Season 2 follows the lives of Nick, Charlie and their friends as they face new challenges in life, love and friendship: including a school trip to Paris, a prom and an unwelcome visit from Nick’s homophobic older brother.
Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Tobie Donovan, Rhea Norwood, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell & Sebastian Croft.
Heartstopper Season 2 is a huge step down from the likeable season 1, with storyline far from fleshed out to be engaging.
Each episode feels as though the writers strike was last year, as this season is littered with inconsistent storylines & characterisation. The show is really struggling to write engaging storylines outside of the main Charlie/Nick story, and this comes down to how short these episodes are. Characters have become much more unlikable due to their sudden outbursts and not enough complexity in their writing to give reason for the characterisation.
The filmmaking is decent & consistent with season one, but what brings all this down is the often underwhelming performances from some of the cast members. Everyone feels as though they’re giving 50% during each scene and it’s a bit too distracting.
The grading & style is charming, which makes for some easy to watch chunks in episodes. It is still weirdly easy to watch and I’m unsure why that is, but it could be down to Kit Connor, who is consistently delivering a great performance. Along with his on screen mum, Olivia Colman whom is always a delight to watch every time she comes on screen.
This season feels like a missed opportunity for some really complex stories with characters, but due to its short runtime and focusing on silly moments, it completely misses the mark. Kit Connor is as likeable as ever with his great chemistry with Joe Locke. It’s still an easy watch as season 1 was, but as characters begin to be more unlikable and uninteresting, it starts to become less and less engaging.
2 / 5