The Maid And The Ice Prince

starring: ANNA STADLER & LUKE DODGE

In order to keep teen ice hockey superstar out of trouble, team owner Eddie Falcon moves him into his house. But long lost childhood love Nina is now working for Mr Falcon as a maid… with relationships forbidden what happens when these two get close again?

REVIEW

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Anyway I wanted to like this more - @annaestadler and @luke__dodge both Reelshort veterans, where I have tried to watch their shows but failed to make it to the end because of the OTT violence. Both clearly talented so though good opportunity to support them in a different project

@annaestadler is a star - somehow sunshine shines out of her face, I don't know how she does it. And has that key ability to play a heroine who is put upon but never weak

And @luke__dodge does the laid back jock so well - I just wish that he was given a wider range of roles. He was hysterical as Hunter in Straight A Pregnancy but since being the leading man he is often given a similar type of role - he does it really well, but would love to see him be able to do more comedy or drama

The relationship here is more chemistry than emotion, we don't see them falling in love, just the struggle to be together. A lot of people will love all the steam, I just like seeing the human connection and we don't get as much of that

Instead there is more connection between Nina and her Dad (love when he says don't lower your head) and even wayward brother Chrissy who comes through in the end

@kirby.ellwood is terrifying as spoilt princess Brook, shows how much more interesting it is for an audience to cast against type - I was not prepared to see Kirby be that mean, and she does it with a wonderful maniacal grin

Although I do think Dad is focusing all his attention on the wrong thing - dude stop worrying about Tony and get your own house in order. Your daughter thinks attempted murder is a good thing. If nothing else that is going to be bad PR for the business

And then we come to Ron

One of the most unjustly treated characters in verts

Caught between the leads. Shamelessly used. And then fired

What happens to Ron eh???? If he lives in Vertland we can assume he needed that job to pay medical bills. Next thing we know he is going to be on the streets with one of the those mad beards that verticals use

I am not happy. You can't do this to a character.

Justice for RON.

💖 Top swoonworthy moment:

If you want steam there is a lot of that. I get a bit bored by it though - I want more emotional connection, and we don’t really have that here. We don’t see them fall in love, they pick up the relationship immediately. So a bit lacking for me.

🦹🏼‍♂️ Top villain award:

It is rather upsetting seeing the lovely Kirby Ellwood go bad - Brooke is mean. And does the usual leap of vertical logic of not getting her own way to drugging to attempted murder…

😂 Comedy gold:

Luke Dodge / Tony falling out of the laundry basket is one for the ages.

🎺 Unsung hero:

RON - he is USED by Nina - forced to kiss her when he clearly doesn’t want to. And THEN she throws him under the bus to save herself, and he is sacked.

Right Ron you need to sue for unfair dismissal, I am prepared to crowd fund for this. Outrageous treatment by all, you need to write a tell all book and expose on the whole lot of them. UNACCEPTABLE.

✍🏼 DETAILS

Director: 2026

Available on Shortical