Heated Rivalry review
Cast: Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Sophie Nélisse
Creator: Jacob Tierney
Number of episodes: 6
Where to watch: Lionsgate Play
Star rating: ★★★★★
Many LGBTQ+ shows have come out in the last few years, trying to capture what it means to occupy a world as a queer person. How is it different? Do queer people see the world differently? Or is the other way round? The fifth episode of the new series, Heated Rivalry, originally made by Canadian production company Crave, and now out in India, tries to imagine that.
Titled ‘I’ll Believe in Anything’, the hour-long episode culminates in staging a scenario with authenticity and audaciousness, as two men finally declare that they want the world to know about their love. But as it plays out, Heated Rivalry shows that such a declaration is not only for the world but also for their kin, for the community. It is the best episode in what might be the most important television show to have come out in quite some time.
The premise
Based on the bestselling book by Rachel Reid, creator Jacob Tierney adapts the material with aplomb, staying true to the details. There is sex, a lot of it, but there is also heartstopping intimacy. We meet Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), a young Canadian hockey player who wants to break the ice with Russian player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) before hitting the ice. “You will not be so nice when we beat you,” Ilya adds with a smile. They are rivals, yet this first interaction sparks something more.
Soon, Ilya and Shane will secretly hook up, and Heated Rivalry jumps straight into their frenetic romance with a fearless abandon. There’s a lot of sex, but none of it feels voyeuristic, largely because of the compelling chemistry between the two leads. The spark they ignite on screen is matchless, infused with the slightest shift in the power dynamics. For Ilya is having some family issues back in Russia, but Shane cannot grasp the immediacy of his situation. The more he wants Ilya to reciprocate, the less he is given in return. When the line “We didn’t even kiss” appears, it is one moment when the strange urgency of their unmoored equation comes with full force.
Scott and Kip’s story is significant
Tierney takes a bold detour in episode three, introducing the arc of a supporting character, the fellow player Scott Hunter (a wonderful performance from François Arnaud). He has been in the shadows, both in the game and in person. He meets the cute guy Kip (Robbie G.K.) at the local smoothie shop, and instantly, there’s a change. Tierney ties up Scott’s story with the broader arc of Shane and Ilya later, but this episode is key to understanding the anxiety and self-denial with which this man- and in extension, so many men like him- has to live and inhabit the dominantly heteronormative space of male sports.
The transition in these gay men’s lives takes time. Heated Rivalry takes bold serves, jumps over time and place, and circles around these men in the ring with immense confidence. The viewer must follow up with them. Tierney ushers Shane and Ilya’s story with ample amounts of sex scenes, but as their story develops, there is sensitivity that replaces the sex. There’s also an intoxicating sweetness that develops along the way. In a later episode, there is no sex scene, yet it still does not register for a single second. Tierney, working with cinematographer Jackson Parrell, suggests that this shared connection, borne of physical attraction, has grown into something more enduring. It has bloomed into love.
What works
Like all great adaptations, Tierney honours the source material and its characters, respecting even the smallest of details. This show depicts Ilya and Shane’s journey with such care and sensitivity, understanding their deep-seated fears that grow in the space between their private and public lives. And like all great shows, Heated Rivalry is populated with a wonderful group of supporting characters, each one of them written and etched out with depth. The women in this show (Svetlana, Rose, Elena, and Yuna), in particular, are excellently portrayed. They are as important as the men. They are key participants- observers and patient listeners- to the world that perceives these men to be more than they are not.
Heated Rivalry, however, works so well mainly because of the performances of its two leading men. Connor Storrie is sensational as Ilya, creating this brooding charisma of a man who hides so much from the world. The actor is given so much to play with, particularly devastating in one scene where he delivers a long monologue in Russian. He is matched incredibly by Hudson Williams, whose nuanced and internal performance as Shane is all about the slightest of micro-expressions that wash over his face in the many close-ups Tierney gifts him. Watch his eyes when he sees Ilya win the cup; a moment of dichotomy between the love he feels for him and the envy of it all. What can he do about it? What does he want to choose? Together, they share a chemistry so intense and enveloping that it burns the screen.
Heated Rivalry is enthralling, deeply moving and altogether unforgettable. Like the best of shows, it urges and helps the viewer to see the world anew. When a show like Heated Rivalry releases in India, I wonder what its implications are. The legal win for decriminalising homosexuality in India aside, there is so much work to be done in terms of the stigma and the lack of awareness. That a show like Heated Rivalry is finally here in India is a much-needed introduction to the kind of community-focused story that raises hope. Not fear, but hope. Of course, our realities are different, and there’s no escaping the fact. But the point is, we don’t want to confront reality; we want to confront life like everyone else. It mustn’t be that hard, can it?
