The Reel Rejects - HEATED RIVALRY Episodes 1 & 2 REVIEW!! (Aaron & Andrew)

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

STRAIGHT GUYS REACT To This Heartfelt & Touching Premiere!! Heated Rivalry Full Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Gift Someone (Or Yourself) An RR Tee! https://shorturl.at/hekk2 With Greg & John wrapped for the season, Aaron & Andrew take the ice to give their Heated Rivalry Reaction, Recap, Analysis, Breakdown, & Spoiler Review!! Aaron Alexander & Andrew Gordon react to Episodes 1 & 2 of Heated Rivalry, the Crave / HBO sports romance series adapted from Rachel Reid’s bestselling novel. The premiere episodes set the foundation for the show’s central tensions—rivalry, attraction, secrecy, and ambition—inside the high-pressure world of professional hockey. Episodes 1 and 2 introduce fierce on-ice rivals Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams – Bel-Air, Holly Hobbie), the disciplined Canadian golden boy, and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie – Slasher, The Porter), the brash, unpredictable Russian superstar. Their first encounters establish a combustible mix of competition and undeniable chemistry that quickly blurs professional boundaries. As their rivalry intensifies across games, media attention, and locker-room encounters, both men begin navigating secret hookups that complicate their careers and personal identities. The opening episodes also begin expanding the series’ emotional scope beyond Shane and Ilya. Scott Hunter (François Arnaud – Midnight, Texas, Blindspot) is positioned as the league’s polished star and public ideal, while Kip (Robbie G.K. – Departure, Murdoch Mysteries) enters the story as an outsider whose presence will eventually challenge hockey’s culture of silence. Together, these storylines establish Heated Rivalry as more than a romance—framing it as a character-driven exploration of masculinity, ambition, and what it costs to hide who you are. Highly discussed moments from the premiere include the charged first clashes between Shane and Ilya, the contrast between public bravado and private vulnerability, and the early signals that this rivalry is headed somewhere far more dangerous—and intimate—than either man expects. Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Follow Andrew Gordon on Socials:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MovieSource Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/agor711/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Agor711 Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, all right, you guys, without further ado, let's get into the time. You guys, thank you so much for watching these first two episodes with us. We really enjoyed them. If you're listening to this in Apple or Spotify, make sure you go and give us five freaking stars. Also, can pass with that over there. And you can like, subscribe. Can pass with that over there. Also, you can go and ring bedside.

bell so you can get notified when more heated rivalry comes out and all the other things happening here on the YouTube channel also if you want to be super duper sexy you can go on over to our Patreon where we do full length watchalongs and highlights included where Greg and John cover exclusives

over there also you can get the full enchilada of what's watching heated rivalry plus all these other things and you can get your questions answered you can send them questions to us we'll answer them have a conversation to big old beautiful time but we also have have what is this? Oh, we got a shirt. Got a cool shirt over here. You can get those at

rejectionation shop.com where you can become a righteous reject and you can be a royal reject and a righteous reject and you get 15% off on these shirts here. So yeah, be cool. Stay in school. Without further ado, let's get into a review of heated rivalry. Andrew, how you feeling post these first two episodes? Great. I really, you know, someone who trains athletes and That's my other job. This is, first of all, great two episodes. I love the chemistry between the two leads in this, Shane and Ilya. And I really, the psychology of what has to go on between them, how they have to keep

this in secret, especially being professional athletes. And also the psyche that goes on into just what they have to go through on a day-to-day basis is something that intrigues me as well as this is something I train. Granted, I'm not training hockey players. I train baseball players. but it's something I can definitely resonate with and it's very fascinating to me and the interesting thing to me is

just watching the two of them because they are of course they're their lovers but also too they have to still stay on that they have to walk that tiptoe that fine line between the balance of staying competitive with each other and also staying more having that moral support for each other too so that's what I really appreciate about the show and yeah there's just so many different

aspects of it that I really appreciate and what was fascinating too was like for instance with ilia's character and this is what i wrote down in here one of the few things i wrote down though was he was allowing like we saw at the very beginning he was literally even though Shane is a very accomplished athlete he's number two draft pick right and ilia was number one but ilia was beating him and literally just about everything whether it was number one draft pick in all the the matches that they were playing, or games rather, but once they started actually, you know, uh,

uh, hooking up and doing things together, now Shane had the advantage. And I think Ilya and then Ilya was trying to, even though he still cared about him affectionately and deeply, he's trying to find an edge to get ahead of him. So he started messaging him things like, are you,

I forgot like the specific text that he sent him, but he's like, were you hard for like the all game and stuff like that. But I found that interesting. interesting like even though he still cared about him trying to get that psychological edge and that stuff that athletes try to do is even like even when i was just friends with someone we try to always get psychological edges with each other because of that competitive balance uh but then after the game of course like all at the window and we're all friends and all that but then i think he came to a realization elia that i still want to be with this man but i think in order especially after this loss in the olympics i think he came to a realization that in order for me to be the best, I need to put this relationship during this season on a brief hold, even though I haven't.

I'm a hardened Russian from my dad and just from the environment I grew up on, and I don't know how to share these feelings with Shane. So I'm not going to communicate this properly, but I need to kind of put the relationship on hold during the season, really lock in and focus on my hockey duties, and then once the everything is done and I'm the winner and number one again

we can resume for the time being and then so I found that to be a fascinating aspect of the thing but I also I felt bad for Shane I think if there would have been a healthy communication which he clearly doesn't under was not born with or did not grow around

he didn't have that nurturing you know but maybe that's going to be like through the relationship of each other they can grow and evolve with each other And I think that's also a thing too for Shane To really be observant in the relationship To understand like he's got ostracizing family members And he grew up in that

So I think that's going to be like a beautiful thing To hopefully watch to see blossom Throughout the rest of the episodes But I really found that to be really sad And intriguing as well That he had to use that as a psychological effect To get the edge back in being number one But I love these two episodes

It was great and I really do mean what I say that next time I watch this show once we finish the six episodes I really do want to start taking shots every time I see a text on screen but what do you think of the first two episodes? I thought they're really good man

I think it's funny that you know even though that I'm trying to figure out how to get to the epitome of my point I think I think romance and the human experience

of experiencing each other is a universal thing regardless of sexual orientation or whatnot and it's so funny watching a show like this because I've never, this is my first time watching a purely non-petro show

that has these two leads in it but it's interesting watching a show like this and seeing the the same sort of I guess romantic dynamics sort of play out with like people that are more anxious and people that are more avoidant

and the elements that fall into why these people sort of why these two play into their certain roles and the environment around them that kind of plays into how they operate. Clearly Shane is the more anxious of the two

whereas Ilya is more of the avoid And it does suck that they both have these fears of, you know, one being more fearful of, like, being out and exposed, the other one being more fearful of, like, getting close. And while still having that connection, there's, like, still a sense of, of loyalty, even though they can't fall into it, both within their private time and publicly, because they've never actually. spent the night together, and even in this last time, they couldn't, he really wouldn't even kiss him. And I'm like, dang, that, that sucks. And I can put, I can, like, imagine how that would affect someone, um, psychologically. And I've even known people in my life who, like, had their past relationships and they were dating somebody who, like, never even, like, kissed them.

It was just all purely about sex. I'm like, dang, that really sucks. Right? Isn't that awful? Yeah. I mean, he didn't. And not like, just two seconds. he didn't even know what to text him at the end he kept on deleting his saying i was like

oh i feel so bad for him but yeah sorry continue and it's so funny it's so funny that um someone like ilia can be someone who's like tender and shepherding and loving into someone you know having their sexual awakening and into this uh this uncharted territory of being with another man yet still has those conventional um blockers up of you know got to like stay stern and hard and not express myself and open up about my feelings and push people away which i feel like is traditionally a masculine trait and the the juxtaposition of him being i guess more at least when they first started it seemed like more um more tender now it's like more hard more of like an escape and and and this power game between us i feel like

it started off as something like it's more pure and innocent and now that um ilia is having more trouble at home. He is now just using Shane essentially to kind of get off his rocks. And you see that when they were in the bathroom, I think the actor did such a great job of showcasing this is that he is angry at him. He's confused by his actions, yet he still wants him. And he was trying to be the one in the power position, like get on your knees. Like he had to tell him, like Ilya had to tell Shane to ask him to get on his knees to do it and then even then he was like no we're going to do it on my terms my way and then he just kind of folded and conform to what he wanted because at the end of the day he just he just wants him this is this only sexual experience

where he feels like he can be authentic in himself and yeah it's just sad and I'm hoping that they can finally embrace each other and find a way to be honest. honest about what's going on within their own lives going on within their relationship. I think it's done a great job of showcasing their relationship in a way that feels intimate and authentic to their experiences. And I feel like the subtlety and their acting really communicates that as well. But yeah, I think it's a really well-written, well-acted show, like, generally. Yeah, no, I agree with everything you're saying, too. I also find the contrast too

so fascinating as well when it comes to I'm sure Ilya doesn't want like the public knowing about it but he's also got that that hardened stance of I don't give a shit type of stance as well yeah yeah for sure

for sure but like whenever they're on the roof or they're in that windows still and you know Shane's more about like just public perception and just because of professional athletes and you know it's such a masculine thing to be a professional athlete

and people would scoff at that and ostracize such a thing as being gay which it shouldn't be it's not that big of a deal to people who love each other so I do find those contrast to be very intriguing for sure

but that's what makes those two so whole is they're so polar opposite but you still feel that chemistry really rampant through the two them. And then I also found it too really interesting when Shane was really like starting to I was talking about him

I want him to be a little more observant but obviously they don't spend a ton of time together of course. But he's pushing him away so how could he even ask him? I was about I was just about say that while he does get pushed away and when they were in bed he was trying to talk to him he was trying to say hey maybe you know

maybe Russia doesn't have to be home maybe you could move here. Do you not feel safe there? He was trying to unpack there and get to the bottom of it and then kind of really did push him away there so yeah totally I do agree with that but I think as the season gets on we're

we're going to get more of Shane just really being there being more observant towards him and also just unpacking hopefully Ilya is going to be in a place where he feels vulnerable enough to share because I think that's the thing with Ilya the two things like

arc-wise that I want to see happen with him for me at least personally is healthy community just being in a vulnerable place to communicate with Shane and also standing up to his dad I want to see those two things as well and then one last thing I just want to say I also found the contrast between the the two parents for or the parents for both the characters to be rather intriguing as well when it came to Shane's parents like they're very sweet and lovable but also a little bit controlling like this is what you need to do with your career like in a nice and lovable way

the Reebok and Rolex and you need to do this and you need to do that whereas the other dad controlling but also ostracizing at the same time so it's it was it was interesting to see like the

the the dichotomy and the in the contrast between the two I found yeah I feel bad for Ilya because he does even though you know he is pushing and Shane not pushing him around but you know not not being transparent with him about where he is and what he wants and kind of putting this wall between the two of them.

I'm not texting back for six months and then all of a sudden like suck him off right here right now and you know, I feel like anyone with who with a semblance of self-respective would like, no, like I'm not going to do that because what the hell? You know, we're communicating with me, but he just wants him so badly. Of course. You know, he's just willing to take any piece that he can get, which is like such a real thing that people go through and I feel like I feel for that but what I was going to say I thought it was interesting that scene with shot with Sasha and after the girlfriend leaves because it's never

I don't think it explicitly stated and if it is at this point sorry if we missed it if we were talking or something but I got the implication that Sasha was the one that was uh the one that what's what's the term I'm looking for essentially gave Ailey his own sexual awakening and then by proxy is the one who has the power in their relationship dynamic he's the one that initiates he's the one who's like the dominant one within their thing definitely seemed that way yeah and then obviously with ilia being shane's first he's the one that has that power within their dynamic so i thought that was very interesting i think the one thing that i'm i'm that it's tough because on one hand i feel like it's criticism on the other hand

I feel like it's a strength of the show is that this passage of time that we keep mentioning. It doesn't feel like it's been a number of years that has passed. Yeah. But because, so on one hand, I'm like, okay, I wish it actually felt like years were passing. Right. But on the other hand, you do feel the comfortability and the chemistry between them. Sure. Get stronger with each period.

Yeah. And also because we're not seeing them in their day-to-day life. if we're only seeing them during these select periods of time, that's the period of time in which their relationship is evolving. So their relationship is, the timeline of their relationship is over the course of those years, but the actual time that's passed is longer than that. Right.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, of course. And I get why they have to do it as well because for professional athletes, they don't see their loved ones at a lot of times, months at a time, because they're on the road so often. And so it makes sense.

that they're doing it but i do agree with what you're saying totally yeah yeah so it's it is interesting i'm curious to see how things progress and what happens with ilia's dad does does he have some sort of dementia is he gonna continue that's what i thought was going on yeah is he going to continue to you know be the the piggy bank for his brother and his life because that part sucks i was like you don't owe him anything you know i mean maybe there's more to the story we know Maybe he feels bad for the fact that, you know, his brother has a kid, so he feels a sense of responsibility. Maybe it's a cultural thing. I don't know.

Makes him feel guilty over the fact of that or something, yeah. Yeah, but I think we'll continue to find out in the coming episodes. Yeah. Yeah, do you have any final thoughts before we close on this one out? No, just really enjoying it. Great chemistry between the two characters. I love the dynamic. It's the, like I said earlier, the psychology between two athletes who have to keep something so beautiful and harmonics,

such a secret it really is tragic and it's also it's uh the relationship is so is so beautiful to watch uh blossom on screen together as well but uh yeah i've been really enjoying it so far and so far through two episodes i get why this is such a hit show and excited to see what uh what comes next cool beans well all right you guys that'll do it for us on this one and we will see you guys on our next episode of seasons of episodes three and four in the next video when it comes out Until then.