Review: ‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Sexy, But Lacks Characterization

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in Heated Rivalry (Credit: Crave, HBO Max)

Written by:

Rachel Reid (based on the Game Changers book series), Jacob Tierney

Directed by:

Jacob Tierney

Starring:

Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, François Arnaud, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Robbie Graham-Kent, Nadine Bhabha, Sophie Nelisse

Synopsis (IMDb):

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.

Monique’s review:

Heated Rivalry, based on Rachel Reid’s popular book series, follows two gay hockey players, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). They feel they have to hide their sexuality from the hockey world while secretly seeing each other.

That’s the main dynamic between Shane and Ilya, at least from my perspective. I’ve seen many fans praise the series as well-written and moving, but I have some concerns.

Maybe it’s because I’ve cut my teeth on the very “slash” pairing fanfictions Heated Rivalry is rooted in that I feel like I can see the series in a different way. For me, what I’ve realized is that the tropes that are oddly comforting in slash fiction don’t hold up unless the characters are already fully fleshed out. Slash fiction’s shortcut to meaningful tenderness comes from the fact that the characters we’re reading about have already had a season, if not several seasons, of character-building and “shipping” moments. By the time you get to the fanfiction versions of the characters, we already have a well-worn shorthand for who they are and what they’re like. We can quickly get to the romance without too much backstory.

So how does this relate to Heated Rivalry? To me, the series feels like a slash fiction story, but the characters are only loosely developed compared to the books, so the plot doesn’t feel very meaningful. The characters fit familiar types: Ilya is the bad boy with a soft side, and Shane is the rule-follower who needs to loosen up. Aside from the depth Storrie brings to Ilya, especially in the emotional scene where Ilya speaks Russian to Shane after his father’s death, the show mostly ignores their personalities outside of the bedroom. The writing mostly consists of characters saying, “F— you” or “a–hole.” How many times exactly must we hear the characters say the same things every episode?

My live-thread of watching Heated Rivalry for the first time

View on Threads

What really stands out are the sex scenes. The series is basically soft-core porn, which isn’t a bad thing—after all, that’s part of the appeal of slash fiction. Heated Rivalry also proves that audiences are interested in stories about people with different backgrounds and experiences. Viewers want gay stories just as much as they want stories about different races and cultures.

To be fair, the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry are very steamy. However, it seems like most of the effort went into those moments, since the characters come across more clearly during the sex scenes than in the rest of the show.

The side story with hockey player Scott (François Arnaud) and friendly barista Kip (Robbie Graham-Kuntz) is much more focused on character development and gave me the fun, likable characters I wanted. Both actors strike the perfect balance of cute, sincere, and cheesy rom-com energy, and I found myself wishing the show was about them instead of Shane and Ilya.

In fact, a show just about Ilya would be good as well. Which leaves Williams’ acting something I’ve been turning over in my brain a lot. I understand he wanted to portray Shane’s neurodivergence, and based his performance on his father, who is on the spectrum. I don’t want to sound like I am hating on his performance because of his good intentions, especially since in a recent Glamour interview he talked about wanting to showcase a neurodivergent character who isn’t tropey, ala The Good Doctor.

That said, I think Williams plays Shane a bit too stiffly. He may be trying to avoid stereotypes, but his choice to make Shane so flat almost becomes a stereotype itself. Not all neurodivergent people, including autistic people, come across as dull as Shane does. There’s a difference between a flat personality that’s actually complex and just being uninteresting. For example, Spock from Star Trek seems flat but is actually funny and passionate. Even Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory has a clear personality despite also seeming flat. Shane, though, just feels boring.

That’s just my opinion, though. As someone who is neurodivergent, I know what works for me might not work for everyone. Other neurodivergent viewers might really connect with Williams’ performance, so maybe it’s just a matter of personal taste.

Overall, I think Heated Rivalry is fun—at least for the sex scenes—but it falls short when it comes to character development. Still, if you look at it as soft-core porn, maybe the lack of deep characterization isn’t such a big deal.

I have more thoughts on Heated Rivalry, so check back soon for more about this show.