Heartstopper Season 2 — What We Love the Most

Heartstopper released its second season on August 3rd. After an internet breaking first season, the second season continues to deliver its special brand of cotton candy sweetness and awkward sincerity. Heartstopper is centered around a queer friend group growing up and going to school in Great Britain. The main relationship in the show is between shy musician Charlie and star rugby player Nick. The rest of the cast is rounded out with Tao, Issac, and Elle (who is transgender), Charlie’s best friends and lesbian couple Tara and Darcy who go to Elle’s new school. I have been in love with Heartstopper since I discovered the comic of the same name on tumblr my sophomore year of High School. Alice Oseman’s art style is cute and whimsical and the later chapters tackle difficult topics such as self harm, eating disorders, and homophobia without sensationalizing them. While many other shows with queer characters are filled with sex, drama, cheating, and alcohol fueled ragers, Heartstopper is not. The characters are awkward, they have silly crushes, and their performance in school is actually important to the plot. Heartstopper is a different kind of queer show. It doesn’t care about being tantalizing and subversive. Heartstopper is focused on validating queer experiences, portraying healthy queer relationships, and expressing queer joy. That is not to say the story doesn’t have any drama or feelings of queer isolation, but the audience knows it will be okay in the end. <a href="https://medium.com/matthews-place/heartstopper-season-2-what-we-love-the-most-4bf4f47afbbe">Read More</a>