It's a bittersweet week for Heated Rivalry fans as the pop culture phenomenon arrives at the penultimate episode of its first season. While season 2 has already been renewed, there's only one more episode left of season 1 following the release of episode 5. Time flies when we're all collectively freaking out over the show that has completely dominated our lives for the past few weeks.
Last week's episode might have been the most talked about episode yet, and that's certainly saying something for Heated Rivalry. Following the brief reprieve to meet Scott and Kip, Shane and Ilya returned in episode 4 to completely rip our hearts out of our chests. The iconic tuna melt scene arrived and was quickly followed by Shane and Ilya stealing achingly yearning looks in a club.
After spending a week listening to both versions of "All the Things She Said" on repeat and rewatching the episodes, Heated Rivalry season 1 episode 5 will be skating its way onto our watch lists very soon. Before diving into the episode and finding out what's next for Shane and Ilya, let's preview the highly anticipated episode, found out what it drops, and more!
What time does Heated Rivalry episode 5 come out?
As always, you can find a new episode of Heated Rivalry on your HBO Max list bright and early on Fridays. Season 1 episode 5 begins streaming on HBO Max in the United States on Friday, Dec. 19 at midnight ET, which luckily for those on the West Coast is Thursday, Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. PT. Since we're so close to the season finale, it's probably best to watch the new episode as soon as possible!
Check the list below for what time Heated Rivalry episode 5 comes out in your time zone:
- Hawaii: 6:00 p.m. HST on Thursday, December 18
- Alaska: 8:00 p.m. AKDT on Thursday, December 18
- West Coast of the US: 9:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, December 18
- Mountain time: 10:00 p.m. MT on Thursday, December 18
- Midwest of the US: 11:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, December 18
- East Coast of the US: 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 19
- Canada (Crave): 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 19
While Heated Rivalry has been available to stream on HBO Max in the United States and Australia since its premiere, as well as on Crave in Canada and Movistar Plus+ in Spain, the series will soon be coming to more territories. Along with the season 2 renewal, it was revealed that more territories would soon receive the series, including certain countries in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. A release date for the show in these new territories has not yet been set.
What to expect in Heated Rivalry season 1 episode 5, "I'll Believe in Anything"
Jumping off from Heated Rivalry season 1 episode 4, Shane and Ilya's relationship couldn't be more strained after Shane abruptly ended their arrangement for secret hookups. As their feelings became real, he got spooked. For the purposes of the following discussion, we'll be focusing solely on the show and not the book, though we will get into potential spoilers from the books below.
Episode 4 ended with Shane and Ilya silently meeting in a nightclub and dancing with women. Shane stared silently as Ilya danced with the seemingly sole purpose of making Shane jealous. Mission accomplished, though Shane went back home with his girlfriend (yes, girlfriend), movie star Rose Landry. Shane and Ilya both appeared to think of each other during separate sexual situations.
Going into episode 5, it will be interesting to see how Shane feels after coming face-to-face with Ilya and seeing the ramifications of his decision to end things with him. Ilya will move on, even if he doesn't want to. Shane will also have to face the facts of his sexuality, but given the sport he's a star in and public aspect of his life, that won't be an easy realization to come by.
Now, let's approach the events from the books that are still to come without spoiling anything for those who haven't had the chance to get their hands on them quite yet. As Shane mentioned in episode 4, Florida's still to come in either of the last two episodes, and fans are possibly expecting to see Scott and Kip's public kiss, which marks Scott officially coming out.
These events are big ones for Shane and Ilya and the trajectory of their relationship. So far, the show has been following the books without changing much of the story (though some things have been left out), and we should expect the same to occur for episode 5 and episode 6 (which we already know is the cottage). Brace for impact for another incredible, amazing, and potentially soul-crushing episode!