My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Hunter"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Scott (to Kip): "I want you more than I've wanted anything in a long time."

I have to admit the secrecy surrounding this episode was absolutely amusing. I mean why did they hold off on revealing the title when most knew that Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud) was going to be the main focus? It did seem a bit silly.

As for the episode, oh I absolutely enjoyed this one immensely. While it might have been a bit jarring to bench both Shane and Ilya so soon, everything that happened with Scott made me not miss them as much as i thought I would.

I think we all clocked Scott being gay in the first two episodes and he certainly clocked Shane and Ilya as well. This episode confirmed Scott to be gay and focused on his relationship with lovely smoothie barista Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.). I think I might ship Scott/Kip more than Shane/Ilya if I'm being honest.

Francois Arnaud and Robbie G.K. just have such great chemistry with one another and while their story did hit the usual tropes, I didn't care. Bonding over a smoothie choice, nesting about serial killers and asking to stay. Everything just hit beautifully with the two, even though the reality of Scott being closeted was in the background and waiting to split them up.

Kip had a nice support system. His friends Shawn (Brandon Ash-Mohammed) and Elena (Nadine Bhabha) certainly had Kip's back with Nadine giving Scott a bit of a reality check. Then there's Kip's father, George (Matt Gordon), who also had Kip's back when he needed.

As for Scott, I do think the episode provided a sympathetic reason for him being unable to come out. Book fans know it's coming and non book fans would've reduced. We did learn about Scott's family tragedy and how hockey saved him. We also saw the post break up regret he had too.  All of which was played beautifully. 

- Kip worked at Straw+Berry and it was his Blueberry and Banana Smoothie that won Scott over.

- Scott admitted to being too lazy to be a serial killer but knew the difference between that and a spree killer.

- We did briefly see both Shane and Ilya. Both of them got on Scott's nerves this week.

- Chronology: October 2013 to February 2014, focusing on the Scott/Kip relationship.

Hunter was an excellent third episode. I can understand why some might have been disappointed with Shane/Ilya being sidelined but I absolutely loved the focus on Scott/Kip that I wanted more from the pairing.

Rating: 8 out of 10