Now I know messages like these are nothing new: they've been around since Heated Rivalry came out. I'm talking about messages like "just hockey smut, just sex, no plot", but I am noticing an increase in them as Heated Rivalry continues to, rightfully, win many awards and their actors as well. When Connor got his Emmy nomination for SNL, I even saw comments on there how undeserved it was for him to get so much fame from a show which was only about sex and had no plot.

And it must be because this show means so much to me, that comments like these trigger me just tremendously. Like it's not even funny anymore.

So I decided to address them in a short video essay. I talk about how the criticism is completely unfair and missing the point of Heated Rivalry and Jacob's vision. How these criticisms are completely grounded in people's heteronormative and traditional perceptions of romance stories and romance in general. And how seeing intimacy and plot as two separate things is missing the point of the storyline, as the intimacy IS the plot, and serves great narrative function.

Very curious about your thoughts on this, and I guess I'm also just seeking some reassurance that I am not the only one who gets super frustrated when they say these things.

No, Heated Rivalry is NOT "all sex and no plot"!