While we wait for Dan and Phil react to heated rivalry episode 2, walk with me for a minute.
In the long game, Ilya almost dies in a plane crash. Shane has the realization that if Ilya had died, the world would have no idea how much he meant to Shane. Shane would be grieving the loss of his life partner and he wouldnāt even have a picture of them in love to show for it. This is the inciting incident that causes Shane to propose and want to share their love with the world. It takes knowing that they might not have forever left for him to realize that he doesnāt want to wait much longer.
In 2024, when Phil almost died from internal bleeding, Dan and Phil could not even be open about what they were to each other in the hospital (did your son take it). Dan likely had a similar realization to Shane that if Phil had died, the public would only know of their friendship. He would be grieving the loss of his life partner and would have plenty of pictures of them as friends and colleagues, but they would not be known as partners. They filmed the pizza video shortly after, and that was the first time they mentioned the rebrand and āopening the doorā to their relationship.
Now imagine next year when Heated Rivalry Season 2 comes out and Dan and Phil react to the plane crash scene and the resulting aftermath. I think it is going to hit a bit too close to home and I am personally going to be a fucking wreck. They are already finding so many parallels with Hollanov, imagine them realizing they decided to go public with their relationships for the same reason too. Both Dan and Shane were the ones committed to hiding in the closet until the almost loss of Phil and Ilya made every other problem seem small.
Soulmates in every universe.
