The preview of the hit Netflix show’s upcoming instalment already has fans feeling a rollercoaster of emotions.
Picking up where we left off at the end of season one, the Heartstopper trailer explores the next stages of Nick and Charlie’s life together as they try to navigate the complex terrain of their adolescent same-sex relationship. In particular, the trailer focuses on Nick (Kit Connor) as he struggles to find the ‘right time’ to come out to his peers, having only come to terms with his own bisexuality in the show’s previous season. Charlie (Joe Locke) longs to protect Nick from having to face the difficulties that he himself faced growing up as a young queer person, telling to “come out when and how [he] want[s] to”.
Fans have been quick to point out the significance of this storyline in relation to Connor’s own experience after he was forced to come out as bisexual on Twitter following the release of Heartstopper’s first season. Viewers accused the series of queerbaiting by casting Connor, who was assumed by many to be straight, to play a bisexual character in the show–prompting him to confirm his sexuality online as well as condemn social media users for pressuring him to share details about his own personal life.
The show’s second season appears to have a slight shift in focus and offer more of an insight into the relationships and experiences of other characters, as Tara and Darcy (Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell) begin to struggle in their own relationship. The trailer also alludes to a prominent focus on the developing relationship between Tao and Elle (Will Gao and Yasmin Finney), whose romantic feelings for one another were an underlying theme throughout the first season.
This second instalment of Heartstopper comes as a delight to fans of Alice Oseman’s webcomic, with many viewers excited to see the emotionally charged Paris trip played out on screen. The upcoming episodes are set to incorporate themes and characters not included in the first season, with the introduction of Nick’s homophobic older brother David (Jack Barton). It is also speculated that this season will explicitly deal with Charlie’s struggles with anorexia and mental illness, which are addressed at length in Oseman’s comic.
Season two of Heartstopper premiers on Netflix on August 3. You can catch up on season one here.
Words by Violeta Paez
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