Heartstopper Season 1 Spoiler Review

This review contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen Heartstopper yet, check out our non-spoiler review.

I first discovered Heartstopper by getting an ARC of Heartstopper Volume Two in a subscription box. I took the leap and bought Volume One, and then read them both with lightning speed. It was 2021 and I was desperate to read anything happy, and I found joy in this wholesome teenage romance that prioritizes character development. I waited impatiently for Volumes Three and Four to come out but they were worth the wait. So then finding out that Netflix picked up the series put me on cloud nine. When I’m in a bad or sad mood, I look for shows that are uncomplicated and sweet, and they’re surprisingly hard to find. Since Oseman herself was brought on as creator and writer, the Heartstopper show was guaranteed to meet my needs.

In eight episodes about 25 minutes each, Heartstopper manages to capture all the emotions of the graphic novel series while rounding out the supporting cast with rich narratives of their own. The show covers Volume One and Two of the book series, which almost entirely focused on Nick and Charlie, before giving more information about their friend groups in Volume Three. I’m glad the show had the space to bring those friends to the foreground so that we can see what Tara and Darcy go through when their relationship goes public, and so we can see the beginning stages of Tao and Elle’s relationship. The show has been about three years in the making; it was first optioned by See-Saw Films in 2019, then pitched to broadcasters after writing the scripts, Netflix joined in 2020 and then greenlit at the beginning of 2021, and they filmed in 2021. Oseman was present for filming and said it was “literally the most intense experience of my life,” according to an interview with Blue Willow Books, and that the snowy scene was her favorite to watch on set.

There is great diversity in the show, both for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC characters. Of the primary students and teachers, we have representation of people who are gay, bi, trans, and ace. I never saw a show with so much representation when I was a teenager, and seeing something like this probably would have helped my understanding of human connection and sexual orientation. I don’t think I even knew the word “trans” in high school, so it’s wonderful that contemporary teenage audiences are seeing accurate representation in their media. We also get great BIPOC characters in both teachers and students. Not only are many of the main characters Black, Asian, and Indian, but during the roll call of Nick and Charlie’s form class, we hear several MENA names as well. In wide shots, the general student population seems to be pretty diverse. Perhaps the only form of representation we’re really missing is plus-size representation. Isaac is larger than others, but I didn’t notice anyone else that wasn’t skinny, which is disappointing. Teenagers badly need to see themselves represented in media, so this is yet another show normalizing thin-ness as the only acceptable option. At least Isaac is not bullied for his size.

Book readers will notice a cast change among Charlie’s friends. In the show, Charlie’s best friends are Tao, Elle, and Isaac; Isaac is a new character and semi-replacement for Aled Last. Oseman has discussed this change, saying that since Aled plays such a large role in her novel Radio Silence, having him in the show but not mentioning anything from Radio Silence would be doing his character a disservice. I think the choice is ok considering we don’t see much of Aled in the Heartstopper books either, and I trust Oseman’s judgment. Aled is such a beloved character from Radio Silence that I think it’s very possible his appearance would pull too much focus. A notable trait about Isaac is his love for books, as he’s never without one in any given scene. As it turns out, Tobie Donovan (who plays Isaac) has said that he purposefully hints about Aled, and one of those hints is Isaac reading Radio Silence. I will have a short article about Isaac’s books coming out in the next few days.

Speaking of what book readers will notice—there are some references in the show to the books. The most notable reference is the color palette. The books are illustrated in black, white, and turquoise, and the first two volumes’ book covers feature turquoise/teal and pink/orange, so the show really leans into a turquoise/orange color palette. We see turquoise walls with orange accents at school and in homes, turquoise and orange clothing, turquoise dishes in a kitchen, turquoise and orange art pieces (including a turquoise and orange Oseman piece in a train), and turquoise and orange objects like lunch boxes and towels and drawers. The comic-style overlays when the characters are having *feelings* are in Oseman’s drawing style. Charlie and Harry both wear age pendants/buttons to their birthday parties, drawn in Oseman’s style. My personal favorite tie-in to the book is Charlie and Nick’s catchphrase, “Why are we like this?”. They use this phrase any time they realize they’re being silly and it’s adorable. The phrase is mirrored in one scene with the song selection “Why Am I Like This?” by Orla Gartland. I will have an article about the music in this show coming out in the next few days.

For those watching in the US, everything in this British show is mostly self-explanatory. I caught one slang term I was unfamiliar with: “chirps” or “chirpsing”, which means to “chat up” someone; so if someone is “chirpsing” someone else, they’re interested in them. It can also take some practice to become familiar with their grade levels and types of exams. British schools count grades as 1-13 rather than the American style of kindergarten plus grades 1-12. In the show, Charlie is in Year 10 and Nick is in Year 11, which means that Charlie is a Freshman by American standards and Nick is a Sophomore. Schools in Britain (excluding Scotland) use the GCSEs, or General Certificate of Secondary Education, as an academic qualification. After passing their GCSEs as “freshmen” and “sophomores”, they then move on to their A-levels, or Advanced Levels, as “juniors” and “seniors”.

Let’s talk about family. I think it was an interesting and wise choice to only include positive familial interactions in the show and leave out conflicts present in the book. Nick’s brother is clearly homophobic in the book and their mom has to keep telling him off for it. I found that to be an accurate portrayal of how families can often be split in acceptance of someone queer; however, there was enough going on with bullies in the show that having Nick’s brother pile-on as well would have been too much. It was a good move to only show Nick’s mom’s acceptance, and then we can deal with his brother and absent father in a future season (hopefully!). Quick round of applause for bringing in Olivia Coleman as Nick’s mom. I am absolutely envious of her getting to hug Kit Connor in the scene where his character Nick comes out to her; Kit delivers his lines so well that I desperately want to hug him too. As for Charlie’s family, we only see the support of Tori and his father and don’t get much interaction at all with his mother. In the books, Charlie’s mom does not understand the emotional roller coaster Charlie is going through, especially in regards to his mental illness, and she’s unnecessarily harsh with him. It’s eventually revealed that Charlie has an eating disorder and self-harms, and his mother begins to understand his issues very belatedly and is still never his #1 supporter. Again, I think the choice to not include this conflict was a wise one. Charlie’s eating disorder is only hinted at in the show since no one around him has noticed the problem yet, which is very similar to the book. If the show gets renewed for another season, his eating disorder should appear front and center from the beginning, as it’s during the summer break that Nick sees the problem first-hand after spending even more time together. So it makes sense to pause Charlie’s fraught relationship with his mother until his mental illness issues are the main focus. But I do hope we see that relationship play out, as it’s hyper realistic for parents to ignore or completely misunderstand what their children are inwardly battling.

This show delivers in every category for me. The acting is fantastic, the music is well chosen, the visuals of color palette and overlays are fun, the adaptation of the book is spot-on, and overall vibes are so pure and enjoyable. You could not pay me enough money to go back in time to high school, but this show is one of the few that makes the high school experience interesting rather than cringe-inducing or dull. I haven’t seen any news about the show getting renewed for another season yet, but I think Oseman could do great things with it. If the show gets renewed, there are several things I look forward to seeing: more Tori, how they show the progression of Charlie’s eating disorder and recovery, new romance between Mr. Ajayi (played by Fisayo Akinade) and Mr. Farouk (not in this season), Paris shenanigans, Tao and Elle’s relationship, putting bullies in their place again, more of new-to-show character Imogen since she seems really sweet, and Olivia Coleman putting people in their place. For now, I wish I could hug my “baby boy” Charlie and comfort him with everything he battles, but I’ll settle for watching this show ad nauseum until we get more.