext fills in holes when dialogue isn’t possible. Having read the book series by Rachel Reid has helped me uncover some of the subtext, I don’t know that either is more informative. Reading books and watching films are just different mediums.
My daughter read a novel and she instinctively knew there was subtext layered through it all. As an inspiring writer she got curious when I started chatting about subtext in film and how it can be employed in writing as well. It became her mission to figure out how to use it in her own writing. She asked me to read that same book so we could try to figure it out together. I don’t read as much as I should these days. Actually, I haven’t physically read a book since before I started learning about film subtext. But, authors employ similar techniques as filmmakers. In case you were wondering, the book is “If He Had Been with Me” by Laura Nowlin. And, we found metaphors in tables, tiaras, cars, and more. It was quite fun taking it apart with her. Even though this book is for teens, it ripped my heart out of my chest and tore it into little pieces. I still shudder when she brings it up.
Subtext hides everywhere in art waiting for you to discover it.
While water is not as obviously depicted in Heated Rivalry as it is in other films using this metaphor, we should know water is used by filmmakers to show feelings and be on the lookout for it whenever possible.
As a fun little exercise, try to think of all of the ways you might encounter water in real life. Go ahead and stop looking at this screen and make a list. Here are a few to start: rain, drinking water from a cup, a swimming pool, a lake, snow, and ice. Water doesn’t have to appear in just liquid form; solid forms of water are helpful too. Now that you’ve taken the time to think a little about water, surely you named more than my paltry list there.
Well, filmmakers can use all of those ways in which we encounter water in real life to show a feeling in film. Surely you’ve seen one of the most cliche-y uses of water on film: a heavy downpour when a character ugly cries in their sadness. Thankfully Jacob Tierney, the director of Heated Rivalry, avoids this tired trope (mostly). I encourage you to stop reading here and go look for water in all of its forms in Heated Rivalry and decipher what each instance means.
But, since you’re still here, we can do it together. That’s fine. I’m happy to oblige you. Maybe you did try the challenge on your own and will have some overlap with the examples I list below. Either way, let’s dive in. (Pun intended.) Oh, and just like the list above that includes only a few examples of water in real life, we will only go through a few, and maybe a few more, significant water examples in Heated Rivalry. You can go find more once we’re done here and post in the comments.
In one of the first scenes Shane and Ilya interact privately in the gym at their hotel where they ‘compete’ on the stationary bikes and then collapse in front of the mirrors from exhaustion, water is everywhere if you know where to look. Even though we’ve seen shots of them playing hockey with narrations of how the story will unfold and we saw a little bit flirting in the opening scene where Ilya can’t light his cigarette, this time Shane and Ilya are highly aware they are together, in private and very alone; They understand just how talented each other is in hockey, that they have been pitted against each other by the hockey world, and unbeknownst to the other, are mildly attracted to each other. Did we not all see Shane almost fall off of his bike when he realized Ilya took to riding next to him?
Pictures from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
Now that these young men rode their bikes into a near cardiac arrest, they are huffing and puffing their way to a slower heart rate in front of that mirror. (If you have yet to read the mirror article some of the next bits might be confusing. I encourage you to pause here and read that article before returning here.) What do we see dripping from their every pore? Sweat. Sweat is 99% water. We don’t need to go into the details of that other 1%, right? Because we are really here just for the water.
I can see you yelling “Of course they’re sweating! They just sprinted on those bikes for longer than we imagined ever watching on film. They are going to sweat.” My counter would be “Sure, but the filmmakers made sure we saw them sweaty…on purpose…. and not for just the sake of realism. Look at what they’re sitting in front of: that huge mirror hiding something. They are drenched in water and trying to hide from those feelings in front of that mirror.”
Filming takes time, new shots with new cameras can take long periods of precious filming time, if not hours to set up. Between camera setups, Storrie’s and Williams’s (real or not) sweat would have dried. Someone sprayed them down with water multiple times to make sure we saw sweat dripping down Shane’s and Ilya’s bodies.
What does that dripping water represent? Their desire for each other.
I can tell you’re not convinced yet. That’s okay.
Because of how Tierney shot that mirror scene with intense close-ups of arms, legs, necks, and lips mostly from Shane’s point of view, we know Shane not only shares admiration of Ilya’s hockey talent but also of his physical body. Likely, this is the same for Ilya as well. The bolder of the two, Ilya, engages in a conversation about their future hockey teams and respective cities to gauge Shane’s interest in this dynamic. Will Shane bolt at the slightest suggestion of flirting or play along with him? Noticing Shane doesn’t have any water to drink after that mini cycling competition, Ilya finds a way to test those limits when he encourages, nay demands, Shane drink water from Ilya’s water bottle. We see a little bit of the beginning of their soft dom/sub relationship here. (Please go read about this on your own if you’re not sure what this means. Knowing more about this type of relationship will inform you about their dynamic in bed. But, I’m sure I’ll have to address it more in depth in a later article.) Ilya tests how far he can push Shane with drinking water and Shane complies. The demands are not unrealistic. Once Ilya stops making demands, Shane stops drinking. Shane does not bolt.
Wait, I did just write ‘water’ there. Ilya demands Shane drink the water, drink his feelings. Ilya encourages Shane to honor those feelings of (hidden) desire and soft obedience to Ilya even if Shane thinks he manages to hide those feelings from Ilya and himself (I mean, there is that huge mirror there). How long did Shane look at Ilya’s lips and neck? And, Ilya absolutely caught Shane raking his eye down towards Ilya’s crotch. But, Ilya makes sure Shane understands Ilya’s intention here with that obvious finger brush over the bottle both of the times they pass the bottle between each other. Everything about that scene screams desire and discovery down to the positions they sit in to the long un-broken eye contact to Ilya’s parting wink.
That mirror plays a large part in this interaction too. This world they are in, the toxic masculine hockey world where gay slurs are launched in the locker rooms regularly, does not allow for sexual desire of the male variety. Admitting those feelings to themselves is hard enough, though maybe harder for Shane, but admitting those feelings to each other seems impossible. In a different (non-hockey influenced) world and different time, this interaction would probably end with both of them in a hotel room together. However, those feelings have to be hidden and pushed down never to be spoken of again.
Gay male hook-up culture can be fast and impersonal. Though, that is not true for all gay men it is a huge feature of this culture. And, here’s where I’m going to make sure we all know that I’m not judging this behavior. I believe part of the reason why this exists is baked into the biology of how females and males roles differ in reproduction in most mammals.
The short of my thoughts on this is that female bodies are required for the lengthy and highly resource-dependent act of producing and raising the next generation. Males are generally only needed for a few seconds to perpetuate the next generation and then they move on with their life without a thought about what happens later.
Anecdotally, I see females of many different species carefully select who they allow near them. Their behaviours reflect cautious choices about how far they venture from home and they tend to be more careful about any new environmental stimulus. Conversely, I see the males in my life explore farther from home, take more chances, trust everyone and everything around them.
Layer onto that the patriarchy established by humans and we see a largely half of our population (the men) with little or no expectation of doing the hard work of raising families with the mother or maintaining close bonds with their children even if they are completely capable of being equal caregivers. This biological take that male bodies are largely expendable isn’t an excuse for men’s lack of commitment to caring for the young but it is a reason.
And, I AM judging men here who do not think that they need to care (or do just the bare minimum) for their children and the children’s mother. Men are highly capable of nurturing and caring for their children. Patriarchy really is the culprit here behind this social construct and it requires men to deconstruct their role in this culture in order to overcome these behaviors and dismantle patriarchy altogether.
(There is a distinction of some terms that I hope you are tracking. When I say ‘female’ and ‘male’, the discussion is not limited to humans. When I say ‘women’ and ‘men’, it is.)
Essentially, men’s bodies are expendable. Sorry guys. I didn’t make the rules - evolution did. So, if male bodies are not as important for the future of a species then they aren’t instinctively as cautious with their own bodies. This is all subconscious stuff here. You ever heard of the Darwin Awards? It’s a take on how evolution works in which those who partake in careless acts die young therefore removing their genes from the next generation. They have naturally selected themselves out of the gene pool. Who do we see consistently featured in these awards? Men.
For humans, women are more cautious because the worst thing that can happen to a man on a date is that he could be rejected by said woman; The worst thing that could happen to a woman on a date is that she could be killed by said man. This leads to a culture where men who have sex with men can often do so fast and sometimes without even a proper introduction. There is, usually, no power imbalance. They are able to engage in sexual intimacy without the fear of bodily harm by their sexual partner or the potential to have a future child to take care of.
Listen, I’m definitely still an amateur in many areas of my life and some anthropologist or sociologist of queer culture might come here to blast my very underdeveloped theory about gay male hookup culture. I’m fine with that really. This whole writing adventure is just for fun. No one is quoting me in their next dissertation on queer culture, or shouldn’t, at least. I think I will be alright. But we came here to talk about water representing feelings and I’m afraid I’ve gone too far off topic already. Let’s get back to Ilya and Shane.
(Do I need to put in a bit here about how women can engage in impersonal hookups as well and that’s just fine too? No, this is about gay hockey. I should go back to talking about gay hockey.)
The first shot of the Sochi Winter Olympics pops on the screen at about the 14:45 mark in “Olympians” episode 2. The first shot shows a beautiful snow covered mountain which sets the stage for a new location and a new experience beyond the typical circuit of the hockey games they play. The characters compete in the Olympics in teams based on their national origin instead of the professional hockey league teams that employ them. Ilya, obviously, will play for Russia and Shane for Canada.(Bonus points for a Scott Hunter and Carter Vaughn appearance representing the USA.) The next shot shows what the filmmakers want us to know are happenings at the Olympics: Lots of skiers, snow, people milling around and… is that a frozen river back to the left?
What whiplash! Ilya just left Shane (and us) all warm and fuzzy after that stairwell kiss moments before in the run of the show. This was his first experience bottoming (I feel like I can probably skip over explaining this considering you watched the show and saw what happened. Right?!) with what felt like the longest 2 years of his (our?) life. By the look on his face, it was one of the best experiences of his life. Then the shot immediately cuts to this icy, rocky landscape that we know occurs just a few months later in their lives but literally seconds after in our experience of the show. If you’re reading subtext in real time, you would sit up and point to the screen and yell “Why do we see so much frozen water?! Warning! Warning!” There are a dozen other ways to introduce the Winter Olympics that don’t include so much snow and so many jagged peaks. Yes, yes. It’s the Winter Olympics. So, of course they had to show snow and ice. But, did they have to show that much snow? It literally takes up ¾ of the screen.
Something that my friends and I bantered back and forth about was the distinction between the icy surface of the hockey rink versus the ice and snow in the Olympics. We agreed to take care with connecting ice to the metaphor of feelings because the whole premise of the show is that these fellas meet on the ice because….hockey.
Filmmakers try to consistently use metaphors throughout their series or film. If ice represents one thing throughout the series it should represent that in every instance shown. Logically then ice on the hockey rink should represent ice in a cup or the ice in the rink of an ice skating competition and so on and so on. But, I think we can look at the act of playing hockey on ice separately from the ways in which ice and snow are presented in Sochi and other scenes in Heated Rivalry.
If we consider the range of emotions Shane and Ilya have with and for each other playing hockey, we can assume that the ice in the ice hockey rink is just part of the scenery. There isn’t one consistent theme of feelings on the rink to make a definitive stance about how that ice connects to their feelings. That ice never changes but their feelings do.
However, if we think about the change from cozy stairwell kiss to the frigid introduction to the Olympics, we can probably make some new connections between feelings and this specific ice and snow. Think about what is happening between Shane and Ilya in Sochi. Ilya is indifferent towards Shane at best and daggers of ice towards him at worst. We know as an audience that Russia is not safe for queer people. Ilya definitely knows this and it seems like Shane also finally catches on to that. However, the last time we see Shane and Ilya together was one of their best experiences yet. They parted, feeling content and probably anticipating when they could see each other again. While their communication in the stairwell wasn’t entirely forthcoming, with Ilya not giving many details about his family dynamics, their communication during sex couldn’t have been clearer.
Shane’s new awareness of the danger Ilya is in (thank you Carter Vaughn) prompts Shane to reach out to Ilya by text. He’s not even trying to coordinate a hookup. Shane is genuinely concerned about Ilya as a person he knows and just wants to check in on him like a coworker might. Forget about the ‘with benefits’ part. That isn’t Shane’s goal with his text or during the meeting at the ice skating competition. Ilya rejects Shane harshly which doesn’t make sense to Shane nor the audience. Shane considers it would be acceptable for two hockey players on different teams to speak casually to each other at the Olympics (and so do we). Ilya’s icy cold demeanor doesn’t track with how their relationship has evolved or, even, if they were just having a collegial chat. Just look at that face of disgust. (Did anyone notice the snowflakes above their heads?)
Now we could surmise that Ilya is protecting himself from the suspicion of being queer and, by extension, also protecting Shane. But, again, Ilya’s reaction doesn’t match the expectation that Ilya would at least speak to Shane cordially when Shane reaches him at the upper parts of that stadium. Is Ilya trying to ‘ice out’ Shane completely to move on? Did he get too close to the sun with his desire-turned-more for Shane and realize he has to douse himself in an ice cold shower to quell his feelings. He is back in Russia after all, away from the cocoon of the queer peace that is Canada and in growing parts of the US during this time. (While same-sex marriage was dependent on each state during the Sochi Olympics, the Obergefell v Hodges court decision would allow for same-sex marriage at the federal level in the US in 2015, one year after the Sochi Olympics.) Does Ilya think that if he is cruel enough to Shane, Shane will walk away from whatever this is between them? He’s tried this tactic before and they still couldn’t stay away from each other. Will it work this time?
(For a comparison of Queer rights in Russia to include the the timeline of Heated Rivalry read here. Thank you for that link divi.)
We also have to consider that Ilya is often in turmoil when he is in Russia due to his family’s cruelty. Set aside how they would treat him if they knew he was queer. (In that bridge monologue Ilya admits to the audience that Alexei hates Ilya just ‘for existing’. That is a sentiment heard by queer people from homophobics often. Their mere existence is a reason to be hated. While I can’t prove that is what Ilya truly means, considering Tierney, a gay man, wrote that line as it was not in the book, I believe that is at least part of the reason that line exists.) They treat him as a verbal punching bag, as a bank and also, by his dad, a trophy to show off. Grigori’s son is, after all, one of the most talented players in the league. Well, this time Ilya is a disgraced hockey player son because he captained their team to a loss against Latvia.
And, the one thing that could bring him joy in Russia died when he was 12. One could also speculate that Grigori and Alexei despise Ilya because he reminds them of Irina. Alexei, at least, lost his mother alongside Ilya and if Ilya looks anything like Irina, Ilya is a constant reminder of that loss. And, of course, Ilya’s accomplishments are a constant reminder of Alexei’s own shortcomings.
The only thing that is important or consistent in Russia is the hockey which he plays for the Olympics. Everything else is a pain.
Except at this moment which has never happened before for him: Shane is here in Russia with him. Shane brings Ilya so much joy and love while everything else in Russia, besides hockey, brings him pain. It’s difficult to hold those two things at the same time when he can’t even do that; he can’t hold Shane literally at the same time he is one of the most talented hockey players in the world. The joy Shane brings in his life in Russia is not allowed. He is crushed by his feelings for Shane because he’s never been in love before and doesn’t know what to do with these feelings. He can’t live openly, or even covertly, in a relationship with Shane that could be the industry’s best kept secret because it is not allowed in hockey. And, he can’t be in a relationship openly, or covertly, with Shane “because Russia”. So, even though Shane brings Ilya so much joy and love, everything beyond the tight bubble of these two men in love is so painful. And, Russia is an immediate and painful reminder of that reality.
Safely we can say that ice and snow in Russia represent the cold and distant, even cruel, way that Ilya treats Shane. His feelings have to be cold and distant in order for Ilya to be able to get through his brief time in Russia. And, maybe if he is cruel enough, Shane will cut ties and this conundrum Ilya finds himself in will all be over even if that means he will never be with Shane. Can we never go back to Russia please?
There are two more references to water in Russia but occur in the bathroom scene that are worthy to mention but don’t need much analysis as we understand now what ice and snow mean for Ilya and Shane in Russia. When Sasha is introduced he is literally snorting ‘snow’, a nickname for cocaine. Also, Sasha, for most of that shot, is in a receptacle for water, or a receptacle for feelings, a bathtub. And, that receptacle is completely dry or empty. We can surmise that Ilya does not have feelings for Sasha at all. To Sasha’a chagrin, Ilya signals verbally and physically that sex will definitely not occur in that bathroom or anywhere else. Whatever Svetlana was trying to rekindle there was not going to happen.
As discussed in the article, Ginger Ale is a metaphor for Shane’s homosexuality, we determined vodka represents Ilya. After Ilya wins MVP in “Olympians” episode 2, Shane finds himself in Ilya’s hotel room. Ilya demands Shane ‘perform’ for him while Ilya drinks a glass of vodka - “This is a good hotel. Really nice vodka. Is hard to find in America.”
This is a new situation for Shane. Shane feels a little uncomfortable performing but concedes to Ilya’s demands. Their dynamic in the beginning of this series and sprinkled throughout in later scenes reflects soft Dom/Sub roles. Shane knows that Ilya won’t demand something completely out of Shane’s comfort and Shane can always say “no” to anything asked of him. The fandom calls Ilya ‘The Consent King’. He checks in with Shane to make sure Shane still agrees with whatever they are doing at that moment and never pressures Shane to do something Shane doesn’t want to do. While those rules still apply to this scene, the distance between them literally reflects the distance between them figuratively. What was before a loving and physically close sexual experience at the top of this episode, now seems cold and detached. In the article Introductions and Cigarettes, we discussed that the unlit cigarette represents how the spark dies between them when Ilya has to go back to Russia. So much about Russia wrecks Ilya and he has to find a way to get rid of these feelings for Shane. I don’t think anyone viewing that scene felt anything but awful for Shane’s confusion and maybe a little angry at Ilya’s treatment of Shane. But, we also understand Ilya’s battle as well. He has to figure out a way to stop these feelings for Shane.
What tiny water clue from the top of this scene informs us of Ilya’s feelings? Did you say ‘ice’? Same-independent8120 on Reddit broke down some of the Russian aspects of the show as she speaks Russian and enough English to enjoy Heated Rivalry. She mentioned that Russians do not drink vodka on ice, rather they drink it chilled. Other countries do drink vodka on ice, especially North America where this series was created. We have to decide if this choice of vodka on rocks made by the filmmakers (because Connor Storrie did not decide to put ice in that glass) was just a default choice due to what they know about serving vodka in North America OR if the ice in the vodka was there to fill in the gaps of the text.
By now you should pick “ ‘or’, definitely ‘or’ ”. That ice is there to tell us how Ilya feels at this moment about his own feelings for Shane. Remember how we talked about how vodka represents Ilya? This Ilya is cold and aloof here. He is not cruel to Shane like he was in Russia but the loving connection Shane expected seems lost especially after Ilya reassured him in the bathroom after during the awards ceremony just a few scenes before. If he is cold to Shane maybe Shane will, over time, lose interest in Ilya and they can just be rivals-without-benefits. Not having a sexual relationship with Shane fixes many of Ilya’s problems even if it will break Ilya’s heart to not be together. And, as Shane attempts and fails to craft a text to say “goodbye” to Ilya for the summer, we can all agree their relationship is on the rocks.
Sometimes when I start an article, I’ll write down a list of scenes I want to discuss. The next note here was “Shower scene”. It was one of the last scenes I wrote even though it’s not the last scene of this article. I don’t know why I did that. Remember, I’m not a writer. Why does any writer write about what they write about and in what order do they write it? (That felt very Dr. Seuss-ish.) Anyways, now that I’m back to writing about this “Shower scene” I don’t remember which scene won in my brain: the scene in a public shower after the commercial shoot in episode 1 or the scene in a private shower embedded in a montage in episode 4.
To me the public shower scene in episode 1 might warrant its own article later because it is packed to the brim with historical nods to gay hookup culture. So, we’ll just stick to the private shower scene in episode 4. I will not provide you with a picture of this one (unless I start putting these articles behind a paywall) but you can find it at the 3 minute mark and it lasts for 6 seconds. Considering the shot is short we can only infer a little bit about the scene. But, here we go.
To say the least, they are both very wet and are both experiencing an array of emotions.
To say the most, we see this 6 second shot tucked among a grouping of narrative shots that tells us a story about their hockey performances, their individual interests, and their almost constant hookups whenever they are in the same city.
Their hockey playing is on point with Shane’s team winning two world cups over a few years of their lives. When they can play together they covertly flirt, finding ways to be close by slamming each other into the boards, and watch each other’s every move on the ice. However, they both seem to lose interest in their normal hobbies or obligations outside of hockey; Ilya clubbing and finding women to bed and Shane reading and building his brand image with product endorsement obligations. Their friends notice they are more distracted than normal and they each constantly check their phone for new messages from the other. It’s implied those old interests and obligations take a backseat to their new interest which is each other. Additionally, their sex life is better than ever when they have a chance to be together.
This narrative story happens in the short 6 minute intro before the Heated Rivalry title hits the screen for “Rose” episode 4. Tierney paints a picture that hockey remains their central focus but they begin to experience this all-consuming infatuation with each other that overshadows almost everything else in their lives and sex is their main way of communicating at this point. (After 28 years of this reality, I feel called out by this show. I’m literally obsessed with my partner to this day while everything else is optional. Well, besides the kids. We have to pay attention to them. Ironically when we were younger several well-meaning adults noticed and cautioned me against our obvious infatuation with each other. If only they knew…..)
We can clearly state that the shower scene shows us in the subtext what we see on camera: They are falling for each other, their feelings being showered on top of them, and they don’t want to admit it. Admitting their feelings for each other would breach a wall they have fiercely defended of keeping this with-benefits situation just that: Sex without feelings or commitment. Because their life is hockey and there is no gay sex or gay romantic feelings in hockey. But, with all of those showery feelings falling on them, it will be harder and harder to deny their love for each other. (A nice little setup for the Tuna Melt scene.)
While we’re on this water adventure, I encourage you to try to spy each time they have wet hair, especially after they have sex. If you have a less than stellar quality video it might be difficult to tell but often one or both of them take showers right after sex per their wet hair. Ilya once announced it in episode 2. Other times we have to look at the clues in the scene to understand a shower occurred. Logistically that makes sense, some acts of sex are messy that require a freshen up. But, after we’re done here with this article, you’ll probably understand why it was important for us to see wet hair. Remember, everything you see in film is a choice. Tierney did not have to show us heads shiny with water or towels wrapped around bodies after sex implying showers occurred. If we see wet hair or bodies, we know some feelings are happening here and since they really don’t start communicating until the cottage, they aren’t showing each other their feelings either. Thank goodness for subtext though. We got your number Ilya. You’re the first one to take a shower and drip those happy feelings for Shane all over him.
One of the most adorable series of scenes in Heated Rivalry is during the Allstar Game Weekend in “I’ll Believe in Anything” episode 5. We see Shane looking a updated in a new style approach Ilya at the bar. Shane tries his best to break through Ilya’s cold exterior and Ilya finds out that Shane flew solo with neither a girlfriend nor parent in sight. At the end of the scene they understand that they can potentially proceed with some stolen moments later in their hotel rooms. But, first we see Shane lounge by the pool while Ilya shows us his more playful sides engaging in pool games with the children of the hockey players for this weekend. There is so much to see and understand in the subtext during this scene but we should stick to water for now.
Before we get too far though please listen to the end of the scene at the bar where Ilya has to cover his mouth as Shane walks away. Moments before they fell back into their normal bantering dynamic and Shane confirmed he is single. At that moment the music cuts to a fast thumping beat to a composition by Peter Peter named *checks notes* “Hollonav”. We are to understand this is Ilya’s (or, maybe both of their) heartbeat(s).
Ilya’s heartbeat takes off like he is running a race. It occurs to Ilya that he has a chance with Shane when earlier he had convinced himself Shane would move on from their secret relationship and find a nice woman to settle down with (and that current someone is Rose Landry). Ilya struggles to control his grin as he realizes this weekend will not be the nightmare he envisioned watching Rose drip all over Shane showcasing their perfect relationship. And, can he hope for something after Ilya all but confessed his love for Shane in the Tuna Melt scene in “Rose” episode 4? I don’t know about you but my heart is beating fast for Ilya.
Picture from: https://heated-rivalry.com/heated-rivalry-season-one/
But, there are two things I want you to hear, the beat and the splash. The song flows over several scenes unrelated to each other but thematically connect together; the games at the pool and the All-Star game they all came for. This particular composition shows us that Ilya and Shane are on the same page: covertly flirting, openly talking with each other around other people which they have never done besides a press conference years previously, playing on the same team (but not just playing, their smiles and the shots of smooth puck maneuvers between them indicate this is the most fun they’ve had in a long time on the ice and the best they’ve ever played with anyone), and openly praising each other’s skill on the ice.
The splash introduces us to the next scene where Ilya plays in the pool with the kids. Even though we don’t yet see any water looking at Ilya’s satisfied and expectant expression, we know by the sound that we hear splashing water. This filming technique is called a J cut where the sound of a new scene is heard before the current scene concludes. The sound usually does not match what we see in the current scene but it cues our brain to prepare for a new and entirely different scene next.
If we’re following along here with this water metaphor, and specifically, the liquid variety of water, we know that liquid water represents very good feelings in each of them for the other. That splashing sound occurring in a scene with just Ilya sitting there in the wake of Shane’s departure indicates to us he is very happy about what just unfolded and what will come of this weekend.
The next scene cuts to Shane lying by the poolside while Ilya is neck deep in all of that liquidy water. Ilya’s enthusiasm and hope are as consuming as that water is deep. What transpires in the pool on the surface is just a fun guy entertaining the team members’ kids. But, if you listen to the dialogue one more time you might just hear Ilya forecasting the future. He promises the kids “Okay. And, I will not be losing this time.” You got that right Ilya. You won the game of Shane’s heart and no one, not even Rose Landry, will beat you.
Ilya fakes a loss to the kids claiming a shark attack. We see him act like a shark is dragging him down below the water and he’s struggling to get to the end of the pool where the race ends. What we’re seeing here is future Ilya struggling with his feelings about their relationship. Even if he knows that he loves Shane (drowning in that pool of feelings) and wants to continue their previous arrangement of secret rendezvous, he’s not sure how to express it or even know how to hope that there could be something more (unable to reach the end of the race) between them. While he doesn’t lose Shane this time, he really struggles to accept and express his feelings.
And, a couple of scenes later in the hotel room Shane confesses all of his feelings; he admits he’s gay, which is hard to admit for him, he apologizes twice for the way he left abruptly after the Tuna Melt scene and he confesses that “I like you a little too much.” Shane has been putting the work in! While all of these feelings are hard to confess, he does anyway. He needs Ilya to know exactly where Shane stands right now, which is honestly considering what a true relationship could look like together, not just clandestine hookups three or four times a year. He got a taste of what a relationship could feel like with Rose and that’s what he hopes he could have with Ilya. What could a relationship like Rose’s and Shane’s look like WITH amazing sex? That’s the Golden Ticket and Shane is almost holding it. He demands that Ilya lay out his true feelings and expectations about what Ilya wants between them. Shane asks “In a perfect world would you want us to be something?”
Ilya feels at this moment they can’t be together so why even entertain this notion. He blocks Shane’s ever more specific questions and demands walking around the idea of a “them” by providing all of the potential roadblocks he feels keep them apart (the fact that they are two men, their ‘rivalry’, Russia and his implied family’s homophobia) instead of what could keep them together. He, metaphorically, hasn’t reached the end of the pool. That ‘shark’ seems more like a four-headed water demon than just your run-of-the-mill Great White. He very much says here “I want to be in a relationship with you” without actually saying it and Shane hears that loud and clear.
Ironically back at the pool, Shane claps at all of the kids who have reached the edge of the pool and who have beaten Ilya. I find that hilarious because he’s congratulating himself for coming to terms with his queerness and admitting he wants more with Ilya than casual sex. He was swimming in those feelings but he also reached the finish line. Ilya does feel his love for Shane but can’t reach the end of the pool, admit that love and hope for a better future together with Shane.
And, what is a pool for if you can’t flirt with your man by showering him with all of his feelings with a quick shake of his head while Shane lays elegantly by the pool? The head shake and water raining down on Shane represents Ilya’s playful flirting but also those happy, loving feelings he has for Shane. Shane doesn’t even complain about it. He just gives the love of his life a look from head to toe behind those glasses drinking him in. Williams here gives us the subtlest of head tilts so we know Shane is literally soaking in all of Ilya’s glorious form even if we can’t see what his eyes are doing. (Yes, I’m leaning on all of the water imagery we use in the English language to really hammer in this point.) We all know why you wore those shades Shane!
I digress, Shane takes those droplets of water, Ilya’s feelings, without complaint. For goodness sakes, Shane just witnessed Ilya play out right with a gaggle of kids that aren’t even his. And, while we don’t know in the show if Shane eventually wants to start a family, what better ringing endorsement for an outstanding man than that said man creating a safe, joyful, and creative space for those kids? Because, instead of being a goofball in the pool from Shane’s perspective, Ilya could have been lounging on the side of the pool drinking a beer or picking up a woman nearby. [There is that one woman in a red bikini (that I hope to talk about at another time) hanging around everywhere we look.]
Did anyone notice the tiny parallel between how Shane reacts to the feelings flinging off of Ilya and how Ilya expresses his feelings later in the hotel? When pushed hard enough by Shane, Ilya raises his voice in frustration because Shane still does not understand that Russia is the largest hurdle preventing Ilya from living an openly queer life. It’s such a surprising reaction that Shane flinches just the slightest at the tiny outburst but does not let Ilya’s frustration deter him. He encourages Ilya to continue to explore his feelings. By the pool, when Ilya shakes his head to spray Shane with water, Shane flinches but does not protest. He continues to stare at dripping Ilya with only the cover of his sunglasses to hide his admiration.
We’re not done with that pool scene yet. In the beginning of that scene Ilya at one point jokingly boos a kid who says that Shane is the best player on the team. He stops splashing the little girl and says “I forgive you. You can stay.” He’s telling us that he forgives Shane for his behaviour after the Tuna Melt scene and lets Shane know that he can come back into his life like they were before Rose.
What better way to round out this article than at the cottage again? While writing about metaphors has been great, there are some other parts of film analysis that can inform the audience of more layers of subtext and won’t always land us at the cottage. But, for now, here we are again.
Water appears in many ways at the cottage, including that stunning sunrise shot where Shane takes the time and energy to care for Ilya who has never been afforded that loving attention. Or, when we can see the lake behind them in a loving embrace. But, there are two notable watery examples that can’t go undiscussed.
When Shane invites Ilya into his cottage, Shane as a great host offers Ilya food, Coke and water. Actually, this awkward man says “The water here is really good. I have my own well. You can see it. In case you’re thirsty.” He points to somewhere out of the cottage onto the property but I’d wager that Shane was actually pointing to his image in the window. He was pointing to himself offering all of his emotions and feelings out in the open for Ilya. “Those feelings here are ‘really good’.” He says “I have my own well of feelings ready to be drunk from. Look, they are right here [as he points to his reflection in the window]. You can have all of them if you are thirsty for them.” If we didn’t understand his intentions there, we understand just minutes later what he is offering when he suggests to Ilya, “I have an idea. For the next few weeks, let’s just be honest with each other about what we actually think and, maybe, how we really feel.” This cottage getaway will allow them the time, space and freedom to explore and share those feelings openly.
Do you remember the scene where Shane asks Ilya what his mother’s name is? Ilya says “Irina. Why?” Then Shane elaborates on an extension of their plan to be together in the future (because it better not be married to Svetlana). They could offer summer hockey camps to kids and donate the proceeds to organizations that specialize in suicide prevention of which Ilya’s mother died from. If Ilya wasn’t in love with Shane enough at this point, he just fell harder, head over heels in fact, in love at that moment. For Shane to think this carefully about guaranteeing a future for them and somehow including Ilya’s deceased mother in that future they want together is like a dream for Ilya. He can stay in Canada with Shane, continue playing hockey and, in the off-season, do something for people who suffer like his mother did from their work together, at the same time hanging out with kids by teaching them hockey. (This feels like a run-on.) It can’t get any better than that!
And, what scene follows directly after that?
Oh! There is Ilya, literally head over heels in a body of water immersed in and showing all of his loving feelings for Shane.
Even though Shane isn’t in the water here with him, he has already offered all of his water from his well at the beginning of this episode.
While their future as a couple in public is uncertain, they know for a fact that they love each other and will fight to be together in private. They have both shown their love for each other by their acts, planning for a future together, and actually saying those words out loud.
Besides them both drenched in water, making out on the porch, when David accidentally catches them, that’s the last bit of water we see for Season 1. Right? Let’s keep an eye out for how water shows up in Season 2.
Feel free to add any other glimpses of water in the comments below whether it be the liquid kind or the frozen kind. And, this request isn’t limited to actual water. There is a poster promotion for an electric looking Hydrofuel supplement (whatever that is) hidden in plain sight on the hockey rink boards (‘Hydro’ meaning water in Greek).
Hopefully you’re convinced now that water represents feelings in film and that it was used typically in Heated Rivalry if you didn’t know this metaphor existed already. Tierney uses this metaphor subtly but the signs are all still there; other films club you over the head with it. Once you see how water can show feelings in film, you’ll never not see it. If you found other notable films using water using this metaphor, feel free to share below.
Next up, a detour into the characters in “Hunter” episode 3.
See you at the cottage, or at the Straw + Berry!
P.S. Did anyone find the tiny scene of a sad character on a rainy day in Heated Rivalry? Tierney snuck that in there if you look hard enough.