If Shane and Ilyaβs relationship was βlow stakesβ, it wouldnβt have taken them ten years to finally admit to themselves they loved each other. They would have done it after the third hookup because those bitches are insane about each other and even despite personal hang ups they wanted to live in each otherβs armpits from day one.
The chasm of homophobia and threat of violence, both personal and state sanctioned, and threat of the loss of career and finances and normalcy is why it takes so long to bridge. I thought that was extremely explicit in the source material.
The show doesnβt do worst case scenarios, because itβs a love story, it doesnβt need nor want to.
But the fact is that the worst case scenario could have reasonably ended in one of them being hatecrimed or injured or killed/jailed.
