I watched Heartstopper season 2 last night and it was wonderful. Just like season 1, it kept to all the big points in the comics and expanded the scope to give you more about different characters, particularly the supporting cast. Last season was all about Nick and Charlie getting together with hints of a Tao and Elle romance and some Tara and Darcy thrown in. With Nick and Charlie together and spending their time learning more about each other and figuring out how to come out (Nick individually and as a couple), that gave us more of a chance to see Tao and Elle's relationship develop, get a glimpse into the inner working of Tara and Darcy, learn more about Isaac and Imogen, and be introduced to a few new characters.
So, let's start with the heart of the show, Nick and Charlie. I want to start with looking at them as a couple and then examining their individual journeys. I loved seeing the two of them together openly in front of their friends. There was a whole lot of kissing going on and Charlie actually got rebellious! (more on that later) These two are so in love with each other and that is what helps keep everything light even as we explore darker themes like self-harm and mental health issues. Both of them are determined to protect the other, which can be the one flaw in the relationship. Don't get me wrong, protecting your partner is a good thing for the most part, but it can be taken too far, which happened with Charlie (again, more on this later). But otherwise, the two of them have a tremendously healthy and functional relationship. They are mostly good at communicating (again, Charlie has an issue here, and again, more on this later), and seem to get how far they can push the other to talk if they are not willing to. This stands in marked contrast to Charlie's relationship with Ben which was a mirror image.
While we're there, let's discuss Ben before digging into Charlie and Nick. Ben's part in Heartstopper is at an end. To be honest, I was surprised he got as much screentime as he did last year given the fact that he basically disappeared from the comics after he assaulted Charlie. But I get why Alice kept him around. Like him or not, Ben is an important part of Charlie's story. He showed Charlie everything a relationship *SHOULD NOT* be. After Charlie was outed, Ben caught him at a low point and then used his charms to get what he wanted (kissing a boy) while denying Charlie everything *HE* wanted (a boyfriend). This led Charlie to think that he was only worthy of the scraps Ben was giving him. To Charlie's credit, he realized that he deserved more before he got together with Nick, but the way Nick was treating him and seeing Ben kiss a girl made him realize how badly Ben was treating him. I really appreciated that Alice allowed us to bring Charlie to the point where he was able to tell Ben that he was not going to be forgiven but that Charlie hoped he could be better. That last conversation gave Charlie the closure he needed to put Ben behind him. I will say that in the comics, that conversation was actually between Charlie and Harry after Harry showed up at Tara's birthday party. I was a little upset it wasn't there because I loved seeing Charlie standing up for himself, but when I saw that it was used with Ben, that helped. The conversation worked much better as closure for the Charlie/Ben relationship than it did with Harry, although it was a very satisfying putdown when directed at Harry. Getting the background that Ben's parents won't accept him also gives me sympathy for him. No, I don't mean that I like him or that I think any of what he did was justified. However, I do have some sympathy for his situation. He has parents who won't accept the real him and he needed something he could control, which ended up being his personal relationships (first Charlie and then Imogen). I do truly believe that he has feelings for Charlie, but I am not sure if those feelings are love. It was definitely not a good love, it was more of the controlling thing people call "love". Anyway, Ben is gone now. I'll miss Bash, but I won't miss manipulative, controlling Ben. I do also have to say that I felt sorry for him when the rainbow wave came close to lapping at his shoes before he walked away. It seemed to symbolize him not being accepting of the queer community and walking away from it.
And now back to the characters we actually love. Let's start with Nick because his stuff is less complicated than Charlie's. He's newly out and trying to figure out how to navigate the coming out process. He wants to tell people, but is scared of doing so, something most (if not all) queer people are intimately familiar with. Coming out is scary, particularly at first. Nick told his mom and Charlie's friends and now wants to figure out how to tell his friends. And he's concerned about how they'll take it given how badly they treated Charlie when he was outed and even after he joined the team. Watching him struggle to tell Imogen was the one part when I got a little annoyed with him. After his mom, she is the safest person for him to tell. I know, my annoyance was unfair, but he was so close to telling her a few times and then backed down right as he was at the edge of telling her. Don't get me wrong, I fully support telling everyone when you are ready, but being that close and then backing away for a non-obvious reason was like teasing the audience. But when he was actually ready to tell her and she then told him, I had to laugh. She was so mortified about it, it was funny. And her immediate reaction to give him a hug was the perfect reaction. He needed that from her. And then there were his rugby friends. Given how they treated Charlie, there was a ton of distance at first. I liked that they kept in the scene where the one friend said that Nick and Charlie were good mates (to the other's annoyance) because it was just amusing. Then there was his dad and brother. I just don't have a ton to say about either. David is a bully and an asshole, period. He forced Nick to out himself to his dad (art imitating life imitating art) and was just an all-around bad guy. And Stephane was....well, he just was. He hasn't been much of a presence in their lives at all. I'm glad Nick realized that his dad's approval really didn't mean much at all, but that was a sucky time and way to realize it. On a good poing, when Nick came out at Tara's birthday, I so loved it. Same with when he posted that pic on Instagram. He got to a place where he is comfortable sharing, which is a good thing.
Then there was the biphobia and bierasure. First, everyone assuming that he was gay because he's dating Charlie, although most people seemed to not say anything again after he and Charlie specified that he is bi. And then there was David who insisted that Nick is actually gay, just not wanting to come out completely. Bi is bi is bi is bi. No matter who a bi person dates, their bi. And all this stuff was really affecting Nick's ability to come out and to be comfortable with himself. In episode 3, he had a Charlielike vision of people beating him down verbally because of all the biphobia and bierasure that was being flung at him.
And now for Charlie. Charlie is complicated, not the least because he has trauma from being outed and bullied, trauma from Ben, and now he is trying to be uber-protective of Nick's coming out. I loved that he wanted Nick to come out in his own time, but he was so concerned with Nick that he was neglecting himself. This neglecting of himself and his needs stems, at least in part, from what happened with Ben. Even though Charlie intellectually knows that he is deserving of everything Nick is giving him, he still has emotional scars from everything that happened to him. And that leads him to hide some things that he should talk about and also leads him to not think about his own needs while he is caring for Nick. Seeing him rip into Harry or Ben was always satisfying if only because it is showing growth on his part. He is feeling secure enough to defend himself, which is a good thing. As for his rebelliousness at the beginning, I am going to have to admit that I am with his parents. He is in a relationship, which is great for him, but his grades are slipping as a result of it. I don't like the idea of not allowing them to see each other, but I do think it was coming from a good place. I get why Charlie is being rebellious, but he was having a problem that needed to be solved. It was a situation with no great solutions to it unfortunately. So, I will say that I see both sides and leave it at that. The whole hickey situation was an absolute riot. I loved the look on his and Nick's face when they saw the hickey.
The other big storyline for Charlie, which actually started last season albeit very subtly, was his disordered eating. Last season, we saw him not eating when he was stressed or upset. For example, at the movie theatre with Ben, Harry, and the rugby lads. Or when he sat in the corner of the classroom, opened his lunch and didn't eat it. Or when Tori offered him food in the last episode, but he didn't take it. But this season, it reached new heights. And I think a lot of it had to do with him stressing out about Nick not coming out. He wanted Nick to come out, but also didn't want to force anything. For someone who has mental health concerns, holding that tension is practically guaranteed to cause problems. Don't get me wrong, he was not to force Nick to come out. But we also have to acknowledge that Nick's not coming out was causing him tremendous mental and emotional stress. And it culminated with Charlie passing out in the Louvre. Fortunately, Nick was there to catch him, so he didn't end up getting hurt, but it was scary. I appreciated that he eventually opened up about his issues around food and his previous self-harm to Nick. And I loved that Nick seemed to know just how hard to push and knew how to ask questions to get Charlie to open up about what was going on and what had happened. The two of them need to continue communicating with each other and things will be good.
Next, I want to tackle Elle and Tao. The feeling between the two of them were pretty obvious last season, so seeing them tentatively taking steps to become a couple was cute to see. I wanted to smack Tao on the first date because he was trying way too hard. And I do get that that is who he is. He is the person who goes over the top and gets super dramatic. So, when he toned it down in the future, that made me happy because that is what Elle really wanted. She didn't want him to only do what she wanted, she wanted him to be himself because that is who she developed feelings for. Eventually he got that, and that is when things took a turn for the better. I *LOVED* Elle's prom dress, that was incredibly gorgeous. And her painting was so beautiful. Her safe space is Charlie, Isaac, and Tao. That gave me all the feelings.
As for Tao, I now have a bit more sympathy for him from the first season. It's no secret that I felt that he was not a good friend in the first season because he did not listen to Charlie and what he needed. He said he was trying to protect Charlie, and I think he thought he was, but by not listening to Charlie, he was not being helpful at all. Having said all that, this season had two revelations that gave insight into why he acted the way he did. First, he lost his dad when he was 12 and this led to him having a fear that people were going to leave him. The other revelation is that he knows he probably inadvertantly outed Charlie, which led to the bullying and to Ben. In the comics, Aled tells Charlie that he thinks this happened, but in the show Tao knows this himself. Knowing these things, it gives me sympathy for him. He overreacted to events from last season because he didn't want to lose Charlie and because he was feeling guilty about what he did (however inadvertant it was), so he was being overzealous about protecting Charlie. Doesn't make me like it, but it helps me understand him and softens the edges just a smidge.
And now for Tara and Darcy. Seeing more of Darcy's home life and how hard she has it made me want to give her a big, massive bear hug. Her mom is homophobic and not a great mom. It seems like she and Darcy fight a lot, which is why Darcy isn't out to her and has never had Tara over. It is also why Darcy is so overtly out at school. School is a place that is safer than her home, so she is overcompensating. Watching the two of them flip the normal script was interesting. Last season, Darcy was the loud, confident one and Tara was quieter and still working things out. But this season, we saw Darcy's brashness as the cover it truly is, which just leads to a whole ton of sympathy for her. They need to work on communicating a bit better (mainly Darcy, TBH), but they have a solid relationship that should be able to withstand a lot.
And last, but definitely not least, Isaac. I was trying to figure out where to put his story in here. Leaving it until last gives the impression that his story is lesser (which it isn't) but I didn't want it getting lost between longer paragraphs about couples, so I went with it as the final person in the group. We've known since last year that this season was going to be about him realizing that he is asexual, so seeing that be his story for the season was nice. I loved that James was interested in him and kept flirting with him. That made me happy. When they kissed and Isaac did not react to it, I felt so bad for James. I think that Isaac was hoping to feel something for James after they kissed, but he didn't. And add to that the fact that everyone around him was coupling up and that they kept asking him when he was going to kiss someone, and I get why he exploded at them. It can't be easy being a romantic (remember him reacting to Narlie last season?) and not feeling what you "should be" feeling according to everyone else. Meeting the aro ace artist was very good for him though. It gave him a label and also allowed him to have an idea of who he might be. I am really looking forward to seeing more of this story next season. The other thing I loved was when they showed him asking Harry why he lacked empathy. Having that conversation made Harry defending Nick and Charlie on the Eiffel Tower make sense. In the comics, there wasn't a reason given for Harry's sudden change of heart, so seeing the reason here was really cool. Great addition.
And now for the remaining characters:
Imogen is just fun. A little dramatic on occasion, but fun. And she needs to get better taste in guys. Granted, having the hots for Nick shows good taste, but the fact that he is utterly besotted with Charlie made that a no go. And having the hots for Ben? Oh honey, you can really do better than that.
James was a cool addition. His character did exist in the comics where Charlie was dared to kiss him (just like in the show, albeit for different reasons), so this just expanded his character and gave him a bit more to do. If you didn't realize it, he is the student who asked Mr. Ajayi if he was going to make Nick play rugby after Nick ran off the field and then off with Charlie on Sports Day. I feel bad for him that things didn't work out with Isaac, and I hope he sticks around and becomes a part of the group.
Naomi and Felix were also cool. Neither really did a whole lot, but I expect we'll see them next year, assuming Elle goes to the art school. I didn't realize Bel Priestly (Naomi) was trans, so when she revealed that it was a surprise to me. I love this show and the way they have honest, accurate representation. Except for Isaac being asexual (at least as far as I know). But Alice is aro ace, so I think the representation there should be good.
I also loved Sahar. I don't remember her being bisexual in the comics (although I may be not remembering properly) but seeing that was cool. So, we now have a gay guy (Charlie), bi guy (Nick), 2 lesbians (Tara and Darcy), a bi girl (Sahar), 2 trans girls (Elle and Naomi), and an asexual guy (Isaac). I know that the actor who plays Felix is trans (I believe a trans guy, but I could be wrong), but I don't know if the character is, so I don't want to include him of the list yet. I will say that I was pretty upset at someone who was live tweeting the show and revealed that Sahar was a "bi icon". I don't like live tweeting a show like this where it is going to spoil stuff for people and having that spoiled upset me.
I am wondering if Harry is going to get some sort of redemption arc. He hasn't in the comics, and I don't want him to get one at Charlie's expense, but if he can genuinely become a better person for the sake of becoming a better person, that would be cool.
Loved that they kept the Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk romance in the show. LOVED IT!
And then there was the dinner party from hell. That came *A LOT* earlier than it did in the comics, but I don't think that should have much affect at all. I talked about it a little before, so I don't want to dwell on it now other thatn to say that it helped clear the air of some things that needed to be said. And it felt like a little jab at the people who forced Kit to out himself. Yes, I know it was just like in the comics, but it still felt like a well justified jab.
And then there was the ending, Did Charlie send the note to Nick? I hope not, because I so want to see the scene where Nick is in the shower and Charlie says I love you and then Nick chases him down the street because that is just iconic. But doing that does depend on Kit being comfortable doing that, so it may or may not happen.
And that is all for season 2. Can't wait for season 3!
