Heartstopper Season 1: The incredible coming of age story

Netflix UK’s long awaited queer teen sensation is finally here. The impending arrival of Heartstopper, based on the beloved graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, has had fans all around the world in an absolute frenzy. Before moving onto anything else, we’d like to clear something up real quick: Heartstopper season 1 is absolutely incredible!

The cast is absolutely perfect. The pacing of each episode is exactly right. Its relationship with the original graphic novel remains completely and totally aligned.  The soundtrack is on point, and… gah!

It’s everything the world needs right now. 

We’ve been dying to write this review and share our thoughts with y’all and we’re just so happy that we finally can. However, this review contains spoilers, so if that’s not your thing and you haven’t watched yet, hit pause on this activity and come back to us when you’ve finished binging the show. Or you can read our spoiler-free reaction to the show here!

Anygays, here are our thoughts on Heartstopper season 1!

Charlie

At first glance, Charlie (Joe Locke) appears to be that queer kid that nobody really wants to be friends with. You know the one we mean: socially awkward, unable to hide the gayness but not really knowing what to do with it, and a little bit self conscious and self-deprecating. It doesn’t take long, however, for any notion of that to simply just vanish. 

Okay so it’s true that Charlie isn’t exactly the popular kid, and he really only hangs out with the other outcast kids, but nothing about him is self-deprecating and nothing about him screams insecure. He is quietly sure of who he is and what he wants for himself. We call that confidence and self-respect – and exactly the kind of representation queer teens deserve. 

When the show opens, Charlie is dating Ben (Sebastian Croft) (we hate Ben) who is very closeted. He pretends he doesn’t know who Charlie is at school and only ever interacts with him when Charlie is sure that absolutely no one else is looking. Charlie understands that everyone comes into their sexuality on their own terms, and coming out at that age is tough. So he respects Ben’s desire to stay closeted for now. 

Until Ben starts dating a girl, and then Charlie activates all his self confidence and tells Ben to go take a very long hike off a very tall cliff. Byyyyyeeeeee Ben, we hope the door hits you on the butt on the way out. 

Enter stage left: Nick (Kit Connor). Nick is on the rugby team and is apparently the straightest guy anyone has ever known. Except he isn’t like the other rugby morons. He is nice, kind, compassionate and he treats Charlie with the utmost respect – even if he is just the weird gay kid. 

*coughs* it’s because Nick likes him *coughs* 

So maybe not so straight after all. 

Nick

Nick really is everything! This little British kid walked right up to our heart and stomped all over it in the very best way. We will never be the same again! Nick realizes pretty fast that he has a special connection with Charlie. He wants to spend all his time with him and he does seem to understand that their relationship isn’t of the garden friendship variety. Even before Nick starts to understand that he is having The Feelings™, he does seem to be aware of this fact. 

Not too long after Charlie falls into Nick’s life, Nick’s grandiose queer awakening begins. Unlike so many other coming of age queer and especially bi awakenings, Heartstopper season 1 does not serve viewers a platter of internalized homophobia and trauma as a response to the realization that one may, in fact, be into the same gender too. 

While societal homophobia exists in the story, Nick doesn’t fight his feelings for Charlie. While he definitely takes pause, it’s a short pause that is very quickly followed by affirming acceptance and action. 

Nick likes Charlie. Charlie is a boy. Okay, so we’re doing this now. 

And so they do!

Nick’s journey is such an important story to tell because, for such a long time, these queer coming of age stories with bisexual characters have been littered with self-rejection and absolute desolation at the self-realization that a character may be into the same gender too. This unhealthy depiction has littered queer stories since the dawn of time. 

Oh no! I’m not straight! I must punish and hate myself for all of eternity. I’m dirty and I don’t deserve love. Who would love me anyway? 

Ughhhhhhhhh we are so over seeing that splattered all over our stories. Heartstopper does not do this. We are eternally thankful to Alice Oseman for creating this story, and to Netflix for keeping its authenticity. 

The friends

It goes without saying that Nick and Charlie are the center of the story, but Heartstopper wouldn’t be the all round gem that it is without their friends that push the narrative along.

Tao (William Gao) is the best friend that doesn’t want Charlie getting hurt by the straight guy, so he automatically puts up a defensive wall between Nick and Charlie. Tao’s fierce protection of Charlie is admirable and he steps up and has Charlie’s back at every turn, even when he doesn’t need to.

Elle (Yasmin Finney) is a trans goddess (and we mean goddess) who just moved to an all girls school because the school where the rest of her friends go ain’t such a great place for trans folks. Elle likes Tao, and Tao likes Elle, but it does take them a bit to work out their mojo.

Elle makes friends with Tara (Corinn Brown) and Imogen (Rhea Norwood), a couple of lesbians at her new school who also happen to be an actual couple. These girls know Nick and the gang from the old school and the queer circle of friends expands. 

And Isaac (Tobie Donovan) and his books. Isaac carries a book absolutely everywhere he goes. It’s adorable, but buddy, we have The Questions™. 

All their stories and all their queer experiences are so different and unique. Heartstopper does an incredible job of demonstrating that gay or bi or lesbian or queer does not mean the same experience for everybody. It is not the defining quality that makes these kids all the same, but it is the quality that brings them all together. So their queer experiences become one shared experience that looks more like an abstract painting of art than a manual or how-to guide. 

Heartstopper season 1 is funny, heartbreaking, inspiring, touching, innocent, and utterly compelling in every single way. We need more, more, more, more! It is clear their stories are not over and their journeys have just begun. Netflix, don’t mess this one up please. Give the people what they want! *coughs* another season *coughs*. 

Shout-out to Netflix for keeping the super celebrity addition to the cast a total secret. Oscar winner and British acting royalty Olivia Colman plays Nick’s mom, and baby, we never saw that one coming! We were super stoked to see that she signed on to such an important project for the queer community, even if her role was a teeny one. Queen! Absolute Queen!

We’re planning to keep talking about Heartstopper for a very long time, so check back in with us for more ramblings and spin off pieces about this incredible show. We are OBSESSED.

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