Heartstopper Season 2: A beautiful journey of growth and love

Heartstopper Season 2 is here, y’all! And we are beyond ourselves with excitement!

Releasing a sequel to a show that, with its very first season, broke all the records and became a worldwide success is always a challenge. The expectations of both critics and fans are very high, and there is always that nagging fear that the second part will not be as good as the first one. Today we are happy to share with y’all that the second season of Heartstopper is just as good, if not better than the first one.

Yes, you read that right, folks, better. In its first installment, Heartstopper gave us a tender story in which two boys, Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) meet, become friends, and end up falling in love. The plot, although mainly focused on the romance between them, expanded a little beyond the typical boy-meets-boy and also gave us a set of characters that managed to give representation to minorities that are generally overlooked.

Touching on topics such as gender identity, sexuality, mental health, and the typical problems of adolescence, this little show managed to heal – or at least patch up – the hearts of billions of members of the LGBTQ community who longed to see a queer love story on mainstream television that was not only pure, refreshing, and real, but also that radiated happiness.

In our opinion, Heartstopper Season 2 does it again, but better. With a much more daring script and a more mature plot that isn’t afraid (not even for a moment) that its characters, despite their tender age, have important conversations; this sequel manages, in just 8 episodes, to give us so many life lessons that we honestly don’t even know where to start.

Heartstopper Season 2, a love story that faces harsh reality

It could be said that Heartstopper Season 2 has it all: new characters, new conflicts, new romances, new locations, and a new soundtrack – which, by the way, blew our minds. If we had to briefly describe everything that happens in these new episodes, we would say that it is a collective journey of growth, understanding, friendship, and love, a lot of love.

In its 4 and-a-half hours of running time, Heartstopper Season 2 not only lets us see all our favorite characters grow and face the typical challenges of people their age, but it also gives us moments that seem taken directly from the pages of the graphic novel on which this adaptation is based.

This second season picks up right after the first one left off, with Nick and Charlie deciding they’re going to share their relationship with those who matter and Nick coming out as bisexual to his mom (Olivia Colman). In a montage very similar to the one we saw in the first season, the first episode of Heartstopper Season 2 opens with Nick and Charlie exchanging sweet messages as they both get ready to meet again at school.

It’s now official, they are a couple, and they behave as such behind closed doors, but very few people in their inner circle know about it. And that makes them have to be very careful when they are together because by mutual agreement, they have decided not to kick down the closet door, but instead slowly tell their family and friends that they are together.

And that is exactly where, among other things, the plot of this second season focuses: on how difficult it can be to come out of the closet, even when you have a person who loves you unconditionally by your side. As all members of the LGBTQ community know, coming out is not a step you take just once, but one you have to take over and over and over again. The emotional toll that this can have on a person is very difficult to handle, especially at the young age that our characters are at.

Throughout the season we see Nick and Charlie deal precisely with this. Nick, on the one hand, suffers significantly from the anxiety caused by not being able to keep his promise to come out and finally tell his friends and family who he really is and what Charlie represents in his life. The fact that many people assume that he and Charlie are just good mates bothers and frustrates him A LOT, and with good reason. But there’s not much he can do to ease those feelings, because he now knows that coming out is more complicated than he thought it would be.

Charlie, on the other hand, is sure he can protect Nick from everything and make sure he doesn’t go through what he went through when he came out. He spends much of the season encouraging him and assuring him that there is no deadline for coming out and that he can, and should do it, whenever he wants and only if he really wants to. But carrying this immense responsibility of wanting to make everything perfect for Nick has consequences for Charlie’s physical and mental health that are very delicate and will surely be explored in more detail in the already renewed third season of the show.

In Heartstopper Season 2, it is clearer than ever that life can be cruel and that baring your soul to the world and showing your most vulnerable side to those around you is not always easy, and unfortunately there are still many awful people in this world who don’t understand that love, regardless of gender, is just that… love.

The roller coaster of emotions that Nick and Charlie experience as a couple this season is honestly a bit hard to watch because we want to protect them from all harm. The show takes risks and touches on sensitive, serious, and quite delicate topics, making both boys go through a lot emotionally. But in the end, it’s all worth it because despite everything, if something is indisputable with this new batch of episodes, it’s that Nick and Charlie’s love only grows and gets stronger every day.

As Tara says in episode 4 when she tells Charlie that it looks like Nick is so in love with him, “it’s unbearable to watch sometimes.”

And speaking of Tara, Nick and Charlie aren’t the only ones going through a whirlwind of emotions this season, so are the rest of the characters we all love and care about.

A chance for everyone to shine

One of the things we enjoyed the most about Heartstopper Season 2 was the balance between the central story of Nick and Charlie, and that of the rest of the characters. Everyone – and we’re not lying when we say everyone – has the opportunity to embark on their own journey of growth and self-discovery.

Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), despite being the most stable couple the show has, go through a crisis that stems from something that is sadly recurring in the life stories of many folks in the LGBTQ community. We won’t spoil what it is, but many on our team felt that one on a personal level.

Elle (Yasmin Finney), on the other hand, faces major new changes both in her academic life – because she decides to apply to the Lambert School of Art – and in her romantic life. As we saw at the end of season one, she and Tao (Will Gao) seem to have come to realize their feelings for each other, and in this season they get a chance to explore them and see if they work as more than just friends.

Tao, in addition to dealing with his feelings towards Elle, opens up more with his friends and works a lot on his fear of being left alone. There’s one moment in particular that he shares with Nick in the season finale that broke our hearts but allowed us to see why this endearing character is so overprotective of his friends.

But perhaps the character embarking on the most vulnerable journey of growth and self-discovery this season is none other than Isaac (Tobie Donovan), our favorite bookworm. Seeing him understand, explore, and finally accept who he is was one of the highlights of Season 2. We won’t say much about it (for now), but that scene where he finally discovers that nothing is wrong with him and that there are more people who feel like he feels is so powerful that it brought tears to our eyes.

An ever-expanding universe

One of the things that has certainly captivated audiences since the first season of Heartstopper hit Netflix, has been its diversity and the amount of LGBTQ representation that exists in its many characters. This second season is no exception, adding new faces to the mix who arrive to support (or complicate) the journey of some of our favorite characters.

Very early in the season, we meet Felix (Ash Self) and Naomi (Bel Priestley), two new queer friends that Elle meets at Lambert and who are very supportive of this new change in her life. We also have James (Bradley Riches), an out gay kid at Truham, who directly and indirectly helps Isaac come to terms with who he really is. We also meet Sahar (Leila Khan), a bisexual girl who smoothly integrates into the group of friends at Higgs.

Another addition this season is Mr. Farouk (Nima Taleghani), who although is very strict with the students, becomes an essential part of Mr. Ajayi’s (Fisayo Akinade) character arc, and ends up representing a sector of the LGBTQ community that is commonly forgotten: the late bloomers.

And of course, we also have Stéphane (Thibault de Montalembert) and David Nelson (Jack Barton), Nick’s father and brother, who only arrive to make life even more difficult for our favorite golden retriever boy. 

By the way, you know that here at Q+ we have a blacklist of characters that we low-key despise. Well, it’s our pleasure to share with y’all that after finishing the season we’ve officially added David and Stéphane to it, so they can join Ben (Sebastian Croft) and Harry (Cormac Hyde-Corrin) who both earned their place on our list with season one.

A top-level team

But anygays, one of the main things that make this new season of Heartstopper a great season is the quality. Not just in the storytelling (kudos to Alice Oseman for the great adaptation of their own work) and thoughtful direction (thank you Euros Lyn), but in the tremendous performances by all the cast members. Youngsters and veterans alike all deliver, and deliver in spades.

Kit Connor and Joe Locke, in particular, shine brightly this season with the electrifying chemistry between them. The happiness that their characters radiate from being together is honestly intoxicating and beautiful to watch. In fact, one of the things we enjoyed the most about this season was witnessing the beautiful relationship that Nick and Charlie are building together. Never in the life of fictional stories have we wished infinite happiness for two characters as we do with Nick and Charlie. Honestly, Nick and Charlie forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever.

But they are not the only ones who shine, the rest of the cast have their big moments too. Although we do have to admit that there are some outstanding performances among all of them, especially that of Tobie Donovan, Will Gao, Kizzy Edgell, Sebastian Croft, Yasmin Finney, and Rhea Norwood.

As we said, the quality of the team behind this show is what makes it what it is. So, from the bottom of our rainbow hearts, congratulations to all involved.

Heartstopper Season 2 is everything we wanted and then some. Although a bit darker as it touches on more sensitive issues of sexuality, gender identity, consent, bullying, harassment, abuse, mental health, eating disorders, and grief, this new season doesn’t stray too far from that light, romantic, and tender tone that was the heart that made the first season beat.

There is growth and complexity in the narrative, there are more serious moments and conversations between the characters, but at its very core, Heartstopper continues to beat with what made it so special in the first place.

A true rarity on mainstream television, Heartstopper is today one of the most truthful, honest, and authentic representations we’ve seen of what it’s like to be a queer teen. It is a celebration of a universal journey of self-discovery that invites you to be the most authentic version of yourself. And in a world where being who you are is still subject to criticism and attack, we believe it’s more important than ever to have representation like this breaking all the molds and reminding the world that queerness can and is beautiful.

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Heartstopper Season 2 is available to stream on Netflix now. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!