Editor's note: This story includes spoilers for Heated Rivalry episode 6, "The Cottage," now streaming on HBO Max. It also contains spoilers from Rachel Reid's 2019 novel that inspired the TV series.
The biggest queer show of the year came to an intimate yet epic conclusion on Heated Rivalry episode 6, "The Cottage," which played out as a satisfying season finale for this love story between closeted hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) — both returning for a Heated Rivalry season 2 that's already been greenlit by Crave and will be streaming on HBO Max for U.S. fans once again.
The episode largely focuses on emotional beats related to these characters' past lives before meeting each other, the present situationship-turned-relationship they've been grappling with, and the potential future they can have together, as a couple, while being professional hockey players who still can't come out of the closet without risking everything they've worked for.
This sixth episode of the Heated Rivalry TV show takes place almost entirely at the cottage and between Shane and Ilya only — except for a casual, surprise visit from Shane's dad, David Hollander (Dylan Walsh), who accidentally walks into the lovebirds doing their thing. The season 1 finale is followed by Shane coming out to his parents, a new scene focused on Yuna Hollander (Christina Chang), Ilya officially calling him "boyfriend," and a significantly shorter version of Rachel Reid's original Heated Rivalry book ending. But for good reason!
All the tea, below.
Heated Rivalry episode 6 adds a new scene between Shane and his mom, Yuna.
Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander on Heated Rivalry episode 6.
HBO Max/Crave Canada
Heated Rivalry episode 6 includes a new scene after Shane comes out as gay to his parents: A moment between just Shane and his mother, Yuna. (They briefly step away from Shane's father, David, and Shane's now-boyfriend, Ilya — a moment that isn't in Reid's original novel that inspired the TV show).
"Mom, um… I need you to know that I did really try," Shane tells Yuna in the scene. "I tried really hard, but I just can't help it. I'm sorry."
Shane means to continue, but Yuna interrupts, "Oh, you have nothing… Nothing to apologize for." Shane looks away. Yuna holds up his face. "Look at me," she says. "I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't tell me. I'm so, so proud of you."
Why the new scene between Shane and Yuna matters.
Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander, Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander, and Dylan Walsh as David Hollander on Heated Rivalry episode 6.
HBO Max/Crave Canada
When asked about the new scene between Shane and Yuna in the Heated Rivalry finale — which doesn't happen in the novel — showrunner Jacob Tierney broke down both the technical and personal reasons behind that choice.
"[Shane] is a tricky character in that way. He's so internal, and his struggles are so internal. I think Yuna is too. They are actually quite similar," Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter. "I really felt like those two needed a moment together. Not just because of where we've come from, but also because of where we're going, and how involved Yuna is in the rest of their story. How crucial a role she plays."
Tierney noted, "I think that my little gay heart just needed a moment with Shane and his mom. They needed to talk, and that was it."
Tierney comments on the range of parental figures within the Heated Rivalry saga.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander, Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, Dylan Walsh as David Hollander, and Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander on Heated Rivalry episode 6.
HBO Max/Crave Canada
"Parents were something that I thought about a lot when I was writing this," Tierney remarked in the same post-finale interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We didn't have a ton of money, and I had to fight pretty hard to keep Kip's dad in the show, which was a huge thing for me. I needed and wanted him there. Scott's an orphan. Ilya has the relationship he does with his parents, and Shane's [parental relationship] is complicated."
The Heated Rivalry showrunner added, "I want there to be a spectrum of parents here dealing with these kids. I think that it lays the groundwork for what the readers of the book know is coming."
The Heated Rivalry book ending is changed by being cut shorter on the TV show.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov on Heated Rivalry episode 6.
HBO Max/Crave Canada
Heated Rivalry episode 6 ends soon after Shane comes out to his parents, hears Ilya call him "boyfriend," and the four of them make peace with all this new information. Even though the Heated Rivalry book ending is similar, the novel goes on to include an epilogue in which Shane comes out to his best friend, Hayden Pike, and then features Ilya and Shane holding a press conference (after spending over a year planning for it) to announce their joint foundation.
Overall, the epilogue covers a lot of the plans discussed by the protagonists in "The Cottage" episode. For instance, the book confirms that Ilya ends his contract with Boston as a hockey player and subsequently gets signed with Ottawa. As a result, they both buy houses in Canada that make meeting up easier than living in their former apartment buildings. During a press conference, Shane and Ilya announce the Irina Foundation — named after Ilya's mother, who committed suicide when he was still a kid — and reveal that Shane's mom, Yuna, will act as the director and treasurer of the foundation.
On the Crave/HBO Max series, Shane and Ilya get back in the car and start driving off. Before we know it, the credits are rolling. "It's a couple of reasons," Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about why he chose to cut the ending short. "One's just a TV reason, which is, I don't want to end with exposition." Though he did end the show similarly to the book in an earlier draft of the script, Tierney considered that "ending with a news conference" was probably not the ideal conclusion for the TV adaptation.
Why changing the Heated Rivalry episode 6 ending matters.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov on Heated Rivalry episode 6.
HBO Max/Crave Canada
Later in the interview, Tierney expressed that he wanted the Heated Rivalry TV show to reflect "the things that I remembered; the things that imprinted on me" from Reid's books. "What I remember so clearly was just this feeling of 'Oh, they get to be in love,'" he recalled. "That's all that I wanted, was the simplicity of that, of just letting them have a [moment]."
"Just letting them drive together with [Ilya's] hand on [Shane's] neck and just being sweet," the showrunner mused. "That's enough for me."
Heated Rivalry is streaming on HBO Max.
