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Heartstopper Season 1 Review

Heartstopper is a British coming-of-age romantic comedy streaming series that premiered its first season on Netflix in 2022. It’s a wholesome and charming, albeit not great show.

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“Don’t let anyone make you disappear Charlie“

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The series follows a gay schoolboy and his developing relationship with a schoolmate. The show also focuses on Charlie’s friends and their problems. First and foremost, this is a very innocent, sugar-coated and romanticized take on growing up and first love. There is nothing sexual here to be found whatsoever, which did make the show unrealistic, but it also made it suitable for whole families to watch and it’s great to promote romance and innocence to teenagers.

This first season only has eight episodes, each about 25 minutes long. The result is a somewhat rushed narrative where some characters don’t get their proper due, but it was still great witnessing such strong characterization on a teenage show. The main friendship dynamic is excellent.

Nick and Charlie have an almost impossibly romantic relationship, but it’s sweet and the show is very charming in their playful dynamic. The protagonist being openly gay and the love interest being closeted was a change in narrative that worked, but still too much focus was put on that secrecy storyline. Nick is a very likable guy, but Charlie could come across as too weak and selfish.

The show is actually more interesting to me personally in the side characters. Elle is a trans girl and she is very likable as well. She needed more screen time, but her developing romance with Tao was very endearing. Tao is the best character on the show actually. He is so overly protective of his friends, but still very funny and lively in his personality.

Isaac could have easily been excluded as he is totally disposable in this group, but Darcy and Tara are this very cool, fun lesbian couple who have their share of problems, but their positivity for themselves and for others added some great energy to this series.

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The bully character was clichéd, but necessary I guess for this type of story. The bullying overall wasn’t as realistic as some of the other aspects on the show, but the peer pressure was very well explored nonetheless. The acting is solid across the board, though hardly great. The comic-book touches were superb and so cute as the sparks fly off the screen when characters kiss or hug. The score is also sweet and the season’s briskly paced, though too short.