‘Heated Rivalry’ Makes Major Book Change in Season 2
What To Know
- Season 2 of Heated Rivalry will introduce several new characters, including a major antagonist.
- The show has made a significant book change.
- Fans have expressed confusion and curiosity on social media about the switch.
Heated Rivalry Season 2 just made a huge change from author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series.
The hockey romance’s upcoming sophomore season will primarily follow Reid’s The Long Game, which is a sequel to Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) story in Heated Rivalry. Creator Jacob Tierney has said Season 2 will also incorporate parts from Reid’s other books, including Role Model. That means a bunch of new characters are about to enter the fold, or in this case, take the ice.
Villain Dallas Kent is one of them — but the character will go by a different name on screen. On September 16, Fellow Travelers actor David Tomlinson was cast as Cody Kent. Tierney has not yet revealed the reason for the switch.
Shortly after the announcement dropped, fans reacted to the change on social media. “Who tf is Cody?? His name’s Dallas,” says one X user, while another questioned, “Why the change in dallas kent’s name??”
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Dallas is first introduced in Ryan Price (Daniel Diemer) and Fabian Salah’s (Shaheen Jafargholi) book, Tough Guy, which follows Heated Rivalry in Reid’s series. Ryan is a hockey player on the Toronto Guardians alongside Dallas. Dallas is also best friends with fellow Toronto player Troy Barrett (Charlie Gillespie). Dallas is the league bully, which Troy goes along with initially, and Ryan is subjected to their torment.
Later, Dallas is accused of sexual assault by multiple women in Troy’s book, Role Model. A blindsided Troy calls Dallas out at practice. Their falling out is caught on video, but Toronto sides with Dallas. As punishment, the team trades Troy to the Ottawa Centaurs, where Troy meets its new captain, Ilya. Troy falls in love with social media manager Harris (Justice Smith). From there, the events of Role Model overlap with The Long Game.
What do you think is the reason behind Dallas’ name change in Season 2? Tell us your theories in the comments below!
Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA 2027, Crave and HBO Max
