Heartstopping-ly Good

Netflix's Heartstopper Continues To Be All Heart In Season 2

No television show should have the guts, gall and gumption to be this cute. But Heartstopper does, writes Joshua Muyiwa.

NETFLIX’s Heartstopper — adapted by Alice Oseman from her graphic novels — recently dropped its second season. Much like the first, this sophomore season is also an easy, breezy, binge watch. This isn’t a diss, it is a compliment — a comment on its commendable feat of remaining light despite the heavy subjects it tackles through the course of its eight episodes.

In the first season, we were witnesses to the blossoming love between Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor). Season two begins with them having found their way to each other through all of the standard rom-com tropes meets coming-of-age story angles. But put through the filter of a queer high school dramedy, it feels fresh. Here, we watch them settle into the swing of things. Except this time around, there are also sneak peeks into the other lives in their circle of friends. There are still crushes, complications and catastrophic heartbreaks. There are lots of opportunities for smiling and sobbing too. It’s as corny as Kansas in August, but it still sparkles dammit! No television show should have the guts, gall and gumption to be this cute. But Heartstopper does.

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LOVIN' IT

Netflix's Queer High School Dramedy Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By Joshua Muyiwa

There’s a resolve to tenderly, thoughtfully and tactfully show queer teenage romance that doesn’t feel prurient or prudish. Rather, it grants the space for thinking through one’s own adult conceptualisation of romance and relationships; seeds that certainly took root during one’s teenage years. In this second outing, Heartstopper digs deeper — it navigates the treacherous terrain of coming out and the pressure of getting its timing just right; the uncomfortable conversations around eating disorders; it peppers in family drama for a touch of reality. And it does all of this mining with care and concern — none of these seem sensationalised in the hands of Heartstopper. In fact, it always feels like these gloomy clouds will part and it will be sunny and bright soon enough with this series.

This season, Heartstopper doubles down on the romance between the two leads — Charlie and Nick — and it pays rich dividends. Locke and Connor, the actors, colour each of their characters with warmth and charm that’s palpable through the screen in each scene. Each of them plays off the other so well that their interactions come off as spontaneous and straightforward. They’ve got us in their corner whether we like it or not. But not everyone at school knows about them, which brings that ssshhh-it-is-a-secret spark to their romance even as they also openly grow within the shade of their loving circle of friends.

In order to give us the fantasy of the classic high school romance genre tropes, Heartstopper goes all out in this second season. We watch them studying and sweating exams, getting dressed down for their dropping grades, hopping on a bus for a school-trip to Paris, playing spin-the-bottle, truth-and-dare and sipping shots of alcohol in hotel rooms, and dreaming up, decorating and dancing at their prom. But the writing in this show manages to avoid all of the expected storylines and gives us something else altogether. And this attention isn’t just for the main plot. Even the sub-plots are treated similarly. The budding romance between best friends Elle and Tao is also delightfully given its own peaks and valleys. Instead of Elle’s choice to go away to study at art school becoming the breaking point, it becomes a way for the duo to imagine a future together.

A series subplot that wins simply because of its mere mention belongs to Issac (Tobie Donovan). His nose is always buried in books while everyone else seems to be in the throes of teenage romance. While I would have been satisfied with no explanation at all, the series uses this character to bring to light conversations around aromantic and asexual persons in the sexuality spectrum. It doesn’t preach, rather points Isaac in this direction, which resolves his own complex feelings in this romance-saturated world. This choice for the character feels genuine and generous at the same time without feeling grand.

I’m going to be a little bit of a Sister Killjoy now. Heartstopper is as beautiful as ever. Its tender, touching portrayal of young queer people in love is absolutely amazing. However, it makes it seem like the single goal in a gay man’s life should be to have a boyfriend. In truth, gay men’s lives are so much more than that. I get it: this is fantasy, it’s fiction, but a little more fact and foundation never hurt anyone; and it wouldn’t have hurt Heartstopper either.

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