Given the number of people who track how many calories they burn during sex, it’s hard to believe that steamy intercourse hasn’t yet become an official Olympic sport. If anything could push that initiative forward, it’s probably “Heated Rivalry,” the breakout series that’s taking the world by storm.
“Heated Rivalry” is a show some insist on calling a “hockey series,” even though, script-wise, hockey is really just an unnecessary warm-up for the painfully photogenic, moderately graphic and highly arousing sex between two young, promising hockey players — Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. On the ice, they play for rival teams; off it, they’re very much on the same side.
The sports framing provides viewers — and apparently especially female viewers — with the full package (the pun is unintended): a forbidden, passion-filled romance between two muscular, powerful men who are also sensitive, tender and vulnerable, and who want nothing more than to be together, preferably naked, with a strong preference for luxury hotels or high-rise apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views. Every so often, there’s also a touching storyline about love conquering all, and how two opposites find comfort in one another, but let’s be honest: that’s the loyal servant whose job is to charge the sex with just enough sexiness to keep it from becoming bland.
“Heated Rivalry” was initially intended for a small Canadian network. Its creator, Jacob Tierney, fell for the homoerotic book series by author Rachel Reid and, thanks to a bit of Canadian solidarity, managed to secure the television adaptation rights. The low-budget series cast two unknown actors, Hudson Williams and Connor Story, as the Canadian Shane and the Russian Ilya.
Something about the show caught the attention of someone at HBO, and the next thing that happened was that the entire season was acquired and went live within just three weeks. “Heated Rivalry” shot up to second place on the platform’s viewing charts two days after its release and quickly became the most-watched acquisition on the service. It sparked countless online discussions, questions about why women in particular became hooked (as Reid herself put it, “If you like penis, two are better than one”), debates over the realism of the sex scenes (let’s be real, realism isn’t exactly a prerequisite for a romantic fantasy series that screams escapism), and flooded the internet with enthusiastic memes. Songs featured in the series enjoyed renewed popularity, such as tATu’s “All the Things She Said,” and key lines (“I’m coming to the cottage”) were endlessly recreated in viral videos.
It’s hard to complain. Across the series’ six episodes, the hockey boys definitely put in the work. The dialogue is somewhat shallow and predictable, but come on — you’re not here for the essays. The cinematography is polished and aesthetically pleasing despite the modest budget, and most importantly, it’s not embarrassing. The time jumps that Reid wove into the plot translate less organically to television, but Williams and Story deliver solid performances. They don’t turn their characters into caricatures, and it’s easy to believe them and get swept up in their love story, as sexual tension gradually gives way to emotional intimacy.
There’s something genuinely comforting about a completely conventional romantic drama when it takes place in the world of male hockey players. This is also evident in the third episode, which briefly shifts to a homoerotic romance between another hockey player, Scott Hunter, and a smoothie shop cashier. It’s a relationship that could just as easily have played out between a boy and a girl in high school: the same stolen glances, the same slow-building tension, the same eternal coming-of-age fantasy. “Heated Rivalry” doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; it simply shifts the genders slightly, creating something that feels both new and familiar.
“Heated Rivalry” joins the Boys’ Love genre, a pleasant and relatively wholesome subgenre that originated in Japanese manga in the 1980s and is aimed primarily at women. It lacks the tragic drama that typically defines LGBTQ stories: boy meets boy, they fall in love and manage to fulfill that love without excessive guilt or suffering. “Red, White & Royal Blue” and the sweet “Heartstopper” are successful examples from the past decade. Like them, “Heated Rivalry” benefits from handsome stars, great chemistry and a happy ending.
At the end of the day, it’s required viewing — if only so you can participate in the next watercooler conversation, even if watercoolers aren’t really your thing. But also so you can be rewarded with a healthy, primal hormonal surge. After all, those calories aren’t going to burn themselves.