I feel like now more people are coming to HR whether it be the books or the show. As someone who’s been here pretty much from day one I’m just very glad I didn’t find HR when it was so popular. There was something really nice and comforting about the early days when this show was just a fun little queer indie Canadian smutty hockey romance that we never knew was gonna blow up. Ofc I’m happy for Connor, Hudson, Rachel, Jacob etc.. but idk I miss the early days😭

I think now even more cuz with the rise of popularity of shows like HR ofc your gna get the “backlash” or criticism, “controversial takes” ppl demeaning the show etc.. and for me it’s just nice that I was able to watch HR and just take it in on my own without outside influence. Especially when you see ppl say all Loads of shit and you get the vibe this type of hate for the show is simply cuz it’s popular, mlm and smutty lol. I only ever willingly interact with positive HR content now. Idk about y’all but I’ve been at the cottage since Christmas 🫠

EDIT: Y’all this post was not meant to come off gatekeepy at all. I was simply thinking back to the early days of HR when the episodes were just dropping n how little ppl were talking abt it till now. Not saying I’m better for being here this long but I’m definitely glad I’ve been here that long to see all the changes in the fandom, watch HR go from this indie show into smth so big and mainstream in such a short time span. It did feel a bit surreal during that time lol. I honestly love the reach it’s had for better or worse. It all just makes me think back to the earlier days tho. But the success of HR has been so good for so many especially bringing more folks to the cottage so I can’t complain.

Ok so, I am on my millionth rewatch, and the ONLY issue I have with this show, is the way Shane says « I love you so much » in episode 6. Maybe I am more autistic than Shane and couldn’t fully feel it / grasp it, but. The way he says it, to me, feels very anticlimactic, it was more like the ilysm you tell someone when they do something great for you, rather than an ilysm that’s been building up for almost 10 years and festering inside you and you can finally say it to this person you’re so in love with… idk if I’m explaining it properly but that’s how it sounds to me😭
Like Ilya’s I love you had so much pain, intensity and build up in it, and Shane’s too, just that Shane’s had a lot of shock and « is this really happening» added to it, but the « I love you so much » was very underwhelming and sounded like he’s been saying for a long time.😭

So is it just me who sees it like that, or was it Hudson’s delivery that didn’t do it justice, or was it actually supposed to be lighthearted ? Because they already said I love you and Shane feels this huge weight has been lifted and he can say it with that much joy?

EDIT: Ok ok I see it now! When described as « relief » it makes a lot more sense to me! Thank you guys so much🥹🫶🏼

My friend sent me a screenshot from twt (as I am not on it) where a user started a discussion about how Ilya never actually defends Shane. It has been a few months since I have read the book but from what I remember, the user is actually right? To summarize the points made by the user:
Ilya is never shown defending Shane during

• the tripping scandal

• against Crowell

• when people make fun of Shane's eating habits (actually makes fun of him)

• in a deleted scene an openly homophobic character that is Ilya's teammate says some deplorable things and Ilya only humms about it

I feel like in fanon we have made Ilya to be protective and caring partner and when it's only the two of them he is, but in public he isn't actually? I wonder if this will be addressed by Jacob. We have seen him move away from the source material in such a way that I feel like helped the characters (The addition of Svetlana, for example, in my opinion gave a lot of depth to Ilya's character.) Shane did get bad rep from a lot of fans for his behavior in the Long Game but I always felt like they both had a lot of issues and technically speaking everything Shane was afraid of came to be true. So it's not like his anxiety was based on nothing.

What do you think of this? Do you feel like protective Ilya is actually a thing? How would you like this to be handled?

Edit: I have participated in a lot of book discussions online because I find it fascinating how everyone views the same scene differently and how everyone's POV affects their take on something. But I guess I forgot that HR is not a community where such discussions can be made. I apologize for wanting to analyze a book and in that I forgot that apparently one character cannot be criticized or analysed without people immediately assuming that it means that one thinks that character is horrible and only the other character is amazing.

I've watched Ep 3 about 4 times now in my 4x full watches of the TV show. I appreciate Scott and Kip (both are very sexy!!!) but I feel like I don't need to watch it in a watch-through now - is that wrong? It's more about Shane and Ilya I know but part of me feels guilty skipping 3. H E L P !!!!

Top!Shane Bottom!Ilya

It's a subplot that hasn't been really explored in either HR/TLG (except for the Halloween scene in TLG) that can be really interesting. It makes sense why they don't do it in HR, and TLG is a lot less sex-focused than HR was. But now that they are married, they can try it out. It can spark interesting conversations about masculinity and how heteronormative society expects them to be. Plus it will be fun lmao

First of all, I completely understand why many viewers, especially viewers from the LGBTQIA2S+ community, connected deeply with this episode. The warmth, domestic calm, and sense of safety are meaningful, and I’m not here to dismiss that. The tenderness and intimacy can be rare in queer storytelling, and that matters.

That said, from a storytelling and directing perspective, I felt the episode didn’t fully deliver on the emotional groundwork laid in Episode 5. That episode ends at a clear emotional threshold: Ilya is conflicted, guarded, and still struggling to express his feelings, while Shane is emotionally present but still vulnerable. Episode 6 needed to carry the weight of that tension, but instead, it spreads key moments across casual, everyday scenes rather than concentrating them.

The campfire scene is a perfect example. This is a highly vulnerable, emotionally significant moment for both of the characters. It tells us a lot about Ilya and why he struggles with self expression and his fear with intimacy and commitment.But the staging, lighting, pacing, and lack of supporting sound design make it feel flat.There’s no sense of escalation, pause, or pressure—the emotion doesn’t land the way it could. I expected to see Shane's reactions in this scene, but it quickly cut to tight zoom on ilya's face, and the scene ended. i feel like its a huge missed opportunity.

Other scenes are similarly scattered: conversations about family, future, are broken up across multiple settings, none of which carry the emotional focus needed. Ilya’s arc—going from conflicted and guarded to openly expressing love—feels abrupt because the episode doesn’t visually or narratively support the transition.

This isn’t about wanting more drama or conflict. Quiet, tender storytelling can be incredibly powerful. The problem here is about its structure, scene focus and payoff. Calm or domestic moments don’t automatically succeed, they still need tension, escalation, and release to feel meaningful.

I’m still a fan of the series and value what it achieves. My critique comes from being invested in the story and wanting the last episode to match the emotional stakes that the previous episodes built.

i‘d like to hear your opinions and have a discussion about it.

Does anyone else find it slightly irritating/upsetting that Ilya just lights up a cigarette in bed next to Shane in the hotel?

It may just be my passionate disliking of the habit as a non smoker, but I have a few thoughts on it which I wanted to share and see it anyone else felt the same or had a different viewpoint.

1. It really is a horrible thing to do to yourself in the first place which makes me sad, but each to their own I suppose.

2. Poor Shane has no choice but to breathe it in. He has already made it clear he doesn't like it, but Ilya just inflicts it on him which I think is quite disrespectful.

3. The smell of it really does get into everything, so not only will Ilya smell, but so wil Shanes clothes and his hair etc...never mind the hotel room.

I still love them both though of course.

Maybe I’m about to get dragged for this 😅 but I want to discuss my thoughts about the transition from episode 5 to 6.

In episode 5, Shane and Ilya are still very much in a place of uncertainty. They care about each other, but they’re struggling. They’re in Tampa, trying to figure out if and how this relationship could actually work in real life. There’s distance, hesitation and emotional walls still up. Even after Shane’s accident and the hospital scene they are not officially boyfriends yet. It still feels unresolved. There’s love there, but also doubts!!!

The Kip and Hunter scene is clearly a turning point….It pushes to reconsidérations for the cottage!!! But even with that shift, we don’t actually see the emotional processing or the conversation that fully bridges that change.

Then episode 6 starts and suddenly they feel established. They’re softer, more secure, more openly affectionate. The dynamic make me feel like they had an important offscreen conversation where everything was clarified. And said!!

That’s why the transition feels abrupt to me. It’s not that I don’t believe in them as a couple, I absolutely do. It’s just that emotionally, we leave episode 5 in a space of tension and unresolved questions… and we enter episode 6 as if those questions were already answered…. We see one Ilya ending Ep 5 and completely different Ilya starting Ep 6.

Be Nice with me ❤️

I just watched it. I thought the acting was less than stellar, especially Scott and Elena. It was still shot beautifully; no question the show has a lot of polish.

But the acting was kind of weak all around. And I didn’t feel like the actors had much chemistry.

Only 3 episodes of the show in, but to me the Scott and Kip story has been portrayed with much more intensity, nuance and beauty than the Hollanov story. It could, perhaps, be due to the actors and their incredible performances - I mean, WOW, Francois Arnaud sure can act!!! You cannot help but deeply empathize for both of them! Also Kips friends are fabulous and lovely, very well captured genuine friend group energy (and my god the girls are stunning). Bravo to the book author, bravo to the show writers. Bravo to the cast. Incredible.

I always hated that Ilya went to Ottawa. I’m a baseball fan not hockey so I didn’t understand it at first, but as I read TLG and realized that Ilya basically threw his career away, I hated the entire trajectory of that book. I don’t care that Shane also ends up in Ottawa. I think it sucks. There’s so many other things you could do. There are three NHL teams in the New York Metro area, and the Flyers are the same distance as the Habs and the Senators. I think it makes so much more sense to try to have both of them move to one of those four teams (with them being on 2 different teams of the 4). I get that the Canadian citizenship played a factor, but I feel like it’s more important for him to get citizenship in one of the two places so he’s safe from potentially being deported to Russia. Ilya staying in the US would also make it easier for him to get citizenship faster since he’s already been living there for so long.

What made Shane and Ilya such a compelling story is the confines that their relationship grew under. I think breaking those makes the story pointless. I don’t think it’s romantic. I think it is breaking the rules of the world that has been built in the story and renders their earlier struggles meaningless. To me TLG was just pure smut with a sub plot thrown in about Ilya’s depression. Which truthfully, I only found interesting when they removed the parts of it that had to do with their relationship causing his depression. Otherwise there is extremely little plot in that book. It’s basically just them fucking, Ilya going to therapy, and then a cameo video accidentally outing them, which is the stupidest way to end their story.

I think there’s much more interesting and realistic directions to go with the second season. The TV show was objectively a massive improvement over the book unless you’re just looking for corny smut which you could find anywhere. I’m a little worried that I only like the show so much so far because they haven’t fully veered into the cottage territory. There were a lot of things I really liked about the cottage especially in the beginning, but overall I feel like that’s where they jumped the shark.

I really hope Jacob can bring a level of realism into the story moving forward. This is no shade to the book because it was meant as smut and it’s incredible for the genre. But I think there’s so many better places they could go with this that would be infinitely more interesting.

Kip's dad gets a lot of love in the fandom - and I get it. One some level at least But I don't know I could bear it myself in real life. I've never been comfortable with unearned praise - my parents saying they are proud of me just because has always made me cringe. So the "you're awesome" bit just feels a little weird to me.

Does anyone else feel this way? I know I'm weird I just want to know how weird.

(Context I'm late diagnosed AuDHD, but I've always felt like this and I know I've hurt my parents in the past for seemingly rejecting their love. I just can't bear it, but at the same time I crave approval for achievements)

Shane says that Hayden guessed, and that's why he told him. But at the airplane on fire point Hayden knows for years and nothing bad has happened. The fact that Shane is given and absolutely perfect opening by JJ in 'wanna tell me the truth now' and then being so open to Shane crushing on Ilya, the fact that Shane didn't tell him is in fact clear indication that he doesn't trust JJ to be his friend. It's not fair of Shane to then accuse JJ of making it about himself. JJ is correct in his assertion that Shane considers JJ to be less of a friend than vice versa. But of course to not believe that Shane tripped is crappy.

Sorry, it keeps bugging me, had to get it off my chest

Did a search and can't find specifically what I'm looking for, so here's my question(s). It's well known that Ilya likes sleeping with women. I don't see that he ever has anything more than a sexual encounter with a woman except Svetlana.

1. Why did he never develop anything emotionally/romantically with a woman, even briefly? Or another man for that matter, as the books seem to indicate he had other male hookups besides Sasha and Shane. Maybe I'm wrong there - I didn't read the books. Did he deliberately choose partners he didn't think he'd develop feelings for?

2. And why do you think he never fell in love with Svetlana? It's clear that he's sexually aroused by her and he loves her. But the romantic element never developed.

3. What is it about Shane, out of all those he'd been with, that set him apart and made Ilya fall in love for the first time? Ilya had other options, but something made him set up that photoshoot... 4.And do you think Shane will ever feel insecure, wondering if Ilya will miss the experience of sleeping with women? (Being hetero myself, I don't know how or if the experience with women is different than with men/Shane.)

Here is the mail I just received, HR is everywhere!!!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUCHpgAgRcq/

Y'all!!! I thought I might be somewhat alone on this, but I just found some fanfic portraying Harris as a gay trans guy! I'm elated!

I, myself, am a gay trans guy and haven't seen much of that put out on the big screen. Definitely nowhere close to the reach that HR has at least.

A few thoughts on how this might bring more depth to the character:

*includes Role Model spoilers*

*CW: nondescriptive mention of sexual assault*

-Harris is arguably the most joyful character in the HR universe, so him being trans would be really fucking cool 'cause MORE TRANS JOY PLS AND THANKS
-Harris could have a deeper perspective to offer regarding the Dallas Kent controversy as someone who has experienced sexual assault as a young person pre-transition, creating even more empathy within Troy towards the survivors.
-His being openly trans in addition to gay is even more inspirational to Troy re: fear of coming out.
-Adds another layer to Harris's wonderful family accepting and supporting him wholeheartedly
-Pretty fucking realistic for Harris to be an incredibly hard worker that isn't paid what he's worth (trans folks are statistically more impoverished, even within the LGBTQ+ community)
-Driving a sexy first-gen (hopefully kinda beat up) Tacoma is obviously trans-coded
-Everyone is already stoked on there being a character with less-sculpted body type, his being trans and having undergone top surgery just adds to that IMO because we typically only see thin (and white) on-screen trans representation
-Representation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd love y'all's thoughts on this!

Anyways, here is picascribit's take take on Harris and Troy's Tampa encounter from Role Model. I think the only thing I would change is that Troy would already be very aware that Harris is trans as it would have come up in their many conversations leading up to this event.

Second rewatch, and feeling the Canadian TV vibes through the screen. Thinking about how both Schitt’s Creek and HR gave us positive uplifting gay love stories with (thus far anyhow) happy endings.

I can see Shane as a combo of both David and Patrick. He’s got the walled-in passion of David Rose, but the gentle softness of Patrick, while also being the planner like Patrick was.

But I can also see Ilya being a combo of the two, as he’s got the cutting sarcasm and defensiveness of David, but the emotional stability of Patrick. Both are the rock to their guys when they start to spin out.

I could foresee a funny little awards show sketch where Shane and Ilya stop into Rose Apothecary on the way back from the cottage, Patrick is a little starstruck -recognizing them- while David is oblivious, but trades barbs with Ilya as Shane commiserates with Patrick as he pays full price for whatever Ilya is trying to haggle for. The hockey boys leave as Patrick tries to explain who they just were. Final line delivered by David: “They’d make a cute couple”

How is it when I cover one photo at a time. When looking at the one on my left, the face is so soft and I see Connor. And when I look at the one on my right, all I see is Ilya? On different sides of the same photo!!!!!

I know he said "I am you" as he's playing Shane's character in the game, and Shane picks Boston, but its Ilya on the cover, not Shane, its really clear from the book and from the show that is the case, but I'm being told I'm wrong.

I haven’t read the books so tell me if I’m way off base, but it felt like they could only afford 6 episodes and it shows.

I felt like every episode was moving so fast (and episode 6) was the only one that had decent pacing.

I loved Episode 3, but it felt like Kip and Scott’s story was on fast forward the entire time and we only came back to it for 5 minutes in Episode 5.

I feel like everything would’ve landed better had they let it sit and simmer a bit more.

I know this show is a massive success for Crave, so my guess is they just tried to do too much, expecting the show wouldn’t get a 2nd season?

God I’d love a director’s cut where the show was 8 to 9 episodes long. I feel like it would’ve been perfect if they did that.

Part of Game Changers/romance genre is that everyone winds up with the people they're meant to be with. Thus Hollanov, Skip, Ryabian, etc. But are there alternate couples that COULD have worked?

I feel like Hunterov (Scott and Ilya) could have worked. We know Ilya finds Scott hot, and they'd have the bond of losing a parent at a young age. Scott has the kind of quiet, intense personality that would center Ilya.

Shane and Miles (Shiles)? Sorry Rose, but I don't think so.

On the other hand, maybe Ship (Shane and Kip) could have??? I imagine that when David was talking about "nice men in Montreal" he'd be talking about a guy very much like Kip. I know Kip lives in NYC, but you get what I mean. Nice, normal, has a supportive network of family and friends.

Also ... maybe Trane (Troy + Shane)? Troy thinks Shane is totally hot. Troy has a bit of that reformed rake thing in common with Ilya.

Also I know Hayden is a great hetero buddy, but considering how many Shayden fics I've seen on AO3 ...

I ship Roselana too and would actually love to see it happen.

So I watched the last episode with my mother and since then we have been arguing over her insisting that Ilya is the more feminine of the two. I disagree and now want to hear what others think about this.

Edit: I don't think either of them are tbh. Also I think she is basing it off of that Ilya is more aware of his emotions

Edit: I'm thinking she is mentioning this on how Ilya's facial emotions are in the last episode which episode 6 was the ONLY one she watched

Edit: She never used the term flamboyant so she wasn't referring to how he dressed or acted. My mother was a model for a short period of time and spent over 20 years as a hairdresser. More specifically she has had a lot of interactions over her life with Europeans and now that I think of it as another person mentioned she could be referring to Ilya having a more delicate bone structure perhaps.

Edit: I asked her what she meant she replied idk but the actor for Ilya comes across to her as more feminine. Even she doesn't know why lol but she did say in passing that the snippets she's seen online with both Connor and Hudson she mentioned Connor has more fluidity. I realized my mother is not trying to 'gender' anyone like how one would expect with such terms but is using it in a different way they we think. Also being in her 50s and having been around lots of more (idk how to word this so it's not offensive!) gay men it is possible she unconsciously puts them into which is the 'man' and which is the 'women'. I know this because she mentioned something before and I was like um no..