Heartstopper' season 2 returns with a new dose of queer joy
When Alice Oseman set out to develop the sophomore season of “Heartstopper,” the megahit Netflix dramedy series adapted from her own webcomics, the author-turned-screenwriter knew she couldn’t — and didn't want to — make the same season twice.
“I want each season to feel like an evolution, to tackle new ideas and themes, and for us to see the characters changing and growing, while also preserving the hopeful heart of ‘Heartstopper,’” she said in a Q&A provided to the media by Netflix. “While season one followed a typical romance story structure, season two takes a deeper look into teen relationships of various stages and sees the characters begin to explore more complex emotional truths about themselves and each other.”
The show’s freshman run, which debuted to critical acclaim, reached Netflix’s Top 10 list in 54 countries and won five Children’s and Family Emmys last year, introduced the endearing love story of Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nicholas “Nick” Nelson (Kit Connor), two teens at an all-boys school in the United Kingdom who were seated next to each other in homeroom. After becoming fast friends, Charlie, who has been bullied since coming out as gay, began to develop a crush on Nick, the kindhearted star of their school’s rugby team, while Nick discovered that he is bisexual and eventually came out to his accepting mother, Sarah (Olivia Colman).
The new eight-episode season, which premiered Thursday, finds Nick and Charlie navigating the rose-colored experience of falling in love for the first time, including the anxiety-inducing act of baring one’s soul to a romantic partner, and Nick wrestling with when and how to come out to the rest of his family and friends.
“We wanted Nick and Charlie’s relationship to deepen and evolve and everyone to be swept up in the magic of that,” executive producer Patrick Walters, who has worked closely with Oseman on the TV adaptation, told NBC News in a recent video interview. “The main reason for this show to exist is to bring people happiness and joy, so wanting to show as much of that as possible was a big" priority in this season.
In the season premiere, Nick and Charlie can be seen spending a lot of time together after school and making out in each other’s rooms — so much so that Charlie’s grades begin to slip. Connor and Locke, who have struck up a genuine friendship between seasons and developed an evident ability to banter and improvise with one another, worked closely with Walters, director Euros Lyn and intimacy coordinator David Thackeray to make each intimate moment between Nick and Charlie feel different this season.
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