Heartstopper: Season 2

August 7, 2023 11:27 AM - Season 2 (Full Season)

Nick, Charlie, Tao, Elle, Isaac and all the rest of the Truman/Hicks gang are back.

Season 2 picks up the day after the end of Season 1.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero (13 comments total)

The first episode has SO MUCH KISSING.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:15 PM on August 7, 2023

Spoiler alert: the whole season has a great deal of kissing!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:02 PM on August 7, 2023

Apologies, the schools are Truman/*Higgs!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:05 PM on August 7, 2023

Yay kissing! We’ve only watched the first episode but I’m gonna need some TAO-ELLE kissing soon plz they love each other so much and need kisses.
posted by obfuscation at 3:21 PM on August 7, 2023

So much chaste kissing!

I loved this season almost as much as the first. The first season was so fresh that it was hard for this one to live up to it but it found ways to explore "coming out" in new and different ways and touched on subjects I've not seen on TV before - such as Isaac's asexuality. (Creator Alice Oseman is asexual/aromantic.)

I do wonder about how long the show can go on without addressing sex, though. I think this season basically got away with it, but horny teenagers are going to horny teenage, right? (I don't think the show should turn into Sex Education but it feels so strange to have such a queer show be so uninterested in sex. Perhaps this comes down to Oseman's own interests, of course.)

I'm glad we got more and more of the ensemble and new angles on the Nick/Charlie relationship. The first season was so judicious in its use (or non use) of parental characters, it was interesting to find out how much we didn't know about them. And the teachers!

I just wish the season wasn't so short. 8 half-hour episodes is a tasty morsel and maybe that's perfect for a show based on comic books but now it's gone from my life for another 12 months at least.
posted by crossoverman at 3:25 PM on August 7, 2023

I do wonder about how long the show can go on without addressing sex - I think it all depends on the books. I need to re-read the volumes this season is based on; I've heard it's not quite the frame-by-frame match of season 1 but it seemed like a lot of the themes carried over.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:21 PM on August 8, 2023

I think it all depends on the books.

Oseman has said she doesn't want to draw teenagers having sex so I guess I need to wait until Heartstopper: The College Years.

I just think a whole cast of teenagers being sweet to each other always is going to slide into unbelievable soon.
posted by crossoverman at 8:08 PM on August 9, 2023

I've read as far as book four -- after this season -- and I don't think it's ruining anything if I say there's no sex.

> Oseman has said she doesn't want to draw teenagers having sex

I appreciate that. Honestly, I'm not comfortable watching teenagers make out.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:26 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Enjoyed the second season, though it felt a bit more rushed then the first season? Though my perception may be off because I experienced these events much slower via Alice Oseman's posting of the panels to Tumblr, plus the addition of new characters and their storylines.
posted by Julnyes at 1:23 PM on August 10, 2023

If you follow the webcomic, the most recent updates do actually show them having sex, in an incredibly tasteful and not at all explicit way that still gives the impression that everyone is having a great time, lol
posted by exceptinsects at 1:04 PM on August 16, 2023

OMG CHARLIE JUST DO YOUR FREAKING HOMEWORK AND YOU CAN GET BACK TO SMOOCHING

I really love the range of parent-child relationships we see in the show. They're not perfect families, but there's clearly a lot of love, and the portrayals are so honest. Tao and his mom are so cute. <3
posted by obfuscation at 5:44 AM on August 17, 2023 [3 favorites]

Just wanted to say how much me and my partner have been loving this show. It's making us feel intensely nostalgic for the gay teenage life neither of us got to have.
posted by Nelson at 10:05 PM on November 11, 2023

Well... the last episode prompted me to have a long talk with my spouse about my deep-seated need to pretend everything is perfect, because I've been trained -- even indoctrinated -- to believe that if I'm careful enough to avoid the landmines then they'll never go off.

So, um, very relatable, is what I'm saying.
posted by kyrademon at 11:54 AM on February 1