Why I’m Obsessed with Heated Rivalry

I know that I am officially about 7 months late to the cottage, but this past month I finally watched Heated Rivalry. I also read the book and I read The Long Game. I don’t know how to explain my experience other than that I feel like I have been under a spell for the past two weeks. I have never, ever experienced anything like this in my entire life.

I’ve read hundreds of books over the years. Heated Rivalry was never one of them. Of course I had seen it in the store for a long time, but never picked it up. I was always reading other things. I vaguely remember when the show was released on HBO Max, I saw some people talking about it online, but my algorithm didn’t show me any heated rivalry so I was blissfully unaware.

I also don’t have MAX, so I didn’t have access to it when it came out and I wasn’t interested in starting yet another subscription.

One day a couple of weeks ago, I was scrolling on tik tok and I came across a fan edit. I thought to myself oh this is extremely hot. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had watched 612 fan edits. I decided it was time to read the book. I wanted to get all of the context and be in the characters heads before I watched the show.

I flew through the book in about a day and a half. I couldn’t stop. It was SO good! I immediately fell in love with Shane and Ilya and their nearly decade long love story.

Then, it was time to watch the show. After watching all the edits, I must admit that I was worried I basically saw it all on tik tok. Thank goodness I was wrong. I watched it all in one day because I couldn’t stop. I was completely and utterly transfixed. The show is phenomenal. I have absolutely no notes at all.

Today, I’m going to be yapping about all of the reasons why I love this show.

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR HEATED RIVALRY AND MAYBE EVEN FOR THE LONG GAME. PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Chemistry is off the charts

What got me to watch the show from the edits initially was the chemistry. I have NEVER seen chemistry like that in a show. It honestly felt like I was intruding on someone’s relationship, especially the way some of the scenes were shot. After completing the series of course I did what every person does when they watch HR. I went to Youtube to watch every piece of media I could on Hudson Williams (Shane) and Connor Storrie (Ilya)

I didn’t know anything about these two. I had never seen them before, but I was most interested in the chemistry read. Thankfully, the internet did not disappoint. In fact, this article details how when Hudson read with Connor, he felt the chemistry from the very beginning. I cannot say the exact words here, but the chemistry was definitely there.

Ilya’s love for Shane’s freckles from the first time they met

Although this isn’t really mentioned that much in the show, Ilya is obsessed with Shane’s freckles and has been since the day they met. This is why it was important for me to read the book first. Ilya was attracted to Shane immediately and is always telling him how beautiful he is.

The Shower scene.

Ilya already knows that he is attracted to Shane, and that Shane most likely feels something similar…so he decided to shoot his shot in the shower. I think this scene was very well executed and exactly how it read in the book. But my favorite part of the scene is afterwards, when Shane is sitting in the locker room.

He is contemplating his entire existence after what he just experienced in the showers, and I think he is realizing that he is reached a fork in the road of life. And he knows which side he is choosing.

Ilya always needing to see Shane

We also see this from the beginning. Ilya staring down at Shane after the draft, his request that Shane join the photoshoot on the ice, his request for Shane to undress the first time they met in the hotel room. He also wanted to see Shane with his glasses on via facetime while he was in Russia…there’s probably more examples but these are the top of my mind.

Every Single Kiss

Again, this has everything to do with their chemistry, but these are without a doubt the best on screen kisses I have ever seen. I was genuinely blown away by every kiss, but I think the stairwell kiss is my favorite. In fact, I loved it so much that I ordered the hoodie Shane is wearing in that scene. It has yet to be delivered, it is the softest hoodie I own.

The secrecy

An element of the show that I really appreciated is the secrecy of Ilya and Shane’s relationship. With the both of them being extremely popular athletes, I love that they had many years to navigate their relationship and their feelings in private. With the way that social media is, they would have to deal with a lot of negativity if this was exposed to the public, especially when they were still trying to figure things out.

The fitness motivation I got from seeing Ilya’s body in Vegas

I’ve been going to the gym for the past 6 years or so, I am definitely no stranger to working out. Seeing Ilya in Vegas though? Transcending the game. I was in AWE. Whoever was in charge of the lighting for this scene needs an award.

After watching more interviews of Connor’s fitness routine, I learned that both of his parents were bodybuilders, so he definitely knows all of the secrets to getting an amazing body. Seeing him definitely motivated me to stay on track with my diet and workouts.

How gentle Ilya was with Shane on their first night together.

This is one of my favorite scenes from the show simply because of how beautiful it was to see them finally get together after all of the years of waiting. Only meeting when they are playing against each other and keeping a relationship via text message must have been difficult, so I was happy when they spent their first night at Shane’s house. Ilya was extremely considerate of Shane’s feelings, repeatedly asking for consent and asking if Shane was ok. I love to see it.

Ilya’s love for rage baiting Shane

There are so many scenes in the show and in both books where Ilya says things specifically to get a reaction out of Shane. I found Ilya’s personality so funny and It really worked well with Shane. Shane has such a need to be in control that he needs someone in his life who is going to mess around with him and have a little bit of fun.

The club scene

It probably goes without saying that everyone loves the club scene. I love it because it represents a major crossroads in the development of their relationship. Shane being with a woman because he wasn’t sure if Ilya was serious about a long term relationship, and Ilya being jealous of Shane being with Rose. There were so many feelings at the club and I loved the music as well.

Finally saying I love you after all those years.

It is hard to say what my favorite scene in the show is, but I must admit that I loved being at the cottage. I love how they had an (almost) completely private experience where they could be together and express their true feelings for the duration of their stay. When they finally said I love you, it was so beautiful to me. This comes after many years of hooking up, and then lowkey becoming exclusive, it was very rewarding.

The happy ending.

I quickly read the book before I watched the show because I wanted to make sure that I had all of the context and was able to be inside of their heads while I was watching. While I was reading, my biggest fear was that there would be a third act breakup (which I HATE). I was terrified that someone would out their relationship to the public, and they would argue and break up.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they got a happy ending. Of course Shane’s dad caught them at the cottage and he had to explain his relationship to his parents, but they were wildly supportive and even said that they suspected that Shane might be gay. I love that he had support and that his parents were welcoming of Ilya, since Ilya doesn’t have a support system.

All of their Heated Rivalry Interviews

After the show, I did what everyone else was doing and watched every single interview that I could find of Hudson and Connor. I have discovered that they are not only great on screen, but they have a good friendship and are very entertaining to watch in interviews as well. I love how Hudson has absolutely no filter and will say whatever is on his mind, and Connor just sits there.

Honestly,

I could go on forever about this show. It truly changed my brain chemistry and I am very excited for season 2. I have read The Long Game and although we see a lot of happy moments between the two of them, we also have to watch Ilya struggle with his mental health.

I am so happy that I found a show that really did something for me. There are very few books and shows that impact me in this way. Jacob Tierney and the entire team really did an amazing job bringing the show to life.