Ah yes. I did get that Shane’s mom was “reminding” him of the importance of representing, which puts even more pressure on him to perform and succeed. Thank you for clarifying Illya’s conversation with his father. I did get, without understanding the words, that his father was unreasonably angry at his son who was performing well. Since I didn’t have subtitles. I read a recap of episode 1 after watching and the recap said Illya was talking to his brother on the phone, not his father. Not sure if that recap was wrong or if I misinterpreted those scenes.
Oh, right. The scene is his brother asking for money and then Ilya asking about their father, because he's doing some weird things. That might be where he tells his brother that his father asked him to bring home bread?
IIRC, there were only a few short texts in episode 1. What did I miss? I have no problem with subtitles but texts are always so tiny and quick. I’m not watching this alone so I didn’t grab the remote to pause it. Maybe I will for the next episode. LOL, they should subtitle the texts.
I honestly can't even remember in episode 1 -- I think that's mostly just them putting each other into their phones under aliases and then there's the snowstorm, where Shane says "Next time I guess?" and Ilya leaves him on read.
Way more texting at the start of episode two, but it's mostly flirting.
I’ve watched enough sports to surmise that so that didn’t bother me as much as the unsubtitled Russian.
No, Shane being able to speak French while playing for a French Canadian team was the point. He'd be considered an ideal golden-boy type for Canada. We'd be obsessed with him and his city would love him.
Clearly this show is a big hit in Canada but it’s also currently the #1 watched show on HBO Max. (The Pitt is #2 but will probably pop back to #1 since S2 starts tonight.)
Yes, it's been a giant hit everywhere, particularly since there weren't really any expectations for it. I figured The Pitt will knock it down.
Heated Rivalry is a short time commitment so I’m going to stick with it and see if it grows on me. I don’t hate it. I just don’t see the big deal. Neither lead actor or character has wowed me. Did you see Fellow Travelers? I loved Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey’s romance in that. But it was a much more substantial story.
A major difference is that Heated Rivalry is a story about a relationship. That's it. I wouldn't call it less substantial, but if you want more to be happening, that's exactly what Heated Rivalry's creator wanted to avoid. He very purposely did not want other elements crowding into the primary story. It's not a thriller, it's not a heist movie, it's not a comedy -- it's a love story.
