My honest review of Heated Rivalry
First of all, as a necessary disclaimer in light of how emotionally charged this fandom feels, I don’t think Heated Rivalry is bad: it’s well directed, well acted (mostly), and clearly elevated by the adaptation. The chemistry works, the miracles they performed budget-wise are visible on screen, and most moments genuinely land emotionally. The direction and cinematography are great. As comfort TV, it does its job really well. I enjoyed it. Kudos to Jacob Tierney.
That said, I’m baffled by the level of hype around it. I'm talking prestige-show hype.
The one glaring issue I don't see a lot of people acknowledging is that every single female character is written as a frictionless ally. The one character that had potential to be different was Shane’s mother, but then ends up functioning more as a symbol of approval than as an actual person. Don't get me started on Rose: she just screams self-insert confidant. I know the target demographic of this show probably doesn't care about female characters and their stories, but it's too blunt to ignore. And from what I've read, Jacob Tierney did well fleshing out some of these characters in comparison to the books, so I can't even imagine what he was working with originally.
Another issue I have is the way the show handles Shane’s race. Identity is invoked but never meaningfully engaged with. The fact that he's a minority in a sport as white as hockey is reduced to vague references about marketability and aesthetics rather than explored as a lived experience.
This is probably me being nit-picky, but the portrayal of Russian culture is so thin. Clearly a Western caricature. In this vein, the show asks for too much suspension of disbelief regarding how openly and recklessly a Russian athlete navigates queer hookups.
Some of the dialogue is very fan-fictiony, which is not inherently a bad thing, but it doesn't help ground the characters. They all mostly seem like passengers/victims of their circumstances and lack any meaningful flaws of their own. I reckon if the main characters were women, they'd be called Mary Sues. Other than being awkward or promiscuous, I can't think of other "flaws" that inform their decisions.
Ultimately, it all feels polished and pleasant, but I think if you are someone who’s read a decent amount of mlm fiction, even fanfic, none of this should feel particularly new nor great. It’s competent, enjoyable, and elevated from its source material, but calling it award-worthy, a masterpiece, or culturally groundbreaking feels like a category error and that's making me feel a bit gaslit.
I would love to hear from anyone who shares these thoughts or has a differing opinion for that matter.
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