Adapting a fan-favorite book into a movie is always a daunting process, but when the time comes fierce rivalrythere are some changes between the books and the show that fans have noticed.
The blockbuster ice hockey romance, based on Rachel Reid’s erotic novel, is widely sold out. Like the book, the show follows the rivals-turned-lovers story of Ilya Rozanov (Connor Story) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). While they are fierce rivals on the ice, they have an equally passionate relationship in a different way in their private lives.
Below are just some of the major changes made from the book to the movie.
hockey team name
On the show, Elijah plays for the Boston Raiders and Shane plays for the Montreal Metros. However, when we first meet the pair in the book, they are playing for the Boston Bears and Montreal Voyagers, respectively.
This change was apparently made due to licensing issues regarding actual NHL team names. Reid’s hockey team was modeled after the NHL’s Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.
Similarly, this name change also took away Ilya’s chest tattoo. In the book, the Russian prodigy sports a bear tattoo on his pectoral muscle, but if the reference to the bear had been removed, it would have made no sense for the tattoo to appear.
Meeting of Ilya and Sasha
Sasha is mentioned in the book as the son of Ilya’s former coach, but now he never meets Ilya again. Instead, Sasha’s novel presence emerges as Elijah tells Shane about her sexual encounters with other men.
However, the show features Sasha, played by Caden Connors. His ephemeral appearance embodies Ilya’s pre-Shane past and Russia’s burgeoning queer sexuality.
When Ilya returns to Russia, we meet Sasha in the bathroom with Svetlana (played by Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), another friend of Ilya’s.
During their scene together, Sasha approaches Ilya and kisses him, trying to rekindle the spark between them. However, Elijah rejects his advances and his attention is focused on his rival-turned-lover Shane.
Ilya’s younger brother’s name
Another small change made in the adaptation process is the name of Ilya’s brother. In both the book and the drama, Ilya has a very strained and unstable relationship with his brother.
However, in the book his name is Andrei, but in the drama he is known as Alexei (played by Slav Rogozin).
in Interview with CraveCanadian streamer and show writer and director Jacob Tierney explained how that change came about.
When asked about Elijah’s brother’s name, Tierney laughed and said, “It was a mess.”
“But to my credit, Rachel didn’t remember that either. So… it was Rachel Reid’s fault, and she didn’t know that Andrei became Alexei.”
Shane dancing with Miles
One of the show’s most iconic moments is Shane and Elijah’s scene under strobe lights in a club, with the soundtrack of tATu’s “All the Things She Said.”
However, just before that scene occurs, Shane is on the dance floor with his girlfriend Rose Landry (Sophie Nelisse).
This scene is very similar in the book, with the two dancing alone and catching Ilya’s jealous gaze. However, on the show, Shane ends up caught between Rose and Rose’s gay best friend Miles (DeVante Sr.).
On the dance floor, the trio get intimate in a perfect bisexual lighting use case.
Additionally, Miles is the key person who reveals to Elijah that Shane is at the nightclub. At the bar, Miles gestures to Elijah, who ignores his invitation and turns his attention to finding a rival on the ice.
A call from Ilya
Another important scene that is slightly different between the book and the show is the heartbreaking phone call between Shane and Elijah.
After Ilya loses his family, he returns to Russia, and during the moment of silence, he calls Shane and urges him to calm down.
In the show, Ilya’s monologue to Shane is a beautiful and tender confession of love told in Russian. But in the book, when Shane instructs Ilya to speak in Russian, Reed only includes the last line: saying he’s in love.
It’s later in the book where Elijah sums up his monologue to Shane. Therefore, the show more substantively shows how Ilya expresses his emotions in Russian.
The show’s confession is also clearer. In this book, Elijah says: “I’m sure I love you, but I don’t know what to do about it.”
On the other hand, Ilya declares this in the program. “I love her. But that doesn’t mean I love you. The worst fucking part of all of this is that all I want is you, and it’s always you. I love you so much I don’t know what to do about it.”
On the contrary, the book depicts Ilya’s behavior after the phone call in more detail. A passage from the novel shows Elijah’s inner panic after the words, “What if Shane Google translated for me? Why can’t I get closer to him? My God, his feelings are deeper than he knows.”
The missing prologue
One of the biggest changes fans noticed from the books to the show is the lack of a final chapter.
The show ends with Elijah and Shane sharing to Shane’s parents that they are together and returning to the cottage with bittersweet smiles. Then the credits start rolling. However, the last part is fierce rivalry I don’t have any books.
There’s a scene in the book where Shane and Elijah strategize about how to continue to nurture their relationship. The epilogue takes place 16 months later, with Elijah now playing in Ottawa and Shane coming out to his teammates but not to the world.
The two buy a house in Canada and grow closer together. A key epilogue scene is when the couple holds a press conference to announce the charity work they planned in bed in the show’s final episode.
The story of their rivalry comes to an end with the announcement of the creation of the Irina Foundation, named after Ilya’s late mother. There are also some fan theories that this scene will be included in the first moments of season two.
Source: PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news – www.thepinknews.com
