Season 1 Episode 2 – Part 1 / Здесь непонятно, где лицо, а где рыло, и непонятно, где пряник, где плеть
Olympics! I hope the athletes, including Ilya and Shane, had fun at the Opening Ceremony. I remember watching it but I don’t remember t.A.T.u performing. I do remember one of the rings not opening – and Russian TV covering it up. And the Choir of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs - the most singing police in the world! - singing Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. Wild times. This would be the Ministry where Grigori Rozanov worked BTW.
Mirroring real life events, Russian hockey team captained by Ilya gets knocked out of the tournament and misses out on medals on home ice.
We see dejected and devastated Ilya interviewed. One of the reporters asks in unaccented Russian:
-28:36: Что Вы чувствуете сейчас, разочарование или просто усталость? Не кажется ли Вам, что это … ?
(What are you feeling right now, disappointment or just fatigue? Don’t you think that this ...?)
It is not translated and not subtitled and hard to hear over the “Man in the Crease” hosts going on about the “young phenom” Ilya. The English commentary isn't drowning out Russian voices maliciously – it's just two sports hosts doing their job. But Ilya's actual emotional state gets lost in the noise. Nobody's listening to what he's feeling. That's almost sadder.
I never paid attention until now but the cafe where Shane talks to Scott Hunter and Carter Vaughn is called Cafe and Bakery MYOD – literally – promising fresh baked goods each morning in their logo. Why would they transliterate МЁД (honey)? Many businesses used English in their names for the cool factor but “myod” is just awkward.
This is also where Shane texts Ilya.
But Ilya doesn’t answer. And who would, when they are bombarded with texts from family like:
-26:06 (text from Alexei): Где ты, блядь? Папа так зол на тебя!
gde ty, blyat’? PA-pa tak zol na te-BYA!
Subtitles: “Where the fuck are you? Dad is so fucking mad at you!”
Alexei doesn’t filter his words or his emotions with Ilya on a good day. And you can practically feel it – their father hovering, all intimidation and national-scale demands. Alexei is caught in the middle. His permanent annoyance with Ilya, plus their father's anger. Great mix.
His punctuation is top notch though.
And no, Ilya doesn’t want to talk to Hollander in person either. There are reasons. Many.
Here's what Sochi actually was in February 2014.
Seven months earlier, Russia passed the gay propaganda law. Vague enough that holding hands in public could qualify. The Sports Minister was direct about it: "An athlete of nontraditional sexual orientation isn't banned from coming to Sochi. But if he goes out into the streets and starts to propagandize, then of course he will be held accountable." You're welcome to exist. Just not visibly.
And the surveillance infrastructure was already in place. The FSB (Federal Security Service – Russia's successor to the KGB) deployed a system called SORM. Keyword filtering on every email, text, and phone call. No warrants. No oversight. The telecoms installing the equipment weren't even told what was being intercepted. Hotel rooms and bathrooms were bugged. A Russian deputy prime minister accidentally confirmed it at a press conference before an aide pulled him away from the microphone. Oops.
So. Ilya is the captain of the Russian national hockey team. Out of medal contention. On home ice. His father works for the Ministry – the one with the choir and the enforcers. There's a government minister meeting him that evening. Pressure. Disappointment. Guilt.
And Shane Hollander is texting him.
Lily texting Jane in the US and Canada is one thing – and they still feel they need a cover, a system in place to protect themselves. In Sochi, every message Shane sends lands on a phone the FSB can read. System or not.
Ilya ignoring Shane isn't cold. It's survival.
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