By Laurel Merrick,
Managing Editor
Heartstopper, throughout its seasons, has been something both beloved and despised throughout the queer community ever since its release. On one hand, it’s a mainstreamed show with an abundance of diverse characters and queer romances. On the other hand, it’s undeniably cringeworthy and at times very hard to watch.
In just the second season, there’s a total of over 12 minutes of kissing scenes; every time Nick and Charlie, the main characters, see each other, the audience is forced to endure 30 seconds of them saying “hi” while staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. Season 3 took on the task of delving into more difficult and mature topics while trying to keep the lighthearted romance that earned the show its fame. As someone that openly despised the first two seasons of Heartstopper but watched it nonetheless, I actually enjoyed this season.
While I am not someone who can comment on the realism of eating disorders and whether or not Charlie was a good representation of one, as far as the reactions of other characters, I would argue that it is fairly accurate. Charlie’s friends do their best but they aren’t perfect, his mom is overbearing because she doesn’t know how to act around Charlie, Nick does his best but eventually snaps.
These are all realistic reactions, as no one is perfect when it comes to such high stress situations. Each of those characters has to deal with the consequences of snapping at a loved one who has terrible mental health. The show also serves as a form of education for people; it’s telling people what to do and not do when someone around you has an eating disorder.
I will also say that the third season is a lot easier to watch than the previous seasons. Previously, whenever Nick and Charlie came on screen, I felt the innate urge to gouge my eyes out in full Oedipus fashion. However, I learned from my mistakes this time around and chose to skip forward fifteen seconds every time they opened their mouth to say “hi” which made the entire watch a bit more bearable.
Yet in general, it is a lot less cringeworthy. Perhaps it’s the scriptwriting being more adult-like as the characters also age, or maybe it’s the actors having more chemistry amongst each other, but the dialogue is a lot easier to hear without feeling the need to projectile vomit on whoever approved the script.
Heartstopper Season 3 also dives more into fears of the characters which was a lot more enjoyable to watch than the cheesy romance of the previous seasons. It talks about how Tara excels academically but doesn’t necessarily love that. It talks about Nick finding his dream college but being afraid of leaving Charlie. It talks about dysphoria and how that relates to safe sex and boundaries. These are all issues that a teen deals with: stress about college, insecurity in even the healthiest of relationships and body image issues.
That said, it is nowhere near perfect. While better than the previous season, it still has its moments of cringeworthy lines and underdeveloped plot lines. Charlie’s mom, those two gay teachers, Nick’s brother and Darcy’s family are all important in previous seasons but are only shown a few times and have a couple lines of dialogue in this season, if any. Another main complaint was how different it was compared to the book: “Towards the end of the season it starts to spin off topic,” explained sophomore Jace Sullivan.
That said, the third season was, for me, a welcome change. The first few episodes were a little bit rough, but by the end it was no longer a hate watch for me. If you enjoyed the lighthearted queer love that was in the previous seasons, you might not like this one. However, the maturing of the characters is a testament to the linearity of the story; as we age so do they. If you were like me and struggled to get through the first two seasons, I urge you to pick it back up and try again.
