‘Heated Rivalry’: Who Fell in Love First — Shane or Ilya? (POLL)
[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Heated Rivalry Episodes 1-2.]
Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) may hook up in the first episode, but don’t get it twisted: Heated Rivalry is a slow burn. A years-long slow burn. The first two episodes of the show build up the anticipation even more than author Rachel Reid’s book does by making the hockey players wait two years before getting one-on-one time again.
You would think that, sometime between their first hookup in 2010 and going all the way in 2013, Shane and Ilya would give the other an obvious hint that deeper feelings were involved, but no. In that two-year period, Shane and Ilya texted all the time before the 2014 Olympics, after which Ilya pushed Shane away for months. When they meet next at the MLH Awards, Shane is outwardly affected and angry when he confronts Ilya, who puts on a stoic front.
The angst of it all begs the question: Did Shane or Ilya catch feelings first? (Surely, it’s obvious for show-only fans at this point that these aren’t meaningless hookups.) The first few episodes have even complicated the answer for the author herself, who wrote on Instagram Stories, “I was pretty confident that Ilya falls first, but then I watched the show…” (Your power, Hudson Williams.)
Where Shane wears his emotions on his sleeve — remember his reaction to Ilya winning the Stanley Cup and that MLH Awards scene we just mentioned? — Ilya is a bit harder to read at this point in the show. He keeps his emotions locked up tight, and most people (including some non-book readers, we’re sure) probably don’t know to look beyond all his bravado. However, there have also been early signs of what could be deeper feelings for Shane: In Episode 1, Ilya has his “Mastermind” moment when he arranges for Shane to film the commercial with him. (And just look at his face when he reunites with Shane in Episode 2!)
So, once again, we’ll pose the question to book fans as well as show-only fans: Who fell in love first? Or did they both start falling in love at the same time? Let us know what you think in the poll and comments below!
Heated Rivalry, Season 1, New Episodes, Fridays, HBO Max
