An expertly crafted tonal shift enables Heartstopper season two to evolve gently alongside its characters’ growing age, while maintaining its magic of appealing to a broad audience. Heartstopper series two is now available on Netflix.
On its premiere last year, Heartstopper achieved something unique by appealing to both young teenagers and adults. For young teens, Heartstopper offered a joyous, heartwarming and positive exploration of LGBTQ+ relationships and love, something never more needed in a world where darkness often sits around every corner. For adults like me, Heartstopper reminded us of the distance we have travelled since our school days. Its positivity was tinged with sadness, as we looked back at our own experiences aged fifteen, something that ensured Heartstopper series one won the hearts of older generations of LGBTQ+ people too. So, can lightning strike twice? In the case of Heartstopper, the answer is an emphatic yes!
Season one primarily followed Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) as their feelings for each other developed within an ocean of uncertainty. Season two focuses on their growing sense of togetherness and Nick’s need to discuss his new boyfriend with friends and family, while dealing with the potential fallout. Meanwhile, Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney) is applying to art school while navigating her love for Tao (William Gao).
At the same time, Tao is internally battling with his self-confidence and doubts about asking Elle out. Then there is the golden couple from season one, Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) and Tara (Corinna Brown), who now face relationship problems as Darcy’s homelife comes under scrutiny. And let’s not forget Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan), who is quietly working through his feelings, emotions, and place in his friendship group. Then we have the conflicted Ben, Nick’s older brother, the immature Harry, and the new teacher on the block, Mr Farouk. You get the picture; Heartstopper season two is busy!
With all the stories at play, you might think Heartstopper would collapse under its own narrative pressures. But it doesn’t. Heartstopper’s ability to balance each character’s journey is admirable and a testament to the assured writing of Alice Oseman, alongside Lauren James. It is also down to Euro Lyn’s exceptional direction of a genuinely adorable and uber-talented young cast. However, the real achievement in Heartstopper series two is its delicate tonal shift.
The age of sixteen marks a transition for all young people; it’s the year you leave school and the moment you have to consider the career path you want to take, as one foot steps into a new adult world and the other remains in childhood. It is, therefore, strange that we often label sixteen as being ‘sweet’ because usually it’s anything but.
For young people discovering their sexuality, their sixteenth year is often turbulent as they navigate identity, conformity and, more often than not, bullying from their peers. But how do you reflect on the challenges of that sixteenth year in a drama that opted for optimism over the harsh realities of teenage life in its first season? For Euros Lyn, the answer is to open season two with the same aesthetic as the first, then build a bridge to more young-adult-oriented discussions without alienating the younger teens watching. That bridge is a final school trip to Paris, the city of love, but in Heartstopper series two, it’s far more than a school outing; it’s a rite of passage that changes everything in a heartbeat for everyone involved.
This expertly crafted tonal shift enables Heartstopper series two to evolve gently alongside its characters’ growing age, while maintaining its magic of appealing to a broad audience. For young people, series two reflects the issues they face daily as their world suddenly and sharply changes with the end of school and the arrival of the adult world. For adults like me, season two reminds us of our responsibility to young people to continue to build a better world than the one we experienced at sixteen.
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