We’re going to the cottage

If you’ve spent any time on social media over the last week, you may have noticed that some of us are in a collective chokehold over the Canadian TV series ‘Heated Rivalry’. I (like many) have a few thoughts on why it has blown up so much and have spewed them down here in a rather hurried fashion. Honestly, I’m dying to chat about it, hit me up.

Full spoilers for all six episodes of HR to follow.

It is Saturday 10th January. I receive the following from a dear pal living in Australia:

I’m vaguely aware of this TV show as a few folk I follow on the socials are really in to it so in I dive. Memes about tuna melts and ginger ale? I’m here for it. I’m also aware that episode 5 had briefly eclipsed Breaking Bad’s sublime ‘Ozymandias’ as the highest rated television episode ever. Can it really be that good? 

Well, reader, I enjoyed it. Yes, the opening two episodes are pretty raunchy, but no more so than Game of Thrones ever was (which was arguably way too fond of a sexual assault trope than genuinely sexy). What emerges is a beautifully crafted love story. Two love stories in fact. Episode 3 had me so fully invested in Scott and Kip, maybe even more so than Shane and Ilya as I skew a bit more towards their age. Initially heartbreaking but with such a triumphant resolution that had me cheering ‘G’wan Scott’ at my television. 

So why are people so obsessed with this show? Well for starters it’s a love story cut from the romance genre (it’s adapted from a book series in a genre I am unacquainted with, hockey smut). And a story that doesn’t always get told- queer joy with a happy ending, no tragedy, no AIDS lurking (although we are so primed for that the fear hangs over it a bit). There are some classics of the genre- the switch from surnames to first names to signal intimacy is one that comes to mind, the interfering best friend, the surly troubled lead with daddy issues. But we get our satisfying resolutions as a pay off so this didn’t bother me that much. 

This is also a show that demands your attention as a viewer. No double screening here- you’ll miss the key text message based chat between Shane and Ilya or the frequent time jumps. If you’re not paying attention, the story progression will be lost on you. It is clever and efficient in telling these stories that take place over several years. The soundtrack also plays a central but not fully obvious role. As someone who obsesses a bit over the placement and use of music in TV and film, I adore the fact that showrunner Jacob Tierney built Scott and Kip’s story around the Wolf Parade song ‘I’ll Believe in Anything’. Not painfully obvious but there if you hear it. From the opening bars that Scott angrily runs to in episode 3 just before his life changing smoothie shop meet-cute to my favourite romantic climax on television in a long time. Oh, we all need sunshine.

And holy shit that needle drop on episode 4. My PT was telling me one her clients actually shouted ‘fuck off’ at how perfect it was and I can only assume she was referencing the use of tAtu’s ‘All The Things She Said’ (which then segues into a remix). To quote the Scorcese meme, this is cinema.

This show wouldn’t get made by a major streamer without significant interference and it is a blessing that it was made via the previously little known Canadian streamer crave on a shoestring budget with relatively unknown actors. I think this is also a massive reason it is landing with viewers- I’ve not read the books but from what I can gather it’s a very faithful adaptation. And the showrunner was allowed to make it with minimal studio notes and all the queer sex he wanted. According to one of the actors, the showrunner declined to move forward in production with a major streamer as they wanted ‘no kissing until episode 5’. Aye right. I can only hope that that creative freedom is retained going forward. Matt Damon threw a few pelters at Netflix this week for dumbing down storytelling and giving notes to creators about obvious exposition in dialogue. We see you, Netflix. We (mostly) want intelligent stories that don’t insult our ability to keep up.

Anything that lights up the pop culture so suddenly inevitably comes with a lot of Discourse and this show is no exception. A major talking point (and source of online bullying for one of the actors in particular) is around the actors’ and author’s sexuality. Who gets to tell these stories? This is very much a conversation that I will tiptoe around the outside of as I don’t feel it’s really my place to dive too much in to. I do understand the importance of authentic representation on screen but do not agree with relentless hounding of actors to prove their sexuality. Look at what happened with Kit Connor of Heartstopper fame, forced to come out on X against his wishes a few years back. There is a weird para social over-involved phenomenon that has been present in fandoms for at least as long as the internet has existed but it seems to have reached peak toxicity in this moment. Some fans want the two leads to be a couple in real life and taunt anyone pictured with them. François Arnaud (the delightful Scott) called it out in a recent interview: ‘For the ones that aren’t (…positive and respectful), I think it’s a lot of younger fans who don’t understand the difference between reality and fiction’. He is not standing on business and I am here for it. These actors (and their private lives) do not belong to us.

Alongside the above conversation but not entirely linked is who is this show for? I’m much closer to the ageing wine mum demographic than I’d care to admit but as a straight woman was this made for me? Should it just be for queer people? And why are straight women in particular really drawn to these stories about male on male love? I personally think it’s for everyone. If it resonates on any level, it’s for you. Just don’t make it all about you (in the next paragraph I will make it a little bit about me).

Comparisons have been made with the deluge of straight women coming in to the gay bar and encroaching on a space that is not supposed to be for them. Maybe it’s alright if we go in, but be respectful, don’t treat it like a tourist attraction or bring your hen do. I once got called out on this in a bar in London, a guy ignored me completely having side eyed me up and down, exclaiming ‘she’s straight!’ to my pal. I responded with joking defensiveness, how do you know I’m straight, but reader I was wearing a camel coat from Hobb’s. The signs were there. I’d never experienced something like that before and I mention it not to re-centre it all on me but it did make me think at the time about who gets to take up space where. I can’t speak for all of us but gay bars can represent a safe space for straight women as well. And there’s maybe a safety for someone like me in watching a show like Heated Rivalry. I can observe without having to put myself in the story. Just don’t be weird or fetishist about it.

There is also an element of fantasy. I say this without meaning to diminish the very difficult experience of queer people trying to navigate finding love in a still overwhelmingly heteronormative and increasingly dangerous society for them. Watching two men come together as perceived equals is fascinating. As a woman it feels fantastical.  Even just their physical strengths matching is incredible to watch. And they’re all really hot, so there’s that. But I’m aiming to not be like the weird creepy internet people….

If you want to see further joy in the Heated Rivalry circus, check out the guys from the hockey podcast ‘Empty Netters’. Presumably straight sports bros, they have dived fully in on the recaps of the show and it is delightful to see them exclaim their love for it. You can keep your Joe Rogans and Stephen Bartletts, these are the men we want to hear yapping in to microphones. I must admit I find their support and allyship deeply attractive but I’m also trying not to be that objectifying bish.

So those are my thoughts. I’m rewatching the series. My TikTok FYP is all HR content. The moment will pass but it has been fun whilst it has lasted.

‘He deserves sunshine. And so do you’.