A far cry from ‘Heated Rivalry’
First of all, this new Hudson Williams series from Crave, currently streaming on AMC+, is nothing like Heated Rivalry. It’s certainly not a love story, and it definitely doesn’t have me in my feels. Instead, it’s a witchy, maybe supernatural thriller—and I’m already enthralled after only one episode.
Trust me when I say the new series YAGA is the show everybody is gonna be talking about.
In the new series, Williams plays not one but two different characters. His first role is that of a billionaire heir who goes missing. The other? The billionaire’s doppelganger friend who is strangely living in his mansion. With such a high-profile rich person missing, the cavalry is called in, this time in the form of a family friend/private detective of sorts, played by another Canadian favorite, Noah Reid (who you’ll recognize as David’s love interest from Schitt’s Creek).
From the get-go, Reid’s character is all-in on an investigation, even after he’s paired with a skeptical local cop who thinks Williams’s heir has simply skipped town to party in Europe. It sounds like your typical thriller series, only with one caveat: there may just be a witch in town who is behind it all. Gulp.
The first episode provides more questions than answers (in a great way) and definitely makes you want to watch the rest of the season. Carrie Anne Moss (of The Matrix fame) stars as a mysterious woman with a strong sexual energy and a fascination with bones (yes, really). Rounding out the cast is Clark Backo (who you may remember from Venom: The Last Dance) as the aforementioned skeptical detective.
The acting in the show is really great, particularly from Reid, who plays a much different character than his turn in Schitt’s Creek. He’s traded his gentle romantic for a womanizing, impulse-driven hot mess. And it’s super fun to watch.
The inclusion of Williams in the series, particularly in two parts, is likely to get Heated Rivalry fans all in a tizzy. And I’m excited to see more of him (as if we didn’t see enough of him in HR) as the season progresses. But, honestly, I’m most interested in Moss’s character and whether she turns out to be the dark, driving force behind the mysterious disappearance or not.
The first two episodes of YAGA are now streaming on AMC+.
