The emotional first season of Heated Rivalry reached its climax with the episode “The Cottage,” as star hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov finally put words to their secret, decade-long relationship. While the Crave and HBO Max series faithfully captures the heart of Rachel Reid’s bestselling romance novel, the finale also contains significant creative departures crafted by the show’s creator, Jacob Tierney. In new interviews, Tierney breaks down the reasoning behind the major differences between the book’s ending and the television adaptation, explaining choices made to serve the visual medium and lay the groundwork for the already-confirmed second season.
The changes are not random edits but intentional shifts in structure and emotional focus. The most notable differences involve a shortened ending that omits the book’s detailed epilogue and the addition of a powerful new scene that gives Shane’s mother, Yuna, a more prominent voice.
A Shortened Ending Focused on Emotion Over Exposition
The most significant structural change is the finale’s conclusion. Rachel Reid’s 2019 novel, Heated Rivalry, includes an epilogue set one year after the main events. This epilogue confirms that Ilya has transferred to the Ottawa team, shows Shane coming out to his best friend, and culminates in a press conference where the couple publicly announces their joint charity, the Irina Foundation, named after Ilya’s mother.
The television finale chooses a different, more intimate closing note. Instead of the press conference, the season ends with Shane and Ilya driving away from Shane’s parents’ house, Ilya’s hand resting on Shane’s neck, as they share a quiet, hopeful moment together. For Tierney, this choice was about preserving the core emotional takeaway from the book.
“When I think about the way that book ends, what I remember in my heart… is, ‘They get to be happy.’ I don’t think that I needed more detail or explanation at that point,” Tierney explained. He added, “I don’t want to end with exposition… ending with a news conference was probably not the ideal conclusion for the TV adaptation.”
This creative decision allows the season to end on a potent character moment—the simple, hard-won peace of two people in love—while logically reserving the story’s next steps for future episodes. The plans they discuss at the cottage, including Ilya’s potential move to Ottawa and starting a charity, remain as future plot points rather than resolved events.
The New Scene: A Quiet Apology Between Shane and His Mother
While the show condensed the book’s ending, it also expanded a key relationship. The finale introduces a completely new scene, exclusive to the television series, between Shane and his mother, Yuna (played by Christina Chang). After Shane comes out to his parents, he follows Yuna outside.
In a heartfelt exchange, Shane apologizes to his mother for not telling her sooner, saying, “I need you to know that I did really try. I tried really hard, but I just can’t help it.” Yuna immediately reassures him, replying, “You have nothing to apologize for… I’m sorry that I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me. I’m so proud of you.”
Tierney emphasized that this moment was crucial for both character development and the series’ future. “It was really important to me that Shane and Yuna have a conversation, period,” he stated. “They are actually quite similar… I really felt like those two needed a moment together. Not just because of where we’ve come from, but also because of where we’re going, and how involved Yuna is in the rest of their story.”
This addition enriches the show’s exploration of family dynamics. Tierney noted he wanted to present “a spectrum of parents” dealing with their children’s identities, contrasting Shane’s complicated but ultimately supportive family with the more fraught parental relationships of characters like Ilya and Scott.
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The Unchanged Core: Love, Secrecy, and a Plan for the Future
Despite these adaptations, the finale remains deeply faithful to the novel’s central themes and plot. The entire cottage retreat serves as the story’s emotional core, where Shane and Ilya move from a secret physical relationship to planning a shared life.
Key book moments translated directly to the screen include:
- The couple’s pact to be completely honest with each other during their two-week retreat.
- Ilya sharing the tragic story of his mother’s death by suicide when he was twelve, a pivotal moment of vulnerability.
- Shane proposing his detailed plan: Ilya would transfer to a Canadian team, they would start a charity together to justify a public friendship, and they would wait until retirement to be truly open about their relationship.
- The long-awaited first “I love you,” exchanged in a deeply emotional scene.
- Shane’s father accidentally discovering them, which forces Shane to come out to his parents.
The episode also retains the show’s earlier deviation from the book series by incorporating the character arc of Scott Hunter. Scott’s public coming out in a previous episode acts as an inspiration and a catalyst for Shane and Ilya, demonstrating a different path and making their own dreams of openness feel more possible.
Heated Rivalry is now streaming on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the United States. A second season has been officially greenlit and will continue the story, likely adapting elements from the sequel novel, The Long Game.
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