If the phrase “why are
we like this?” became the mantra for season one you may well ask of season
three- why are they still like this? Let’s face it, Heartstopper is
never going to develop into a series anything other than the life affirming,
positive drama that it is. While this third season nudges the characters a
little further into self doubt and strife measured against other shows it is
still featherlight and that’s fine. Enough series play the trauma or dystopia
cards so surely something different is a good thing? I do feel though that with
these plots the show might benefit from the approach of centring each episode
around a particular character. Here the production crams everyone’s plots into most
of the episodes which means some are underserved. However when they alter the
format it produces the best episode of the season.
Episode four scores
highly by showing us events first from Nick’s point of view and then Charlie’s
by way of their both journaling (apparently the new word for keeping a written
diary) events. This approach allows us time with the events and their impact
and works extremely well. Elsewhere there are signs of the show becoming bolder.
Yes we have swearing”! More
importantly the characters start to behave a little more like you might expect
even if they remain rooted in the Heartstopper universe with its pastel
primary colours and optimism. This season does venture into (slightly) darker territory
with storylines about mental health, teenage sex, gender, pronouns, parental
boundaries and looking ahead to a world beyond school life. It is never preachy
but the approach can come across as educational as much as it is dramatic.
Every storyline that concludes does so in a sunny manner, an old-fashioned
optimism that is absent from much drama these days.
That’s not to say
things are exactly the same. Over the space of almost a fictional year matters
motor more quickly than they did in seasons one and two as if the production is
trying to catch up with the actors who are starting to look a little too old to
be in school. More than that though this means the cast are better suited to
the material. In fact very little is centred around the school this time with a
lot of the narrative taking place during holidays or weekends. While there are still those little sparks and
floating leaves to depict romance, the arty presentation also encompasses
darker moods too. When Charlie has body image doubts, issues with eating and so
on the screen crackles and darkens around him while the speech of other
characters is muffled.
Ultimately Charlie ends
up in in a facility where the therapist is Eddie Marsan thankfully in a benign
role this time. This being Heartstopper he is the best therapist ever
though the dialogue does stress that problems like this can return, its
just that now Charlie knows how to deal with it. Joe Locke rises to the
occasion with more material than anyone else and his reading of the character has made Charlie the show’s first fully developed role. As his work on Agatha All Along
also shows, it is becoming clear he is
one of those actors with real nuance and depth. Amusingly Charlie does not like
Marvel in this show!
Nick meanwhile has wise
Aunt Diane played by Hayley Attwell to give him advice on how to deal with Charlie’s
situation. She is excellent actually bringing something of a less twee and
practical attitude as she advises Nick what he can do to help Charlie’s
situation in the best scene of the season. Kit Connor has worked
wonders with Nick who is a character often left looking in from the outside.
The show has now largely disconnected from his rugby side, save for a handful
of scenes, but yet to find him a purpose other than being supportive of Charlie.
There are hints later on that perhaps a fourth season (not yet confirmed) would
explore Nick in some more depth. Elsewhere Tao and Elle’s romance blossoms though
despite the actor’s strong performances -both William Gao and Yasmin Finney’s
best yet – this does feel a little like a rerun over very familiar ground.
Often highlights can be
found away from the main foursome whether its Isaac wrestling with how to deal with
his asexuality, the careful way Charlie’s father navigates arguments between his
wife and son and especially Georgina Rich’s deadpan Tori who I still suspect
has super powers. How else can she appear without ever being seen walking
there! Others characters have to grab screen time when they can- teachers
Farouk and Ajayi only get brief moments for their wonderful adult version of
the romances the younger people are having, Tara and Darcy’s stuff is lively but rushed
while poor Harry, surely an interesting counterpoint to all the gooeyness, gets
about three lines!
Heartstopper is not out to shock though. By season’s end each couple are still together, blissfully and monogamously. I was thinking watching the last episode where some of the characters are in a car racing to get back in time for Charlie’s band’s gig that if this were any other show, they would end up crashing with an end of season cliffhanger over whether they all survive. Of course that doesn’t happen here, they get there in time for the final song and everyone’s happy. In some ways I don’t want Heartstopper to change, on the other there are times when you wish it would race a bit rather than canter all the time.
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