Jonquilyn Hill

There's really only one thing I can think about right now.

The show Heated Rivalry has taken over my group chats, my scrolling, my brain.

Maybe it's taken over yours, too.

My heated rivalry thought of the day is...

For those who have not watched, here's the quick and dirty.

Heated Rivalry is a Canadian series on HBO Max created by Jacob Tierney based on the best-selling books by Rachel Reed.

And it follows queer, closeted, professional ice hockey players as they try to keep their romance under wraps.

There's also a lot of sex.

Like, so much sex.

And even though the nudity has everyone talking, it's also really sweet and sad and vulnerable and brave.

It's given me so much hope.

I'm Jon Glenn Hill, this is Explain It to Me from Vox, and today we're going to find out why the gay hockey show has captured everyone's attention.

Keep in mind, the show is what people nowadays refer to as spicy, so you may want to put your headphones on for this one.

To start things off, I called up another superfan.

Emma doesn't think Hated Rivalry is an anomaly.

She says the show is successful because it taps into a universal experience.

Yeah, you know, it's interesting.

I have loved watching Heated Rivalry.

I may have even done some rewatching.

I feel like it's awakened feelings in me that I have not felt since the theatrical release of You Got Served back when I was like a B2K stan before we were using the term stan in that way.