WARNING(s): This show is rated TV-MA (17+) in the US. While this article will not be detailing the contents of those scenes (yeah, I know some of you freaks were hoping I would), if you watch the show, viewer discretion is VERY much advised! That might be your cue to go read my wholesome “Wicked” article instead. Also, major spoilers ahead.
I didn’t even know “Heated Rivalry” existed a few weeks ago. The first time I heard about it was when I was in England and my friend back home texted me at 10a.m. Mind you, 10 a.m. in England is 5 a.m. EST time. I asked her why the hell she was up at 5am on winter break. “I woke up at 2 a.m. for no reason, and I’ve been binging “Heated Rivalry” ever since and I can’t stop,” she said. I told her she was a lunatic but she assured me that it was worth it and I “NEEEEEEDED” to watch the show ASAP. I shrugged and forgot about it for the next week… until it became physically impossible to forget about it.
The beginning of 2026 was quickly overshadowed by “Heated Rivalry”. Bringing it up was like watching a plague spread. As soon as you said the title, someone on the other side of the room would gasp and exclaim “you watched ‘Heated Rivalry too’??” and then someone down the hall would catch wind, and the cycle repeated.
“Heated Rivalry” is a sports romance inspired by a book series of the same name by Rachel Reid. It stars Hudson Williams as Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander, and Connor Storrie as Russian hockey player Ilya Rosanov. The two celebrities have to navigate their careers and reputations while trying to keep the secret of their feelings for each other. The season’s finale on December 26th, 2025 bumped it up to the number one show on HBO Max that week.
I was skeptical. Anyone who’s heard of this show has also heard it has a reputation for adult content. Not every story that is mainly known for that is all that good. But I’ll honestly admit, it was better than I thought it would be. I found a lot of other qualities to appreciate that I never thought I would.
The acting is simply excellent. The two leads, Hudson Williams who plays Shane and Connor Storrie who plays Ilya are both evenly matched and exquisite actors. What impressed me the most was their ability to act without speaking. Beyond their dialogue skills, when they’re reacting or listening to someone else, they have such masterful control of facial reactions and physicality. Both of them can control every miniscule muscle movement in their face, or every time their pupils dilate or contract. It’s all tiny changes, but behind them these actors are clearly giving all they got to hone these emotions. They make it look effortless. The first time I really noticed it was in the Vegas rooftop scene in the pilot during their first argument, especially with Williams. And Storrie shined brightest when Ilya’s venting to Shane in Russian over the phone; every expression is so layered and tells the whole story in itself. Every emotional scene with these two actors is indispensable.
On the flip side, this brings me to my one dominating issue that I couldn’t get over throughout the whole show: Ilya and Shane have a raging case of what I like to call “Twilight Syndrome”. It’s when two characters stare at each other for an uneasy and irritating amount of time. This power couple was so beyond curable, I was beginning to think they were emotionally unstable teen vampires.
So what is “Heated Rivalry” actually about? In spite of popular belief, definitely not hockey. My expectation was that this show would function like Ted Lasso for example, where games, tournaments, teammate conflicts, and awards were as relevant as the character’s personal conflicts. In “Heated Rivalry”, hockey is important to the plot, but it happens to and around the characters to give them something to do rather than something to grow from. Beating another team or winning a certain trophy isn’t a multi-episode long focus for a character, for instance. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Does this lead to a lack of overall plot points? I wouldn’t say that; I’d say it’s driven way more by characters exploring who they are rather than a plot shaping the characters.
This works in its favor, because characters have space to navigate the themes of coming out and overall the struggles of being queer. Driving conflicts of the main characters (and Scott) include how their sexuality will impact their very public careers. Every queer person’s experience is unique from each other but still legitimate. Shane feels overwhelming guilt for keeping secrets from his loved ones. Ilya not only has a homophobic family, but he struggles knowing being openly gay in his home country of Russia would get him arrested or even killed. The show also tackles prejudice against queer athletes, and how coming out is unheard of or unwelcome in many sports environments. I was deeply impressed with the respect and emotion in which these themes were executed. The best example is when Shane comes out to his parents in episode six. It was a very raw and awkwardly beautiful segment.
One of the show’s biggest strengths is how it handles contrasting characters. Shane and Ilya are complete opposites. Shane has supportive, loving parents while Ilya is treated horribly by his family. Shane lacks self assurance and second guesses himself constantly, like when he’s trying to flirt with Ilya over texts. Meanwhile Ilya exudes confidence to the point of being perceived as a variety of colorful titles, which are thrown at him probably more than his own name. “Heated Rivalry” works because the showrunners lean into the push-pull, opposites attract relationships. Enemies-to-lovers typically needs characters who are nothing alike to be compelling, but if you’re throwing in slow burn – especially if we’re following them for almost ten years – the fundamental differences are a must-have. We need to have solid reasons that lie at the core of their characters to why they’re still drawn to each other after all this time – as well as why they keep getting torn apart.
There was an even more gripping contrast in the show with Shane and Ilya vs Scott and Kip. Scott is Shane’s teammate and Kip is the jolly local smoothie man. Here’s the thing: Kip and Scott being a parallel made Shane and Ilya look bad. All four treat their partner DRASTICALLY differently from the other couple. The best part of Scott and Kip is that they are consistently open and vulnerable with each other. There’s a clear mutual respect, whether they’re intimate or just spending time together talking. After watching episode three and seeing them, I realized how relieving and refreshing it was to see a couple who’s comfortable being themself around the other. I didn’t even recognize that that was an issue with Shane and Ilya until I went back to their story. It’s like those two both feel a pressure to impress the other, earn the respect of the other rather than being real. Even though plenty of episodes in, when we’re told that it’s been six-ish years since they met, the tension is still clear. Both Shane and Ilya are watching their words, trying to assert some control over the situation. It’s like watching this weird, uncomfortable power play every time they interact. They still treat each other like through-and-through rivals. Sure, they have their rough patches over the years, but they’re like this even when they’re talking again. It’s honestly tiring.
Think of it this way: the first time Kip *ahem* stays the night with Scott, the first thing Kip does in the morning is make Scott the smoothie that they first bonded over, Scott thanks him and compliments him profusely, and then they both have a healthy conversation about what they need in the relationship. And while looking at that, I can’t help but wonder… had Ilya or Shane done anything nice for the other up to that point? Ilya literally wouldn’t even stay until the morning for Shane so far despite Shane visibly becoming overwhelmed and confused. Not only that; a lot of times they’re plainly unkind. This can’t happen if we’re meant to believe that this is how they start feeling romantic attraction for the other. Well, Ilya’s the main offender but Shane’s still guilty. They ghost each other. They fight fairly often. They don’t consider the other’s emotions, sometimes outright dismissing them. Ilya deflects any time Shane tries to be serious with him by saying something erotic and unfiltered. I was happy to see they finally got it together by the last two episodes, but it still felt a tad late. When we’re seven years and four full episodes in and they can’t have one conversation without excessive brow furrowing or Shane calling Ilya a jerk then the plausibility of them having feelings beyond lust just goes inescapably downhill.
I didn’t know “Heated Rivalry” was a book series before the show, the first being released in 2019. It honestly makes a lot of pieces click when you think about Ilya and Shane’s power dynamic. In roughly the past two decades, there’s been a trend in adult reading where one love interest is overly aloof and possessive. The other, whose perspective you read from in most cases, is naive and unassertive to a frankly dangerous degree. Most of these stories fall into the controversial genre of Dark Romance which includes most of Wattpad but also series like the notoriously sultry Haunting Adeline books by H.D. Carlton, and the… um… notable Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy by E.L. James. I think the appeal is supposed to be the power the confident partner can have. “Confidence = power” is a trend and sometimes misconception I see a lot of. I don’t like this trope; the norm for how to write it has been blown out of proportion over the years and ends up depicting a toxic and even abusive relationship (like Fifty Shades of Grey). This in mind, “Heated Rivalry” isn’t a Dark Romance, but it borrows a lot of its ideas. I got EXTREMELY wary of it even just from the opening scene of the show’s pilot. Here’s Shane, who follows the rules, is a little awkward, but still makes an effort to be friendly. Insert Ilya, who we can immediately tell is the jaded, rude hotshot from across the sea who we know is the baddest boy in hockey cause he smokes cigarettes outside! Gasp!
I was immediately preparing myself for the worst when I started this show. However, I’m happy to report, it proved me wrong! Ilya and Shane do play into the morally gray jerk vs. pleasant and gentle stereotype, but what sets them apart from toxic dark romance is that they’re written on an even playing field- or playing rink. Shane stands up for himself. He holds Ilya accountable when he ignores or snaps at him, and he doesn’t forgive him right away. In return, Ilya is probably the healthiest example I’ve seen on his side of the trope because at least inside, he allows himself to accept when Shane is right. He doesn’t dismiss the argument because of ego. He still has issues apologizing and being vulnerable, but that’s included in his arc. Shane and Ilya are a perfect balance for one another, keeping each other perfectly in check and pushing the other out of their comfort zone, which is exactly what the story implies it’s aiming for. Point being, if you’re going to make a genre surrounding one overpowering love interest and one fainthearted love interest, you must handle it like “Heated Rivalry” did and give both characters equal power and say in the relationship.
A huge question I had before starting the show: does the spice ruin everything else? Yes and no. One and two have scenes that felt overdone in terms of length and quantity. Episodes three, five, some of four, and most of six are in good taste and didn’t feel unnecessary. However, I will say a consistent element throughout all episodes is Ilya being his out of pocket self. At least a fourth of what he says to Shane could’ve been the sole reason the show is TV-MA. Did the showrunners make things this way to get the show more attention? More than likely. But to their credit, it worked!
“Heated Rivalry” has been a game changer in dozens of ways, but my personal favorites are all the positive effects it’s had around the world. LGBTQ+ hockey teams across Canada and the US are getting a lot of attention, and even funds raised for them via “Heated Rivalry” Merch. The success of the show has allowed the series’ author to get treatment for her Parkinson’s disease. And despite Russia outlawing almost all LGBTQ+ content in the country, Russians have defied their government and found other ways to watch and support “Heated Rivalry”. It’s great to see a show not only get credit that it deserves but also make this much of an impact. True, it was exactly what people told me it would be in some cases. If I wasn’t doing a review, I would probably stop watching after an episode or two. But I really am glad I didn’t stop. Even if I stayed up until 4:00a.m. binging it.
