We’re back with another 2 episodes of Heartstopper and in the next exciting episode
Kiss
Charlie is still researching being gay and LGBT issues. He
takes the ultimate gay quiz and finds himself 62% homosexual, which is
meaningless because those quizzes are crap. Anyway, at school, Harry invites
Nick to his 16th birthday party, telling him to invite other ‘cool
people’. Imogen squeezes herself an invite almost immediately. We can see from
her perspective that she has feelings for her, something Nick is largely
oblivious too.
Nick then invites Charlie to Harry’s party, and he
eventually agrees, excitedly texting his friends about it. Only it comes at a
cost. He was supposed to be having a film night with his friends but forgot.
Charlie’s dad drops him off, saying pickup at 10 and call if he needs him.
Charlie makes his way through the party that looks to have
more people attending that is figuratively possible for someone of Harry’s age,
but eventually Nick and Charlie meet. Elle comes around Tao’s for the movie night,
but Isaac is feeling ill so won’t be coming, it’s just the two of them.
Harry forces Nick to speak with Tara Jones, who reveals to
Nick that she’s a lesbian; her girlfriend is just behind her, and they’ve
decided to make their relationship more open, not necessarily making a big
announcement or anything but not hiding it so much. With that avenue closed
off, Nick sees that Charlie has gone off and is about to head off after him
when Harry stops him.
Harry mocks him, thinking he’s only hanging out with Charlie
out of sympathy for him, or because he thinks Charlie has a crush on him. Nick
snaps at that one, telling Harry he doesn’t even like him and storms off. Tao
apologises to Elle for making things weird and Elle has an honest talk with how
things were for her when she started at Higgs.
Charlie bumps into Ben as Nick begins his search. Ben
apologises in one of those ‘I’m sorry but not really’ kinda ways and tries to
grab Charlie’s arm, but Charlie pushes him into a wall. Tao wants Elle to
promise that whatever happens, they’ll always prioritise their friendship. Nick
passes Imogen on the dancefloor who confesses that she really likes him. He
sees Tara and Darcy on the dancefloor kissing each other and smiles. But I
think he knows the dancefloor is the last place Charlie would be and finds him
sitting down on a sofa.
Charlie relays the story of what happened with Ben and
thinks he may have finally gotten the message. Nick and Charlie decide to head
somewhere quieter and head up a few floors, Harry had hired this entire huge
Hotel. Charlie asks if Nick really likes Tara, to which he affirmatively says
no.
The exchange that follows is brilliant, with Nick opening up
that he maybe likes Charlie back, and it ends with the two kissing for the
first time, and for the second time not long after. Unfortunately, they’re
about to get cock blocked as Harry is calling out for Nick. Nick, completely
dazed about everything that’s happened leaves the room, leaving Charlie feeling
somewhat rejected. Nick is in such a daze he inadvertently makes it up with
Harry, he soon goes back to look for Charlie, but he’s already gone.
He calls his dad to bring him home, he’s crying over the
whole affair. The morning comes and it’s chucking it down with rain, as it
tends to do in the UK. Charlie has no messages on his phone, but as he’s
brushing his teeth feeling that the incident was a rejection. The doorbell
rings and Nick is outside, completely soaked.
The story continues with a decent pace and begins to pay off
on the romance, a lot earlier than many shows with 8 episodes would do, and I’m
thankful for that.
Rating 8/10
In the next exciting episode:
- “I’m having a proper full-on gay crisis”
- A game of Rugby in the rain
- And Imogen messes with Nick’s hair
Secret
Charlie invites Nick inside, Nick didn’t check the weather
and decided to not head home when it started raining. According to the comic he
lives about 10 minutes away. Charlie’s mum makes a remark ‘you could’ve at
least got out of your pyjamas’ and…
Charlie starts first, apologising profusely regarding the
whole affair, Nick interrupts this by giving him another kiss. And now it’s his
turn to apologise for running off after kissing Charlie. He’s been so confused
about sexuality and tells Charlie he needs time to figure things out. Hugs to
follow. Nick asks Charlie to keep their relationship a secret at school.
Charlie is okay with it, knowing full well what it’s like when you’ve been
outed before you’re ready. He gives Nick an umbrella as he heads out, Charlie
chases after him and kisses him goodbye.
Nick heads to school on the Monday a lot happier than he had
been previously, something Imogen immediately picks up on. They do have some
chemistry which is important for what’s going to happen later. Charlie also
more smiley than usual heads to form. They decide to meet up at school in the
Art classroom, much to the confusion of Mr Ajayi. The conversation turns to Ben
and Nick starts to feel like asking Charlie to keep it a secret is doing to him
exactly what Ben did, Charlie reassures him that it isn’t.
In a practice Rugby match, Charlie couldn’t commit to
tackling a guy and instead instinctively dodges out of his way, much to the
annoyance of the other rugby lads. The Coach tells him that he needs to really
commit to it. And it’s advice he takes to heart as he begins practicing
tackling a practice dummy.
Word begins to spread among the Higgs students about the
kiss. Imogen decides to confront Tara about the affair, what follows is
possibly the most awkward conversation I’ve ever heard. Imogen talks past Darcy
like she’s not even there and then has the gall to call herself an ally. I like
Imogen in most scenes but this one shows her at her absolute worst, I’m not
sure how she’s going to react to Nick when she finds out, especially given that
she’s an original character not from the comics.
She also tells them that she and Nick are a thing. I think
because she saw Tara as he only competition and that door is now permanently
closed. Of course, Elle knows at least that Charlie’s still crushing on Nick,
so this sets off alarm bells. Tao and Isaac are having Lunch and are discussing
Charlie and Nick eating lunch together most days. Except Charlie isn’t with
Nick at the moment, Nick’s with the rest of the Rugby lads, including Harry who
throws a ball at Tao’s face without provocation because he's that kind of dick.
Tao decides to be a dick back, throwing the ball, but at
Nick. I think Nick decides not to react for Charlie’s sake. It’s the day of the
school’s match against St Johns, the first time Charlie is officially playing
in a match. Tao, Elle and Isaac are all coming by to watch. Nick is worried he
got off on the wrong foot with Tao but… Elle has brought along Tara and Darcy
and Darcy immediately gets vibes from him and Nick that she questions him
about. Charlie says they’re just friends.
We’re introduced to the St Johns Team; St Johns are a
specialist sports school, so the players basically look like adults. Lots of
tackles later, rain begins to fall, and St Johns are well in the lead. The rain
gets worse, Charlie goes for a tackle, but the St Johns boy just knocks him
aside and he gets a nosebleed. With the rain getting dangerous now, the coach
calls off the match.
With that, Charlie heads to get first aid. One tissue later
and he’s fine, still we get another romantic scene between. Charlie apologises
for being clingy and Nick apologises for… something or another. Isaac walks in
on the two and… nothing of consequence will happen as a result of this for the
rest of the story.
Elle and Tao believe that maybe they should stop interfering
with the Charlie/Nick thing as it’s clearly getting them nowhere. But they may
have to get involved as Nick is ambushed coming out by Imogen, who asks him
out. With all his friends watching, Nick agrees with Tao and Elle witnessing
all this from above. Imogen was also pressured by the rest of the rugby lads,
Harry in particular, so it’s not her I’m judging harshly here.
They continue to set a really good pace, developing some of
the characters and introducing a new problem for Nick to have to overcome.
Rating 8.5/10
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