Plot: Two rival hockey stars at the top of their game face an unexpected challenge when they develop feelings for each other, complicating their careers and the sport’s expectations.
Review: Mainstream acceptance of same-sex relationships has reached an all-time high in the United States, but Hollywood still lags behind some countries in depictions of gay and lesbian couples on screen. Canada has done a much better job showcasing these couplings with the recent hit series Schitt’s Creek as a prime example. The new Crave series, Heated Rivalry, based on the best-selling novel series Game Changers, premiered in November with a simultaneous launch on HBO Max and has become a pop culture beacon. Starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as rival professional hockey players who are also having a steamy romance, Heated Rivalry has already earned a second season before the finale hits the air. I checked out the Canadian show to see what the buzz is all about and found it to be well deserved. Heated Rivalry is a solid drama with a good dose of sports to balance out the romance.
Set across a decade starting in 2008, the six-episode first season of Heated Rivalry opens with amateur hockey phenoms Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) playing opposite each other in a tournament. Their first meeting is cold, but the hint of chemistry between the two begins to show. As they are drafted, Ottawa-born Hollander to the Montreal Metros and Russian Rosanov to the Boston Raiders, the two compete on the ice as well as in the media. The first episode of Heated Rivalry jumps weeks and months at a time as Hollander and Rosanov cross paths repeatedly before Rosanov makes a move and engages in physical contact with Hollander. The scene, set in a gym with the two players sweating and breathing hard, is constructed in a way that gives the moment maximum sexual heat without showing any nudity at all. That seems to be one of the biggest techniques that Heated Rivalry has in its favor: an intensely sexual chemistry that does not require explicit nudity to be perceived as erotic.
The series is not softcore in the least. Sex is secondary in Heated Rivalry to the romantic and relationship elements of the story. By setting the series just under two decades ago, the closeted protagonists not only have to navigate their burgeoning feelings for one another but also the stigma of being gay in professional sports. While the National Hockey League did not provide any licensing rights to the series, Heated Rivalry mimics the NHL in appearance. The short, six-episode first season of Heated Rivalry also manages to cram a lot of development into a short amount of time. The first episode alone spans multiple years, with both Hollander and Rozanov meeting secretly numerous times but never consummating their relationship. By building the sexual tension, as well as the on-ice rivalry, the series continues to amplify the connection and barriers between the two leads. The subsequent episodes also build on additional characters, including veteran player Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud), whose own relationships impact the secrecy of Hollander and Rozanov. There is also the pressure from Hollander’s parents, Yuna (Christina Chang) and David (Dylan Walsh), who view their son as a model for Asian-Canadian kids across the country.
Both Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are excellent in their roles as Hollander and Rozanov. The two actors both inhabit their characters and have a casual chemistry that drives the love story between the competing players. While Hollander is coming to terms with his sexuality, he also lives in fear of being outed by his teammates as well as the potential discovery of his secret by his mother, who also works as his manager. Rozanov has the burden of coming from Russia, where homosexuality is viewed in a vastly more repressed manner. He must also deal with his brother, who is constantly asking for money, as well as his father’s intense pressure for Rozanov to win at all costs as a representative of their homeland. Both Williams and Storrie have extensive experience acting in short films, with Williams having directed several. Storrie does a great Russian accent here in his most significant role since portraying the inmate who kills Arthur Fleck at the end of Joker: Folie à Deux. The two actors navigate the pitfalls of their relationship as deftly as they do their on-ice scenes. While hockey is a significant element of the series, Heated Rivalry does not feature many on-ice scenes, instead favoring brief moments in locker rooms.
Jacob Kierney, best known as co-creator of the hit Canadian series Letterkenny, wrote and directed all six episodes of Heated Rivalry. The source material for the series, Rachel Reid’s Game Changer novels, provides three books’ worth of material for Heated Rivalry, with two of these serving as the basis for the first season. By keeping this season to a modest six episodes, Kierney ensures that there is enough tension and development to keep each episode on pace, heading towards a satisfying conclusion. The fifth episode, “I’ll Believe in Anything,” has already been hailed as one of the best episodes of television this year and is considered one of the most highly regarded episodes of any series of all time. Without spoiling any of the plot, it does involve substantial revelations by characters that alter the landscape for everyone in the entire series. It is also a prime example of how Jacob Tierney transforms Heated Rivalry from being easily cast aside as a forgettable romance series to one that boasts quality dialogue and plot development, allowing it to sit alongside the better television series on the air.
Heated Rivalry is a unique series that succeeds in showcasing same-sex romance without succumbing to preaching on social issues. The series devotes a significant amount of time to developing both main characters and providing the audience with a compelling reason to invest in them throughout the entire season. A rare series that can transcend labels, Heated Rivalry may not appeal to everyone, but it will likely appeal to a broader audience than many queer-themed series have in the past. Because the series is about a gay romance but organically shows the hurdles and roadblocks in their path, it can be appreciated as much as any on-screen love story. Leave it to Canada to deliver the most accessible queer tale and make it about hockey. Heated Rivalry is a well-acted and well-written series that has earned acclaim and will surely launch Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Jacob Tierney to new levels of fame.
Heated Rivalry is now streaming on HBO Max.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
