1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,160 Hi and welcome to K Let's Talk, the podcast where we breakdown 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,680 storytelling across books, television and film with a 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:09,920 special love for book to screen adaptations. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:13,560 Here we talk about craft, character arcs, structure, 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,080 dialogue, visual language, and the creative choices that shape 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:19,560 how a story lands. If you like thoughtful, 7 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,640 conversational, deep dives into the stories you can't stop 8 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:24,320 thinking about, you're in the right place. 9 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,840 Let's talk. Hello, everyone, and welcome 10 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,680 back to the podcast. This week, we are continuing on 11 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,880 with our Heated Rivalry Season 2 Q&A. 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,800 So this will be Part 3, answering all of the questions 13 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,000 that were submitted to me over on Instagram, TikTok, and on 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,200 Threads. And I'm excited for this week's 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,640 episode because there's a few really meaty and great questions 16 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,680 that got asked over there that I'm excited to dive into. 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,760 And I do want to preface, again, as always, that we will be 18 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:04,000 discussing spoilers for The Long Game and potential storylines in 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,400 Season 2 of the show. So if you have not read The Long 20 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,440 Game or if you are looking to avoid spoilers from The Long 21 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,120 Game or Role Model or any of the other books, you've been warned 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,800 that we will be discussing some of them in this week's episode. 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,960 And you can come back after Season 2 airs if you want to 24 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,400 listen to our thoughts and some of these questions that were 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,000 posed. So the first question that I 26 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,680 wanted to answer is one that I feel like if you follow the 27 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,880 heated rivalry news closely or if you even follow Rachel Reed 28 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,200 herself on social media, the question was whether or not 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,320 Unrivaled, which is the next book in Shane and Ilya's story, 30 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:54,120 got pushed back to better suit Jacob's Season 2 schedule and 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,880 the release date. And even though this particular 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,280 question hasn't been answered directly, I'm going to go out on 33 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,440 a limb and just confidently state that the answer is no. 34 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,680 Because Rachel herself has expressed that the release date 35 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,560 got pushed back simply because she didn't have enough of the 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,480 book completed and in a place that she felt confident about by 37 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,880 the deadline that had previously been set. 38 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,080 And in large part, that was because the launch of the show 39 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,600 has made her very busy and good for her. 40 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:33,080 I think that her taking the time to write the book she wants and 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,880 in the time frame that she needs in order to put out her best 42 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,920 work is really wonderful. And being able to draw that 43 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,400 boundary is super important for an author, especially one that's 44 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:47,400 been catapulted into this crazy successful time period since the 45 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,840 show has aired. And her being able to not only 46 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,960 just enjoy what's happening to her fully and not be locked away 47 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,800 writing this book, but also spend the time to properly write 48 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,360 it without all of these outside influences clouding what she 49 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,880 wants to put down on the page, I think is really important. 50 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,320 And at the very least, I would suspect that Jacob feels the 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,880 same in that if they choose for Season 3 to adapt this new book 52 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,640 unrivaled, he wants the material that he's going to be working 53 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,000 with to be Rachel's best work and the story that she wants to 54 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,640 tell. And of course, just like heated 55 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,320 rivalry season 1 and what we will likely see in season 2, 56 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,240 Jacob will take that and he will take liberties with some of it 57 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,240 in order to make good TV. But on the whole, the story that 58 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,960 Rachel Rights is the one he's going to follow and I don't 59 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:43,760 think Jacob of everyone would be trying to impact her writing in 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,800 any way and her process strictly so that he can move around his 61 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,120 schedule and release dates for the TV series. 62 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,680 They clearly respect each other very much and Jacob is honoring 63 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,760 her original writing so well and I don't think that that would 64 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,320 ever be on the table for him. So the long and short of it, in 65 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,960 my opinion, is no, the release date was pushed back simply 66 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,760 because Rachel needed it and asked for it and she was granted 67 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,520 it. And I think that that's 68 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:18,560 wonderful and it allows her to go back and write the story she 69 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,400 wants and put out her best work. And I think for Jacob, even 70 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,920 though the turn around time for season 2 is so short, he follows 71 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,280 the same philosophy. I think he he wants to put out 72 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:32,160 his best work and even though yes, there's pressure for TV 73 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,200 shows in particular rather than authors to meet shorter 74 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,200 deadlines and and churn out content as quickly as possible 75 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:40,640 and strike while the iron is hot. 76 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,440 I don't think that either of these people are willing to 77 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,560 sacrifice the quality simply for a quicker turn around time. 78 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,120 And for people who are complaining about the turn 79 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:56,000 around time for season 2, Please note that this is extremely fast 80 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000 for them to umm out a show in such short form. 81 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,160 They actually moved the release date of the show itself U months 82 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,840 ahead of when it was originally aired to beyond the network 83 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,120 because it was acquired by HBO and then they were actively 84 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,480 editing it while it was coming out week to week back over the 85 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,200 holidays. So for them to write season 2's 86 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,600 scripts and start filming it this summer is incredibly fast. 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,920 And we also know that Jacob films in a very quick pace, 88 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:33,160 succinct way, and he doesn't waste time on the shoots, and 89 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,280 he's very efficient. And so I suspect that the 90 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,800 editing process will probably play out the same way. 91 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,760 And he's using the same team and the same core group is going to 92 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,960 be back. So I expect the product to be, 93 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,000 you know, phenomenal. And yeah, I think that everyone 94 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,400 needs to take a chill pill about timelines. 95 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,920 And you know, I'm as eager as the next person, but I would 96 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,880 rather them take their time and put out the best quality work 97 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,960 that they're capable of and quality work that they're proud 98 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,800 of. And us be patient because I 99 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,000 think that that's that should be the expectation is that the 100 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,360 viewer be patient and let them cook, as they say. 101 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,320 The next question was, how will Jacob Tierney use 102 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,360 cinematography, art direction and music as a plot device in 103 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,560 Season 2? And while this is sort of an 104 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,960 arbitrary question, I do love the question because the 105 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:31,640 cinematography, the art and the music and everything were such a 106 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,080 key part of the show's success. To me. 107 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,480 It was. It was shot so so beautifully. 108 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,160 And Jackson Perrell, who is in charge of the cinematography, he 109 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:46,160 also shot a number of shows, but I watched Anne with an EI. 110 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,880 Don't know if anyone else has watched that show. 111 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,200 And I remember watching it and thinking that even though the 112 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,040 story itself was so beautiful, the visuals were almost more 113 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:57,960 beautiful than the story being told. 114 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,240 And when I noticed just how head and shoulders above other 115 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,120 productions the the cinematography is, it makes me 116 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,760 lock in in a way that I don't with other productions. 117 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,760 And in part that's because of his color grading and also the 118 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:19,360 type of camera that he's using. And all of those factor into how 119 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:24,040 Jacob would then figure out how he wants to compose his shots 120 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:30,520 because he's working with a very wide angle camera and the colors 121 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,400 in that camera are very specific. 122 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:37,040 And so all of those things sort of play hand in hand into how he 123 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,440 would be imagining the visuals of each of these scenes that 124 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,600 he's writing and mapping out what he wants them to look like. 125 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,040 So I expect more of the same. I think that we're going to 126 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:52,880 continue to see motifs similar to Season 1 where Shane and Ilya 127 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,480 are pictured far apart and then over the course of the season, 128 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,760 they get closer together. I think there's going to be a 129 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,200 visual language like that to convey where we are in their 130 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,920 relationship and what the dynamics are between them. 131 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,920 I think we're going to do more of the same visual callbacks, so 132 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,160 we'll have a lot of repetitive shots and scenes. 133 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,240 Same with some of their physicality choices. 134 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:23,200 So how we saw Ilya rubbing his ear or his thumb on things when 135 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,560 he's anxious or nervous. I think we'll get continuations 136 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,800 of those types of key tells for each of the characters. 137 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,240 And then I think we'll be introduced to new ones because 138 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,520 again, time has passed and they're different people now. 139 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,559 They're in an established relationship with one another. 140 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,000 And we're going to have to see them interacting in public with 141 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,720 people who know that they're together, but also people who 142 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,120 don't know that they're together. 143 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:53,400 And So what kind of visual cues are we going to have to clue us 144 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,920 into how they're thinking and feeling in those moments? 145 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,840 And I think that those are going to be used just like they were 146 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,880 in Season 1, to draw parallels and make connections between 147 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,000 each of the episodes of the season in terms of the art. 148 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,240 I think that will be really, really interesting because we're 149 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:15,160 going to have all new sets for Season 2 because Shane sells his 150 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:21,040 apartment and buys a house for Season 2 and Ilya is moving out 151 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,960 of Boston and moving to Ottawa and he buys a house. 152 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,040 So the two of them are both going to have new homes that 153 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:29,640 we're going to see them existing in. 154 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:35,240 And I wonder if they're going to make a point to say that the two 155 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,040 of them were involved in the decorating process at all in 156 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,400 each of their homes, even though they're, you know, unique to the 157 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,320 individual person. I think that it would be funny 158 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:53,120 if Shane or Ilya had input into what was picked out or selected 159 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,480 in each of their respective homes, especially where Shane 160 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,760 hired a designer, and it was made to be very impersonal. 161 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:06,520 And I think that it would be very clever if, again, the show 162 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:12,760 uses the artwork as a way to convey deeper meaning because 163 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,640 Ilya's home in particular had a lot of artwork that was very 164 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:20,400 telling and revealed a lot. And Shane's house being pared 165 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,360 back and and more nondescript was also really telling. 166 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,120 So how does that evolve over time? 167 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,360 Do they have pieces in each other's homes that reflect the 168 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,680 other person? We know that in the long game, 169 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:40,080 in particular Ilya's home, he puts light specific lighting in 170 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:45,160 his gym because Shane has it in his gym at home and he knows 171 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,760 that Shane likes that, so he has it installed in his house. 172 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:49,640 So I suspect we'll have stuff like that. 173 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,720 But in regards to actual art on the wall, I think that that is 174 00:10:54,720 --> 00:11:00,000 going to be another way that the show subtly conveys messages to 175 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,560 us. Because I thought it was really 176 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,400 brilliant how they did that in Season 1 and showing how their 177 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:09,200 tastes change as time goes on and what's trendy now as time's 178 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,120 gone on. And all of those things also are 179 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:18,120 really easy ways to indicate what time period we're in 180 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,440 without having to explicitly state it. 181 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:25,320 So the way the furniture looks in 2020 is going to be different 182 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,480 than how it looked in 2012. For example. 183 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,720 The art on the wall is going to be different because of what 184 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,680 year it's in. So that's another really 185 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,840 interesting way that we're going to see creative direction have 186 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,480 an impact in Season 2 because the visuals of Season 2, I think 187 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,720 color grading wise are going to be the same. 188 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:50,520 I think the types of Steadicam, hopefully we get some more one 189 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:56,760 shots, like longer shots. Again, I think using the sort of 190 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,240 like hurricane movement that we got or the tornado movement that 191 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,640 we got to indicate when things feel like they're spiraling out 192 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,360 of control, that's a really creative thing that I hope we 193 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,160 see again. In addition to that, the music, 194 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,840 I think that knowing we have more of the original score to 195 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,400 expand upon by the composer Peter, Peter is exciting. 196 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:22,520 I think what we'll see is a lot of the rivalry themed music is 197 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:27,640 going to get phased out and a lot of the songs used to mark 198 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,880 different periods of Shane and Ilyas relationship are going to 199 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,320 get expanded upon. So similar to how we have one 200 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,920 soul and two souls, and how we hear 2 souls first and one soul 201 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:43,600 pulls melodies from that original piece and expands upon 202 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:45,640 it. I think that Peter, Peter is 203 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,240 probably going to do the same thing with the Season 2 score 204 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,440 and then introduce some new theme music to represent 205 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,440 different facets of both Shane and Ilya's storyline. 206 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,360 So there's probably going to be a very melancholic song to 207 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,160 represent when the two of them are fighting or arguing or when 208 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,320 they feel the most distant with one another. 209 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:09,160 There's probably going to be a song to represent them getting 210 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:10,960 engaged. I'm getting married. 211 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,400 I think that would be obvious. And I also think that we're 212 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,880 going to get music for some of these new characters that we're 213 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,920 going to get introduced to because Episode 3 had all 214 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,640 separate original music to represent Scott and Kipp. 215 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,440 So I expect that as well in Season 2. 216 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,000 This is a hockey related question that I was actually 217 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,480 really excited to get because it is relevant to Season 2. 218 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:43,040 And I also think that if you are not a fan of hockey or didn't 219 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,680 play like I did, you really would not be Privy to this 220 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,640 information. So the question was, why do the 221 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,640 centaurs have the money for both Ilya and Shane? 222 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,720 How does that work from a hockey standpoint? 223 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,160 I've heard something about a salary cap, but I know little to 224 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,640 nothing about hockey so I thought I would ask you. 225 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,320 So I'll do my best to explain this. 226 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,400 There's a lot of particulars about this, so I'm trying to 227 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,080 make it as simple as possible for people and hopefully this 228 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,080 all makes sense. But it's important to also note 229 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:20,320 that in the long game, Ilya tells Shane to have his agent 230 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,720 inquire with Ottawa directly on his behalf to figure out the 231 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:26,800 particulars of making a deal with them. 232 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,880 And that's very common. That agent would be the one 233 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,920 negotiating on the client's behalf, but in the book we never 234 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,600 get the details of Shane's deal with Ottawa. 235 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,440 We do, however, get Shane telling Ilya that he just wants 236 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,160 to be paid what he's worth, and Ilya points out to him that it's 237 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:49,840 a good thing he has a rich husband. 238 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,680 So that's all important context to keep in mind here, because 239 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,320 it's also relevant that Shane has been doing commercials and 240 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,560 has had brand deals throughout his entire career. 241 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,520 And it's largely implied in the books that the money from those 242 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:10,720 deals is meant to give him the nest egg he needs to support his 243 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,520 retirement. And he was smart with his money. 244 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,760 He invested in real estate. And that's something that has 245 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,120 been woven into Shane's character over the course of 246 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,440 heated rivalry in the long game. And so all of those factors 247 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,240 would weigh in on his decision making regarding the deal he's 248 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,480 willing to sign. So it's important to keep all of 249 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,000 that in mind. And it's not abnormal for 250 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,640 athletes in that position to take advantage of brand deals 251 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,000 and commercials and set that money aside and act like it's 252 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,240 not there. Because hockey in particular, in 253 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,120 the grand scheme of professional sports, is one of the lower 254 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,640 paying professional sports. And so if you're not a 255 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,640 superstar, you're making good money, you know, as it pertains 256 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:01,920 to the average person, but your career is very short. 257 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,360 And if you get hurt, your career is cut even shorter. 258 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:12,080 And so it's smart for people to put aside money separately that 259 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,400 they can use when their career inevitably ends. 260 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,120 And then they have to figure out what their second career is 261 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:19,960 going to be. And most of them are quite young 262 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,840 when that happens. So Shane did everything right. 263 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,640 And yes, he's a superstar. He's a captain. 264 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,800 He would have been making a really, really great base salary 265 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,080 his entire NHL career or MLH in the in the show. 266 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,840 But the brand deals and the commercials that he's been 267 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:44,920 doing, they might arguably pay him better and he could have not 268 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,760 touched his salary from the NHL and just lived off of his 269 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,080 commercial and brand deal money and been perfectly OK. 270 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,800 And so Shane's not hurting for for cash, let's put it that way, 271 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:00,880 going into this part of the story and the end of the long 272 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,720 game. Just keep that in mind. 273 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:08,280 So it wouldn't surprised me, I guess is the point if Shane were 274 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:13,280 to take a pay cut in order to join Ottawa, because he's going 275 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:18,000 to be financially fine and Ilya is also going to be financially 276 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:19,640 fine. He makes a ton of money. 277 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,880 He's the star of that team. They would be paying him 278 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:25,280 handsomely to be the face of Ottawa. 279 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,800 But for the sake of argument, and for the question that was 280 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,360 presented here, I'll do my best to explain how the cap works. 281 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:38,520 So basically, the NHL has 32 teams and is designed. 282 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,880 The cap is designed to make sure that every team has a fair 283 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,200 chance to win the Stanley Cup every year, and that's done 284 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,240 through a series of checks and balances. 285 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,520 So every team gets an allotted amount of money at the start of 286 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,000 each season. And that's the cap or the limit, 287 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,920 basically. So each team gets the same 288 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,440 amount of money, everyone's on an an equal level playing field. 289 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:11,080 That number changes every year just because of the market and, 290 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,840 you know, everything going on, inflation, all that stuff. 291 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,320 And the number is determined at the start of each season. 292 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:22,000 And so the cap at the beginning of the long game would be 293 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,800 different than the cap at the end of the long game when Shane 294 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,440 leaves Montreal and goes to Ottawa, and it would be 295 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,920 different than the current 1. So keep that in mind too. 296 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,200 The numbers that we're talking about, if you were to look up 297 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,200 the current salary cap are going to be very different than the 298 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,240 one that would be available at the time of the long game, the 299 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,160 events in the long game. Each year, teams are given a 300 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,520 dollar amount that they cannot exceed when it comes to playing 301 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,360 all of the pairs on their teams combined salaries. 302 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,400 And that dollar amount is what is called the cap. 303 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,040 So just for the sake of argument, last year's was $88 304 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:00,840 million. That's the cap. 305 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:05,960 So if you are Montreal or Boston, the total amount of 306 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,600 money you can spend to pay your your current active roster 307 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,760 cannot exceed that number. If there was no limit on how 308 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:18,560 much a franchise could spend on its roster, then a team could 309 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,880 just go out and buy all the best players and it would 310 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,920 dramatically tilt the results and the league. 311 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:29,360 And it would give a very unfair advantage to teams that might 312 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:34,160 have stronger fan bases or are older franchises like the 313 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,680 original 6 teams or are located in places where people are 314 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,240 wealthier. There are some teams that are in 315 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:47,160 arguably cities that don't have as large a fan bases versus ones 316 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:52,320 that have long standing, deep seated, very loyal fan bases. 317 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:54,280 And so those teams make more money. 318 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:59,360 Similarly to how there are certain teams in other sports 319 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:02,960 that you can go anywhere on earth and a New York Yankees hat 320 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,720 will be somewhere or a Boston Red Sox hat. 321 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,880 All of that money pours into the franchise. 322 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,800 And there are some teams that have more money than others, so 323 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,000 if they could just spend whatever they wanted to build 324 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,320 the best roster, they would always be winning and it 325 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,000 wouldn't be even on the opposite side of that coin, teams also 326 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,040 have a minimum spend, so they can't be under a certain dollar 327 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,560 amount either. And that makes sure that each 328 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:37,360 team is making an attempt to sign good players and good deals 329 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,680 with those players, and they're not then pocketing the 330 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,480 difference. So if you only spent $68,000,000 331 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,000 and the cap is 88 and you're getting $88,000,000 to spend on 332 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,080 your players, you can't then pocket the difference, if that 333 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,560 makes sense. So then there's also this thing 334 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,200 called a cap hit. And the simplest way to describe 335 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:02,040 this is that you have to figure out what's called the average 336 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,440 annual value of each player on your rosters contract. 337 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:12,240 And so you do that by taking the total salary and signing bonus 338 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:16,200 that a player receives on their contract and then dividing it by 339 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,000 the contract's length. And that number is what goes 340 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,040 against the team's salary cap, regardless of what the player 341 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:28,040 makes in that year. So again, this helps keep every 342 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,720 team under that league mandated limit that they can spend. 343 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:38,720 So for example, say Shane signed A2 year deal with Ottawa for $14 344 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,400 million and the contract itself might say that he gets 345 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,880 $5,000,000 for his first year and then he gets 9 million in 346 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,720 his second year. But per how the salary this cap 347 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:56,120 hit works, his salary would be $14 million divided by the 348 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:57,760 length of the contract, so two years. 349 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,880 So for the cap hit, it counts as $7,000,000 each year, even if he 350 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,800 gets paid 5 million the first year against the cap hit, it's 351 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,600 7,000,000 for Shane Hollander on your roster. 352 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,840 And those contracts can also include performance bonuses. 353 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,320 So players can get a bonus if they make the playoffs or if 354 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,280 they make it to a certain round in the playoffs, they can get a 355 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,360 bonus for scoring a certain amount of goals or assists or 356 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:30,080 how many total points they get. And so all of those incentives 357 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,960 help to encourage your players to perform well. 358 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,960 And that money does not get calculated into the cap hit the 359 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,800 same way. So that's another important 360 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,800 detail to remember. The reason they do this is again 361 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:49,200 to prevent teams from paying a player a lot in their first year 362 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,480 under a contract. So like front loading the 363 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,200 contract and then paying them less in their subsequent years 364 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:01,120 in order to free up more space on their cap to sign other 365 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:05,840 players. So by using that average annual 366 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,080 value number instead of the actual dollar amount of each 367 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,040 player per year, it helps level the playing field further. 368 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,240 One thing that can happen though, which does sort of bend 369 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,760 the rules slightly, is if a player on your roster were to 370 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,680 get hurt, they could get put on long term injured reserve and 371 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,400 effectively be taken off your roster even though they still 372 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,840 are on the team. And if they're not fit to play, 373 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:36,640 then their average annual value gets removed from your cap 374 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,920 space. So a team can go and replace the 375 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,440 player that's unfit to play, hire someone else to take their 376 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:48,200 place. And that happens often closer to 377 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,920 playoff time when people are prone to getting injured. 378 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,400 And as soon as that hurt player is effectively removed from the 379 00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:00,360 roster, that cap hit gets subtracted from the cap space. 380 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:02,920 So that's when you see a lot of movement on these teams to 381 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,800 again, acquire people and they might only keep them for the 382 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,320 playoffs and then they'll trade them at the end of the season. 383 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,600 So again, it's like a way of sort of manipulating this rule 384 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,440 about cap space. Now when the playoffs actually 385 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:21,000 start, there's no longer a cap. So so teams can front load their 386 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:25,520 teams with all the best players, even if they're active rosters, 387 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,840 salaries exceed the cap. And the goal at that point is to 388 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,960 put the best team forward for the playoffs. 389 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,520 So essentially the entire regular season is a game of 390 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,000 strategizing how to find the best value for your money within 391 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,120 that cap. So last year was $88 million. 392 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:47,680 The team that best utilizes their $88 million is going to go 393 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,040 further theoretically in the playoff run. 394 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,440 And then by the time they make it into the playoffs, then it's 395 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,600 sort of a free for all because you can go snag players from 396 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,720 teams that are not going to make the playoffs and are willing to 397 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,520 sign a deal because they want a chance at winning a Stanley Cup. 398 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,720 So that's why you see a lot of movement right before the 399 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,400 playoffs when teams are trying to acquire the best players 400 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,000 available in order to give themselves the best chance of 401 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,320 winning. In the case of Shane and Ilya, 402 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:22,080 Ilya's contract would undoubtedly be the highest 403 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:27,480 paying one on Ottawa's roster, and the team had been 404 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,040 notoriously bad when he got there. 405 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:34,120 So a majority of the other players on Ottawa would probably 406 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:36,760 not warrant huge contracts to begin with. 407 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,080 And Ilya's would be the one that takes up the most space for the 408 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,520 cap hit that the team sort of is presented as. 409 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,240 It's like a a band of misfit toys. 410 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:50,240 And until the possibility of Shane coming over to the team, I 411 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,440 don't think that a lot of those guys were making a lot of money. 412 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,400 But as they started to win and their value went up, they would 413 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,720 all be renegotiating their salaries. 414 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,000 So if they weren't leaving Ottawa and going somewhere else 415 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,040 at the end of each of those seasons when Ilya's on the team, 416 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,720 they would be renegotiating and they would say to them, hey, 417 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:14,120 look, last year I only scored, you know, 15 goals. 418 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:17,200 In this season I scored thirty. I'm worth more money now. 419 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,680 So I'm renegotiating and I want more money. 420 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,360 That would be happening on Ottawa as soon as they turn the 421 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:26,960 ship around, All of the guys on that roster and their agents 422 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,520 would be trying to renegotiate and get more money if they 423 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,640 wanted to stay. And so that also would factor 424 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:38,560 into Shane's contract because the cap space would be getting 425 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:42,000 tighter and tighter if all of the other players on the team 426 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,560 are asking for more money. But the truth of the matter is 427 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,440 that Shane Hollander is going to be worth more than anyone on 428 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,080 that on that roster. He's going to get paid 429 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,640 significantly higher than anybody else besides Ilya, and 430 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,480 the only way that it would make sense that he could join that 431 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,280 team and not completely implode the rest of their roster is if 432 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,240 he took a pay cut. And it's not uncommon for 433 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,320 players to take pay cuts, especially if they're going to 434 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,880 play for their hometown teams or to stay on a team that they 435 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,200 really love or stay in a city that they really love and 436 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,040 they've raised their family in and they've become a part of. 437 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:25,440 For example, in Boston, we had players who were paid less than 438 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,680 their market value for almost their entire careers because 439 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:34,800 they would rather stay on Boston and play on a team full of good 440 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,240 players. Then go to a team, get overpaid 441 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,240 and be the only great player. You know, maybe one or two great 442 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,200 players on that roster and not be able to win or go to playoffs 443 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,120 because you can't win with just one or two superstars. 444 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,960 And I think that Ilya more or less represents that in the long 445 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,200 game of until everybody else steps up their game and they 446 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:01,240 acquire Troy and they get, you know, Wyatt playing really well 447 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:07,200 and they get Lucas Haas, All of those additions start to slowly 448 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,880 build up their roster because Ilia isn't the only one expected 449 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,160 to score every goal and win every game. 450 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:16,920 That's sort of how it works in the real world, too, in the NHL. 451 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:22,320 So it's a pretty true representation and I hope we get 452 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,680 some sort of dialogue explaining what his contract structure 453 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,520 would look like. I'd be curious if they even 454 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,480 touch on that. But if we don't, hopefully this 455 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,960 gives you a better understanding of what those negotiations might 456 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,240 look like and how they could have acquired Shane. 457 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,960 I would be willing to bet that Ilya would renegotiate his 458 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,080 salary, too, if it would help with cap space. 459 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,200 So all those factors go into that decision making and what 460 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,160 that number looks like. And again, Shane has money 461 00:28:54,560 --> 00:29:00,120 coming in from other avenues and he's going to hopefully continue 462 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,760 to have those deals. I hope that's not something that 463 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,160 gets taken away from him once he and Ilya announce that they're 464 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:07,800 together. I don't think that's been 465 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:11,080 touched upon yet in the book. So that will be another 466 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,040 interesting thing for the show to address or Rachel to address 467 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,680 in Unrivaled. The next question I got is from 468 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,520 Tiffany and she said I wanted to talk about Troy and how his 469 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,840 character serves the purpose of mirroring Ilya in some ways. 470 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:30,240 Not 100%, but in quite a few. By the end of his character arc, 471 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,680 he's able to come out on Pride Night and essentially have 472 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,400 everything Ilya wants but cannot have, and Ilya is forced to 473 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,680 watch. I think having us see things 474 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,040 from Ilya's point of view can help convey his depression and 475 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,560 sadness well, and I'd love to hear what you think. 476 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,680 So Tiffany and I also had a separate little conversation in 477 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,840 my DMS about this topic and I asked her if I could share this 478 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,880 on the podcast because I think it's just such a great topic to 479 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,240 talk about. And I said to her that I totally 480 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:05,080 see Troy as an Ilya 2 point O in many ways because like Ilya, he 481 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,600 has sort of become hardened because of his background, 482 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,440 particularly with his father, just like Ilya has. 483 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,680 And Ilya for the most part has maintained his softness, at 484 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,520 least internally, but he still outwardly carries a lot of 485 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,000 wounds. And Troy is the same way. 486 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,520 And I think I personally connected with Role Model more 487 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,200 than the other books because Ilya interacts with Troy more 488 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,920 than any of the other characters from the other books. 489 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,840 And I do believe that must stem in some small part from Ilia 490 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,640 being able to see so much of himself in Troy. 491 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,720 And Ilia wants to help him and he spends all of Troye book 492 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,320 helping him in small ways and big ones. 493 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,560 And so in the long game, we're getting Ilya's point of view of 494 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:55,600 what happens between the two of them. 495 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,560 And when Troy arrives, his reputation very much precedes 496 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,040 him. And Ilya is not thrilled about 497 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,520 having him join Ottawa because of his proximity to Dallas Kent 498 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,360 and everything that has happened with Dallas Kent up until that 499 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,360 point. Troy is also not dealing with 500 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,160 his issues in a healthy way. Tiffany pointed that out in her 501 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,000 question to me, her original question. 502 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:23,440 And so we also get to meet Troy's dad and get to see those 503 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,520 dynamics clearly, both from Ilya's point of view and also in 504 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,080 the long game from Troy's point of view. 505 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:35,200 So we get both angles there. And Ilya immediately recognizes 506 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:40,680 that Troy's father is a piece of crap and how that would impact 507 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,680 Troy. And I think he can empathize 508 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,360 with him almost instantly once he gets that insight into who 509 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,240 his father is and how he's hiding from him in the hotel 510 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,680 room in Vancouver and and drinking the night before a 511 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,800 game. And then we also learn about how 512 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:03,360 Troy is a lot closer with his mother, but she is physically 513 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,240 far away from him because she's travelling the world while he's 514 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,120 going through all of these hardships essentially alone. 515 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,240 Similarly, Ilia was much closer to his mother naturally, the 516 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,280 difference being she's no longer alive, but her body and her 517 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,960 grave are also far away from Ilia too in Moscow. 518 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,320 So even if he wished to go back to visit or talk to her, he 519 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,560 can't. And then Ilia has to observe 520 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:33,520 Troy's mom coming to his game and he gets to see him be able 521 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,680 to hug his mother. And I would imagine that Ilya 522 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,600 would be hurt by that. Even though he's happy for Troy, 523 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,760 it would still make him sad for himself in many ways too. 524 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:50,120 I also think Troy gets to meet Harris with Ilya's help, fall in 525 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:54,480 love with him, come out to the team, be accepted by the team, 526 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,240 and then decide to come out publicly on Pride night. 527 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,480 And that's all happening within a very, very short period of 528 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,040 time. And when the team learns about 529 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:10,120 Harris and Troy, they still love him and respect him, and Troy 530 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,520 has all these friends that he can lean on for support. 531 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,800 And all of these things are just slowly compounding. 532 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,400 And they're all the things that Ilya has wanted for over a 533 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,760 decade but has been denied. And so for him to have to watch 534 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,400 Troy from inside the same locker room, be apart from Shane, have 535 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:34,280 all of these difficulties going on with Shane behind the scenes. 536 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,880 And it's, it's just not a wonder to me that he falls apart in 537 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,640 Shane's arms after the Pride Night game. 538 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,280 Yes, that means that for Season 2, Troy's storyline and 539 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,680 character arc is going to be hugely important in conveying 540 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:53,440 Ilya's emotions because he's involved in a lot of the 541 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:58,000 particulars that Ilya's feelings stem from. 542 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,760 I'm personally really excited for how they're going to use 543 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,640 Troy as a vehicle for Ilya's depression and sadness. 544 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,280 And I think a lot of people have been worried about screen time 545 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,880 and spending too much time with Troy and Harris. 546 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,920 But I believe that most of what we will see of them will be 547 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,280 mainly to further convey how Ilya's feeling and what he's 548 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,480 struggling with because he's such an important part of the 549 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,199 long game. Troy is that I hope they're 550 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,080 they're able to cast someone who can carry the weight of that. 551 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,120 That person needs to work well off of Connor's version of Ilya, 552 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:41,000 obviously, but he also has to be someone who Shane would be 553 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,639 believably jealous of. He needs to be able to convey a 554 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:48,760 deep seated sadness similar to Ilya's at the beginning, and 555 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,719 then we need to see what he's like when he's shy around 556 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,639 Harris. Then we need to see him when 557 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:59,760 he's happy and open and capable of being funny and what it looks 558 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:04,440 like for him to be in love. So it's a big ask for whoever 559 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,440 they cast. It's also unique because Role 560 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,640 Model and everything that quote, UN quote happens to Troy often 561 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:18,160 includes Ilya or is thanks to Ilya, and Role Model is the only 562 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,120 book where that's the case. Normally Ilya is just popping in 563 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:27,640 and out, and then he leaves, and Ilya is the one in the Role 564 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:31,480 Model that's encouraging Troy to talk to Harris, and he makes 565 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,800 that entire love story happen. He's also the one bringing him 566 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,040 to the Kingfisher bar in New York, and he's the one that Troy 567 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:42,680 feels comfortable enough to come out to and who Ilya decides to 568 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,760 come out to as well. You know, Troy tells Ilya about 569 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,920 coming out on Pride Night. Ilya is the one that supports 570 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,160 him, and his support means the world to Troy. 571 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,720 So the whole plot of Role Model has Ilya's hands all over it in 572 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:01,800 so many ways, but it's still playing directly into Ilya's own 573 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:03,640 story. So I almost see it as a book 574 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,240 written entirely in support of the long game. 575 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:10,080 And I suspect that whatever we get of the storylines from Role 576 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,960 Model will be presented through Ilya's point of view more so 577 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,960 than through choice, at least in the moments outside of the 578 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,560 standalone episode. If we were to get one with Troy, 579 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:25,200 all of this is really, really important to include because 580 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:29,320 after Pride Night, Ilya has the biggest crash out with Shane, 581 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:33,160 and that moment shared between them is something that has to be 582 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:37,000 handled with so much care. And it's going to be incredibly 583 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,280 poignant and heartbreaking for both of them, but for Ilya 584 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:43,600 especially. But it's also necessary, too. 585 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,400 I'm really excited to see what Jacob does with it because it's 586 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,560 so important in the grand scheme of the storyline and for Ilya's 587 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:55,400 character and just understanding where he's at and and seeing a 588 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,640 side of him that we haven't seen before. 589 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,320 And I I'm so excited to see Connor story dive into that 590 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,160 material and whatever Jacob writes, because it's going to be 591 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,640 very emotional for everyone involved and require a lot of 592 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,720 trust. That moment doesn't hit as hard 593 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,160 without building up the relationship between Troy and 594 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:19,240 Ilya properly. So he is really important in the 595 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:23,720 grand scheme of this story. Yes, you could frame Season 2 by 596 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:28,040 following strictly Shane and Ilia, but a lot of Ilia's 597 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:36,600 emotions and feelings and struggles are amplified by his 598 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:41,120 team and Troy in particular. But they also hold a magnifying 599 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,520 glass up or a mirror up to himself. 600 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,640 I would say in a way that I think Shane not being there, he 601 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,400 can't be the person to help Ilya through a lot of these problems. 602 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,840 And that's part of the disconnect between the two of 603 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,840 them. And so Ilya has to find other 604 00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,480 ways to build that community around him. 605 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:03,840 And it starts with Troy and it starts with Harris, and you 606 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,640 can't get the long game without that. 607 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,960 So I, I, I don't want them to skimp on that. 608 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,400 I think that it's necessary to include. 609 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:15,720 And I'm really excited about who they cast to play Troy because 610 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:19,400 like I said, he's got a lot of weight on his shoulders to carry 611 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,120 and his character is really, really important. 612 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,920 So I hope that it's someone that is a a new actor that we all get 613 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:32,160 to discover together and that they're able to take Jacob's 614 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:34,560 beautiful writing and put out a performance that they're proud 615 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,800 of and then put them on the map in a way that heated rivalry 616 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,120 Season 1 did for Hudson and Connor as well. 617 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,680 So that was very long winded. If you've made it to the end, 618 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,520 thank you so much. And I think I'm going to end 619 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:55,120 this Q&A part three there. I do still have a handful of 620 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,320 other questions and topics to touch on. 621 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,000 So I might be recording a part 4, which is crazy to think 622 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:05,120 about, but I also have a number of other episodes that I want to 623 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,920 record. I know a lot of people have been 624 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,320 asking me hockey specific questions and I think that that 625 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:15,840 would be something fun to record as well and touch upon in future 626 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,080 episodes. So if you have any hockey 627 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:22,800 related questions, be sure to send them my way on Tiktok or 628 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:28,520 Instagram and I'll try my best to answer them in my hockey 629 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,160 specific episode that I plan to record. 630 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,880 As always, thank you so much for listening and chatting with me, 631 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,360 and I look forward to talking again soon.