u/generationvelvet

I've seen a lot of discourse around Shasha's plan to get Gorya to choose her, and I'm just going to share my analysis of the situation. You can call me biased since I'm a proud Shasha defender, but this is just my take lol. Feel free to share your own interpretations.

I don't agree with people calling Shasha disingenuous and awful because of her plan. I feel like some people treat Gorya like she's some naive child who doesn't know any better, but in reality, she's a grown woman with agency. She can make her own decisions. And Gorya has always been a willing participant in their game and has been since episode one. Gorya was purposely winding Shasha up this entire episode and trying to make her jealous, and Shasha's plan only really started at that secret club when she asked Kris to keep flirting with her, so that Gorya will finally make a choice. There was always a chance that Gorya would choose Kris and Shasha was aware of that risk, but she chose to have faith that what she and Gorya were feeling was real. Even after the plan was in motion, you could still sense her underlying insecurity and sadness. Shasha talks a big game, but she was genuinely scared Gorya would choose Kris but didn't want to show it. I have to give her props for that because that was bold of her. This whole episode had ShaGorya engaged in a silent "who can make who more jealous until they break and finally confess their feelings" competition. Gorya is the one person that can see through Shasha, so I wouldn't be surprised if she caught on to what her and Kris were doing (they weren't exactly discreet, lol). Before the scene revealing the plan, Kris seemed to be flirting with Gorya just for the love of the game and to mess with Shasha. But I also think Kris was genuinely interested in Gorya and, like Shasha, she has a big ego and felt put off after being rejected so many times, which is part of the reason she was going to back off. I think another reason is because she saw how upset Shasha became when she saw her flirting with Gorya, so she didn't want to cause any more friction between them than she already had. They're still friends at the end of the day, even if they are sometimes competitors when it comes to the women they like. So, it's not like Kris was in on this plan the whole time. Shasha was genuinely feeling jealous and insecure before that. That jealousy and sulkiness in the gym when Gorya taunted Shasha about Kris was very real lol.

Shasha was genuine with Gorya at the end of the last episode and, as I predicted, Gorya felt rejected when she chose not to spend the night with her and that's how we got here lol. Despite trying to show Gorya that she saw her as more than just a sexual partner and viewed her as someone precious to her, Gorya took it the wrong way and decided to mess with Shasha the same way Shasha used to mess with her. She now had options, and she wanted Shasha to see that and do something about it. Gorya saying that Shasha has been "hot and cold" with her made me laugh, though, because pot, meet kettle. Shasha has been pursuing her since episode 1. Girls throw themselves at her, but her sole focus has always been on Gorya. She could not have been any clearer with her feelings and intentions toward Gorya than she was in the last couple of episodes. I understand Gorya, though, since she's been hurt one too many times by the women she likes. She wants to feel secure and genuinely wanted, so falling for someone with Shasha's reputation feels risky. But she's seen her at her most vulnerable, so she should know her better by now. Gorya has been the one constantly rejecting Shasha and always denied there being anything between them to anyone who would listen. Gorya hasn't made it easy for Shasha, and Shasha is a (lovable) dummy - she needs Gorya to spell out her feelings for her.

Shasha genuinely likes Gorya. So, concocting this elaborate scheme to get Gorya to finally choose her was a necessary evil. Had she not, they would never make any progress in their relationship. It would just be an endless cycle of Shasha trying to show how much she likes Gorya with her (sometimes questionable) actions because she doesn't know how to express it like a normal person, and Gorya not believing her sincerity and rejecting her. Rinse and repeat, lol. I think Shasha just wanted to end this game once and for all. I could always be proven wrong in the last 3 episodes, though lmao. I never know what curveball the writers of this show are going to throw at us.

Anyway, all that aside, the one thing lacking for them in this episode was a proper kiss and confession scene. It felt like all that tension, longing, and build-up ended so anticlimactically. Gorya looked absolutely starved when she showed up at Shasha's, but all we got was a prolonged peck and an implication that they slept together and decided to date(?). Not a fan of that. Hopefully, we will get something in the next episode. Something with more emotion and impact because wtf was that? I'm still invested in them, but I don't trust the writers to give them the type of scenes that I crave 😕.

Tldr: Shasha is dumb and Gorya is incredibly stubborn. These two love playing games with each other. Even though they genuinely like each other, had Shasha not made this plan, their relationship would never progress, and they'd still be stuck in their vicious push and pull cycle.