heeeeeey

"It's a long story."

And don't get me wrong, this is not because anybody else who worked on the show is less. They are all incredibly talented and masters at what they do.

But they were all aligned.

Jacob made an exteemely faithful adaptation of HR. He and Rachel were aligned.

The cinematographer is a master at what he does and the show looks beautiful, far more expensive than what it should considering the budget; he and Jacob were aligned.

Connor made Ilya feel alive with his incredible talent; it's also a faithful adaptation that is close to what both Rachel and Jacob envisioned, and he exceeded the expectations with his talent and understanding of the character. But they were all aligned.

What is not aligned with what was expected is Shane. Who in the books is far more of a stereotype and is autistic almost by mistake. I am not sure what Jacob wanted from Shane, but there is not one meaningful Shane scene that he hasn't told us he was envisioning something different. The hospital scene. The freaking out in episode 6. The stairwell kiss. The bathroom scene that could have been some meaningless snarky banter on the verge of being cringe, and instead is incredibly charged and emotional. Shane's entire demeanor being inspired by Hudson's personal experiences. It looks like while he was building Shane, he was far more often in contrast with what was expected from him than in agreement.

Let me reiterate how immensely thankful I am for Hudson, for pushing back with his vision no matter how many snarky accusations of being a "method actor" he got. His version of Shane is a masterpiece.

HUDSON WILLIAMS as Jason/"Rex" Dogging (2025) directed and written by Mark Masterton & Hudson Williams