Did not mean Misha btw. Third couple was the director and that young guy from the camera crew
Not gonna lie, I thought the same thing too.
He did not get manipulated into liking him. He did that all on his own.
Yep. That's how I see it. He was crushing on the director all along, but the director didn't move on it until after a good while. I found it more like teasing and flirting than manipulating. Ilya, who has good points and is a boon to Misha in many ways, is more manipulative than the director. He wanted to help Misha, but he also wanted a "hurt child" or "pet."
It didn't seem to me he was crushing on the director for a while, he admired him, looked up to him, wanted to be like him in the future. The director obviously knew this and used it to his advantage to get in the guy's pants. So you're right, it wasn't so much manipulation as it was taking advantage of someone's innocent admiration and naivete.
Yes, agreed on Ilya, difference is though, Misha was aware of his situation and they were both pretty upfront about it
Ok the third couple made me really uncomfortable. That poor young guy got manipulated into "liking" that gross old man