Some gifts arrive wrapped in glitter. Others arrive quietly, and you only realise what they are when your tight chest loosens.
This Christmas, for me – that gift was the show’Heated Rivalry‘; truly a gift that just kept on giving!
Having read the book carefully crafted by Rachel Reid some years ago – like the hopeless romantic I am, I did not expect to like this adaptation. Like every other christmas-time, I just needed something to watch in order to get over how tired I was, the way many disabled bodies get tired towards the end of the year.
However, I can happily say I was completely mistaken in all of my assumptions.
Briefly explained; Heated Rivalry is a TV-show made by the Canadian streeming-service Crave, by writer and director Jacob Tierny, based on the previously mentioned book by Rachel Reid. The story follows the hidden romance between two arch-rivaling Hockey players; Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), through a decade- long affair.
When craft exceeds budget
In general, Heated Rivalry should not work as well as it does; it had a modest budget, resisted spectacle in favour of carefully adapting a well-written book, and seemed – despite several highly sexual scenes, both restrained and emotionally intelligent when needed.
And watching these characters that I already loved and could, in ways recognize myself in, practically come alive on screen, felt like recognition mixed with representation.
And in a matter of weeks, the show went completely viral – not just among queer audiences, but among straight women, hockey fans, and people who usually don’t watch romance at all.
This does not happen by accident. And is a clear example of a very good script, mixed with awesome acting, and superb editing style.
In some ways, the virality of Heated Rivalry reminds me of the 3rd season of ‘Skam‘ when it came out, almost 10 years ago. Much in the same way, it had a very modest production – yet had people all over the world going completely nuts!
The clear commonality between the two shows is the fearlessness in them. Yes, shows that feature romances between two boys/ men tend to have many viewers also outside the queer community. But, beyond that – it’s the fearless realism mixed with hopeful fantasy that gets people hooked.
From what I have seen, the only backlash Heated Rivalry have gotten, is its lack of hefty homophobia (thus far). But from where I stand, that is part of the beauty of it. Because, within the concept of «art illustrating life illustating art» – a better reality for queer people has to start somewhere, might as well be through fantasy.
Within the art of Heated rivalry, the camera lingers instead of rushing around. The script allows for all kinds of emotions – and desire and yearning is shown as a form of gravity pulling two people towards each other, long before either of them has the language to describe why.
It is truly, withouth exaggeration, one of the best screen adaptations I have ever watched. Not because it amplifies the book – but because it listens to it.
Bisexuality that doesn’t explain itself
One of the main characters in the story is a russian bisexual man. And crucially, it doesn’t ask him to teach us what that means to him.
Sure, there are bits and pieces along the way that gives viewers a sense of his sexuality; Ilya likes girls, but he also likes Shane. Ilya is not completely gay – etc etc. But what I thought was very nicely done, is how the show does not give the character an urgency to clarify, it just comes across bit by bit.
As a bisexual person myself – and even more so, a bisexual person raised within Northern European/ Eastern European cultures; things stoicism, emotional economy, and the belief that you endure rather than confess, often follows you through life.
As such, this kind of representation matters deeply, because it reflects how painfully private bisexuality often looks, especially in men.
In Reid’s writing, desire is often described as something that has been there all along, waiting, and the show perserves that truth beautifully.
Or to put it differently; the attraction between the characters is instant, but the meaning of it takes years to confess.
Nine of them to be exact…
Neurodivergence, routine and bodies with rules
The other half of the story resonated with me just as strongly, though in a different register. While it does not become canon in the first book (nor does it in the show), but one of the protagonists still reads as neurodivergent.
Not through official diagnosis, but through behaviour;
The need for routine,
the distress at disorder,
and the way control becomes a safety mechanism.
As someone born with epilepsy, I recognized this immediately.
My own body too, has clear rules that I follow, in an attempt to keep my brain happy and healthy.
My days are shaped by thresholds I don’t get to negotiate with, whether I would want to or not.
I know very well that my energy is finite, and that overstimulation has clear, at times dangerous consequences.
And let’s be real – chaos is not romantic if it costs you days of recovery.
What Heated Rivalry does very well is that it doesn’t frame this as a weakness within the character, it’s a structure. Shane is still one of the best hockey-players in the world, and his structural mechanisms is his way of surviving high-pressure environments, while his nervous system runs differently than his teammates.
That kind of portrayal is rare to find. And for disabled viewers it lands quietly, but sets deep positive trails.
Desire that grows instead of explodes
Heated Rivalry s is not a story about forbidden love in a dramatic sense. It’s a story about inevitability;
Two people meet too early,
they keep choosing the wrong moment,
building a habit around secrecy – that eventually becomes unbearable.
In the book, Reid often returns to the idea that what Ilya and Shane have is «only supposed to be physical» – until it very clearly isn’t, and their love for eachother is practically slapping them in the face. And the shows does a wonderful job of keeping this tension intact.
What begins as lust becomes attachment to eachother, then something heavier that finally demands a reckoning.
And in a way, I find that there is something profoundly hopeful in this for disabled and queer people alike:
That being a little slow at it, does not mean an absence from it (read that whichever way you want).
That some truths need a little time to become safe enough to surface.
Why this mattered to me, now
For me, I think this show came at exactly the right time.
Not because my life is easy – but because I’ve learned to recognize (and appreciate) joyful , potentially tranformative things when they appear.
Heated Rivalry reminded me that representation and love doesn’t have to scream and shout to be real. That bodies and minds with constraints still get to want -and be wanted, to choose and belong.
And I am incredibly grateful for it!
– Silje
