Heated Rivalry Tackles Its Biggest Flaw Head-on

by

Okay, so after two episodes focusing on the steamy, secret connection between Shane and Ilya, episode three of Heated Rivalry really surprised me. It shifts gears to tell the story of Shane’s teammate, Scott Hunter, and his adorable, whirlwind romance with a smoothie shop guy named Kip. It’s sweet, but quickly gets complicated. You see, Scott is desperately afraid of being outed as gay – there aren’t any openly gay players in the league, and he’s terrified of the impact it would have on his hockey career. He wants to be with Kip, but insists on keeping it completely under wraps, and that creates a lot of tension. It’s a really compelling turn for the series, and a smart way to explore the pressures faced by athletes in the closet.

With only six episodes, the show Heated Rivalry makes a risky choice in its third episode: it focuses entirely on a side character, stepping away from the main love story. It’s a similar move to what The Last of Us did in its first season, with an episode that shifted focus completely – and while some viewers weren’t thrilled, it worked for that show. In Heated Rivalry, the episode “Hunter” is a charming and surprisingly smart addition. It’s a fast-paced, romantic look into Scott Hunter’s past, but it also cleverly helps us understand the whole series better. This is particularly important because Heated Rivalry doesn’t reveal what its main characters, Shane and Ilya, are thinking. As hockey players who aren’t very open with their feelings, and often struggle to communicate, this silence creates a challenge for the show.

The backstory for Scott in this episode wasn’t created for the show; it comes from Game Changers, the novel that comes before Heated Rivalry in Rachel Reid’s series. Scott and his boyfriend, Kip, are important to the story of Shane and Ilya in the Heated Rivalry book, but the novel focuses solely on Shane and Ilya’s perspective. We don’t get details of Scott and Kip’s romance because it’s already fully explored in the previous book. Heated Rivalry only needs to show how Scott and Kip’s relationship impacts Shane and Ilya, and the author provides plenty of detail on that. The novel stays completely within Shane and Ilya’s thoughts and feelings, allowing the reader to experience every emotional change and hidden moment between them.

As a big fan of character-driven stories, I’m finding Heated Rivalry a bit frustrating so far. After two episodes, I don’t really know Ilya and Shane – they feel a little underdeveloped. The show relies heavily on their physical connection, and while the sex scenes are definitely intense and hint at deeper feelings, most of the time outside of those moments they’re just… angry. Connor Storrie, who plays Ilya, is doing a great job and brings a bit more transparency to the character, but even with strong performances, it’s hard to connect when we don’t get inside their heads. The whole premise is that these guys bottle everything up – they can’t express their thoughts or feelings to anyone, even themselves! So, the show is visually telling us when they’re moving beyond just a physical connection and starting to develop feelings, using things like the camera work, lighting, and music. In the first episode, the sex scenes were shot with long takes, focusing on the physical aspects. But by the second episode, they started using quick cuts to black during the scenes, which creates this feeling of breathless, overwhelming emotion – it’s a clever way to show what they won’t say.

Ilya and Shane struggle to express their hidden emotions, largely because they lack close friends. Shane repeatedly starts and abandons a text about wanting to kiss someone, and Ilya appears deeply unhappy even when others flirt with him. These moments, however, don’t fully capture the intensity of their feelings – feelings that are mostly shown through their reactions whenever the other person’s name comes up during a sports game playing in a busy bar. Neither of them can openly confess their desire and frustration to a friend, so the film relies on close-ups of their faces, hoping to convey their longing and internal conflict.

Scott and Kip are very open about their feelings for each other. Early in the series, they quickly become a committed couple, moving in together and enthusiastically supporting each other’s goals, even showing their affection through cooking. This contrasts sharply with Ilya and Shane, who struggle to express their emotions. Scott and Kip’s relationship adds a layer of longing and passion to the show that was missing before. They represent the emotional openness that Ilya and Shane secretly desire but are too afraid to achieve. Kip has a supportive father who freely expresses his love, providing a warm family dynamic that the series otherwise lacks until Ilya and Shane resolve their issues. Additionally, Kip’s coworker, Elena, provides the kind of supportive advice needed to move their romance forward. Someone needs to push them to address their situation and keep the story progressing!

Shane and Ilya haven’t reached that point in their story yet. However, developing Scott and Kip’s history makes the world of Heated Rivalry more complete than just focusing on their intense looks and intimate moments. This fuller background will make a happy ending feel deserved when it finally happens, rather than sudden or unearned. After all, Scott and Kip deserve a truly romantic commitment – a promise of lifelong love – before things become purely physical.

Read More

2025-12-05 19:58