Heated Rivalry Season 1 Finale Ends in 2025 With an Emotional Image Burner

This article contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of “Heated Rivalry,” “The Cottage.”

I have this problem. My problem is that I’m obsessed with this Canadian TV show with beautiful artistry and a low budget. And I never want the problem to go away.

“Heated Rivalry,” Jacob Tierney’s intoxicating adaptation of Rachel Reid’s New York Times bestselling novel series, held off the final batch of episodes in the final season of “Stranger Things” and the Christmas holiday/Boxing Day double with its Season 1 finale, “The Cottage.” It is completely normal that such an addictive and bright streaming TV series would ride off into the sunset with an episode based on precision and tenderness. “The Cottage” is a languorous if deeply moving hour compared to last week’s. Emmy-worthy (although perhaps not eligible) episode “I Believe in Anything”, and it served as the perfect ending to one of the best new shows of 2025.

François Arnaud returned as MVP Scott Hunter to deliver a touching speech at the Major League Hockey awards show about why he chose to step aside after winning the Cup, a decision that gave rivals-turned-lovers Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) the hope that awaits them in their own futures as a couple. After years of slowly developing a semblance of a relationship through physical explorations, the couple decided to spend two weeks isolated at Shane’s cabin to see what it’s like to be together without the risk of getting caught. Filmed before season 2 received the green lightShane and Ilya’s stay at “The Cottage” was nothing short of eye-opening – with or without the threat of pesky Canadian wolfbirds.

Anchored by the contained, breathtaking performances of Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, watching “The Cottage” felt like witnessing a historic hour of real-time television. After years of intense, intense relationships, Shane and Ilya have learned what it means to simply exist together when they’re not being watched, because relationships are built on the sweetness of ordinariness. And as has been the case all season, there’s so much more to say outside of the scripted dialogue. Williams and Storrie continue to prove they’re masters of microexpression work, and after Storrie’s elimination monologue in Episode 5, Williams delivered her finest hour in the finale.

It’s remarkable to watch Williams bring Shane to life, his face holding pain, desire, fear, love and determination – sometimes all at once. During a particularly emotional conversation about their future, Shane, canonically autistic, tried to mask his true feelings, but as Williams’ eyes softened and watered, he managed to keep control of his tears, which never fell. This restraint made the emotion even stronger, but Storrie was there to keep up. Feel free to mark “Connor Storrie’s delivery of “She Would Have Loved You.” How I love you” as the cause of my death.

But we watched these boys fall in love, struggle with difficult emotions, and tell us stories through unspoken words for weeks. “The Cottage” provided a fantastic showcase of the duo’s comedic timing, physical acting (beyond their usual dates) and ability to rejoice. Williams and Storrie are proving to be generational talents, and if arthouse and arthouse directors aren’t fighting in the streets for the chance to work with them next, something is seriously wrong.

Over the past few weeks, I (and the legion of superfans) have watched with growing annoyance as the media and big business compete for mental gymnastics gold, trying to understand why “Heated Rivalry” is so popular. It’s like they’re all watching the speech unfold with blinders on, unable to see anything other than “sexy half-naked men.” It’s honestly a little embarrassing to see people questioning themselves, when Jacob Tierney has put together a series with a phenomenal cast, a powerful storyline, a soundtrack full of needs so good they put songs on the charts decades after their releasestunning cinematography and a visual storytelling style so compelling it makes audiences put down their damn phones. (Not to mention the built-in fan base, but that’s another discussion for another day).

This is what happens when you trust a creator to realize your vision as intended. And when you hired a cinematographer like Jackson Parrell, who is a visual maestro, the result is *pinched hand* movie theater. Tierney already had a pedigree that more than proved he was a talented director (“Shoresy” and “Letterkenny” are perfect, thank you), but he imbues “Heated Rivalry” with so much affection that it’s palpable. The finale feels like an emotional release valve, but it’s more effective because Tierney wasn’t afraid to spend the entire first season achieving it. The “premium smut,” as he called it during the press tour, may be what got people talking (shout out to intimacy coordinator Chala Hunter), but it was Tierney’s execution that kept audiences coming back, especially those unfamiliar with the books.

If a show isn’t performed with the same level of passion for the work, how can the audience be expected to care? Sorry, all the othersJacob Tierney has set the bar very high.

It was a great year for adaptations that make changes to the source material for the betterand “Heated Rivalry” is no exception. Rachel Reid’s novels were already beloved and popular for a reason, but Tierney’s high implementation of her work should be considered the benchmark for the future. The small line changes (“Sir, I’m just a hunter!”) are commendable, but the inclusion of a scene not in the books – namely, Shane talking to his mother Yuna (Christina Chang) – eviscerated me. I don’t want to be the kind of media analyst who repeatedly draws parallels to their personal life, but I just can’t take my lived experience out of the equation this time around.

When I knew I had fallen in love with my current wife, it also meant I was going to blow up my life to be with her. I would (and have) lost friendships. I would (and have) lost job opportunities. I should (and thankfully did) sign up for a life that would be much more difficult. I couldn’t stop crying when I finally told my parents. Like Shane, I felt obligated to apologize. Like Yuna, my mother tearfully apologized for making me feel like I necessary to apologize. I had also foolishly chosen to tell them about the night the Chicago Blackhawks finished with their worst regular season performance in 10 years, which makes the hockey connection almost too difficult to process.

We’ve been together for almost a decade, but while the world is as homophobic and transphobic as it is right now, some days still carry the weight of being in the closet. In less capable hands, this moment would have definitely crushed my soul, but with Tierney’s direction and Williams and Chang’s spectacular performances, I feel…lighter.

“The Cottage” is a triumph because, like the titular location itself, it is the quiet distillation of the story’s massive scope. Shane and Ilya had fallen in love over agonizing stolen moments behind closed doors across North America for nearly a decade, providing a facade of who they are in front of millions of adoring fans. Condensing eight and a half years into episodes of isx television, “Heated Rivalry” flew faster than an overtime romp, but in the domestic, idyllic embrace of the cottage, its story – and the couple at the center of it – have the space to revel in the beauty that comes from it.

Nearly half of all LGBTQIA+ characters on TV won’t return in 2026a reflection of the industry’s growing capitulation to conservatism and censorship of homosexuality. It’s ironic, in the face of undeniable, data-backed evidence, that audiences are yearning for more stories like “Heated Rivalry.” Really, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so depressing and reflective the increased anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment currently rampant real people.

It’s easy to joke and meme about “hot gay hockey show,” but the reality is that “Heated Rivalry” was as important as it was well-crafted. The sex scenes were explicit because the show doesn’t believe queer sex is shameful. Every moment on screen mattered, because situations like these matter. The moving honesty of the multiple coming out stories and the relationships that developed through them were handled with care, because queer people deserve to be cared about. Tierney wisely chose to end the season with Shane and Ilya returning to the chalet, the start of the golden hour shining on their smiling faces.

At a time when things are so dark for so many people, “Heated Rivalry” was a ray of sunshine.