Since The Events of Christmas Day (a.k.a. the Heated Rivalry season finale), my dash has been flooded with recs for similar shows. Mostly it’s M/M romances and/or dramas like Young Royals, Interview with the Vampire, Heartstopper and It’s a Sin; although M/F contender Normal People also made an appearance. I’ve watched all five of these and they’re gorgeous, but hear me out on a slightly left-field take:
… Yeah, it’s a bisexual triad romance from the BBC that was marketed like a soap opera and got very little recognition. On top of that, there are no men fucking. Stay with me.
I think we’re all past the idea that the only appeal of Heated Rivalry is the softcore gay porn, or that the entire audience is only attracted to men. If you were watching for yaoi-specific reasons, no judgement, keep scrolling and go with god.
But if you came for the steam and stayed for the story? If you love queer love and happy endings? If you crave hot, well-rounded characters with incredible chemistry making yearning eye contact while fighting for their lives on an emotional level? If you enjoyed Heated Rivalry’s interracial relationship representation and sport background? If you want more precious gems who are obviously made for each other, learning to communicate and come out together? STRAP. THE. FUCK. IN.
Gemma (a highly trained chef on a shoestring budget) and her husband Kieran (a paramedic who lives with PTSD) are struggling to make ends meet in their flat above Gemma’s restaurant in London. As the restaurant flounders and the cost of living rises, they decide to take on a flatmate. Enter Ray, a French synchronised swimmer recovering from a head injury sustained while competing. Propelled by a magnetic attraction and easy chemistry together, the three are eventually forced to confront the gap between what they expect of themselves, what society expects of them, and what they really want. It’s a gorgeously acted, shot and scored romance. Gemma, Ray and Kieran spend eight episodes reaching out to each other — often failing, but always trying again — until eventually they choose happiness together. I know triad romances on TV are usually under-baked, titillating trash primarily aimed at straight, monogamous, white audiences, ok? I know. But I swear this one is so much better. The characters are profoundly human; each distinct and layered, but all three making sense together (both as individual pairings, and as a triad). The show yearns and hungers with a gorgeously horny intensity, but the characters’ growth is always at the centre of the story. The issues inherent to triad relationships are actually confronted, addressed, and portrayed as barriers to overcome, rather than reasons to give up on love. Even with some unicorn references that didn’t age well, it’s the best representation of queer polyamory that I’ve ever seen on TV, and by far the most compelling and believable polyamorous romance. It has so much in common with Heated Rivalry that I couldn’t stop comparing them. I still cry on every re-watch.