Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Cottage

And just like that, Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 6, “The Cottage,” brings us to the end of a monumentally acclaimed first season. And what an ending it is. 

If the rest of the season has been nearly perfect, this finale just enhances that to a higher degree. The care and consideration that went into these characters all season long culminates in a perfect happy ending that was hard won.

And of course, driving off into the sunset is always a cliche type ending, but for Shane and Ilya that sort of ending is exactly what they deserve. They deserve simple happiness after all they’ve endured along the way.

They’re Both Nervous But Happy

From the start we can see these are two men who have been connected to each other sexually for a very long time, but still don’t know how to act with each other. After all, this is the first time they are being given time to really get to know one another.

It is clear that the events of Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 5, “I’ll Believe in Anything,” have opened up the lock boxes on their hearts. To a point where they are no longer going to be able to use sex to get through their relationship.

Shane and Ilya have now reached the point in their love story where they have to communicate with words instead of just actions. There needs to be an opening of their hearts and their souls to each other.

Giving them an oasis of privacy away from everyone and everything putting pressure on them is the exact recipe for success in this shift. Shane’s cottage is the perfect place for them to reveal parts of themselves that they can now trust the other with.

This means they have to talk about more than just hockey. Having them arrive at a cottage filled with openness and light, sets the stage perfectly for that.

A Cottage of Windows vs. Letting Themselves Be Seen

So, in itself, the cottage becomes the third, most important character on Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 6, “The Cottage.” Here is a home that Shane Hollander built for himself where he feels most comfortable, most open.

It’s clear that while this home is big enough for guests, Shane has never felt comfortable enough in himself to ever invite anyone but his parents there. Even when the produces made the documentary about his home, it was mostly from the outside.

However, now, he’s confident in his sexuality and he’s certain of his feelings for Ilya Rozanov. And while he doesn’t say either of these things explicitly (at first) the evidence is there because he has let Ilya come stay at this oasis of solitude and openness. 

There is something to be said about how Shane Hollander has gone from Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 1, “Rookies,” where being out in the open, with Ilya, on the top of a high rise hotel was terrifying for him. To Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 6, “The Cottage,” where a home that has nothing but walls of windows is a comfort to him and he’s allowing Ilya into that bubble of comfort.

Sure, he does try to close the windows when he and Ilya first try to have sex in his bedroom, but Ilya takes the remote away and puts the shades back up. The fact that Shane doesn’t immediately shut down at this, and instead does the opposite shows just how much he cares about Ilya and cultivating this thing between them.

Neither of them are ready to be open in the world’s eyes, but here in a secluded cottage by a lake, they care about each other enough to be open and vulnerable. Shane’s request that they be honest the whole time they are there is initially met with teasing from Ilya, but Ilya’s actions show just how much he’s willing to try. 

No longer is Ilya standing there with distance, afraid to show Shane any affection outside of sex. No, now Ilya is hugging Shane from behind, placing comforting touches during tricky conversations, and most of all, he’s allowing Shane to comfort him as he lays in Shane’s lap and talks about his dead mother.

It’s a vulnerability that we’ve gotten glimpses of, but never in full force. Ilya is in love and he’s no longer afraid to express it.

The Quiet Love is The Point

Most of Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episode 6, “The Cottage,” happens within a bubble of solitude, but that is the whole point. These are two men who’ve been taught that expressing love for each other is both dangerous and potentially career ending. 

They’ve learned to be quiet about how they move through the world together and apart. Now, they are being given a freedom to express their love in big ways and yet they still choose to be quieter about that expression.

However, that in itself is its own rebellion. Ilya and Shane might not be doing any grand gestures throughout their time at the cottage, and yet the way they do express their love has a similar impact just the same.

Take the conversation they have about Ilya wanting Canadian citizenship. It’s a soft conversation, late at night, while cuddled under separate blankets, but together. 

Ilya brings up Svetlana as a potential marriage option for him to gain citizenship. In the past this would’ve been the end of the discussion, he wouldn’t have gently walked Shane through his full process of coming to this conclusion.

However, here he pauses and explains that he’s surrounded by women, all of whom he could marry, but all he can think about is Shane. Therefore, he feels the best marriage option for him is Svetlana because there are no emotional stakes and it allows him the freedom to still love Shane.

However, Shane asks him not to marry Svetlana and Ilya immediately, and softly, agrees. Then, a few hours later, when Shane presents an alternate choice, Ilya is moved to tears.

It is in this moment that he puts caution to the wind and confesses his love, both in Russian and then again in English. It’s something that has been crackling between them since his call from Russia, but now it’s before them and the result is electric.

Once again, this isn’t some grand love confession, which makes it grand in its own right. Ilya is in the arms of the man he loves, being told that this man would do anything for them to have a future together, and he decides now is when I tell him.

The confession is whispered between them before they embrace tightly and continue to confess just how much this love means to them. It’s a beautiful depiction of a moment from the book that holds so much weight.

Storrie and Williams put other romance actors to shame with how delicately they handle this moment and all the quiet, loving moments after. We can truly feel the weight lifting off their shoulders as they realize they’re both in this just as deeply as the other.

Ilya’s Strength Becomes Shane’s Anchor

This quiet love and adoration comes out most in Ilya during the final fifteen minutes of the episode. He sees Shane freaking out and instead of his usual brand of cocky humor, Ilya quiets himself down and gently walks Shane through it all.

Shane’s father seeing them kiss is naturally going to cause the very tightly wound, control-seeking, Shane to spiral into a panic. He can’t seem to get a handle on himself or his emotions. 

Ilya stands there and gently says his name and waits for Shane to come into his bubble instead of trying to enter Shane’s first. It’s a sign of love and respect for Shane’s needs, despite Ilya’s go-to being touch and acts of comfort.

He doesn’t touch or even embrace Shane until his boyfriend approaches him and puts his hands on Ilya’s shoulders. He gently tells Shane that maybe it will be okay, that maybe his parents won’t freak out.

He never once belittles Shane or gives him a hard time about his panic, instead he lets Shane make all the decisions about what they are going to do. We see this even more once they arrive at Shane’s parents house.

Ilya stands back from Shane, not touching him. He even has has hands clasped together to prevent himself from doing it. And then when they are sitting at the table he busies his hands with a mug and then a cup. But all the while his eyes are consistently floating to Shane, doing quiet check ins to make sure Shane is okay.

He doesn’t touch Shane until Shane starts to go into a full panic attack. At which time he starts to rub Shane’s knee and then graduates to his back once he realizes Shane needs the reassurance. 

It isn’t until Shane confirms he’s okay with the boyfriend label that Ilya leans in to kiss him. There is a strength in how beautifully Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams work off each other in these scenes. 

Their body language informs how their characters are feeling and how their characters are reacting to each other. I’ve praised Storrie and especially Williams’ physical acting in previous episodes, but the coming out moments are by far the masterclass of them all.

Shane and His Mom – A Round of Forgiveness

Before we say goodbye to Heated Rivalry Season 1, I want to dive into another scene from the moments with Shane’s parents. This is a scene that doesn’t exist in the book, but is very necessary for the narrative of the show.

It is the moment between Shane and his mom outside the home after Shane has admitted he’s been with Ilya since before their rookie season. While this wasn’t completely necessary for the book, with Tierney putting more emphasis on Shane’s Asian heritage and the impact it has on his career and the pressures he carries, it was absolutely needed here.

When Shane apologizes to his mom for trying to be different but not being able to help himself, it really feels like he’s apologizing for failing at being the ideal image of an Asian athlete. He feels all this guilt over being gay because it directly conflicts with what his mom has been drilling into him since he started to show potential as a professional hockey player.

Even better is his mom responding with reassurance that he’s done nothing wrong, but also regretting that she put any extra pressure on him. It’s a moment of forgiveness between two people who love each other very much, and have now realized their actions have potentially hurt the other person, even if unintentionally.

Shane telling his mom that he forgives her and she responding with statements of pride and love is a layered moment that truly blows us away. It further informs these characters and subtly reminds us, the audience, that they are outsiders in the world of hockey because of their heritage.

It’s in this moment that we really see just how much pressure Shane is under, even if some of it is self-imposed. And we see just how similar these two people are in how they handle stress and move through the world.

All season long, Yuna has gotten mixed reviews from viewers because of her parenting style. But this moment is Tierney reminding us that she is a mom who loves her son unconditionally and just wants to see him succeed and be happy.

Stray Thoughts

• Ilya’s reaction to the loon is hilarious. Connor Storrie nailed that whole conversation.
• I am SHOCKED we still got the Hayden phone sex moment.
• “She would’ve loved you like I love you.” Gosh freely down bad Ilya Rozanov is going to be my undoing.
• Yuna judging Ilya for leaving Boston for Ottawa because of loyalty to his team really shows us where Shane gets his intensity about the sport from.
• Shane saying, “He’s trying to be loyal to me not Boston” is so iconic. This from the guy who was terrified to say he was gay not even a month ago.
• The foot tap under the table after admitting they’ve only ever loved each other…be still my heart.
• “Please text. Thank you for the pasta.” Ilya has just found a family to love him and he doesn’t even know it yet.

 

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Heated Rivalry Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max and Crave.

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