Heated Rivalry Episode 4 Recap: Does Ilya Confront Shane?

While Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are the main stars of the BL romance “Heated Rivalry,” last week the show swayed the focus away from them to the romance between another hockey captain, Scott Hunter, who fell head over heels for a smoothie barista called Kip. Kip and Scott’s romance was distinctly different by nature from Hollander and Rozanov with its deep loyalty, warmth, and understanding, was left at a cliffhanger after they both had a misunderstanding regarding coming out as a couple. However, while those two can fight fairly about thinking whether to declare themselves a couple to the public, Rozanov and Hollander cannot even declare that much to themselves. If you ask me, they have been stuck in a strangely uncomfortable situationship zone for years now, with a deep denial pulling the two apart from each other, but not for very long! This episode marks the glorious, messy return of our favorite boys, with a tinge of drama, jealousy, and a lot of passion!

Spoilers Ahead

The answer is a big, decisive “nope.” The way their relationship is being portrayed is extremely realistic. This is exactly what happens when there is an undeniable connection between two people who do not want to give in to it but somehow cannot drift away from it either. The show jumps a couple summers with “Lily” and “Jane,” Shane and Ilya’s nicknames for each other, texting each other raunchy but cool-toned text messages. There is a certain reluctance, and of course a tease, in Ilya’s voice where Shane is the one who tries his best to keep everything gathered together. The landscape around them is changing too. Shane’s friends are not only getting married, but also having their fourth baby! Naturally Shane faces obvious questions as to why he is not seeing someone, and friends try to set him up. With the kind of uncertainty he harbors between him and Ilya, it is probably for the best that Shane moves on with his life, but of course he cannot ignore the side-eyes and smirks on the field whenever the two meet. When the two do not, Ilya parties away his evenings as Shane maintains a steady face with practices and brand partnerships.

With occasional hookups in between, in these two years, the two meet again in October 2016. Shane comes over to Ilya’s Boston apartment, and the two have a passionate make-out session. Ilya then starts being his nonchalant self, turns on the hockey, makes some stray comments about the game, and moves on to saying that there is a girl that he likes called Svetlana who is the daughter of a former Soviet hockey goal defender who likes Shane very much. Casually, he drops the information that she is an old friend with whom Ilya sleeps sometimes. He also adds that he likes sleeping with women, catching Shane completely off guard, who I don’t think has seriously seen anyone ever since he started hanging around with Ilya. Balancing this nonchalance, Ilya is making Shane a tuna melt, and things feel oddly intimate for this couple who are not even dating. Shane loses his composure again and starts being emotional during making out; however, he knows himself and, of course, Ilya enough to know that he is committing a mistake. He withdraws and tells Ilya that he has to leave, denying his previous request to stay the night. Ilya does not react, but then again, does he ever let on as to what goes on in his mind?

As I had mentioned before, Shane is facing immense peer pressure from his friends to get married. In an aquarium show in Boston, as he holds his teammate Hayden’s baby, two young fans mistake him for a daddy! Shane also has to face casual questions about his relationship status with Lily (so does Ilya for Jane as Svetlana asks him), which he casually denies. With work and expectations on him, Shane seems to be off-tracking often. He gets sidetracked from his conversations with his parents and looks generally restless in life as his parents try to take him to Wimbledon and set him up with a Swedish princess! While that seems outlandish even for good-boy Shane, I guess it’s time for him to have some on his own terms! So when he gets an invite in Montreal from a friend to a club where the film crew of the film “X Squad” is present, he runs along with the night. This is where Shane meets Rose Landry—an actress who worked in the “X Squad”. She catches Shane’s interest and the two of them strike up a conversation over fries and drinks. And while the night is still young, start holding hands under the table. 

If Rolex poster boy and hockey icon Shane Hollander holds hands with an A-lister actress, it is bound to make headlines. The obvious course follows; the paparazzi lose their sleep over covering Shane’s relationship. Their couple photos appear everywhere and finally reach Ilya’s eyes too. Ilya is filled in by his teammates about this recent romantic development in Hollander’s life, which he listens to intently but with clenched jaws. The boy can surely hold a lot inside.

The spark of jealousy in Ilya is obviously noticeable, but he acts as if it does not bother him at all. In fact, I think he mentioned Svetlana the other day just to test the waters to see whether Shane would be interested in her. However, it is also true that Ilya shows no sign of going official with Shane, so there goes that! 

Before the next game in Montreal, Shane seems to be texting Rose now instead of Ilya. Rose says that she will have to miss the game for a shoot but asks him to join her and Miles at the club in the evening. It is a refreshing change to see Shane elsewhere than with Ilya posting a game with each other, but it is not fully averted. As Shane gets quite cozy on the dance floor with Rose and also Miles (this is a surprise; I thought he was going to go low-key about his orientation). Or did that change now that he has a girlfriend? He spots Ilya making out with a girl on the floor. The two briefly stare into each other’s eyes, then go on with their evening as it turns the heat up. However, while their hands explore other bodies, their minds are pretty much stuck on each other. The evening advances with the pumped-up electronic track “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. and then slowly wraps with an intense cut of first showing Shane with his girlfriend on his bed and Ilya in the shower, lonely and enraged. It is clear that the two are thinking about each other, even when one is alone and the other is in the arms of a loved one. 

Episode 4 ends with quite a pressure cooker moment; feelings this loud don’t fade, they just wait to explode. Shane and Ilya aren’t confused about what they feel, but they’re avoiding confronting the truth of that feeling. While Scott and Kip struggle with how to be public, Shane and Ilya can’t even admit what they are to themselves. Shane dates Rose to possibly feel normal, to move forward in life, and to quiet the noise around him. Ilya pretends not to care, but jealousy is visible in every flinch and grimace he makes. The final scene of the episode makes one thing clear: while Shane is in someone else’s bed and Ilya is alone and seething, this isn’t the end of their story, but just another leaf waiting to be turned before the next chapter!