“Heated Rivalry” is a show that took the world by storm in a mere six weeks. A show that was a low-budget production that was expected to be one season was picked up by HBO a week before the show’s release, and it all began from there. The queer space in hockey has always been nonexistent, and a place where being LGBTQ+ was not celebrated. “Heated Rivalry” changed that. After its final episode, the day after Christmas, it impacted the industry in a way the world never saw coming.
The show was originally meant to debut on Crave, a Canadian streaming service that is unknown and typically produces lesser-known media. The show follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanoff, two closeted professional hockey players who are navigating their ten-year situationship. A week before the show’s release, HBO decided to pick it up and allow the show to have a larger audience. HBO is known for its raunchy shows that test the limits of what can be on tv and “Heated Rivalry” certainly does that. The first two episodes of the show set the stage for a situationship between two rivals in what the show calls the Major League Hockey (MLH), and how they navigate being two queer men in a space that is typically not accepting of gay players, let alone two that are in a relationship with each other. They have a taboo, sexy relationship that allows both of them to explore their sexualities with each other. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes of the show, but the third one was where its popularity really began to pick up.
The third episode tells the story of a star hockey player who is deeply in the closet. It tells a story that so many queer people can relate to. They have been in the closet for so long and no longer know another lifestyle, but they meet someone who changes that for them. The story of Kip and Scott is beautifully heartbreaking to watch and shows two sides of a love story that needs to be hidden. Kip is out and seemingly accepted by everyone around him, but when he meets Scott, he knows that he needs to keep their relationship a secret. Watching the two navigate through the relationship that is so different from the main characters gives insight into what the reality would be like for Shane and Ilya if they were to really be a couple. The episode ends with Kip celebrating his birthday and Scott watching from afar because he cannot be public with his love the way Kip can.
In the final three episodes, we see how Shane and Ilya slowly start to realize that their relationship is not just sex and playing hockey. Through the fourth episode, we see Shane battle with his real emotions as he tries to bury his feelings and begin a relationship with a woman. Another piece of real life where men feel they need to be with a woman in order to suppress their sexuality. At the end of the episode, we get the iconic club scene where Shane is literally sandwiched between a man and a woman, facing his real dilemma. In the final few minutes, we get the last raunchy scene we really see through the show of Rose Landry and Shane, but in Shane’s mind, it’s all Ilya.
The final two episodes are the most important of this show’s groundbreaking first season. In the fifth episode, we see Ilya deal with the death of his father, and Shane navigate through the realization that he is gay. This is a staple moment in the show and for many viewers because you watch how the two are able to lean on each other and how the show has developed a purely sexual relationship into one that has love and care, without it being obvious to the viewer. At the end of the episode, we see Scott has won the cup and brings Kip down on the ice to celebrate in front of the world, an act that makes Shane and Ilya believe they can have the same. In the final episode, we finally get to go to the cottage. The intimacy that is shared between the two is something that has not been seen in the show before. About halfway through the episode, we see that Shane’s father has caught them in an intimate moment, and this sends a wave of fear for Shane as he is less confident in his sexuality than his partner. Through the last 20 minutes of the episode, we see how his parents process this and the kind of conversations they have that are progressive yet still show how they want to grow and learn.
This is an important piece of media for any parent to watch, as it shows an appropriate response and learning moment for something that can be uncomfortable. The episode ends with the two driving off into the sunset, and that is exactly how the viewer feels watching them finally be able to be happy together.
This show, in the month since it has been released, has done so much for athletes within the LGBTQ+ community. Stories have been told of athletes who felt they related to the men in the show and how they are so happy being themselves now, or how it felt for an athlete to come out to their team, and the worry that they won’t be accepted. The National Hockey League (NHL) specifically still has many steps to take towards athletes being able to be as open as they are in the show, but the hope is that the performative pride nights spark fans and athletes to educate themselves and become a more welcoming sport. Everyone has a place in hockey, and that is the biggest piece to take from this show.
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