‘Heated Rivalry’: 6 Burning Questions We Have About Season 2
[Warning: The below contains spoilers for MAJOR spoilers from Heated Rivalry Season 1.]
Once Ilya (Connor Storrie) makes his way to Shane’s (Hudson Williams) cottage in Heated Rivalry’s season finale, a lot goes down — and we mean that in every sense. We ate up every single bit of the finale episode: the steamy scenes, the love confessions, the parent meeting, the list goes on. But one thing that the finale didn’t offer was a major cliffhanger. (And honestly, we’re not complaining. We’re glad to leave Shane and Ilya on a happy note until Season 2.)
That being said, Heated Rivalry Episode 6 does leave some questions unanswered, especially for those who haven’t read author Rachel Reid’s book of the same name. We here at Swooon don’t count ourselves among that number. We know exactly how Shane and Ilya’s story plays out, having read both Heated Rivalry and its sequel, The Long Game, but there are still many questions we have about how it’ll be adapted for the screen. And, for the sake of this post, we’re going to act like we only have a baseline knowledge of Reid’s Game Changers series to keep things spoiler-free.
Without further ado, here are six things we’re wondering about Heated Rivalry Season 2. Let us know what questions you have in the comments section at the end of the page.
Heated Rivalry, Season 1, Streaming Now, HBO Max
Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA, HBO Max
1. Will Shane & Ilya see their plan through?
Heated Rivalry doesn’t end the same way the book does — with an epilogue that takes place about a year later — so the fate of Shane’s plan is up in the air. We do know Ilya is all for it. “It” being leaving Boston for Ottawa when he becomes a free agent next season, so that he can be closer to Shane. They also want to start a charity together, so that they can come out as friends to the rest of the world and put their “rivalry” to rest.
We also know that Shane and Ilya do seem to be all in by the time the finale credits roll, so do with that what you will. It’s fair to say that Ilya will move heaven and earth to be with Shane, right? And he’s one of the top players in the league, so any team should be eager to have him. But even if both of them are committed to the plan, will it be seamlessly executed, or will they encounter some obstacles?
2. Are Shane & Ilya on the same page about waiting to come out?
When Yuna (Christina Chang) asks Shane and Ilya if they’re planning on waiting until retirement to come out, Ilya doesn’t answer immediately. He looks to Shane first, who answers in the affirmative. That hesitation… Maybe he isn’t on board with every part of Shane’s plan.
3. Will Scott and Kip come back?
We need to know if Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.) will come back. The finale only gave them one scene, with Scott making a speech at the MLH awards about coming out as Kip watches it on TV. Could that really be the last we’ll ever see of the couple? It isn’t a really a spoiler that Scott has a presence in The Long Game, but will his relationship get any further development? Arnaud and G.K. have their ideas for their characters’ future, which they relayed to Swooon, but it still remains a mystery until Tierney confirms his plan.
4. Will Season 2 cover the entirety of The Long Game?
Now that we know that Storrie and Williams have signed on for three seasons of Heated Rivalry — though its only been renewed for Season 2 at this point — it makes us wonder if creator Jacob Tierney will manage to separate it into two parts.
Without giving any spoilers away, The Long Game‘s timeline isn’t nearly as long as Heated Rivalry‘s, but so much goes down. More than enough for two seasons. And, there’s the matter of whether Tierney will include other Game Changers couples in the show, like Scott and Kip, which could add some extra story.
5. How much focus will other Game Changers couples get?
This one is a book question, but don’t worry, we still won’t spoil anything. Readers know that some Game Changers books have overlapping timelines, and the main characters make cameos — or are even major players — in books aside from their own. So, in addition to Scott and Kip, does that mean we’ll start getting the other couples’ romances? Could we get another bottle episode, like Season 1’s Episode 3? Or will the other love stories play out alongside Shane and Ilya’s? Inquiring minds need to know.
6. Will there be more hockey?
Honestly, we couldn’t care less about Heated Rivalry‘s hockey scenes. It’s a romance show, not a sports show! But now that it’s skyrocketed in popularity, we’re willing to bet that Season 2 will have a significantly larger budget than Season 1 had. Does that mean we’ll see Shane and Ilya on the ice more often? As long as it doesn’t take away from Hollanov’s time together, we’d be fine with it.
