Similar to other Netflix teen comedy hits like Never Have I Ever and Sex Education, Heartstopper is a cute and introspective story of a group of young teens in England discovering themselves. Based on a series of graphic novels by Alice Oseman, the show is centered around LGBTQ+ characters and their experiences, and it has officially wowed audiences. With eight episodes of around 30 minutes, Season 1 wowed both critics and audiences, with a solid 100% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Variety reported that for the week of May 16, 2022, almost a month after Season 1 dropped, the show is still topping their Trending TV chart, with almost 1.3 million engagements. But now that the first season of Heartstopper is over, there are seven major questions fans need answered. We break them down here!
1. Will there be a second season of Heartstopper?
As the first and most obvious question, we actually have an answer, and it’s positive. Heartstopper is officially coming back for not just one, but two more seasons.
2. Will Heartstopper’s new episodes follow the books?
In Heartstopper Season 1, the plot closely follows what happens in the original books, focusing on the developing romance between Charlie and Nick. There were some changes made while adapting it to the screen. For example, the TV show goes deeper into the relationship between Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), while also focusing more on Elle (Yasmin Finney). At the same time, it minimizes the character development of Nick’s friends and doesn’t include Charlie’s younger brother Oliver. Despite these changes, it seems safe to say that Heartstopper is a relatively accurate adaptation of the source material. Season 1 of the Netflix series basically covers all of Hearstopper Volume 1 and quite a bit of Heartstopper Volume 2. The rest of the second graphic novel mainly focuses on how Nick and Charlie’s classmates react to their relationship as Nick discovers more about his personal identity. There’s also a school trip to Paris, but it remains to be seen whether the TV show will include that. Oseman’s official site states that there are four volumes in the main series and a fifth and final one coming next year, though she has also written a few other books set in the same universe, including Solitaire, which is a darker young adult story about Charlie’s sister Tori (Jenny Walter) and her experiences dealing with mental illness. As the show continues, Netflix might decide to branch out and explore the side characters in more depth, or maybe even give them a spinoff later on.
3. Will all the characters be back for Heartstopper Season 2?
While two more seasons of Heartstopper have been announced, there have been no further details released about the story, the cast, or anything else. So, will Charlie, Nick, and all of their friends be back? Based on the graphic novels and Season 1, one thing is almost certain: Charlie and Nick will return. As the main couple, they only become official at the end of Heartstopper’s first season, so there are still many more challenges for the two to face. As for the rest of the teenagers in the series, there’s also plenty more to explore there, so we can likely expect to see Tara and Darcy, Tori, Elle, Tao (William Gao), and Isaac (Tobie Donovan) again. One of the more questionable castmember returns is Olivia Colman, who plays Nick’s mom Sarah, due to her filming schedule with other projects.
4. How will the school react to Nick and Charlie’s public relationship in Heartstopper?
At the end of Heartstopper Season 1, Nick finally comes out to his mom, and he and Charlie decide to make their relationship public. Of course, the season ends with everything seeming happy and stress-free, but as you can imagine, things might be different once the boys are finally face-to-face with their classmates. The first season also highlights homophobia from some of Nick’s supposed friends, with the most prominent perpetrators being Harry (Cormac Hyde-Corrin) and Ben (Sebastian Croft), the latter of which is also experiencing internalized homophobia, as he is previously in a relationship (of sorts) with Charlie and doesn’t want anyone to know about it. While these two might try to cause trouble for Nick and Charlie, they will hopefully fare much better with the rest of the school. In particular, Charlie’s favorite teacher, Mr. Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade), will almost certainly celebrate the new couple, as he is a major part of Charlie’s support system at school.
5. What’s next for Tara and Darcy in Heartstopper?
Alongside Charlie and Nick, there is another important couple at the center of Heartstopper’s story: Tara and Darcy. The two girls attend the local all-girls school and soon befriend Elle. Like Nick, Tara spends some time coming around to the idea of being public about her sexuality and relationship. Darcy, on the other hand, has no problem shouting about her love to everyone. Over the first season, Tara slowly becomes more comfortable with it, but she is definitely affected by homophobia from other students. Moving forward, this might play a role in their relationship. Tara and Darcy will have to work through the girls’ school’s perception of them, while Nick and Charlie do the same at the boys’ school.
6. Will Elle finally tell Tao how she feels in Heartstopper?
One thing Darcy loves to do is meddle in other people’s love lives. She helps Charlie navigate his ever-changing relationship with Nick, and it ends up working out, but by the end of Season 1, Darcy’s target changes to Elle. As Elle adjusts to her new school, her one steadfast friend, the person she can tell anything to, is Tao. Pretty quickly, it seems like these two have something more going on, but they’re both oblivious. Darcy points it out to Elle, and by the end of Heartstopper’s first season, Elle is sure that she has romantic feelings for Tao. While coming clean about his feelings worked for Tara and Darcy, Elle decides that she doesn’t want to risk their friendship by declaring her feelings. Still, in the final episode, it seems like Tao is realizing that he has similar feelings for Elle. Going into Season 2, fans can hope that the two will finally be brave enough to admit their romantic feelings for one another.
7. Will we see more of the supporting characters like Tori and Isaac in Heartstopper?
While a lot of the supporting characters get time to shine in Heartstopper Season 1, there are a couple who have smaller, yet still important roles. Two of the biggest examples of this are Tori and Isaac, Charlie’s sister and close friend, respectively. In Season 2, it’s possible that these two will stay on the outskirts of the story, but given how involved Tori is with Charlie’s emotional journey, it seems likely that she will play a more important role in new episodes. Also, if Netflix likes, they can always expand her story to explore what happens in her spinoff book, Solitaire. For Isaac, one of the key characteristics of the character is how quiet he is, always sitting on the side reading or just listening. In the book, he plays a similar role, giving the TV adaptation a lot of freedom to decide where his story should go. As Heartstopper continues, there will likely also be new characters introduced, weaving them into the existing story and presenting new possibilities for what can happen. Next, get the details on the latest season of The Umbrella Academy.
