Canadian hit “Heated Rivalry” has titillated audiences around the world . Based on the novel series “Game Changers” by Rachel Reid, this sports romance has entranced audiences all over the world.
The show tells the story of two hotshot hockey players on rival teams and the slow burn of their love over several years. Their tryst blossoms into a powerful love set to the backdrop of the traditionally straight, white male dominated hockey universe.
Shane Hollander is a half-Japanese, half-Canadian hockey star with laces so straight the Queen of England looks loose in comparison. He drinks ginger ale and loves his parents. His rival-lover, Ilya Rozanov, is a bad-boy Russian that smokes cigarettes and has tousled hair.
They’re a classic romance novel trope, but the series doesn’t make them insufferable. Much of the credit for that goes to their acting skills, but also to the show’s creator and director Jacob Tierney.
Tierney is known best for directing and acting in the Canadian masterpiece “Letterkenny.” Although that show was wildly successful, going on for 12 seasons, Tierney said on the “What Chaos” podcast that the success from this show and the overwhelming positive audience reaction has been on another level and even moved him to tears at times.
Hollander and Rozanov’s romance gets incredibly steamy in some scenes and there’s been discourse online that it’s too graphic and unnecessary. Bridgerton or Game of Thrones didn’t get that same reaction, likely because all the uber-graphic sex scenes in those shows were between a man and woman.
It’s not too graphic, it’s just not as common to watch two men having the exact same kind of sex scenes as Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo.
This is why the show has been so wildly successful. It’s actually nothing new—romance is romance and people will always pine for good love stories. In that same vein, there is no “trauma-porn” in this that so frequently accompanies LGBTQIA+ media.
Nobody has the shit beat out of them for being gay or is traumatically outed without their consent. It’s just a simple love story with a dash of secrecy and fellatio.
Besides the sex scenes that really make this show great, this show also has outstanding acting. Acclaimed actor François Arnaud plays another closeted hockey player, Scott Hunter. He brings some experience and gravitas to the show.
Arnaud is known for his roles in “The Borgias,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Yellowjackets,” and a whole host of French-Canadian films. Episode five is a crescendo of Reid’s writing, Tierney’s creative vision, and Arnaud’s execution-and you will weep.
All of this work is brought together with a perfectly curated soundtrack featuring artists big and small. Loads of french pop, queer indie, and even jazz bring this show to life. Iconic and controversial queer anthem “All The Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. and a cover version is positioned against one of the most tense scenes filled with yearning that I’ve ever seen on any show.
One of the most touching musical Easter eggs was the use of Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” that references sunshine in the lyrics—a euphemism for coming out—that was played to one of the most beautiful scenes in queer media history in episode five. In that same episode, Rozanov is in Russia and is confronted with all the constraints on his life that his home country exacts while the song “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven plays.
This musical technique added layers of depth to the story and demonstrated the care and attention that Tierney and the show’s composer Peter Peter put into this project. Tierney said the show took less than two months to film and was very low-budget. He partnered with Crave Media for production instead of a bigger company because Crave gave them the creative freedom to stay as true to the story as possible–something the show has also been praised for.
Tierney said the company he originally intended to partner with told him that they didn’t want any on-screen kissing until episode five. Tierney knew that those kinds of limitations would hinder the authenticity of the production. However, because of this, the show is ineligble for Golden Globes awards.
Queer representation can be overlooked in mainstream media unless it fits in a palatable box which often compromises authenticity. It’s also plagued by violence, abuse and struggle–which are very valid aspects of the queer experience but they don’t define it. Heated Rivalry penetrates social norms and expectations about queer love and Rozanov’s juicy bubble-butt is the cherry on top.
