The Surprising Milestone HBO’s Steamy Hockey Series Heated Rivalry Has Just Tied Breaking Bad For

At this point, Heated Rivalry isn’t just a successful book-to-screen adaptation beloved by fans of Rachel Reid’s novels. The show starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams is a critically acclaimed series with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s a cultural phenomenon. Now, to prove that point even further, this spicy hockey romance hit a major milestone that only Breaking Bad has hit.

After the fifth episode of Heated Rivalry dropped, and fans had a proper freak out about its ending involving Shane, Ilya, Scott, and Kip, people couldn’t stop giving it its flowers. To prove that point, on IMDb, you can see the highest-rated episodes of television, and right now, only two have a perfect score, and one of them is from Season 1 of this smutty hockey romance.

The other, unsurprisingly, is an episode of Breaking Bad. Widely considered one of the best shows of the peak TV era, the drama starring Bryan Cranston holds the title for highest-rated episode on IMDb, as “Ozymandias” (Season 5, Episode 14) has a perfect ten based on 273 thousand ratings. As I’m sure you know, this AMC series is the best of the best, and this episode directed by Rian Johnson (which you can stream with a Netflix subscription) is beloved. So, anything meeting the bar it’s set is impressive.

Now, enter “I’ll Believe in Anything,” the fifth episode of Heated Rivalry (which you can stream with an HBO Max subscription). Without spoiling much, this episode serves as a pivotal point in Shane and Ilya’s relationship. It’s when they really start to accept their feelings for each other, and their romance gets taken to a new level over the course of the 56-minuteepisode. Along with being key to this show’s story, it also shows off its stars’ power. Between the Russian monologe Connor Storrie had to give as Ilya and Hudson Williams’ performance during Shane’s vulnerable moments, they both proved why they are the perfect men to be playing these hockey players.

So, all of that has made fans lose their minds, and they’ve made sure to let the world know how much they adore this episode of television. Over on IMDb, all this acclaim has led to this episode getting a perfect ten based on 34 thousand ratings.

No other show has a perfect ten. Some are close, but only Breaking Bad and Heated Rivalry have hit this milestone.

For context, after the two aforementioned episodes, 20 episodes of television have received a 9.9 rating. This includes Six Feet Under’s “Everyone’s Waiting,” BoJack Horseman’s “The View from Halfway Down,” Avatar: The Last Airbender’s “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang,” Succession’s “Connor’s Wedding,” Game of Thrones’ “The Rains of Castamere,” and more.

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You can stream Heated Rivalry if you're in the United States with an HBO Max subscription. That will also give you access to other acclaimed shows mentioned in this story, like Game of Thrones and Succession. Plans start at $10.99 per month.

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Those are some seriously iconic episodes of television, and to know that Heated Rivalry sits above them next to Breaking Bad is incredible.

Now, to see if they keep this magic going, you can stream the Season 1 finale of Heated Rivalry on Friday with an HBO Max subscription. Trust me, I’ve read the book, you’ll want to see what’s next for Shane and Ilya. Plus, if this last episode proved anything, it’s that we’re likely in for a remarkably made, caring and spicy episode of television.