A week after the Internet melted down over the two episode premiere of Heated Rivalry, the show makes the bold decision to sideline Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) to highlight the budding romance between another pair of men.
Fans of Rachel Reid’s series undoubtedly understand why episode 3 zeroes in on Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) as he begins to court, then secretly date smoothie barista Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.) though casual fans who are only here for the sex and/or the memes will likely be perplexed.
It is something of a wild creative swing from the show’s creative team, but even without the understanding of where Scott’s relationship with Kip goes, the parallels between his romance and what is going on with Shane and Illya is pretty clear.
After starting the episode at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the action jumps back four months to NYC as Scott has a meet cute with Kip when he purchases a smoothie with banana <wink> at Straw+Berry. By this point, we’ve heard reporters mention that Scott is getting older and that he’s not performing well on the ice, but after the hocker player’s new ritual yields immediate results, the smoothies (and the not-so-subtle flirting) become a ritual.
Clearly this relationship is significantly different from what’s happening between Shane and Ilya on the ice, at the awards shows, and at the press junkets. While Scott is closeted, he’s not in denial about his attraction to men. Kip, meanwhile, is fully out, even to his father George (Matt Gordon), and has no ties to the world of competitive hockey (he’s pursuing a graduate degree in art history).
The conflict in their relationship revolves around the fact that Scott isn’t prepared to reveal their relationship, despite impulsively asking Kip to stay at his place after they hook-up (which is the least believable aspect of an episode that allows the action to unfold realistically and organically).
This unbelievable development is hand waved away when Scott suggests he can be “intense”, but it still seems like an overly forward move. Perhaps this is why the two men spend a chunk of time debating the difference between serial and spree killers? (Fellas, if he asks you to stay in his luxury apartment after a single night of sex…be wary. Just sayin’!)
Regardless of this, the pair have an easy going chemistry and while the sex is nowhere near as hot as what we saw in the first two episodes, there is a greater level of intimacy on display. When Kip attempts to sneak out in the middle of the night, Scott asks him to stay, which immediately contrasts the way that Shane and Ilya typically end their trysts (without a kiss or sometimes even a word).
Clearly Scott and Kip are at very different places in their lives…
…and yet, as the end of the episode reveals, the hockey player and the grad student aren’t all that different. Things come to a head when Kip winds up going to a fancy fundraiser with his protective friend Elena (Nadine Bhabha), who insists on laying down the law to Scott during a(n awkward) slow dance. She clarifies that Kip is a great person, who deserves someone who doesn’t hide him, which is exactly what Scott essentially asks Kip for (2 years!).
Kip initially rationalizes that he’s OK with this arrangement because he understands that Scott can’t come out. This is partially why the episode opens by revisiting the Sochi sequence from episode 2: it’s a reminder that not only are there no out players in the NHL, but that it’s literally not safe for some of them to do so. Of course, that’s cold comfort when Scott refuses to go to a gay sports bar for Kip’s birthday, choosing instead to stand outside the window like it’s a 1950s melodrama (paging Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life).
It’s a powerful, albeit familiar, moment of pathos that works well. Episode 3 packs a surprising amount of depth into Scott and Kip’s relationship in only a single episode, so credit to Arnaud and G.K. for selling the romance on an expedited timeline. Fans of the series will undoubtedly be clamouring to get back to what is perceived as the “main” narrative arc (Ilya and Shane only appear in brief fleeting glimpses). If you haven’t read the books and you’re upset that the boys don’t appear, rest assured that Scott’s struggle to find a (public) place for Kip in his life has big ramifications for the rest of the series.
Other Observations:
- I don’t think the show did a good job of distinguishing Elena from Kip’s co-worker at Straw+Berry, Maria (Bianca Nugara). The two roles likely could have been condensed into one considering both women support Kip and figure out pretty early on that his interest in Scott, and by extension hockey, is primarily due to their relationship.
- Scott’s panic at the art gallery is pretty palpable. It does a good job of capturing the first time you get clocked in a queer relationship in public and how vulnerable that can make you feel. With that said, hastily running out of there made Scott look far more suspicious and much more likely to get him recognized, but hey…
- The recurring visual of the banana socks (a stand-in for the relationship that dare not speak its name) is a nice touch.
- Finally, the New York City skyline has never looked more like Toronto. IYKYK.
Heated Rivalry airs Fridays on Crave and HBO
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