The much awaited season 3 of Heartstopper was released this week. While a lot of us binge watched it in one go, others have staggered it voluntarily or because of their busy schedules. I watched it in 3 sittings and for me, this season grossly missed the rainbows and unicorn feel of the show. While the look of it is still la la land, the spirit of it is a lot more serious than the previous seasons.
While I did expect the themes to get darker - from my reading of the webtoon - I did not expect to be plunged right into it 5 minutes into the new season. Considering the serious themes that this season explores - like ED and self-harm - this series should now come with a trigger warning right at the start. I had second hand triggers about ED and I can only imagine how triggering it can be directly for people who've been through this.
Charlie and Nick get the most screen time considering they are the lead pair, followed by Tao and Elle - for some reason - and the rest were sorta ignored - for some reason! Also, one big thing that seemed different this season is that the characters who are queer are not a part of the real world but HS seems to be a world of queer people in itself. From the teachers to every member of the friends group is queer or grappling with their identity. Isaac is as different as it gets in this group. I can't imagine how a straight person/couple would fit into this dynamic.
It's great to have actual teenagers play these roles but I have realised that there is a big dissonance there. Time elapsed in shows is way shorter than in real life. And these kids are way grown up in real life to seem fit right back into the story that has moved barely a few weeks or months. Kit Connor stands out as an example here. He definitely has the body of a grown up and his muscles are a result of more time put into the gym than the time his character has spent on Heartstopper. It kinda stops you from seeing him as the character, but the person behind it.
While the focus on the 2 main couples is razor sharp, the rest of it is disjointed and just hurriedly flung in between the other scenes. For instance, Elle's dysphoria gets one scene. I am sure it's a lot more intense to deal with in real life (I never agreed with Elle and Tao as a pair, I would have liked at least one pair to remain friends just to add some diversity to the group)
Isaac's coming out gets one scene and he was rightly pissed as I'd be, if I were him. I think they intentionally depicted it this way to show that everyone expects teenagers to behave a particular way. What about the ones who don't want to jump into relationships or into bed with others. His friends were insensitive about him feeling bad instead of understanding him. They are horrible at comforting him and being there for him. I think the words aro and ace are also very casually thrown around. When Isaac says he doesn't want to be with anyone, Charlie is quick to throw a label at him. I don't think it works that way in real life. But then this is a world of all queer people and I am not one so how would I know!
Imogen came out!!!! They skipped the whole struggle she must have gone through with her identity crisis. She does tell Nick in Season 2 that she understands when he says he doesn't know who he is and feels lost. Her reasoning is so on point - she wanted boyfriends only because that's expected of her but she never really liked any of them. But she gets her moment alone with Nick - which is one scene!!
Darcy's non-binary experiment got one scene! It's like they forgot to budget for these characters in season 3. They are just after thoughts with no character development. I get that Charlie's ED was critical to the plot of this season and I think they should have saved these big pieces for future seasons. The non-binary representation is merely token if you ask me
I don't know how well they portrayed the whole ED thing because I do not have first hand experience with this but I constantly felt that no one was giving Nick's mental health any attention. He is a teenager, after all and it's a lot to deal with your partner's mental issues when you've just emerged from dealing with your own identity challenges. He tries to be there for Charlie as much as he can. And that's brave at his age when other people his age are off making out etc, he is waiting for his boyfriend to be out of a mental health facility. That's why I said this season is pretty sombre. The fact that Olivia Colman did not come back as Nick's mother did leave a void. I think it would have added a great texture to have a couple of scenes where nick has her to lean on - as she's shown to be a great parent.
Season 3 seems like an instalment of the Heartstopper webtoon. It jumps right into the middle of thing that the last season built up and ends abruptly as if you can expect the next episode next week. It shows a whole year but some characters shine while others hardly get their time in the sun. I am curious to see how the next season pan sout. I am not looking at how it co-relates with the books since I don't remember lall of it. I guess where Nick goes to college will be a big one next season.
Season 1 continues to remain my favourite! It's all rainbows and unicorns and that's what makes HS so unique!! Bubblegum and candy of teenage love!
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