What's your favorite romance trope or sub-genre??? (This is a judgement free zone so be honest)

In Off Campus the nudity felt separate from the story, in Heated Rivalry it seemed like a natural part, it even drives the narrative at times.

I just feel like it needs to be mentioned that heated rivalry is the show it is, because it is a Crave production. They tried to sell it to America studios, but those studios didn't want Shane and Ilya to kiss until episode 5. HBO bought the distribution rights for the US (which is fantastic to allow it to get seen by more people). But Crave and the government of Canada (which paid for part of the production) deserve credit

I’m a bisexual woman, and somehow Heated Rivalry managed to make the sight of Rose walking up the stairs practically naked do absolutely nothing for me. I’m completely and utterly blown away by how deliberately the writing and cinematography shape desire in this show.

I think a big issue is that companies think people loved HR because of hockey.
We loved HR because of story telling and chemistry and yearning.
We loved it because it's a fucking AMAZING show.
Hockey just happened to be an awesome part of it.

14:47 "Well written characters should change and develop in response to the events of the plot. They shouldn't change in order to let the plot happen."
Yes! Too many shows are unfortunately like this, the character change (become unlike themselves) to let plot happen.

sadly shane isn’t accepted by everyone. It’s gonna be interesting to watch the inverse effect of him and ilya and their teams.

Honestly I just like Off Campus for its positive male depictions, healthy male friendships, and overall respectful interactions between men and women. It’s nice. Let’s hopefully keep normalizing this.

18:31 this is pretty much exactly what heated rivalry is. They have sex with each other very quickly, but over the series they learn to be more vulnerable and that's like a huge point of the show. sex isn't the most vulnerable thing you can do

Thank you for actually giving criticism to Off Campus. This is literally the first video I've seen that didn't feel the need to caveat it with a heap of praise, and as someone who found Off Campus to be similar to an overproduced pop song (like executives shoved a bunch of things into it that should make it a hit on paper, but the execution makes it feel hollow and devoid of artistry, but maybe the hook is catchy) it's so grating to constant hear people claim it's on par with Heated Rivalry, when it's so clear so much more love and intentionality went into HR.

From what I’ve read, one of the reasons Heated Rivalry was produced in Canada is because a US production company wanted to make changes to the narrative (I think the actor who plays Scott Hunter said in an interview one of the notes was that the male characters in the show couldn’t kiss until episode 5 (??)- and a bunch of other notes which essentially would have resulted in a very watered down queer romance)

Tierney walked away from the US production company and chose to produce the show on a much smaller budget with Crave, and in doing so he retained creative control / didn’t have to compromise on the storytelling.

100% made the right call. And it’s true that executives etc. don’t understand why the show took off the way that it did.

Tierney, I think, said in an interview that the show is made in a way where you can’t be on your phone and half watch / listen to it. So much of the story is told through subtle glances or expressions, body language, cinematography etc. you miss so much of it if you’re on your phone, or doing something else simultaneously. It doesn’t spoon feed the audience with exposition where a visual cue can be just as effective.

I've visited the Cottage several times....once was enough for me when it comes to the Campus. I can't wait for Season 2 of Heated Rivalry!

Honestly so much of the recent hockey of it all just seems to have missed the reason why Heated Rivalry blew up — we want queer stories, desperately. Tho unfortunately sapphic stories are not remotely supported as much.

(In that vein, I was glad to hear that off-campus removed the lesbophobic elements which were in the books. Waaay too much in the books)

while i agree that hannah trusting graham with her drink in episode 3 is inconsistent and shitty writing of her arc dealing with her SA trauma, her saying she’s “firmly put it behind me” when she clearly hasn’t is NOT inconsistent writing. it’s hannah wanting to rush her healing process. she says it because she WANTS it to be true, and she’s clearly coping a lot better than when it was still fresh, but healing isn’t linear. just a weird. nitpick to take a character’s words as a narrative truth lol

I’m always baffled non-POC tend to miss or underestimate Shane’s identity and the heaviness that comes from being the only POC  in a sport. And Shane is autistic. These elements play a massive role in his journey in HR s1.  Other than these points that was missed great video.

I love a show comparison that focuses on the details, even if it is how the show chooses to frame butts. True dedication right here

Yes! (You missed out Ilya’s trauma from his mother’s death by suicide, but otherwise chef’s kiss )

Yeah, in my opinion, the show shortcuts a LOT of this work with Garret and Hannah. They feel like best friend's to me by the end of the book and talk through their traumas MUCH earlier. Both hers AND his. It's really frustrating. I'm not saying there are not still weaknesses, but it's stronger and more believable to me. 🤷‍♀️

Whereas Jacob Tierney condensed the right things without sacrificing character development.

YES, YES, YES! This video is literally so well done in actually breaking down what made Heated Rivalry so good and the issues with Off Campus. I’ve seen so many people saying that the two can’t be compared, and I completely disagree. They’re both in the same genre, romance, which already makes them comparable, but they’re also both book adaptations that were handled very differently. I think comparing them actually helps highlight why certain things worked so well in one and fell flat in the other.

I especially appreciated how much time you spent discussing Hannah as a character and the way her trauma was handled, because that was one of my biggest issues with the show. Something I kept thinking about that you didn’t really touch on was the fact that her attacker was a hockey player and she is now entering a relationship with another hockey player. That seems like such an obvious and potentially complicated aspect of her experience to explore, especially when the show makes it clear that her trauma still affects her. Instead, so much of it seems to get brushed past with the explanation that she’s had great therapy, without really wanting to sit with what it might mean for her to enter another relationship within that same world.

I also found it frustrating that, later on, Hannah almost started to feel like she was there to be Garrett’s therapist for his trauma. Garrett clearly has his own serious trauma that deserves attention, but he needs an actual therapist for that. It shouldn’t become Hannah’s responsibility to help him heal, particularly when her own trauma hasn’t been given nearly the same amount of space. And I think that speaks to something women are so often made to feel responsible for in relationships: taking on the emotional labor of helping men process and heal from their trauma, even while their own emotional needs are pushed aside.

That’s also why I loved your comparison to how Garrett’s trauma was handled. His was given so much more time, depth, and development, which honestly feels reflective of what happens in so many shows. The men are allowed to be complicated and are given the time for their trauma and emotions to be explored in detail, while the women’s experiences are so often rushed through. I feel like you highlighted that disparity perfectly.

I was also really glad you tackled the nudity and how differently it was handled in both shows because I think that directly connects to how sex was used overall. In Off Campus, so much of it felt cheap or included simply for the sake of being sexy or provocative. In Heated Rivalry, the sex and nudity actually served the story. Those scenes moved the plot forward, developed the characters and their relationship, and made sense for who they were and where they were emotionally at that point in the story.

Such a great analysis! I’m so glad someone finally put into words so many of the things I’ve been thinking about.

19:42 as someone who does have to navigate sex pretty carefully/creatively with my partner, you're right, I'd love to see that depicted more often. Sometimes it's like I've never had a bad sexual experience in my life. Other times I think I'm fine and then suddenly I can't stand one more touch. Most of the time it's somewhere in the middle - today you can only give me head; today head is too intimate but I can do penetration; today my clothes have to stay on but I can get you off. I'd love to see more characters with complicated relationships with sex *that don't necessarily get better*, because you CAN still have a fulfilling sex life without being "normal".