Heartstopper Season 3 is a thoughtful evolution of the show as its characters face new challenges at its heart, Heartstopper A joyous expression of young queer love and friendship anchored by the romance between Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor). The first two seasons were dominated by a candy color palette, smartly combined HeartstopperIts comic roots with bursts of animation at key moments.
Anyway, the end Heartstopper Season 2 came at a turning point – its characters were growing, and the show was playing with some heavier material than it had explored before. The finale hints at a darker, more mature tone going forward, which it fully adopts in Season 3. While the fun that the show is known for is certainly on display in parts of the new season, it’s a decidedly heavy run of episodes. Heartstopper You have tried in the past.
Heartstopper Season 3 deals with some tough topics
Charlie’s story is hard to watch but well handled
This is especially the case in the first half of the season, which is largely devoted to Charlie’s deteriorating mental health and eating disorder. While this leads to many difficult moments, the show handles that development with a level of care that is impressive HeartstopperFor its value though Charlie’s perspective is given the screen time it deserves, I’ve been more impressed since season 3 with the way the show explores the toll on Nick, Tori (Jenny Walser) and the other people who care about Charlie.
The season explores many prickly things about the burden of being a caregiver, the potential dangers of letting a relationship – even a wonderful one – consume you, and the way a new love changes the dynamics with friends and family. Those are pretty ambitious ideas for any show to tackle and for Season 3 Not just turning away from them but nothing more than their justice. It comes in episode 4, a season standout that covers months of Charlie’s health struggles and Nick’s reaction to them.
As part of its more grown-up tone, the season explores sexuality in a way it hasn’t before, which seems like a natural turn since most of the characters are now in relationships and getting older. I was interested to see the show’s take on it and wasn’t surprised that its approach was quite gentle and sweet, exploring it realistically but not in a way that took the show in a too-graphic direction.
Heartstopper takes advantage of Season 3’s ensemble
Charlie’s friends come together and the performance is impressive
While Charlie is understandably a focus of the new episodes, the Netflix show spent a lot of time establishing his friend group in the first two seasons, and it really paid off this time around. The characters are so rich and their dynamics so well-established at this point that the show could pick any two friends, put them together, and make it feel completely natural. For example, Nick has some great scenes with people who would be easy to label as “Charlie’s friends,” but it’s clear that they’re just as intent on supporting Nick as Charlie is.
With heavy material, it is a real pleasure to watch HeartstopperIts young actors become more confident in their performances. In season 3, where Charlie bottles up a lot because Nick is worried about him, Kit Connor’s tendency to play Nick quite openly with Joe Locke’s more reserved approach is particularly effective.
Hayley Atwell plays Nick’s aunt perfectly, bringing a warm but no-nonsense energy that suits her needs.
Although Olivia Colman’s absence is conspicuous at times – scheduling conflicts prevent her from returning as Nick’s mother – Hayley Atwell is perfectly cast as Nick’s aunt, bringing a warm but no-nonsense energy that suits her needs. Ted Lasso Fans will enjoy seeing Annette Badland (aka May) pop up as Darcy’s gran, and Jonathan Bailey’s appearance is brief but memorable, leading to one of the funniest moments of the season.
Heartstopper Season 3 has taken a darker turn but some viewers may be left wanting more
The moments of joy that defined the first two seasons aren’t as prominent this time around
If there’s one negative to Season 3’s slightly darker and more mature tone, it’s that the fun, romantic moments aren’t as plentiful as they were in the first two seasons. The happy scenes are still there, but I wish they had a little more time to breathe. While the show used to revel in sultry, romantic moments, letting us soak them in and feel the joy of the characters, there isn’t much time to celebrate before Season 3 hits with another sad moment.
I was wanting a little more for one of the show’s newest pairings: Tori and Michael While Tori is given more to great effect this season, most of it involves Charlie, which means she and Michael don’t have much time. Both are delightful and help provide many of the season’s lighter moments, and both the characters and the tone of the season would have benefited from a little more time with them.
Heartstopper Season 3 ends on a promising note, albeit without much resolution for some storylines. It seems appropriate for this particular season. As these episodes make clear, the characters are growing up and facing new challenges; Their lives are much messier than before. The season finale left me hoping for a season 4 renewal soon, and after watching the new episodes, I hope many feel the same way.
Its eight episodes Heartstopper Season 3 will be available to stream on Netflix on October 3.