"Heated Rivalry Season 1" Aggressively Mid

    I did it. I finally bit the bullet. I had been hearing so much about this show, and as a Canadian, I had felt like missing out on a real moment of cultural heritage. How often is it do you see an entirely Canadian produced show sweep western society like that? Not very often. So I gave it a shot, after all it was only six episodes. How bad could it be? Well, I sort of stopped watching after episode two for a week or so, not really getting anything out of it, but then a friend mentioned it again. So I gave it another shot, and I wouldn't say this show blew me away, but at the very least it was beginning to slightly redeem itself. Let's talk about it.

    For better or worse this series is basically just fanfiction inspired by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. I say that because the first two episodes basically just feel like one long montage spliced together with long, drawn out, gay sex scenes. There's no other way to put it but this show loves it's sex scenes, and for better or worse it's sort of become it's main draw. I'm not saying to disparage the sex scenes, I don't particularly care whose having sex on my screen. I only bring it up because it's kind of jarring watching the episodes only to notice that they just kind of hardly have any sort of dialogue in the show. And it really hurts particularly in the first couple of episodes. 

    Of course in the context of the show it mostly works. Shane is super closeted and still coming to terms with his sexuality, Ilya is an ESL speaker, and they both just start off with hookups. But on the other hand there's just a lot of meat left on the bone with this show. I mean they won't even say the word masculinity, or even approach/broach the topic of why sports can feel so homophobic. Because why would they? This show is basically just a way to deliver soft-core porn to women (no offense). That's why the reveal at the very end of the season, where Shane comes out to his parents, lacks the sort of impact that you'd expect. Viewers literally get zero tense moments about what it means to be gay in secret in a very aggressive, male-dominated space. His parents are just kind of like wow good for you, and he has a breakdown, but viewers don't see why he would have one.

    I suppose as a sports fan I already understand, I mean people get pissy over straight dudes painting their nails, and that was in the 2020's, but any sort of commentary in this show is so hilariously shallow it's easy to forget you're even wading in them. Like they only speak in code as if it's illegal to say the word masculinity, or to say you're a top or a bottom. It's just kind of baffling. Of course, this all sounds so overwhelmingly negative surely I hated it all, but in fact I'd say it sort of steers itself back onto course by the second half.

    One character I do enjoy is Scott Hunter. The one episode focusing on him and Kip was way better than anything involving Shane and Ilya. I don't get any of the comments about Shane and Ilya's chemistry, everything's purposely so awkward between all of the time, and I understand why, but it doesn't exactly endear themselves to viewers. On the other hand, Kip and Scott are so adorable. In fact, my only complaint about them is that Kip's actor reminds me of like a Charlie Kirk variant, it's uncanny.

    I'm not saying they wash away all of the sins I just listed in the second half, far from it. But at the very least there are actual gay relationships I don't mind. And at the very least they finally start to address some of the backstory/plot things involving these characters. Like Ilya and his family, or Scott's inner turmoil for Kip. It's basically just Ilya I'm going to be honest I'm trying to like Shane but his storyline isn't the most riveting. He claims he has a lot to represent (they never specify what, is it because he's half asian?) He's always freaking out about someone finding out if he's gay, despite his parents being super supportive of him at that point. If they pointed out the homophobia in sports then maybe I'd get it, but with what they give viewers there little to suggest that Shane has much to lose by being openly gay.

Final Score: 50/100

    I saw someone call this show slop and yeah they might probably be right. I suppose if you're a child and this is your first venture into gay media this might really excite you, or you like the prospect of a gay relationship being on screen and the focus. The only issue is THEY DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH IT. This show is the definition of all style no substance. I was hoping for anything slightly nuanced about being a gay athlete. It's like that meme about anime's with only "hype moments and aura" and no good writing. Except there aren't too many hype moments in this show really. Unless it's my GOAT Scott Hunter. I can't believe a Canadian show has me liking the Russian guy and American guy more than the Canadian guy. For shame, for shame.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Chef" The Perfect Feel Good Movie

Image
      I don't even know how to write a proper review about this film because truthfully it's been one of my favourite films for a very long time. I remember as a teenager when I was down I'd just watch it as one of those feel-good movies I could enjoy, because that's what it is. It probably won't leave a profound impact on the way you view life, but what it will do is leave you with that special, fuzzy feeling inside, and that's what's important. I mean what's not to like, there's good food, there's family, and there's a happy ending. Really, the only reason you would dislike it is because you hate food for some reason, or just are generally unhappy with your own life to be honest.     I think I'd like to address some of the common criticisms of the film right away, mainly the one about the plot being a bit thin. Honestly, it's a pretty valid complaint, it's hard to argue against the plot of this film being fairly straightforward....
Read more

"McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!" A Sonic Masterpiece

Image
    I remember when my friend Sweaty, first recommended  Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? to me. I was floored. Frankly, I'm as basic as it gets when it comes to rap or hip hop music. I can count on one hand the artists from that region of genres that I enjoy, and one of them is Kanye West who I listen to in shame these days. Regardless, I fell in love with the blend of jazz and rap that Dixon brought to that record, so much so that when it came time to listen to this record I decided not to listen to any of the singles beforehand. After all, for artists I like too much I usually can't resist seeing what singles they're putting out, and for records I care less about I usually don't worry about spoiling myself. Of course, that's not to say that the track-by-track reviews I'm about to do are my first listen, I did want to give this album an initial listen when it first came out, just in case some of the songs took a while to grow on me, so without further ado, my track-b...
Read more

"The Strokes - Room On Fire" Consistency is King

Image
      What can I say about The Strokes that hasn't already been said? I suppose I can give my Strokes story, because anyone who was ever remotely interested in 2000's rock has almost certainly been influenced by the band in some shape, way or form. I remember when I first saw the music video for Reptillia pop off in my Youtube recommended feed. Of course, at the time I was a young bourgeoning teen exploring my similarly bourgeoning music taste. I distinctly remember listening to Panic! At the Disco and being enamored with this idea of "emo" music as defined by Tumblr. Of course, this led me to what was in retrospect a hilarious video that claimed Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me by the Killers was also emo. Obviously, after that it was only a matter of time before I found out by the Strokes, because like many other bands of that era they were inspired by The Strokes. Now, I'm older and still a fan of the band, though this album was always my third favourite o...
Read more