Hollywood’s latest rising star duo, Kit Connor and Joe Locke, are once again reprising their roles in their breakout seriesHeartstopper. Here’s everything you need to know to get caught up on the show’s latest season with ourHeartstopper season recap from the last two runs.
Netflix’s romantic series Heartstopper, whichdeals with high school teenage love, feels like a warm hug. It focuses on Nick Nelson (played by Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (played by Joe Locke) as they navigate school life, friendship and love. But things are not as easy as they seem; from peer pressure to family expectations and mental health issues, there are a lot of factors that shape their lives. With season 3 ready to roll out on 3 October 2024, here’s a quick Heartstopper season 1 and 2 recap.
One of the most popular and highest-rated YA series on Netflix, Heartstopper is based on the graphic novels of the same name by writer and executive producer Alice Oseman. Season 2 arrived in August 2023 and now, with season 3 releasing over a year later, we cannot wait to see what happens to Nick and Charlie’s relationship.
Before diving into the details of season 3, let’s revisit all that happened in the previous seasons with a Heartstopper recap.
Unpacking Heartstopper seasons 1 and 2 before watching the third season
Heartstopper season 1 recap: Nick meets Charlie, Elle finds herself, Tara comes out
At Truham Grammar School, Charlie is a shy, introverted year 10 student, in a secret relationship with closeted gay student Ben Hope (Sebastian Croft). However, Ben’s hot-and-cold behaviour towards Charlie with occasional bullying leads the latter to grapple with trauma. However, things start to look up soon in his unassuming life when he sits beside the golden boy of Truham’s rugby team and year 11 student Nick in his form class. Although he is smitten right away, Charlie’s friends Tao (William Gao) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan) warn him that Nick is straight.
Gradually, a strong friendship grows between Nick and Charlie and they start hanging out outside of school. Nick even stands up for Charlie against Ben, whose only intention is to keep their rendezvous a secret. Meanwhile, Tao continues to buy apple juice for Elle (Yasmin Finney), who recently shifted to Higgs Girls School from Truham. But, with time, Elle finds new friends in Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), an openly queer girl.
While speculations about Nick liking either Tara or Imogen (Rhea Norwood), a popular Higgs girl, do the rounds, the rugby star cannot help but invite Charlie to a party. Tao continues to remain suspicious of Nick and thinks he might be hurting his friend.
At the party, Nick and Charlie share a kiss (a swoon-worthy moment!) but the former rushes out when he hears his homophobic friends looking for him. Charlie leaves heartbroken but Nick decides to show up at his house the next morning to fix the situation. They kiss again and Nick affirms his feelings for him and the boys start dating. However, they decide to keep their relationship low-key until Nick figures himself out. When Elle gets to know about their relationship, she is concerned about how Tao would react but Charlie suggests they wait for the right time to tell him.
In the fifth episode, Nick feels sorry for Imogen as her dog dies and agrees to a date, although deep within he has feelings for Charlie. Nick’s mother, Sarah (Olivia Coleman) also notices that her son feels more open and himself around Charlie. An epiphany dawns on him when she says, he shouldn’t date someone just because he feels sorry for them. Therefore, when Nick’s date coincides with Charlie’s birthday party, he chooses the latter. As Tao informs Charlie about Nick’s date with Imognes, Nick overhears their conversation and explains the situation to his new ‘boyfriend’.
Soon, Nick realises that he is bisexual, and Tara and Darcy make their barely-secret relationship Instagram official. However, a flurry of sudden homophobic comments upsets Tara. Meanwhile, Elle and Tao, too, try to get close but struggle with their insecurities.
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As Heartstopper season 1 nears its end, Nick picks up a fight with his friend Harry (Cormac Hyde-Corrin) for his homophobic comments against Charlie. Later, Tao, who is angry with Charlie for hiding his relationship from him, gets into a squabble with Harry at school. All this makes Charlie feel guilty and he decides to end things with Nick. The last episode opens on Sports Day at Truham. Charlie mends things with Tao and Nick makes it up with his boyfriend. To celebrate the day, the boys head to the beach where Nick declares his love for Charlie and they spend quality time together (the scene where they lay on the sand makes us weep every time).
Coming out is not easy but Nick’s journey of self-discovery leads him to open up to his mother and she accepts him the way he is.
Heartstopper season 2 recap: Paris, prom and Isaac’s realisation
Now, let’s recap Heartstopper season 2, which is yet another roller coaster for Nick and Charlie. This time, there’s a joint Paris trip for the Truham and Higgs folks loaded with more revelations.
We dive straight into Nick and Charlie’s relationship. Nick’s coming out in the first season was a turning point, but now he is extremely nervous about telling his classmates and rugby group. On the contrary, Charlie, who has been completely immersed in his new-found love, falls behind in his schoolwork and his family suggests keeping his relationship aside to focus on exams. Nick, too, must get serious about his studies, but his older brother David (Jack Barton) bullies him for being bisexual.
Meanwhile, conflicts brew among Charlie’s friends as well. Tara and Darcy, who were going strong so far, hit a rough patch when Tara says “I love you” but Darcy doesn’t reciprocate, leading Tara to realise she barely knows anything about her girlfriend. Tao and Elle, too, have feelings for each other but are worried about ruining their friendship. She enrols at the prestigious Lambert Art School and feels seen by her new friends, especially Naomie (Bel Priestly). Later when Tao plans the perfect date for them, it goes completely wrong and they decide to remain just friends.
In Paris, Nick decides to keep the relationship a secret, but when Charlie wakes up with a hickey, gossip spreads. Seeing Nick and Charlie happy together, Ben feels envious and wants Charlie back. However, the trauma of bullying continues to haunt Charlie and is quite evident from his developing eating disorder. He even passes out in the Louvre for not eating enough but a caring Nick takes care of him.
Paris ends on a good note with Elle and Tao getting back together and Darcy saying ‘I love you too’ to Tara. Upon returning, all the friends visit Elle’s queer art exhibition where Isaac, who came across as a serious nerdy guy, meets someone asexual and realises his sexuality.
At Nick’s house, David forces his brother to come out before their father at dinner when Charlie is also present, even though Nick isn’t ready. Darcy, too, faces a similar predicament when her homophobic mother kicks her out after seeing her in a prom suit.
The season finale opens at the prom night which is made magical with a Baby Queen performance. Nick and Charlie’s relationship reaches newer heights as he comes out on Instagram; Elle and Tao are official and Tara and Darcy also get back together. Nick and Charlie almost say ‘I love you’ via DM but the episode ends.
With this, we wrap up the Heartstopper season 2 recap.
What will Heartstopper season 3 cover?
So does he click on send? “I don’t want to spoil [anything]. I can’t,” Oseman tells Tudum. Well, there we have something to look forward to.
Heartstopper season 2 recap ended on a very heart-touching note with Nick understanding how deep the claws of mental health issues have gnawed into Charlie. “And it’s this that will drive the story through Season 3,” Oseman told Netflix. “While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up.”
The upcoming eight-part instalment of this LGBTQ+ series on Netflix will show the kids at the end of the summer holiday. They begin to learn more about themselves and each other as realise the new challenges and joys the new term brings in. University choices and revelations about Isaac are other important angles this time.
“I’m so excited because it’s going to feel like a really different season, and I love that we are doing something different,” Oseman said. “It would be easy to be like, ‘Oh, Heartstopper Season 3, let’s just do the same kind of thing that we’ve always done. People like it.’ But we are doing something that will feel very different, and people will be surprised, and I can’t wait.”
As far as big confirmations go, Ben won’t be returning and Jonathan Bailey will cameo as Jack Maddox, an Instagram-famous classicist and Charlie’s crush. Hayley Atwell will play Nick’s aunt, Diane, who takes Nick on a summer holiday to Menorca and gives some tough advice about his relationship.
Watch all seasons of Heartstopper here
(Hero and feature image: Courtesy IMDb)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
