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Telly addicts

Heated Rivalry

687 replies

Clefable · 10/01/2026 19:33

Anyone watching this on NowTV?

I may have binged

🥵🥵🥵🥵

OP posts:
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QueenMabby · 29/01/2026 19:20

Come and join the Loons on Threads! It’s like a massive HR group chat over there.
I’m only on the first full episode but the “Tonsil Hockey” podcast is hilarious.

TheMateofOphelia · 29/01/2026 20:42

FurForksSake · 28/01/2026 17:40

I’ve just read the extra scene on Rachel Reid’s website. I recommend.

I'll have to get the books.

reluctantbrit · 29/01/2026 21:18

TheMateofOphelia · 29/01/2026 20:42

I'll have to get the books.

HarperCollins has a 40% sale.

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 08:00

Thank you, @QueenMabby! I've resisted both Threads and Tiktok, but sod it, I'm downloading Threads right now. Where should I head to? Is Loons the account/chat, or are you just describing us all? 😄

Current favourite lines: "Does it fxcking kill you, too? Not anymore." Please send help.

FurForksSake · 30/01/2026 08:49

@Rousillon849 my TikTok is 90% HR analysis and edits. Man Eater edit is very good.

I’m allowing myself one episode a night before bed. I then see more analysis and edits and want to restart.

i might re watch normal people now, more yearning. Bridgerton is out and I don’t even care.

Fatrascal27 · 30/01/2026 09:17

I dare not go on TikTok. Spend far too much time on instagram and threads as it is.

It’s astonishing how much of an impact this show has had.

tennissquare · 30/01/2026 09:24

I’m out on Bridgerton too.
I also have to ration my HR rewatches and TikTok time. When Connor was in Paris earlier this week I felt I was following it in real time because I watched so many posts, there is a Vogue reel on YouTube about Connor at YSL that I have watched several times since it launched y’day.
Thanks for the podcast tip.

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 10:07

Oh my God @FurForksSake and @tennissquare, same here re Bridgerton. I was so looking forward to the new season (love Benedict) and then 2.5 weeks ago BOOM.

Also doing 1 episode per evening plus some choice scenes. Yesterday I saw an Insta post saying you can hear Ilya say "I want to please you" in the Ep 4 opening montage - after 20 minutes of pausing, rewinding, and listening at eardrum-damaging decibels I was able to rest.

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 10:13

Fatrascal27 · 30/01/2026 09:17

I dare not go on TikTok. Spend far too much time on instagram and threads as it is.

It’s astonishing how much of an impact this show has had.

Yep, astonishing. I saw Emerald Fennell saying to Margot Robbie (in a WH interview, I imagine) how lucky she was because Margot hasn't watched it yet and has been saving it like a piece of cake (her words - I love that beautiful Hollywood actresses save their cake for a special moment).

FurForksSake · 30/01/2026 10:13

@Rousillon849 ok, I’ll be rewatching that tonight.

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 10:16

FurForksSake · 30/01/2026 10:13

@Rousillon849 ok, I’ll be rewatching that tonight.

😍There are lots of "what I discovered on my twelvety-billionth rewatch of Episode X" out there doing the Lord's work.

Fatrascal27 · 30/01/2026 10:16

oh so now today I also need to find the section of Ilya saying that too.

Along with that ‘more’ from the gym scene..my god. Not to mention ‘fucking make me’ from that sofa scene.

FurForksSake · 30/01/2026 10:17

No one watched the show. They studied it. I’ll be getting a masters in it im sure.

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 10:27

My God indeed. Shane soothingly resting his face on his hand/knee has been my happy place since I first watched episode 2.

There is apparently a whispered "oh my God" from Shane when Ilya lifts him on to his kitchen counter in Boston (I think).

Good luck! 😄

QueenMabby · 01/02/2026 16:58

Rousillon849 · 30/01/2026 08:00

Thank you, @QueenMabby! I've resisted both Threads and Tiktok, but sod it, I'm downloading Threads right now. Where should I head to? Is Loons the account/chat, or are you just describing us all? 😄

Current favourite lines: "Does it fxcking kill you, too? Not anymore." Please send help.

I just went on threads and there’s a heated rivalry topic. Once you’ve read the few threads your whole feed (like mine!) will be HR. It is 95% very respectful and good natured and anything too weirdly stalkerish gets shut down very quickly. There are threads sharing wallpapers, fanfic recommendations and fan edits. It’s all very organised!

@Rousillon849- that ep4 whisper is on my listen to list for tonight. I’ve already found the “I’m coming” from Shane in ep2.

Simonjt · 01/02/2026 17:37

We’ve finally finished the last three episodes, one thing is would an autistic man obsessed with someone really not have googled all about them/LGBT laws in Russia? Also, two atheletes would definitely eat eight burgers, if NHL is anything like rugby you’re on 200g of protein a day during the off season. The number of cushions in a gay mans house and a gay barrista being ripped however is 100% accurate.

Tuna melt gate was an interesting way to now see each way they reject intimacy when they realised they’ve caught the feels, Ilya is more subtle about it in episode two after they have sex, where as as Shane hasn’t accepted he’s gay his reaction is much stronger. It also nicely shows how Ilya due to his family only knows acts of service as a way to show care and love. Plus he’d prepared the tuna melt ingredients, so what had he prepared for breakfast? Frotting with tuna breath is also a bold choice.

I do think Ilyas strong respect for boundaries is portrayed so well throughout the episodes, from only accepting enthusiastic consent, not taking the piss out of odd habits, not contacting Shane when he’s dating someone else and actively making sure he is single before approaching him in that way again. We also see he has given up smoking, likely due to Shane telling him off about it.

Poor Rose, but lovely Rose too helping Shane realise he is gay and starting to accept how he actually feels. It was also interesting that the flash backs were slightly different to what was shown in those scenes in earlier episodes.

The pool scene is also the first time we see him genuinely relaxed and the only time he and Shane can safely relax in public. Gargling pool water however man that is a step too far.

Shane needs everything to be perfect, so its not a surprise he sees his gayness as an imperfection that he needs to solve. It was interesting to see that in their safe space of the cottage Ilya was still unhappy. Also how did Kip not slip on the ice in those shoes?!

It was good to see Shanes mum apologise for her homophobia and for Shane to accept the apology rather than say she didn’t need to be sorry. Also nice to highlight that most gay people will have spent a really long time trying really hard not to be gay. We see homophobia from his teammates, so if they are outed it will be interesting to see what happens there.

Its also interesting to see that a lot of straight person view the end as a happy ending, where as queer people see that they’ve been caught and found out, which isn’t something to celebrate and that they need to make sure no one else finds them out.

Again the last three episodes were very good, the use of lighting again was excellent, the main cast were brilliant, you wouldn’t think it was Connor or Hudsons first big job. You can kind of see the order it was filmed in, Connor becomes visibly smaller while Hudson clearly loses body fat. If you compare Connor and Hudson in Vegas v the cottage the change in both their bodies is huge. Hudson must have worked so hard to gain that much muscle and drop his body weight.

I liked how it highlighted how hard it is living in your second language, my husband spends half his life wondering what the hell I mean as I can’t use my first language so his most common question is “are you being rude, or are words a problem?”

FurForksSake · 01/02/2026 18:17

I found it really interesting how in e6 on the car ride Ilya said he was terrified. Shane took that to mean of being seen and offered reassurance of that and went to close the blinds. I think it was much more terrified about spending a prolonged period with the man he’s already in love with and doesn’t know that loves him back. They’ve never had more than a few hours alone together.

I all thought consent was covered really well. In the scene with the call to Hayden he tells him that he won’t do anything unless he gets the “signal”. It’s nice to see Shane being light and free.

tennissquare · 01/02/2026 20:42

I read a post on Threads which said “ I don’t have time to be a mum, wife and have 2 gay hockey boyfriends” which is a bit how I feel with my HR obsession but I really liked Fellow Travelers and am rewatching that and listening to related podcasts. Jonathan Bailey is exceptional, it should have won more awards.

Epli · 01/02/2026 22:21

FurForksSake · 01/02/2026 18:17

I found it really interesting how in e6 on the car ride Ilya said he was terrified. Shane took that to mean of being seen and offered reassurance of that and went to close the blinds. I think it was much more terrified about spending a prolonged period with the man he’s already in love with and doesn’t know that loves him back. They’ve never had more than a few hours alone together.

I all thought consent was covered really well. In the scene with the call to Hayden he tells him that he won’t do anything unless he gets the “signal”. It’s nice to see Shane being light and free.

I did not intepret it as terrified of being seen, rather terrified of spending prolonged time together and what it might lead to. I think this is the way it was written in the book.

Fatrascal27 · 02/02/2026 05:07

I read a thread from a pissed off gay man complaining how ‘all the straight women were fetishising gay men’. Give me a break.

theres too much discourse. Can we all not have nice things? It’s a lovely story, hot actors, lots of emotion. I’m sick of men telling women what they can and cannot like.

reluctantbrit · 02/02/2026 08:32

Fatrascal27 · 02/02/2026 05:07

I read a thread from a pissed off gay man complaining how ‘all the straight women were fetishising gay men’. Give me a break.

theres too much discourse. Can we all not have nice things? It’s a lovely story, hot actors, lots of emotion. I’m sick of men telling women what they can and cannot like.

That discussion is not new, it was already going on as lots of MM authors are women. Interestingly, several I read are queer, so just because they come over as straight, they may actually not be.

Fatrascal27 · 02/02/2026 08:48

Yeah I have read that in the past too. There’s an interesting discussion about why women can enjoy mm sex in fiction or TV but by gate keeping what women are allowed to enjoy…well it just infuriates me.

Epli · 02/02/2026 10:36

I think there is an element of fetishisation among a small group of fans. Go on any fan forum devoted to the series and apart from very good discussion about plot, cinematography, direction you will find posts from women which do sound frankly unhinged. And they are not teenagers, they are often 40+ and they are on their 7th tattoo with Hated Rivalry quotes. They way they talk about the series and the actors makes it obvious they think of these people as some innocent, fluffy mascots.

Don't get me wrong, I think majority of women enjoy series because it is sexy. Actors are sexy, the build up is sexy, the sex is very sexy - it does not mean they want to insert themselves into the situation (I find Park Chan Wook's 'Handmaiden' very sexy and I absolutely have no desire to have sex with another woman). I also do not remember so many articles trying to figure out why straight men enjoy watching lesbian sex, it is somewhat a given that men sexual desires are legitimate and there is no need to justify them.

On the topic of writing MM love stories by women - it is true that they are somewhat unrealistic if you take into account how many men are in open relationships and how many of those plots lead to marriage. And yes the sex is unrealistic, but if anyone thinks straight sex or relationship dynamic in rom-coms
are realistic, then I have a bridge to sell them.

XelaM · 02/02/2026 11:29

Am I the only one who didn't find Shane attractive AT ALL 🤷‍♀️ Ilya is hot, as is Scott, but Shane?!? Doesn't do it for me at all and I couldn't see him as this superstar hockey player. More of a wimpy schoolboy

FurForksSake · 02/02/2026 11:40

Yeah, Shane did not have the character development and brooding skills to help. Connor Storrie will go far, his micro expressions, eye acting and emotions were very good.

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