And now for something completely different. Well, not completely. There's still gay hockey players. Just not the two that we've grown to love.
When I first saw that we were going to spend an entire episode away from Shane and Ilya, I was annoyed. We only have six episodes! I don't want to sacrifice anything! We don't have time for a side quest! Give me back my boys!
Well, I was wrong and I now have two new boys that I have adopted and want to be safe and happy and in love. Especially Kip.
Backing up a little. Heated Rivalry is technically the second book in the series. The first, Game Changer, is Scott and Kip's story. Almost the entire book is condensed into this episode. And it shows. My biggest critique of the episode is that Kip's growing isolation didn't really come across as strongly as it should have. It made Elena's assertion that he was miserable feel a little out of left field.
But that's my only sincere complaint. I have a few snarkier comments, like how Kip and Scott really should have pre-planned what they were going to say at the art gallery, but that's minor. And snarky. And it's hard to be snarky with this episode because most of it is joyful in a way that is so different than Shane and Ilya's story.
We got a more classical romance, right down to the meet cute. It was a very cute meeting too. The chemistry was immediate without being overtly sexual. It was that fun, butterflies in your stomach kind where you're still trying to figure out if the other person is interested or not without overplaying your hand. I just had a huge smile on my face during all of the smoothie shop scenes.
If I had to highlight one specific line from them, it would definitely be Kip's line about hockey players looking like hot lumberjacks in May. Just the moment of silence afterwards where Scott doesn't say anything and you can see Kip kick himself over potentially misreading the vibes. It just felt very natural and honest.
Things got very, very intense very very quickly from there, but at least Scott knew and acknowledged that he was being incredibly intense when he asked Kip to move in with him literally the morning after they do anything more than casually flirt. He gets credit for being so self-aware, and for getting consent before letting his intensity shine.
There was a lot of consent during the sex scenes too, which I continue to adore. Seriously, the way that this show handles consent is just lovely. It reaffirms that the characters really do actually want each other. That they're choosing to be with each other. I love it.
And I love Kip. Not only is he absolutely beautiful, but he's just such a refreshing character. He's an out gay man with an amazing, loving relationship with his dad and an amazing, supportive friend group. He's not alone. He has a community that he loves and that loves him back.
Shane, Ilya, and Scott are all so isolated. Even though they have friends, they don't have anyone that they can fully be honest with. Kip has several people.
And that's partly why he and Scott fall apart at the end. Or at least start to crumble. (I'm undecided on if they broke up or not.) It is very hard to ask someone who is so comfortably open to come back into the closet with you. It's not a fair thing to ask. The heartbreaking thing is that Scott knows this. He knows that it's not okay that he freaked out in the art gallery and he knows that Kip deserves to be loved in front of the world, but he can't take that step.
Scott might be comfortable with the fact that he's gay, but he's almost more terrified than Shane of anyone finding out, of losing hockey. It's hard to blame him given just how important hockey is to him. It is literally everything in Scott's life. You can even read into the fact that Scott was supported by St. Thomas, a clearly religious institution that was probably not the most outwardly accepting space back when Scott was a teenager and figuring out what his sexuality was. Especially not in the late 90s/early 00s depending on how old Scott is.
It's not easy for him to simply come out, and I appreciate that he isn't villainized for that. He and Kip have different needs from the relationship. Right now, they can't fully provide for those needs. It's human. It's low key a very normal issue for relationships to have. At least, more normal than covertly hooking up with your arch rival during the few times you're both in the same city.
But now Kip is going to grad school somewhere, potentially Boston. Maybe some space and time is exactly what they both need.
Random Thoughts
There was some debate after my last review about who won the gold medal in Sochi. We're very clearly not following reality here as the US is in the gold medal game.
I really thought that Scott's surprise in the closet was going to be the painting, but that might have been too on the nose.
Insert joke about bananas being phallic and making things better here.
Ilya telling his entire team that he loves them when they come off the ice.
Note from later: the song that Scott is running to at the beginning is "I'll Believe in Everything." Yes, I did gasp when I was doing my rewatch.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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