I won’t beat around the bush: Heated Rivalry is possibly the most revolutionary piece of television to come out in recent years.
If, for some reason, you’ve been living under a rock, Heated Rivalry is a 2025 original series from the Canadian streaming service Crave, based on the popular book series by Rachel Reid. This season covers the first two books in the series, mainly chronicling the decade-long forbidden love and competition found between opposing hockey rookies Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.
For me, talking about this show is like trying to condense an analysis of the entire Bible into a short amount of words; there are so many elements to talk about, but I’ll try to hit on as many as I can.
Let’s start with the obvious: The greatest takeaway from this show is the insane talent revelations that are Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Both of them devote so much to these characters, even down to subtle eye movements and body language, making them incredibly endearing and likable. I could never pick favorites, though. I love Shane and Ilya equally!
Of course, I have to shout out the supporting cast as well. There are so many great actors, from Francois Arnaud and Robbie G.K. as a fellow queer hockey relationship, to Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova and Sophie Nelisse as Shane and Ilya’s girlfriends. Even Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh as Shane’s parents, who don’t get much screen time, never fail to make me laugh.
As a film major, the most impressive thing to me is how this show came together. It was shot in 36 days for about $2 million an episode (for context, Stranger Things Season 5, airing at the same time, cost about $50-$60 million per episode) and was able to make it work by investing in expensive camera equipment to enhance the cinematography and cutting corners to save on location scouting.
It’s no secret that the “gay hockey show” was perceived on the outset as exploitative of the actors or way too pornographic, which isn’t remotely true. The intimacy coordinator, Chala Hunter, as well as Hudson and Connor, have spoken about the importance of filming and choreographing the more physical love scenes. The results are very tender scenes that all help the relationship evolve over the many years the show covers.
I’ve written a lot about how to do adaptations right, and this is a shining example of making massive changes for the sake of the characters. The book and show share essentially the same plot with many similar beats, but the show feels all the more refined due to the actors and script choosing to focus on the characters rather than the smut.
Rachel Reid is a controversial figure, to say the least, and has definitely gotten hate from people who have read the books after watching the show, particularly how she tends to favor characters and write them in particular ways. In the show, for example, Shane is more fleshed out as opposed to just being a foil for Ilya. Ilya, on the other hand, is a lot more textured than a cocky, flirty rookie.
It’s been so beautiful and insane to watch Heated Rivalry grow from a small Canadian miniseries into a global phenomenon. Hudson and Connor got to attend the Oscars, present at the Golden Globes, and carry the Olympic torch, all within a year of merely being cast. I only expect them to climb higher from here.
It’s also great to see studios try to analyze and replicate the success of this series, since it was so cheap to make and based on a kind of “whatever” book, yet it looks incredible and didn’t cause crazy filming burnout. However, I think that it’s truly lightning in a bottle; even making Season 2, the budget will be higher, and there will be more standards to live up to.
That’s not even remotely all there is to talk about with Heated Rivalry, but it’s enough for the common reader to understand. I cannot recommend this show enough, and hopefully I’ll have more to write about it come April of next year.
I cannot wait until season 2!
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