My Review of Heated Rivalry: "I'll Believe In Anything"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Ilya (to Shane): "I'm coming to the cottage."

Wow, what a hell of an episode. I can only imagine for book fans what it must have been to see the events of this episode play out onscreen. As a non book fan, I genuinely think this topped Hunter as my favourite episode.

That's twice this season that Scott and Kip have pushed the show into a positive. The exploration of their love story was incredible but a win for Scott having him out his relationship with Kip so publicly. Yes, it veered into fantasy wish fulfilment territory but it was so well handled.

Especially when you consider that Scott and Kip only appeared at the end while Shane and Ilya were recovering from their own injuries. Scott and Kip really are the bar that have been set for Shane and Ilya. Will they make their relationship public in the finale? We'll see.

Things got a lot more emotional for the two with the more steamy of scenes being parked in favour for it. In this case, that's not a criticism. It was nice to see both men being vulnerable with one another. Shane admitted he had real feelings for Ilya and Ilya also had to cope with the loss of his father.

There's a beautiful but long conversation on the phone between Shane and Ilya with the latter spoke Russian throughout. It was a great way for Ilya to offload his issues and for Shane to be a positive sounding board for him.

Then there's the cottage. It's the title of the finale and Shane invited Ilya to spend time there, which the latter was reluctant in doing so. Of course with the ending of this episode, Ilya had a change of heart on the matter.

- Shane's coming out scene with Rose was beautifully handled. Every gay guy deserves a friend like Rose. 

- Shane's mother might know her stuff about hockey but she definitely didn't see the Scott/Kip kiss coming a mile off.

- UK/Irish viewers will be able to watch this show from January 10th. 

- Chronology: Late 2016 to May 2017. Boston, Moscow and Montreal.

I'll Believe In Anything was absolutely brilliant. Longer than earlier episode (though still under an hour), this was a great culmination in Scott/Kip's story and a brilliant way to really move things forward with Shane/Ilya.

Rating: 9 out of 10