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Heartstopper Season 3 Review

The third season of Heartstopper premiered in 2024 on Netflix. It continues the downward trend in quality for this struggling show.

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“I worry about you all the time“

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When the first season of Heartstopper premiered, I was actually quite charmed by it. That is the only season of this series that I genuinely enjoyed. But the second season forsake plot and conflict for the aforementioned charm, so I lost interest. Similarly, the third season has very little at stake as the season where so little happened and so much padding was involved.

This season did tackle some important issues that teenagers face. Finally, the subject of sex was handled, but only toward the end of the season. This is a show about teenagers, so the fact that only toward the end of its third season did it tackle sex felt very unrealistic to me. How they dealt with it was in a subtle manner with a lot of focus on consent and body image. That was great. Charlie’s eating disorder was another issue that was handled, but in the first half.

My problem with the season is that all of these issues were mostly stuck in the second half whereas the first half was too happy-go-lucky. Once again, we got a Heartstopper season that was so gooey, so innocent and so implausibly cheerful that it ended up feeling like a genuine fairy tale. I am all for endearing fare, but not when it comes at the expense of realism.

I find this show’s obsession with Charlie as a character beyond frustrating. I call this the Carrie Bradshaw syndrome. Everybody is so concerned with Charlie that they forget to worry about themselves. I continue to find his character selfish and a spoiled brat. Nick being too enamored with him made him look unrealistic and plain stupid. Their romance has by now become too pathetic and cringe-worthy.

Other characters fared better. Tao and Elle are also overly toxic, but at least Elle got her problems with her being transgender and Tao is supportive of his friends and not just her. He is by far the coolest and most likable person of this entire group. This season used Isaac much more, which was fine with me, but how they tackled asexuality was also not grounded in reality. The fact that every one of these characters is LGBT is ridiculous.

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The lesbian couple got their problems, but for the most part they were sidelined. I also hated the non-binary agenda introduced in their storyline. Imogen possibly being bisexual was also too much. The teachers got their moments, but those were fleeting. The same goes for the parents, though Charlie’s sister got a pretty good arc for herself.

This season was filled with songs to the point that it felt as if the creators were just buying time for themselves. The pacing was sluggish and the season was overlong for such a small scope and weak story where not much conflict was introduced. The acting is at least strong across the board, elevating the characters significantly.