The Happy Ending Revolution: Why Heated Rivalry Matters for TV and Culture

Just as we thought romance on TV was dead, romance is back! And it’s better, stronger, hotter and more romantic than ever.

Our CEO, Dr Matilda Andersson shares her abalysis of Heated Rivalery as a show and the romance as a genre.

Spoiler alert: Heated Rivalry

I’ve literally just seen the happiest ending ever on television - what's not to love.When Too Much, Lena Dunham’s series, premiered on Netflix last summer, The Atlantic wrote Romance on Screen Has Never Been Colder. The characters, Jess and Felix in their transatlantic US/British culture clash kind of just stumble upon each other, move in, eat noodles, and live together seemingly out of convenience. The question on our minds was: is romance dead? Can we no longer afford to be romantic, has utilitarianism taken over the space?Here we are in January 2026 and we’ve witnessed a historic TV moment — in romantic terms. In the shape of a love story between two rival hockey players.Joy on TV. Good things happening. For once.The significance of seeing a same-sex love story play out in the hyper-masculine world of professional hockey… on TV, and young players feeling seen, and empowered by Ilya’s and Shane’s story should not be underestimated. Team sport players, hockey rivals falling in love. The series paving the way for LGBTQIA+ players. But it’s more than that. The undeniable need for — and value of — joy. ADWEEK wrote about the series: “In a bleak world, Heated Rivalry offers audiences unabashed love and joy.”There’s been a lot of discussion about the significance of the book and series being written by a heterosexual woman Rachel Reid, and with a huge audience of heterosexual cis women. Romance as a genre is of course mostly consumed by women, and the story of Rozanov and Hollander takes romance to a new level.

Every time you think something bad is going to happen — rejection, power play, harm — it doesn’t. Listening to the social media chat about the show (we’re researchers after all), for women there’s seems to be something in the power dynamic — or lack of gender power disparity — in the love of two men that feels safe and hot. Straight women watching gay porn is a well-documented phenomena. I’ve just finished watching the series and I immediately want to watch everything that has ever been said about it: all the fan lit, all the podcasts, all the Tik Toks made of people commenting, filming themselves while watching it, and of course re-live every scene. Once you know that the show is pure joy, you want to stay in their world. A community building around a show like this - that's powerful. Now, all the other content I was about to watch, including Bridgerton - feels dated, sinister, calculating and cold, and far from romantic (don't worry I'll come around to it).Creating community, sharing joy, and empowerment on screen in this way feels like a bit of TV history. Well done Jacob Tierney for an amazing show and for creating incredibly likeable and relatable characters that cut across all sexual orientations. I look forward to the implications for the romance genre in the years to come. Here's to more happy endings on screen and in the world.