In April of 2022 “Heartstopper”, the graphic novel by Alice Oseman, released its first season of a live action tv show on Netflix. After being a success with audiences the show was renewed and on Oct. 3 season 3 came out.
Season 3 of “Heartstopper” truly lived up to its name with the emotional highs and lows of the season and watching how Nick and Charlie navigate being in a relationship and taking care of mental health.
“Heartstopper” is the story of Nick and Charlie, teenage boys at Truham Grammar School in the UK. It follows as they meet and fall in love and navigates not only how nice love is but how hard love can be.
It also is the story of Nick and Charlie’s friends Elle, Tao, Isaac, Imogen and Sahar. As each of them follows different aspects of relationships and love from friends to lovers, to a better as friends, to a “I only want friends”. “Heartstopper” covers a wide array of how people experience love.
The storyline was incredibly thoughtful and well written regarding mental illnesses, sexuality and transgender identities.
What is often so loved about this show is that it gives a story to people who don’t often have one historically.
Mental health problems like anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders all get a real and accurate depiction in the new season which navigates around healing and living with mental illnesses instead of pulling the “I went to therapy and now this will never affect me again” trope that other media can tend to fall into.
There are also storylines around lesser-known sexualities like asexual and aromantic, a group so underrepresented that the number of characters who explicitly say they are can be counted on one hand.
Alice Osemen has said before that the ideal number of seasons needed to faithfully adapt “Heartstopper” would be 4. As of now it has not been officially renewed.