It sucked.
Disclaimer: If you enjoy Heated Rivalry- that's fine with me, but I'm just gonna say my thoughts and opinions about it. I am not homophobic, I love you, homo's (homosapiens, homosexuals, all of you). I don't label myself as anything- I just like who I like. So I hope that answers something on who I am, I guess??? I don't know, I just wanna say this clearly, because Heated Rivalry was probably made with gay audiences in mind- not some random teenage girl (who, by the way, didn't wanna watch it in the first place).
Also, I will be saying spoilers and there will be mentions of how it's just gay p0rn. So if you don't wanna hear that, just leave, for your own sake.
I dislike Heated Rivalry. A lot. Music is great, that scene where the other dude comes out as gay in front of a whole audience after winning? Loved that. But holy shit, it's just gay p0rn.
I watched Heated Rivalry with two girls from my class who invited me to watch it the whole day on the 15th of May this year (2026). I said yes, I desperately wanted the looming presence of one of the girls (that kept begging me to watch it) away, because I knew I wouldn't be a fan of it. And hey, I don't mind getting to know people a little more- plus, free food and mario kart (I am obsessed with mario kart rn, I don't have the game myself, like actually, what the fuh). One of the girls said that yeah, there's a lot of- s3x, but the plot is "so good". I won't say in detail of my day, so let's just say everything I hated and/or liked about Heated Rivalry.
There is no plot. The plot? Russian guy's dad dies and his brother sucks (it's only like- less then 25% of the show at least), Canadian guy has to come out to his parents after him and Russian dude got caught gripping eachother's ass cheeks (that's the end that we then just skipped and played mario kart instead) and the other plot is this totally other guy being scared to come out as gay (which was the only cute part about this show, they had more genuine show of connection then the main dudes).
There is no relationship forming, the "heated rivalry" only occurs because they're on opposite teams and the "rivalry" is only a wee bit in the first episode, the only part that's "heated" is the s3x and a few episodes later when they're trying to make each other jealous- which wasn't entertaining at all. I was praying for something interesting, for something that makes me wanna cry because it's good represenation, etc, etc. The only good part is, as I have mentioned at least twice by now, is the scene where that other fella comes out as gay in front of an entire audience with good music playing. For the rest, it's corny p0rn. There is no relationship developement with the main dudes (Ilya and Shane, yes, I know their names, but they piss me off), every emotional moment is ruined by another s3x scene, nothing feels genuine, nothing feels serious. If you wanna watch something like Heated Rivalry, then watch gay p0rn, it's healthier than calling this good representation (If you wanna watch good representation for gay men and Lgbtq+ in general, then scroll down, I've got a list). The other guy was better representation then the main dudes, because they were just horny assholes. Also, Shane having had s3x with Ilya every single time they get the chance to, then he still has the audacity to say he didn't know he was gay after all that, like, he had to lead a girl on just to realize he misses sucking a Russian guys d!ck. I'm actually 99% sure that the makers of Heated Rivalry wanted to just make gay p0rn for themselves to enjoy after reading hockey book p0rn, and forgot they had to add some sort of a plot to it. I'm tired of s3x in media, for example; I'm watching Bridgerton with my sister and I'm now at season 2, the scene where Anthony freaked out at the bee stinging Kate because of how his father died and she helps him out of a panic attack- it was amazing and way more meaningful then what my sister told me happened in the book, he sucked the venom out of her boob. As you can already tell, the helping Anthony out of a panic attack meant more then the boob sucking. In this case, Heated Rivalry is if the creators of Bridgerton chose to do the boob sucking instead of the meaningful bit. Does that make sense?
I dislike Heated Rivalry, greatly. I think it's terrible representation, I think there is no plot, I think it's just straight up p0rn, I think the emotional and moving moments were ruined every single time, I think it's overrated and I think the fans of the show are horny teenagers that need to genuinely look for better material to express themselves with. And if they're not horny teenagers, they're straight people who love to fetishize queer media (any queer media), and at this point, I think that's the target audience for this show. I did really like the music; I'll Believe In Anything is my favourite one. But a sequence with good music doesn't automatically make the show good. The other dude's relationship had more meaning then the main fella's.
Anyways, here's a list of better queer representation!
Some are headcanons and/or implied in different ways, unfortunately (hopefully in the future these types of things won't have to be called headcanons and there will be genuine representation for gay people with good plots included):
- Merlin bbc tv show
- Ever After High (Apple White & Darling Charming)
- The Owl House
- Some Like It Hot!
- The Hobbit
- Lord Of The Rings
- Like Minds
- Brokeback Mountain
- Dead Poets Society
- Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (because of Remus and Sirius- fuck j.k Rowling)
- Derry Girls
- But I'm A Cheerleader
- Black Swan
- Frozen II
- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and MLP in general
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore
- Bullet Train
- The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
- Breakfast At Tiffany's (the book)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Wicked (lowk)
- Hamilton fan art (wild)
- Apollo's stories in Greek Myths (Ancient Greece in general)
- The Amazing Digital Circus (if you love that, please read I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, it's so good)
- Brooklyn Nine Nine
- Amphibia
- Paranorman
- Nimona
- Mean Girls
- Modern Family
- The Goldfinch
- Jennifer's Body
- The Last Unicorn (often resonates with trans people)
- Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
- She's The Man/ The Shakespeare play it was based on; Twelfth Night
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Percy
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You put what I've had in my mind since I watched the first episode. I was like "Okey they did it in the first episode. What else? Oh, they did it again, aaand where's the plot?". I was enchanted by some edits of the series and also a thread about Shane being autistic (at least as a headcanon), and I was like "Okey let me see it", but no. It was just p0rn. I read better fanfics of my ships with the plot of "Heated Rivalry" (with hockey and everything) better than the original source.
Another thing that made me side eye was the fact of the author being a lesboph0ebe, so that made me realized her books are just (maybe) fetizishati0n.
Exactly! Also I didn't know that about the author woah
by Virginsuicides; ; Report
batshybea
I did not enjoy heated rivalry that much either </3 and off topic from that, what in earth is going on in the bridgerton books damn,,, so glad the people making the show created it into something so much better than the books. the first book was bad enough haha
saba
My friend read the book and watched the show. I only watched the show and he said the books were better because the readers are able to have a deeper look into the characters thoughts and feelings.
Books. As in multiple. I thought there was only one, what tree had to die for that. I'll just hope the book is better.
by Virginsuicides; ; Report
Haha, apparently yes.
My friend says it's a good job.
It's honestly not my favourites but the storyline was a little fun.
by saba; ; Report
be4n_must_d1e
I see where you're coming from, but I disagree. Personally, I didn't like the sex scenes either, but I still found all the other moments really sweet. There definitely could've been more plot, but I enjoyed the plot that there was anyways. As for the emotional scenes being ruined with sex scenes, what about the last episode where Shane comes out to his parents, specifically when he's talking to his mum at the very end? I don't think that was 'ruined'. Also, I found the dynamic between them quite cute. And as for Shane taking so long to admit that he's gay, sure he's been sleeping with a guy for years, but that's a really hard thing to admit to yourself, let alone someone else. Also, assuming that everyone who enjoys the show is either a horny teenager or straight person fetishising queer content is a bit of a stretch imo. But this is your opinion, and I am in no way trying to argue, this is just my opinion on it
I understand, and I especially agree with that it's hard to admit you're gay, of course- but it was SO badly written in the show. Also, why should the best emotional scene be all the way at the end after watching 270+ min of all that.
And yes, sure it could be a stretch, it was also a joke, but right now, almost every Heated Rivalry....- Enthusiast that I've met, is either a teenager or a straight person, that's the only reason why I mentioned it and I thought it was funny.
And, I was literally forced to watch the show, wasn't even allowed to look at my phone, survived on water and stroopwafels (Dutch cookies), I was forced to be locked in on Heated Rivalry from back to front, I concur the plot was absolutely useless because 99% was sex. You even admit that the plot was weak, but I'm pretty sure that everyone that is a fan of the show, only likes it because It's gay and gay representation is at a bare minimum. You also mention their dynamic being cute, which suddenly made me wonder what people focus on in the first place when they watch Heated Rivalry. Which is what I already mentioned; the fact that it's gay representation.
I might sound like I'm nitpicking, but genuinely ask yourself; what do people focus on when they watch Heated Rivalry, and what do the creators of the show and the writer of the book expect. Because I don't think It's hard to think up why this show/book was made in the first place, when you also probably know what It's obviously marketed as.
by Virginsuicides; ; Report
Yeah I get what you mean, also I didn't realise that you were joking about the audience demographic (not great with picking up on humour/sarcasm tbh). And I actually didn't consider that it's probably so popular because of the lack of gay representation in media, but that definitely makes a lot of sense. Anyways, thanks for clarifying.
by be4n_must_d1e; ; Report
No problem! Also that's so real, I've got autism so I can definitely relate to not picking up on tone or being good at giving the right tone when I talk😭
by Virginsuicides; ; Report