The new season of Heartstopper has just dropped, and we’re obsessed!
Just over a year after the release of season two, the third season of Heartstopper welcomes us back with its irresistible mix of authenticity and sweetness, taking the story of Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) to new emotional heights. Alternating between moments of pure tenderness and more serious issues, Heartstopper continues to advance the narrative of teenage love in all its forms.Â
In this season, we see Nick and Charlie exploring new sides of their relationship, as well as their friends facing their own challenges. The viewer can see the evolution of these storylines through time jumps that make it possible to see almost a year in eight episodes.
This season is more emotionally complex than the first two, adding more mature themes only touched on in previous seasons. There is a big focus on mental health with representations of different problems a teenager may experience, such as performance anxiety, or as in the case of the focus for Charlie, eating disorders. Despite the gentle and delicate tone of the series, these issues are not dealt with in an almost romanticised way often observed in series, but sincerely and consciously, with a careful and respectful approach to such complex and personal topics.Â
This third season is richer and more multifaceted because the stories of characters who were mostly on the side previously become more central, allowing the audience to deal with different experiences and perspectives.Â
One of the more present characters during this season is Tori Spring, Charlie’s sister. Excellently played by Jenny Walser, Tori has a more prominent role in these episodes, despite being a central character not in Alice Oseman’s comics but in her debut novel, “Solitaire”. The relationship between her character and Charlie becomes clearer, simultaneously allowing us to glimpse aspects of her personality that were only hinted at previously. Significant attention is also given to her mental health, and during her scenes with Charlie, the viewer can feel a lot of what it means to love a family member who is struggling.
Another of the storylines addressed, which is given more space compared to the previous seasons, is the relationship between Tao and Elle. The two are a solid couple, but in this season, which deals with the topic of sexuality more significantly, we see the difficulties of Elle, a trans woman, in feeling completely comfortable in her body in every respect. Thanks to the character of Elle, played by the young Yasmin Finney, civil rights issues for transgender people are also addressed in this season.
This whole series also stands out for its attention to detail. One example is the animation drawn by the author, which makes the scenes look exactly like those in the graphic novel. Another detail is the soundtrack: the music is perfectly chosen, and the parts of the songs used make the scenes even more emotional.
However, if I may offer a criticism of this season of Heartstopper, it is the fact that some issues were addressed too briefly. The clearest example is the anxiety Tara experiences, played by Corinna Brown. In this season Tara faces difficult moments, mainly related to the expectations placed on her as a student and her choice of university, and although this anxiety is visible and dealt with, it is a marginal thing that could have been developed further. The same goes for the storyline of Tara’s partner, Darcy (Kitsy Edgell), who is exploring their gender identity and comes out as non-binary. On one hand, it is refreshing that this is almost taken for granted and simply accepted, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to see more of their journey.
Despite this, the third series of Heartstopper is a little gem of a young adult series, proving that you can be queer and happy, that mental health doesn’t have to be seen as a stigma, and that ‘love can’t cure mental illness’, as Nick is told, but with the support of the right people it can get easier.