‘Heated Rivalry’ Takes the Internet by Storm and Should Be Your Next Watch
‘Heated Rivalry’ | Photo: HBO Max
At the Independent’s last staff meeting, I couldn’t help but chat with everyone about my current favorite show: Heated Rivalry. Six cinematic episodes on HBO Max, a bingeable watch that has consumed all of my social media feeds — I have naturally been recommending it to everyone I know. It quickly occurred to me that many people had no idea what I was talking about.
In short, the show is about two hockey players who are rivals, facing off against each other for a decade. Top of their field, captains of their respective teams, and star players duking it out on the ice and off it, but not in the way you might expect. Canada’s best Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams) and Russia’s elite Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie) are gay and secretly falling in love.
Based on the novel of the same title written by Rachel Reid, it was adapted for a series by Jacob Tiernay. Having read the book, I want to start this off by saying that I consider this show to be a masterclass in book-to-show adaptation: stellar casting of relatively unknown actors who fully committed to their characters and realistic changes necessary to fit a TV rhythm while still including essential dialogue and key moments from the original novel.
Heated Rivalry hauls us back to nostalgic 2008 when Shane and Ilya first meet and sparks fly. Their instant attraction comes before they enter their professional rookie season, and, admittedly, starts out as lustful. Which makes sense considering Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are perfectly sculpted and look like hockey players you can catch on the ice in real life, known for great bodies and sexy beards. This attraction only heats up after the first time they hook up — and their public rivalry matches that heat when they are chosen to play for long opposing teams, the Montreal Metros and the Boston Raiders.
The in-show media hypes up this rivalry every chance they get when they face off twice a year, but every time Shane and Ilya meet, the sparks are flying, and they can’t help but find a secret corner to steal a kiss or make plans to meet up after a game. That desire for each other continues to grow, tangling up more secrets and hidden meet-ups — the two men wrestle with their attraction to their arch rival until 2017, when they come to accept and explore the real, deeper feelings beneath the intense, obvious attraction.
