Heartbreak High Season 2: The Explosive New Season

The eagerly awaited Australian Netflix smash hit is finally here for another season! Heartbreak High Season 2 is action-packed full of all the usual teenage drama we’ve come to love and expect from our Harley High faves. There are eight episodes in this season and the scriptwriters had us hanging on every single word. 

Amerie (Ayesha Madon) is a hot mess again this season, Harper (Asher Yasbincek) is working on her issues, Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) is trying to work out his true sexuality, and Darren (James Majoos) and Ca$h (Will McDonald) are trying to navigate the complexities of their extremely different sex drives. All the rest of the gang are back too, and there’s a new player in town to upset the harmonious balance amongst the crew. 

And just like it did in Season 1, Heartbreak High season 2 takes on the big issues this time around. Sexuality, young love, societal pressures, and the complex gamut of human morality are all issues that are front and center again this season. As always, we’re here for the queer storylines of this show, so journey with us as we share our thoughts on the explosive new season. 

Taking on Toxic Masculinity

Heartbreak High Season 2 tackles the issue of toxic masculinity head-on in Season 2. There’s a teacher on staff at Harley High who’s unhappy with the ‘man-hating’ that Miss Obah’s (Chika Ikogwe) sex education classes has spouted. Timothy Voss (Angus Sampson) takes it upon himself to recruit the fellas from the group and form his own educational group called the Cumlords. Yes fam, you heard us right – the Cumlords. In this group, he teaches the boys how to be real men and fight against the male oppression permeating through society and their school. 

It almost feels dystopian that such a storyline even exists. Yet, it’s done so artfully that instead of being utterly cringey and unwatchable, it’s actually quite hilarious. Timothy Voss is the walking epitome of toxic masculinity and he proudly and ignorantly walks through life spouting anti-feminist rhetoric and encouraging men to act in bigoted and discriminatory ways with regard to the women around them. 

It couldn’t be any clearer that the intention behind Timothy’s character is to call out this kind of behaviors that still very much exist in modern-day societies. Voss’ character satirizes the issue and one can’t help but laugh at just how absurd he is about the whole thing. Remind yourself not to laugh too hard though, because the reality is, men exist like him everywhere.

As the last episode of the season comes to a close, it’s impossible not to infer that the writers of this season want viewers everywhere to consider the idea that unchecked toxic masculinity always leads to destruction and catastrophe. Spider’s journey (Bryn Chapman Parish) in this season sits in stark juxtaposition to that of Timothy Voss. In Heartbreak High Season 2, Spider metamorphizes from an arrogant pain in everyone’s ass to someone that is capable of change and reflection. As Timothy Voss falls to his demise, Spider rises from the ashes, like a phoenix being reborn, shedding the toxic traits that made everyone despite him so much. 

Exploring and Settling into Sexuality

There’s a new student at Hartley High in Heartbreak High Season 2 and he’s got Malakai’s knickers in an absolute knot. In Season 1, Malakai definitely tipped his toe into the queer end of the swimming pool and Season 2 definitely spotlights this part of his character once more. 

Rowan (Sam Rechner) has his eyes set on Malakai, which is just as well because Malakai definitely has a thing for Rowan. It’s not too long before the guys are dating and Malakai is going public that he’s not straight. He knows he’s still into girls though, so he settles quite comfortably into the land of bisexuality. 

Although they go public with their relationship (and it’s received remarkably well by their peers – as it always should be), their young love just doesn’t last. In epic Hartley High fashion, Rowan jumps ship and begins pursuing Amerie very quickly after breaking up with Malakai. It feels a little like whiplash, actually. And because she’s Amerie and doesn’t seem to have any boundaries about dating friends’ exes, Amerie flushes under the attention and reciprocates his advances. 

Meanwhile, Darren and Ca$h are working on their relationship and trying to figure out what it means for them that one of them is asexual, and one of them is very much not. In Heartbreak High Season 2, they actually use the word ace and are no longer dancing around the fact that Ca$h is not interested in a sexual relationship with Darren, despite being hopelessly in love with them. 

Darren goes overboard trying to change and accommodate for Ca$h’s disposition, and Ca$h can’t help but feel like his sexuality is just a burden for anyone who might want to be with him. It’s a complex web of intricacies that are explored with poignant sensitivity. At the end of the season, despite the tribulations they endure throughout the eight episodes, they are together. While they’re still working out how to do this so they’re both seen, heard, and satisfied, Heartbreak High season 2 should be commended for its mature portrayal of this representation of sexuality.

Friendship and Loyalty

In this season, Quinnie (Chloe Hayden) embarks on quite a journey of self-exploration too. She and Darren are on the outs right now as Quinnie stops trying to mask her neurodivergence for everyone else’s sake. She puts some distance between herself and the group, but she doesn’t stop being Quinnie. 

In fact, an anonymous someone is terrorizing Amerie and Quinnie is on the case. In true Quinnie fashion, she is investigating every possible lead and she’s not going to rest until she discovers the true identity of Bird Psycho. 

Even though she’s going through something herself, Quinnie does everything she can to protect her friends, even if they don’t understand the full spectrum of her investigation. Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran) teams up with Quinnie again this season in a completely platonic way, and aids Quinnie’s mission to find out who Bird Psycho really is. 

And thank god for them both. They uncover the identity of the lunatic and get to where they’re needed most just as the real Bird Psycho is about to inflict his wrath on Amerie and Harper. 

When the Hartley High kids are separated, things always go pear-shaped. They are stronger together, and when they stick together, they’re capable of big, grand things!

In Heartbreak High Season 2, relationships are tested, new ones are forged, lessons are learned, and life is lived. Some of our beloved characters are forced to make potentially life-altering decisions, while others have them thrust upon them without their consent. At the end of the day, they deal with what’s put in front of them, because what else is there to do? 

This season is, if it’s possible, even more Australian than the first one. They’re still kids though, and the messages of adolescence, coming of age, and growing up are universal ones that young people everywhere are enduring. An absolutely riveting watch, Heartbreak High Season 2 is binge-worthy goodness!

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Heartbreak High Season 2 will be available on April 11. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured image: Image Courtesy of Netflix.