Heated Rivalry S01E01: "Rookies"
Thoughts on Heated Rivalry S01E01; spoiler warnings for S01E01. (18+ only!)
Introduction
I just watched the first episode of Heated Rivalry with my partner, Jem.
I've been intrigued by the show for ages but didn't have many expectations going into it. Not that I expected it to be bad--I just don't often watch TV; that, and some of the content I've seen online left a bad taste in my mouth.
For example, I saw a TikTok of a bunch of young women telling their grandma there was this new gay show with hot guys where you see everything--that sort of stuff combined with the fact that the source material is a Stucky-turned-romance-novel written by a straight woman, I worried that maybe it was all just "queer men for the straight, voyeuristic gaze".
My fears were put to rest when I learned that the show's creator, writer, and director, Jacob Tierney, is a gay man himself. I also heard that the chemistry between the two stars, Hudson Williams (Shane Hollander) and Conner Storrie (Ilya Rozanov), is off the charts.
After seeing the show for myself, I can attest to the fact that both of the actors gave it their all. This no-holds-barred approach can be felt throughout the entire first episode: from the acting, to the editing, to the cinematography, to the writing, and especially to the pacing.
Plot Recap
The first episode opens during the international hockey final between Canada and Russia in 2008, with Shane and Ilya playing for either team. They're instantly magnetized to each other, lingering gazes translated into long shots across the ice.
After the final concludes, a quick smash cut introduces a time skip--the first of many. This first cut transports us to the Major Hockey League, or MHL,1 draft. Shane is recruited to the Montreal Metros; Ilya to the Boston Raiders.
After the draft ends, they both head to their hotel gym to blow off some steam, which culminates in a super erotic of them "racing" each other on stationary bikes. Dripping in sweat, they sit across from each other afterward and share a stilted conversation latent with desire. Some time later, they film a MHL commercial together. In the showers after filming, they ogle each other's bodies, until Ilya--forward and beguiling--begins jerking off while maintaining direct eye contact with Shane, whose hasty "Not here" breaks the scene.
Ilya approaches a nervous Shane in the locker room, who offers to write off what just transpired between. Not believing his bluff, Ilya asks for his room number, which Shane provides--leading to the smokiest dialogue I've encountered in awhile:
ILYA: What is your room number?
SHANE: 1410.
ILYA: Well, if I come to 1410 tonight at...9 'o clock?
SHANE: I might open.
ILYA: I might knock.
True to his word, Ilya arrives; true to his word, Shane answers. A sultry sex scene follows--skipping what would've been a laborious slow burn, Heated Rivalry jumps straight into action. It knows what the audience came here for, and wastes no time teasing viewers with will-they-won't-they bullshit.
Thereafter, the episode is spliced into small pockets of time throughout Shane and Ilya's rookie season.
We see Shane's well-meaning (yet over-bearing) "Mom-ager" celebrate brand deals and opportunities for him to become positive representation for kids, while Ilya fields pleas for money from his unsavory brother and cryptic phone calls from his critical and distant father.
On the ice, Shane shapes up to be a breakout MVP, while Ilya gains a reputation for talking big and playing rough. In between games, they orchestrate secret hotel room visits, where sex quickly gives way to an even deeper emotional tension.
The episode ends with their first season. After a game against Shane is canceled, Ilya returns to his apartment in Boston, where it is revealed that he's had a girlfriend back home in Russia this entire time: a woman named Svetlana, who jump-scares all of us walking into Ilya's kitchen wearing his jersey. Meanwhile, the pressure keeps mounting on Shane, who wins the MHL award for Rookie of the Year.
At the MHL awards after-party in Las Vegas, the two argue during a private moment out on an empty balcony. When Ilya asks what it is that "Hollander" (Shane) wants, Shane exclaims:
"I don't know! I thought we had--"
Something? To say the least.
Ilya interrupts him with a passionate kiss, which Shane momentarily returns, before regaining his senses and--worried that someone will see them--storms off, leaving us alone with a reticent Ilya.
Thus ends episode one.
Initial Thoughts
If this verbose blog post is anything to go by, Heated Rivalry pulled me right in. I didn't anticipate being enraptured by its story and characters right off the bat,2 but here we are.
It's immediately obvious that an immense amount of care was put into making this show. The two leads have an insane amount of chemistry--you can practically feel the tension between them through the screen.3 The pacing is punchy and quick, never dragging its heels or burdening the viewers with dry exposition.
These things are aided by clever editing and stellar cinematography. The camera behaves as if Shane and Ilya's gazes have been superimposed onto the lenses: following the column of a neck, lingering hotly between the legs, or contemplating softly parted lips.
The cinematography was no less intentional when retracted from the personal perspective. As a figurative artist, I'm pretty familiar with the lines of the human body; these instincts were gratified during every sex scene, when I couldn't help but notice how artfully each shot was composed.
The sex scenes weren't just visually nuanced, but emotionally as well. During their first tryst Ilya asks Shane if he's ever been with another man. Shane says no and returns the question, whereupon Ilya briefly divulges a previous fling with his coach's son back in Russia.
After making out some more, the two undress and...lay down next to each other, discussing sex, experience, and desire. The intermission doesn't last long, but it's enough to ground their budding relationship in a realistic and refreshing way.
They go on perform reciprocal fellatio. (The first to finish, Ilya pretends to get ready to leave, only to ensure Shane that he's "not an asshole" and won't leave him high and dry.) In another sex scene, time is afforded to showcase Shane's hesitancy around anal, further illustrating how new all of this is to him; Ilya patronizes him until he confesses he's used a dildo before in exasperation.
These little touches of nervousness, discovery, and communication elevate what would've been softcore gay porn to a viscerally intimate narrative--as told through the medium of sex.
This dynamic is exemplary of Heated Rivalry's vibe. It's unabashedly erotic, but not just for the sake of sex appeal: the physical connection between Shane and Ilya is but a mere conduit for their emotional connection.
Conclusion
It's hard to find gay media, let alone gay media of this quality. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth in Heated Rivalry's narrative.
I can honestly say I'm not sure where it'll go next. Obviously there will be conflict between Shane, Ilya, and Svetlana.4 I imagine Shane will have internal conflict over his sexuality as he's further shaped into a posterboy for the MHL.
There's a lot of possibilities, many of them cliche; but I don't expect Heated Rivalry to fall back on overdone tropes, sensationalized drama, or sanitized depictions of sex and romance.
I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Jem and I are only watching it together, and it's hard to find time where we can both sit down and watch something for an hour over Discord.5 It's already proven itself to be worth all this hype online, so I'm sure it'll be worth the wait, too.
✘ Originally posted on — 02-16-25
✘ Main site location — https://xavierhm.com/blog/posts/heated-rivalry-s01e01
Footnotes
A fictional equivalent to the NHL, I'm guessing?↩
...or hockey stick?
(I'll see myself out.)↩I exclaimed to Jem "Oh my god, they're such good actors!" countless times, lol.↩
A configuration I'm sure fanfic authors on AO3 have already capitalized on.↩
Soon to be Matrix hopefully, if it can sustain a video call and screensharing across the Atlantic ocean.↩