In Defense of ‘Heated Rivalry’s Scott & Kip Episode: It’s Crucial to Shane & Ilya’s Love Story
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episodes 1-3]
Even before it aired, Episode 3 of HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry was already its most controversial. After the two-episode premiere caused the internet to lose its mind and its decorum, rumors began to swirl that the third episode would take a step back from the erotic rivals-to-lovers story of hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) to tell a different kind of love story: The far-more-subtle coupling of Shane’s former teammate, Scott Hunter (François Arnaud), and his barista boyfriend, Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.).
Even the mere hint of an episode without the sexual escapades of Shane and Ilya had some fans online vowing to skip the episode altogether and tune back in for Episode 4. More sports-minded fans discussed it as a “bye week,” which means a week without a game for those non-sports folks in the audience.
But the fact of the matter is, if you watch Episode 3 and think Scott and Kip’s story somehow distracts from Shane and Ilya’s, then you aren’t paying attention. For those who haven’t read author Rachel Reid’s book series on which the show is based, Scott and Kip are the subjects of Game Changer, the first book in Reid’s series. So technically, Scott and Kip took the ice before Shane and Ilya, and the third episode rightfully puts some respect on their name.
HBO Max
When the episode opens, Scott (love him or hate him) is in a rut. We’ve seen him be a mentor to Shane, but now he’s been traded to the New York Admirals, and he’s barely making contact with the puck. It’s only when he stumbles into a meet-cute with adorable smoothie artisan Kip that Scott gets his groove back — well, that and Blue Moon Over Brooklyn with banana. But their intensely romantic flirtation turned relationship comes with a caveat: Scott isn’t willing to come out and potentially jeopardize his career, so he and Kip have to stay a secret. Behind closed doors, Scott is all in with Kip, but out in the world, he can’t even be seen shopping for art without having a full-on panic attack that someone might see them.
It’s a lopsided relationship that Kip initially excuses because he loves Scott, but soon comes to realize no matter how hot the sex is and how romantic the gestures are, love can’t grow without stepping into the sun. We won’t spoil what happens with Scott and Kip in Reid’s books, but they figure so significantly into what’s to come that there is no Shane and Ilya without Scott and Kip. Period.
If you didn’t read the books, you wouldn’t know that from Episode 3. That’s OK because you don’t need to see where they are headed to appreciate why an episode devoted to Scott and Kip is time well spent. The inevitable discourse out of this episode will likely hinge on complaints that Scott and Kip’s admittedly tamer sex scenes throw cold water on the flaming hot pillar that is Shane and Ilya. Their slow burn romance is hardly the raging bull that is Hollanov, even if they get their moments to fog up the windows of Scott’s apartment.
You also just have Scott Hunter haters out there. But fans dismissing the importance of Scott and Kip’s love before the episode even aired because it simply isn’t Shane and Ilya does a disservice to the ways in which Shane and Ilya need to grow. They need these quieter, soul-bearing conversations that Scott and Kip have. They need the closeness of being in someone else’s space for more than a quick screw. Those moments are coming, and Scott and Kip lay the groundwork for why they are vital to any relationship worth fighting for. Love is more than headline-grabbing sex, and while it is exciting to see a series so honestly embrace queer sex in all its glory, if you aren’t willing to welcome all the forms that love and intimacy take in a relationship, then you aren’t seeing the whole picture.
For those of us hopeless romantics out there, Scott and Kip had us blushing and kicking our feet like kids, in the same way that Shane and Ilya’s unbridled hunger for every inch of each other had us fanning ourselves and hitting rewind. Both reactions are and should be essential to any love story because they are just two sides of the same sexy puck.
Heated Rivalry, Season 1, Fridays, HBO Max
