When you watch a TV show, it’s usually because you’re interested in it. Whether someone recommended it, you saw an ad, or you just saw it while scrolling on your favorite streaming app. But not this time. I heard about an amazing TV show that so many people were fan-girling over from day one. Even my friends talked about it, but to me, it was uninteresting, and I refused to watch it.
Until I saw something that made me hate it, and I HAD to watch it now.
Heated Rivalry is that type of show: amazing yet terrible in its portrayal of closeted LGBTQ+ characters and themes that come with it. Heated Rivalry was one of those shows that went viral and became the talk of the town. But can the show actually back up the talk?
One of my friends mentioned she started watching the show just because; another mentioned she heard of it in an video.
I heard of it because everyone else around me had heard of it.
Until I saw something that made me hate it, and I HAD to watch it now.
Heated Rivalry is that type of show: amazing yet terrible in its portrayal of closeted LGBTQ+ characters and themes that come with it. Heated Rivalry was one of those shows that went viral and became the talk of the town. But can the show actually back up the talk?
One of my friends mentioned she started watching the show just because; another mentioned she heard of it in an video.
I heard of it because everyone else around me had heard of it.
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Heated Rivalry is a show about Shane Hollander, a hockey player who discovers his identity as a gay man while experimenting with his rival hockey team member, Ilya Rozanof, a supposedly bisexual man.
It had a great portrayal of their emotions deep down inside in the later episodes. However, early on, in the first three episodes, it did a terrible job at showing their true feelings. Which was good and bad; it was the point even. Heated Rivalry wasn’t just about showing love; it was also about portraying confusion and uncertainty. |
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When I first started watching this, I absolutely hated it and how badly the characters seemed. They had no personality, no emotion for each other, and all they did was sleep together.
Later on, I realized that the show did a great job showing their true relationship. It’s not the story of a simple enemy-to-lovers love story, but the complicated story of two enemies who were heartless, turning into two lovers who are heated at the thought of the other. Each time Shane and Ilya met in secret, Shane showed some emotions about how he felt about himself and Ilya. Ilya was the stone-cold-hearted hockey player who didn’t crack or show any emotions at all besides being strong and in control. Ilya, being the main shooter on “Top of the World” all the time, was compensating for his lack of self and for the weakness he felt deep inside. Meanwhile Shane, always being the “Bottom” player, was symbolic of being unsure and being okay with his vulnerability, yet keeping the fear he had deep inside at the forefront of all his thoughts. Hearing many thoughts from people who are and aren't a part of the LGBTQ+ community, one thing in common was the lack of effort put into the first few episodes. |
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The last episodes that came out showed character depth and the characters’ true feelings. This was done on purpose to show the progression of their relationship over time, starting off as screw buddies and ending up in a relationship.
However, the lack of emotion in the characters really shows. It's one thing to not show too many emotions because of uncertainty, and just experimenting around. But it's another thing if it’s just poor writing, and I sincerely believe it was poor writing, or maybe just poor pacing. Yes, their real relationship was just transactional physically; however, Shane started to catch feelings for Ilya. Real feelings, yet the emotion was barely there. The small gestures, deleted texts, and frustration for Ilya being so blunt definitely painted the picture that Shane wanted a more emotional and deeper connection. However, the entire time, Ilya was emotionless, and all he cared about was letting out his frustrations. It can be said that Ilya was letting out his frustration as a way to show his emotions and deal with it; however, his emotions seemed to stay the same. Later in the series, when Shane went on a date with that famous girl, Rose, and even slept with her, he looked very uncomfortable. You could tell the whole time that he wasn’t sure about what he was doing, but he did it because he knew it was the right person he “should” be going after. But Rose quickly caught on, and she was more than supportive of Shane. She wanted him to be able to express himself and feel seen and heard. That interaction, when Shane was crying, and Rose was asking him questions like if he’d ever been with another guy before, and he just gave back silent, hurt replies, really showed the fear in his heart. He wasn’t ready to let anyone know that he was the “monster” he thought he was. |
Overall, the first few episodes seemed rushed, and if they had taken more time and put more emotion and emphasis on how the characters really felt, it would have made the message more clear. But it also helped show the lack of depth in their relationship and that they weren’t anything more than sleep buddies.
I rate this show a 7 out of 10. It could have been a nine if it didn’t seem so rushed and if the plot were more obvious.
I think that the side couple was even more interesting and had more depth than the main couple. Scott and Kip, the famous hockey player and the male barista. Sure, they got together soon, but it still had more emotions than Shane and Ilya. Kip had the fear of letting his colleague know, and he didn’t even believe that someone like Scott could like him. For them, they showed so many emotions in so little time, which is proof that they could have spent more time with the main couple or used the time they had to show more.
At the end of the day, it may have been a good adaptation, but that’s all it will be. I believe it’s a good way to reach out to readers with similar closeted experiences or even those who aren’t sure about themselves yet. However, I also believe that it can be helpful for straight audiences as well, or even other LGBTQ+ members who don’t relate to this.
But it was still too rushed and did a bad portrayal of the characters’ true emotions until the final few episodes of the show. And I still hated it every second watching it; it was just far too “showing,” you could say.
It’s definitely an eye-opener and shows a different perspective that people may go through. And it definitely had its humorous moments, but I believe the show could have done better.
All in all, these are just my opinions, so don’t give me too much hate. It was good at some things and bad at the majority, but I can't say there’s no show that I’ve seen in a while that’s got me this heated.
I rate this show a 7 out of 10. It could have been a nine if it didn’t seem so rushed and if the plot were more obvious.
I think that the side couple was even more interesting and had more depth than the main couple. Scott and Kip, the famous hockey player and the male barista. Sure, they got together soon, but it still had more emotions than Shane and Ilya. Kip had the fear of letting his colleague know, and he didn’t even believe that someone like Scott could like him. For them, they showed so many emotions in so little time, which is proof that they could have spent more time with the main couple or used the time they had to show more.
At the end of the day, it may have been a good adaptation, but that’s all it will be. I believe it’s a good way to reach out to readers with similar closeted experiences or even those who aren’t sure about themselves yet. However, I also believe that it can be helpful for straight audiences as well, or even other LGBTQ+ members who don’t relate to this.
But it was still too rushed and did a bad portrayal of the characters’ true emotions until the final few episodes of the show. And I still hated it every second watching it; it was just far too “showing,” you could say.
It’s definitely an eye-opener and shows a different perspective that people may go through. And it definitely had its humorous moments, but I believe the show could have done better.
All in all, these are just my opinions, so don’t give me too much hate. It was good at some things and bad at the majority, but I can't say there’s no show that I’ve seen in a while that’s got me this heated.
