The fifth episode of the Canadian internet sensation Heated Rivalry made history when it became the highest rated episode of television on IMDb last week, tying its perfect 10/10 score with Breaking Bad‘s S5E14, “Ozymandias.” This places it above widely acclaimed episodes of television like “Battle of the Bastards” from Game of Thrones, “Connor’s Wedding” from Succession and even the series finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Though they’ve yet to share their viewership numbers publicly, it’s clear that Crave has an absolute phenomenon on their hands—the likes of which will certainly change the way the international market views projects coming out of Canada.
Based on the Game Changers series written by Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry chronicles the on-and-off-again affair between the world’s two biggest hockey stars—Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). In Episode 4 entitled “Rose,” the young rivals shared an intimate moment that scared Shane away from Ilya and right into the arms of popular movie star Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse).
The end of the episode left the pair silently pining over each other from opposite ends of the dance floor at a club in Montreal, leaving their sexual tension to simmer for another few weeks. Until this game-changing episode of television, “I’ll Believe In Anything,” which finds Shane and Ilya teaming up for All Star Weekend in Tampa Bay, Florida.
All Star Weekend
After an adorable conversation with Rose pushes Shane to confront his desire for Ilya (and his lack of desire for Rose), he arrives at the hotel bar in Florida to find Ilya sipping Coronas in a floral button up. Already, we’re starting this episode with some juicy conflict and a completely new dynamic for these characters. The stakes—both in their relationship and on the ice—have never been higher. Though this rivalry has been going on for years in different arenas and rinks across the globe, the boys have been secretly hooking up before and after their games against each other this whole time. Since Shane ended things with Ilya, they’re now farther apart than ever. Yet for the first time in their careers, must work together as a team.
We also hear some speculation surrounding Scott Hunter’s (François Arnaud) performance via hockey podcast, telling us that Scott usually crashes and burns halfway through every season… which is interesting considering where things end for him in this episode.
But then we see the moment we’ve been waiting for—Shane and Ilya on the ice together on the same team. They are downright symbiotic… effortlessly fluid in how they’re moving. It’s almost like they can read each other’s minds. Intercut with their comradery on the ice is a delightful scene of Ilya playing with a group of kids at the hotel pool. We get a playful energy and tone in this episode that has been absent from the earlier installments this season, meant to show us how tender and precious this relationship between them is becoming. It’s evolving beyond the confines of physical intimacy—of late night texts and hotel room hookups. They’re not in a dark corner, hiding from the world. They’re out in the open. They’re on vacation. This could very well be their future if they chose to come out and be together publicly. But what would their relationship look like on the ice—and in the media—if they were to make that leap?
Which brings us to one of many impressively performed scenes in this episode from Storrie and Williams, as Shane arrives at Ilya’s hotel room to talk. Here, the pair continue to spar with their familiar reluctance to show any vulnerability or honesty. In the last episode, Ilya chose to be vulnerable and Shane had broken his heart, leaving Ilya nonchalant and withdrawn at the top of this scene. Until he begins to open up about his family and we see Ilya cry—something he canonically hasn’t done in ten years. We see beneath the bravado… and instead of running away in the face of his vulnerability this time, Shane holds him while he cries. It’s here we understand that Shane is all Ilya has. And they understand it too.
In this scene, we can see a direct juxtaposition in how the actors are shot and how the set is dressed. In Episode 2, in a scene during which Shane visits Ilya at his penthouse suite for yet another steamy encounter, the framing seems identical to this one. The difference lies in the details—the colours and hues are warmer, the floor isn’t made of cold black tile, but soft carpet. And the agonizing distance between them has finally closed. Though this moment doesn’t qualify as one of the smutty scenes the series is known for, we see these characters connect on a different level of intimacy.
Back to Russia
Throughout the episode, Ilya has been dodging calls from his greedy brother Alexi, who still lives in Moscow and seems to be doing a less than mediocre job of looking after their troubled father. When Ilya finally answers the phone, we cut to black. When Shane hears Ilya hasn’t traveled with the rest of the Raiders to Nashville, he becomes concerned. On a whim, Shane decides to abandon the strict rules of their situationship by taking things beyond a text. He calls Ilya, and though he doesn’t answer this time, Ilya returns his call later that night, signalling how they’ve officially abandoned the safety of texting behind their fake names: Jane and Lily.
This video call will directly juxtapose the phone call they share later in this episode, reminding us of their genesis. When Shane offers to help Ilya, Ilya requests that Shane remove his clothes. We’re seeing their initial dynamic—one where Ilya uses sex as a way to feel close to Shane. Ilya has always been withdrawn, hiding behind his ‘playboy’ act. He’s always been afraid of opening up completely. Until now, things had been strictly physical. This was safe for them. Familiar. But later, when Shane offers a similar sentiment about wanting to help by listening, Ilya finally opens up… allowing us and Shane to see a part of him we never have. That’s why this scene is such an important precursor to the infamous Russian monologue scene; we’re seeing both sides of their relationship. A relationship that began with physical intimacy in place of emotional connection, but has now evolved into something beyond both.
After his father’s funeral, we see the poisonous rage that festers within Ilya finally surface once Alexi confronts him. Storrie delivers another excellent performance here, showing us how and why Ilya harbours such resentment for what ties him to his home country. We saw this briefly in previous episodes, like when he attends the gala during the Olympics with his father… and again when Ilya speaks to his brother on the phone in Episode 4. Which is why, in one of the show’s most buzzworthy scenes, it is integral that Ilya opens up to Shane in his mother tongue. This is our way of seeing how this deeply personal conflict lives in Ilya. The conflict he feels in knowing he should love his family and his country, yet still knowing despite all of his continued efforts, they’ll never love him in return. Not for who he is beyond money and fame. And certainly not for the man he loves.
It’s Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) who pulls Ilya back from the anger. It’s she who reminds him that he can be better than Alexi, if he chooses. Ilya’s brother might never be happy, but Ilya can be… if he makes the choice to rise above his anger and choose to love instead. For the first time, we see a genuinely tender moment between Ilya and Svetlana. She places a hand on his cheek and tells him she’ll always be there for him, despite how he feels for Jane. Like us, Svetlana can see who Ilya is beyond the bravado—beyond the rage. And she gives him that kiss goodbye, the same way Rose kisses Shane goodbye, and we get a sense of closure. These two men can officially walk away from these women knowing that they aren’t meant to be anything more than friends—and that’s okay.
That Russian Monologue
The last time Shane offered a shoulder to lean on and an ear to bend, Ilya had instructed Shane to undress (except for those cute little glasses). But this time, Shane proposes that Ilya say how he feels in Russian. Here, we get one of the most impressive performances of the year. A performance we’re hoping the Emmys will change their current rules for in order to include Storrie’s work on Heated Rivalry in their next run. We all know Connor Storrie is not a native Russian speaker (Storrie hails from Odessa, Texas). So not only did Storrie have to learn an entirely new language to deliver this monologue but beyond the language, diction, pronunciation and all of the technical aspects this task required, the evolution of emotion Storrie channels here is masterful in finally vocalizing Ilya’s inner monologue.
The choice to speak in Russian and what he chooses to talk about presents us with a tragic, heart wrenching irony. Ilya talks about how much he hates it in Russia, how much he hates his family and his roots and his childhood, all while speaking his native tongue. There are so many choices Storrie makes here that keep audiences hanging on every word. Storrie opens with a steady pace and slows down the more he reveals, as the confessions become harder to admit. Ilya’s never said any of this aloud to anyone. Particularly what he happens to reveal in the end. He mentions his family either looks at him as a bank or an enemy. The love they have for him isn’t real. They don’t know him. Nobody does. The love his family has for him is based on the money he provides. When he doesn’t provide it, he becomes the enemy.
When he mentions his brother and the guilt he feels for not being there to take care of his own father at the end, he claims Alexi will never forgive him for just existing. A choice of words that goes beyond his toxic sibling relationship. There are so many other people in his life, in his family, in his country and in the world who wouldn’t forgive him for just existing. For just being who he is. All of this weighs on him during this monologue—all of this hate and rage and resentment and sadness. The weight of the world. The weight of being a public figure. The weight of being a queer man in Russia.
If you pay close attention, when we see Shane in the stairwell listening to Ilya, his voice sounds like it’s coming from over the phone. But when we cut back to Shane, after Ilya opens up, it doesn’t sound like he’s speaking through the phone’s speaker anymore. It sounds like he’s in the stairwell with Shane. Editors Veronique Barbe and Arthur Tarnowski subtly bring us from diegetic to non-diegetic sound in order to make us feel like Ilya’s there with him—and we’re there too.
Then we get the words we’ve been waiting all season for. Ilya’s reluctant declaration of love for Shane finally graces our ears, albeit in Russian: “I love her, but not like how I love you. That’s the worst part of all of this. All I want is you. It’s always you. I’m so in love with you and I don’t know what to do about it.” It makes sense that this confession is in Russian because this is the only true way Ilya can unburden himself. It’s the truest way he can be honest. It’s so beautiful and raw. He bares his soul.
Jackson Parrell, the show’s brilliant cinematographer, makes another excellent choice here in keeping us close on both of them during this monologue until the moment right before Ilya confesses he loves Shane, when we pull out wide. Why did Parrell make that choice? It’s to disrupt the intimacy and the closeness of this moment by reminding us that the rest of the world still exists outside of their bubble. Because Ilya is about to confess that he loves another man but stops to remember where he is… who he is… what his circumstances are. The wideness of the shot is meant to represent the world that exists beyond them, the world that would judge him, the country that would jail him. It’s meant to represent all the reasons he shouldn’t say he loves Shane. But when we come back and see Ilya up close again… he says it anyway.
The Bell Rings
Later, Ilya returns to the league after the death of his father just in time for his team to face off against Shane’s and we see exactly what Shane was so scared of in the first four episodes come to fruition. His growing affection for Ilya distracts him from the game. Shane might’ve thought these consequences would impact his career or his branding opportunities or even his dedication to the sport, but when he locks eyes with Ilya for a moment too long on the ice, Shane is hit by Marleau, leaving him broken and splayed across the ice.
When Ilya arrives at the hospital to visit Shane, Ilya is visibly shaken. Storrie, again, proves he’s a master at playing multiple emotions at once, which is integral to a role like this. He’s constantly playing something on the surface; this stoic, brazen, emotionless person. But beneath that is the terribly worried, loving and emotional boy who just watched the love of his life get seriously injured. And you can see all of that in Ilya’s eyes as he approaches Shane’s hospital bed.
Shane is still loopy from the pain medication and he’s not being very discreet about his attraction to Ilya, despite them being in a very public place and both of them being very public figures. When Ilya first enters the room, Shane’s heart rate is over 100. Shane reaches out for Ilya, and once Ilya holds his hand, Shane says “better.” This is a callback to his conversation with Rose, when she asked if being with a man was better, and Shane recalled all of those tender moments with Ilya. Once Ilya’s holding Shane’s hand, his heart rate goes down, stopping at 81—which also happens to be Rozanov’s jersey number. Despite Ilya’s clear intention to end this affair with Shane now that he’s been severely injured, Shane asks Ilya to come to his cottage this summer. Ilya gives an unconvincing maybe and he’s seen in the next scene packing bags for his return to Russia.
The Game Changes
We find Shane and Ilya in different cities watching the same final playoff game for the Cup, where Scott Hunter brings the Admirals to a win for the first time in twenty eight years. This calls us back to what we heard about him at the start of the episode on the hockey podcast, where he was supposedly meant to ‘crash and burn halfway through the season.’ This has us wondering, what made this time different? Maybe he was playing this well and hard because if he won, he could have the freedom to do exactly what he does next.
Because once Scott wins the Cup and everyone’s loved ones arrive onto the ice to celebrate with the winning team, he makes a choice that quite literally changes the game. He calls Kip (Robbie G.K.) down to the ice and kisses him on national television, for the whole world to see, giving us one of the biggest and best payoffs in television history.
Episode 3 entitled “Hunter” followed the story of Scott and Kip, sidelining Shane and Ilya’s story for a full forty nine minutes. The episode was powerful and strong, and though audiences usually hate a sidequest episode, witnessing how Episode 3 integrated into Episode 5 was perfect. If you pay close attention to the lyrics of the song that plays during this scene, the title of which inspired the title of this episode, Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe In Anything” says: Where are your eyes? I need sunshine.
This is a callback to the scene between Scott and Elena in Episode 3, where she says he and Kip deserve sunshine. This is why we always see these characters lit warmly or by the sun when they’re sharing intimate, loving moments—because Scott, Kip, Ilya and Shane all deserve to love each other out in the open. Not in dark rooms or alleys or apartments. In the street. On the beach. On the ice. They deserve sunshine… and so do you.
We end with the biggest mic drop of the year, when Ilya makes a new choice. A choice that goes against every thought and action he’s had this episode so far. He accepts Shane’s offer and says “I’m coming to the cottage.” And one of the best episodes in modern television history comes to an end.
Episode 6, titled “The Cottage,” drops Friday, December 26 on Crave and HBO Max.
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I’m Jurgen, also known as The Part Time Binger! You can either find me at red carpets, movie premieres, celebrity interviews or on my couch… binging the latest and hottest movies and series! Currently based in Vancouver. Proudly Canadian.
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