‘Heated Rivalry’: 7 Book Changes We Want to See in Season 2
As fans of both the Heated Rivalry book and TV show know, Season 1 is a blissfully accurate adaptation. It’s clear that show creator Jacob Tierney respects Rachel Reid’s hockey romance series (as he should), which he’ll continue to pull from for Heated Rivalry Season 2. Reid expands on Shane (Hudson Williams) and Ilya’s (Connor Storrie) story in The Long Game, which Swooon considers the author’s magnum opus. We can only hope Tierney takes a similar approach to adapting the material the second time around.
That being said, there are plenty of smaller changes in Season 1 that we think do a service to Shane and Ilya’s journey. And we understand that when translating a book to the screen, some adjustments have to be made simply because they’re different styles of storytelling. We don’t get insight into Shane and Ilya’s inner monologues, for example, so some scenes that are only mentioned in passing need to be shown in full, like Shane coming out to his teammates.
So, when it comes to Season 2, there are a few adjustments we’re hoping to see. From tiny styling details to major arguments between Shane and Ilya, keep scrolling for all seven book-to-screen changes we think should happen in Season 2. Let us know which ones you agree or disagree with in the comments section at the end of the page! (Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Long Game book.)
Cut: Shane’s man bun
Silly as it is, we feel pretty strongly about this one. Apparently, so does Hudson Williams. He told Harper’s Bazaar that he’s a fan of Shane’s longer hair in The Long Game, as are we, but he’ll “throw up in [his] mouth” if he has to wear a man bun like Shane does. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Let it be known that Swooon is anti-man bun.
Cut: The Ryan and Fabian double date
Sorry, Ryan and Fabian. You’re great in Tough Guy, and we love all of the Game Changers couples cameos across The Long Game. Before Unrivaled came to be, The Long Game was originally supposed to conclude the series, so it makes sense to have all the previous couples show up as a last hurrah. But in TV form, so many side couples could be distracting. So, that double date with Shane and Ilya — or Fabian’s club performance — toward the start of the book probably has to go.
However, we do love that both of those instances give Shane and Ilya a chance to feel like a “normal” couple that doesn’t have to keep their relationship secret. Those two events serve the purpose of making them realize what they’re missing, which is especially important to Ilya’s story arc. Maybe Shane and Ilya somehow go out with Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.) instead, since we already have their backstory? Unless The Long Game is spread across two seasons instead of one, just don’t think there’s enough time to really give the full context of Ryan and Fabian. Season 2 already has Role Model‘s Tory and Harris to cover!
Cut: Shane’s ‘smoking weed between losses’ comment
Obviously, the big third-act fight between Shane and Ilya has to happen, as much as we’re dreading it. (We already know it’s going to be even more devastating to watch than it is to read.) The whole book leads into that explosive confrontation where Ilya finally admits how alone he feels, all the pressure of keeping their relationship a secret even from his close friends boiling over.
The whole point is that Shane and Ilya misunderstand each other and don’t communicate properly until then. We wouldn’t change anything about their dialogue except one barb from Shane: “Sorry I still want to win cups instead of smoking weed with my teammates between losses.” It feels unnecessarily cruel — and reminiscent of Ilya’s father, who always called him lazy — for a conversation that already puts Shane in a pretty bad light. We can still have Shane not realize how much Ilya has given up to be with him without that particular comment. What’s more, it seems a little out-of-character for the show version of Shane.
Crave
Change: Shane’s dietary restrictions
More in The Long Game than Heated Rivalry, Shane gets fixated on his diet, which many readers have interpreted as part of Shane’s need for control over his life. However, Reid has denied the fan theory that Shane has an eating disorder, so it isn’t really fleshed out in The Long Game. We think it deserves full, careful consideration and shouldn’t be so easily resolved with the happy ending in the adaptation. Since Tierney brings up Shane’s diet early in Season 1, we think that could be the case in Season 2.
Change: The amount of time between the plane incident and the proposal
We have to admit we got a bit of whiplash going from Ilya’s near-plane crash in one chapter to Shane’s marriage proposal in the next. We get that Ilya’s near-death experience puts things into perspective for Shane, and honestly, a proposal has been a long time coming. They’ve been together for over a decade! But when it comes to pacing it out on-screen, we think there can be a little more lag time between the two moments, which leads us to the next switch-up we’re hoping for.
Change: A longer conversation after the fight
Remember that big fight we mentioned? Shane and Ilya take space away from each other after that. Then the near-plane crash happens, and they make up over the phone before Ilya comes home to Shane’s proposal. It feels like we move on from that conflict just a tad too quickly. It makes sense that we can’t have them hash it out for pages and pages, and Shane is doing what Ilya’s been hoping for all along: choosing him over hockey. But on-screen, we think it would make sense for Shane and Ilya to have a longer conversation about what was said and all of their issues before agreeing to walk down the aisle.
Change: Shane & Ilya’s first dance song
This one is not a hot take, as most in the Heated Rivalry fandom could tell you. Once Reid walked us through her choices for Shane and Ilya’s low-key wedding, we loved it even more as it is in the book. We wouldn’t change their standard vows or the backyard setting, lack of chairs and all. Like a good portion of the internet, however, we simply can’t have their first dance be set to “Diamonds.” As much as we love Rihanna — and Harris, who picks the song — we need something more romantic. Maybe we could accept an orchestral cover, but we’d rather Tierney pick a new song altogether. (Hear our pleas!)
Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA 2027, Crave & HBO Max
