★★★½ (3½ out of 4)
Gay sex on TV and streaming tends to follow the safe model provided by “Heartstopper” or “Love, Victor.” The guys are hot, but never explicitly exposed. That all changes with “Heated Rivalry,” a viral sensation that no one saw coming. This six-part Canadian series from Crave and HBO Max has made even mature audiences feel maybe not mature enough. Please. Stop with the pearl clutching. “Heated Rivalry” is not a gay porn film. Though hard-ons and penetration are implied, they are never shown, bare butts excepted. “Heated Rivalry” is, of all things, a tale of first love between two hockey jocks who look good almost naked.
The rivalry of the title is focused on swaggering Russian Ilya Rozanov (played by Texas-born Connor Storrie, 25), star center of the fictional Boston Raiders, and shy guy Shane Hollander (Canadian actor Hudson Williams, 24), team captain of the also-fictional Montreal Metros. They must carry out their affair in secret, due to sponsorships and such. Plus, their alleged feud is selling tickets. They even do a commercial together where the sexual tension is palpable.
It isn’t all tonsil hockey; these two have actual feelings for each other.
Written and directed by Jacob Tierney and based on the popular book series by fellow Canadian Rachel Reid, “Heated Rivalry” is filled to the brim with sizzle, giggles and surprising tenderness, which may account for its burgeoning popularity with women. It isn’t all tonsil hockey; these two have actual feelings for each other.
No wonder audiences are lapping it up. On their New Year’s Eve special, Andy Cohen told cohost Anderson Cooper that “of the two of us, you’re Ilya and I’m Shane.” Later he asked singer Brandi Carlile if “lesbians give a damn about ‘Heated Rivalry?’” Said the Grammy winner: “It’s all I can think about. I can’t even sleep at night without thinking about [the show].”
OK, now that “Heated Rivalry” has hit the zeitgeist, the big question is how is it as a series? I’d give it high marks. Despite all the flesh, it’s the show’s big heart that sticks with you. Smaller scenes like Shane and Ilya playing footsie while reading on a couch suggest a growing closeness.
Williams is quietly touching trying not to show the depth of his feelings for fear that Ilya will mock him. And Storrie, who wears Ilya’s bluster like a second skin, is expert at revealing the chinks in the Russian’s emotional armor. It doesn’t help when Shane is named Rookie of the Year with proud Ilya having to settle for second. The sincerity of their performances goes a long way to keep the series from sliding into soap opera. At its best, “Heated Rivalry” is like the tennis film “Challengers” with no Zendaya getting between Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
Family also enters the equation. Ilya’s hardnosed father takes his money but offers little sympathy in light of the suicide of Illya’s mother. And Shane’s micro-managing mother Yuna (Christina Chang) and less pushy father (Dylan Walsh) make opening up harder than it should be.
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As for hockey, there isn’t much of it. And as the series travels through several years, the sex isn’t always the top priority. We’re watching a relationship form that Storrie and Williams take seriously and act, when allowed, with genuine delicacy.
I’ve heard complaints that the series rushes through the years it takes for Shane and Ilya to proclaim themselves a couple or to stop calling themselves, hockey style, by their last names. True that. Maybe a second season will let feelings better dictate pace. But right now, “Heated Rivalry” stands as a love story that needn’t apologize for the heat of its passion or the fragility of its emotions. The series only takes baby steps towards a greater depth. But in a world of growing homophobia, these are steps in the right direction. Right now, “Heated Rivalry” is trending as the next big thing. Only time will tell if it becomes something more lasting. We can only hope.