Heated Rivalry’s finale felt emotional, soft, and kind of perfect, but the show completely cut the book’s epilogue, and it changes how Ilya and Shane’s story is meant to continue.
In the TV show ending, we see Ilya and Shane come out to Shane’s parents, they’re finally together properly, they get in the car, drive off, and the credits roll. It’s intimate, quiet, and very “us against the world” vibes.
But that’s not where the Heated Rivalry book ends.
Wait, what’s missing from the book ending?
via HBO
In the Heated Rivalry book, there’s a whole epilogue that jumps forward in time, and it shows loads more of their future.
First, Shane and Ilya sit down and properly talk about their relationship. Careers, distance, logistics, real life. Basically, they start planning how they’re actually going to make it work, not just survive in secret.
Then the story jumps 16 months later. Ilya is now playing hockey in Ottawa after ending his contract in Boston. Shane has come out to his teammates, but not publicly yet. They’ve both bought houses in Canada so the distance between them is smaller. They’re closer, more settled, and not living in separate secret worlds anymore.
The biggest moment in the epilogue is the press conference
via HBO
Shane and Ilya hold a public press conference to announce the Irina Foundation, the charity they planned together. It’s named after Ilya’s mother, who died by suicide when he was young, which makes it a massive full-circle moment for his character.
It’s not just romantic, it’s symbolic. And it’s them being public, united, visible, and using their platform for something bigger than themselves.
On the show, none of that happens. Instead, the series ends quietly with them driving away together, and that was a deliberate choice.
Um, why did the show skip the book’s epilogue?
via HBO
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Jacob Tierney explained why the epilogue was cut from the TV version. He said, “It’s a couple of reasons. One’s just a TV reason, which is, I don’t want to end with exposition.”
He also said that even though an earlier draft of the script ended more like the book, he changed his mind because “ending with a news conference” wasn’t the right emotional ending for the show.
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