The Power of Being Specific
Heated Rivalry. North of North. How two Canadian-led series found global audiences by telling deeply local stories. (Prepared by Brooke R.)
Fresh off the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards, two very different television series found themselves at the center of Canada’s biggest night in entertainment.
After speaking with She’s All Over The Place founder Katie Chonacas about the ceremony, one thing became clear: the success of North of North and Heated Rivalry is about much more than awards.
North of North and Heated Rivalry swept the major categories, with Anna Lambe taking home Best Lead Performer in a Comedy and Hudson Williams winning Best Lead Performer in a Drama. Their respective series also claimed top honors for Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series.
On paper, the shows could not be more different.
One follows a young woman attempting to reinvent herself in a small Arctic town where everybody knows everyone’s business. The other tells the story of two professional hockey players navigating love, identity, and the pressures of masculinity inside one of the most traditional spaces in sports.
Yet somehow they feel connected.
These projects didn’t win because they tried to imitate what was already popular. They succeeded because they trusted their own specificity.
For years, there has been an assumption that stories need to appeal to everyone in order to matter. Yet some of the most compelling work often does the exact opposite. It dives deeper into a particular community, a particular place, a particular experience.
The more specific the story becomes, the more universal it often feels.
Take North of North.
The Netflix comedy follows Siaja, a young woman attempting to reinvent herself in her Arctic hometown. On the surface, it is a story rooted in a place many viewers may never visit. Yet that’s exactly what makes it so important.
Growing up in the United States, our understanding of other countries is often surprisingly limited. Without direct exposure, entire places can become flattened into stereotypes. Some children still imagine Egypt as nothing but sand and pyramids, overlooking the modern cities, skyscrapers, and everyday lives that exist there today.
Shows like North of North quietly challenge that.
They humanize places we may never encounter otherwise. They invite audiences into kitchens, conversations, relationships, and routines. They remind us that people everywhere are navigating many of the same hopes, insecurities, dreams, and frustrations.
For viewers who share that culture, I imagine there is something equally powerful about seeing your day-to-day life treated as worthy of a global audience.
Then there’s Heated Rivalry.
In my opinion, it was one of the most moving and important projects of the year.
Not simply because it tells a queer love story, but because it explores the tension between who we are and who the world expects us to be. Beneath the romance lies a deeper examination of masculinity, identity, and the cost of living as dictated by someone else’s expectations.
The series allows viewers to slowly fall in love with its characters while also deepening their understanding of why coming out remains so difficult in professional sports.
Every conversation feels intentional. Every interaction builds toward a larger understanding of the tensions, pressures, and fears these athletes carry.
The show never asks viewers to pity its characters. It asks them to understand them. And understanding can be transformative.
Especially at a moment when conversations about inclusion and visibility continue to evolve. Progress has been made, but there are still countless people who don’t feel safe enough to fully live in their truth. People who worry how the world will respond. People who fear that one aspect of their identity will become the only thing others see.
Heated Rivalry doesn’t solve those problems.
But it does something art always does at its best: it creates empathy.
Both North of North and Heated Rivalry shine a light on communities we do not often see represented on such a large stage. In an entertainment landscape saturated with sequels, remakes, and familiar formulas, these stories feel surprisingly fresh.
As someone who writes and loves storytelling, I often wonder how filmmakers continue finding new ways to say things that feel like they’ve already been said thousands of times.
Yet these projects somehow manage it.
Five or ten years ago, I don’t think many people would have predicted that a queer hockey romance or a comedy set in an Arctic community would captivate audiences across continents.
And yet here we are. Proof that audiences are still hungry for something genuine. Proof that originality is still possible.
Chonacas recommends both series, and so do I.
Maybe the stories that stay with us aren't the ones that mirror our own experiences, but the ones that invite us into someone else's.
Prepared by Brooke R.
Watch Heated Rivalry and North of North!
Tune into She’s All Over The Place on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Katie’s website, and YouTube to engage in more conversations like this.
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Empathy is in such short supply. Loved reading your perspective!