Heated Rivalry keeps warming up, and episode 5 officially sent the series into pop culture legend status! The Crave hit show about rival hockey players, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, dropped its penultimate episode titled “I’ll Believe In Anything,” and fans immediately rated it as the best TV episode of 2025 with a perfect score, surpassing episodes from shows like My Hero Academia, Stranger Things, and Cobra Kai.
Episode 5 of ‘Heated Rivalry’ is the #1 highest-rated episode of 2025 on IMdb (9.9/10). pic.twitter.com/yVc8I3zBpX
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) December 20, 2025
(This section contains spoilers, so watch episode 5 and come back here). Episode 5 was packed with everything: Shane breaks up with his girlfriend after they both realize he is not actually straight. Then, Ilya loses his father and confesses his feelings to Shane in Russian, meaning Shane has absolutely no clue what was said. Shane then gets injured during a game, leaving him out of the playoffs and hockey for a while.
Once in the hospital after being injured, Shane invites Illya to his cottage for the summer, although he just responds, “Maybe.” And finally, boom! The episode ends with Scott Hunter publicly coming out by kissing Kip on the ice after winning the Stanley Cup, which pushes Ilya to decide to spend the summer at Shane’s cottage.
The impact showed up fast on IMDb, with episode 5 hitting a perfect 10 out of 10 with over five thousand ratings, making it the highest-rated TV episode of 2025 and the second-highest rated episode of all time. The show itself is now the fifth most popular series on IMDb. The season finale, “The Cottage,” premieres December 26, 2025, on Crave and HBO Max.
