BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“I love liking you.” – Quote from Heartstopper
This story focuses on relationships – both in romantic terms and platonically. The focus is on Charlie Spring (Joe Locke). Charlie is an ‘outed’ gay high schooler who because of his introverted personality is bullied, a lot. In fact, so much so, it is second nature to him, and he wears it like a glove. Charlie is an unusually thin kid, which makes him stand-out as a runner. He also plays drums. Being a very sensitive individual, all the world’s problems are the result of his inability to solve them. He is the type of person who takes responsibility for things that are clearly not his, but still feels responsible.
But most of all, Charlie is just a nice, sweet, gentle, caring individual who despite being bullied relentlessly, has not completely become jaded from others. Charlie’s world is focused on his other three friends. His best friend is Tao Xu (Willian Gao). Tao is the kind of person you wish you had while growing up. He is fiercely loyal, incredibly protective of Charlie and others who are gay, but somewhat overprotective. Although he is straight, he is relentless in his defending and protecting gay rights and individuals, which is clearly Charlie. The love between them is incredibly strong but completely platonic.
However, Tao has difficulty in letting go and allowing others to pursue other interests and people because he is terrified of being alone. There is also Isaac (Tobie Donovan). Isaac is quite introverted yet has this ability to be peacemaker and mediator between friends. And finally, there is Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney). Elle is a trans (who is also in real life trans and open about it) and transfers to an all-girl school after her transformation. She has been a big part of this group for a long time. Tao is also obsessive about protecting her as well.
Charlie, who attends an all-boy high school, is assigned to sit next to a Rugby player named Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), for the next school session. Nick is handsome, popular, and part of the group that has been torturing him for a while. Charlie has had a crush on ‘straight’ Nick for a long time but is dreading spending the last half of the school year sitting next to him.
But surprisingly, he finds out that Nick is the antithesis of what he was expecting. Nick is friendly, supportive, kind, thoughtful, non-judgmental, and simply a decent person to be around. Almost imperceivably, a bromance develops between them. Before long, this bromance drifts into really liking each other because they are seeing the good qualities from the other and not merely their perceptions. Shortly, with Charlie already falling for Nick, Nick begins to realize he too is enamored with Charlie. A full-blown romance develops which we dare not name as such.
Terrifying for Nick as he thought of himself as ‘straight’. This is his story as much as it is Charlie’s, if not more so. Nick must grapple with trying to figure out who he is and what kind of a relationship he wants with Charlie. Both are irresistible for each other in the most adoring way. They simply clicked and it just feels natural that a relationship would develop.
Of course, this is not easy. Tao does not trust Nick and Nick is unsure what he is. All he knows is that he likes Charlie with every fiber of his being. What makes this work so well is that there is not this artificial distinction that he is falling for the person, not the gender. He KNOWS Charlie is gay and obviously male. To accept him is to accept his gender. Sure, he is wrestling with accepting this package deal, but that is what gives this story meaning.
The unfolding of this relationship is a joy to watch. It is filled with tender romance, anxiety-provoking social situations, and the sheer terror of feeling for another you did not know you could have. By, the way, we find out at the end, that both Charlie and Nick felt the same way. While still liking girls, Nick likes Charlie more. This is there endearing story of a romantic relationship with all the tribulations that are thrown at them as they try to ‘hide’ their feelings for each other. It is so reminiscent of how two teenage boys would be like if they feel in love and were just not sure how to act, what to say, let alone what to feel about each other.
It is a profoundly moving story of a romantic relationship that blossoms into a solid one based on honest and open communications with each other. While fragile at times, their connection to each other begs for a solution rather than relying on a ‘break up’ to solve the problem or run-away from it. In other words, it is an astonishing beautiful love story that is not hindered with unrealistic expectations but an honest and candid evolution of a relationship.
This saga also goes a lot into bullying, and the effects of rejection have on both the psyche and simply trying to function in a world of fickle teenagers. When Elle transfer to the all-girl school, she self-isolates mainly for self-preservation. But eventually she meets two girls who seem unusually close. Walls break down and they admit that they are a Lesbian couple. They are Tara Jones (Corrina Brown), and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell). Initially, wanting to remain somewhat discreet, they make it official on Instagram. Of course, not all the classmates are so supportive, and some begin to treat them ‘differently’. Snide comments, both verballing and on Instagram, are prevalent, pretending to be ‘kidding around’.
Throughout this story, underlying, unspoken, there seems to be an intensity of feeling between Elle and Tao. It is a thing of beauty to watch as Elle is a bit more expressive to her friends about how she feels about Tao. Tao seems to vacillate between being interested and then retreating into the friend zone. This kind of romance is difficult as they have known each other for a long time, have been close friends forever, known each other as ‘boys’, and now there are rumblings between the two of romantic feelings. All so complicated because Tao is ‘straight’, Elle is trans, and if they cross over, what happens to their friendship. More importantly, how do they do that?
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? Without exception, each of these performers deserve this distinction. They all are phenomenal actors and actresses. Yet, there is one, that for some reason, affected me deeply, as he is such a sad figure. And all too often this is representative of guys who are leaning gay but are terrified of admitting that, let alone acting positively on it. He is a tortured soul. His name is Ben Hope (what an ironic last name), played by Sebastian Croft. He discreetly approached Charlie a while back and befriended him secretly. This turned romantic but certainly not open. In fact, Ben makes it perfectly clear to Charlie he is not know him when they meet publicly, and he is even cruel to him as he has an image as an upper classman and a Ruby player to uphold. Unbeknownst to Charlie, Ben has a girlfriend, so he is trying to straddle both sides of this awkward fence. When Charlie breaks it off, Ben becomes almost obsessed with having Charlie again and attempts to bully him back into a relationship. Finally, Charlie wakes up and confronts Ben’s jealousy of his now budding relationship with Nick and stands up for himself. Sebastian as Ben is very good in this hapless role. One can see the anxiety and terror on is face if others were to find out about him and Charlie. Yet, he is so envious and desirous for Charlie. This forbidden fruit now cannot be picked so easily anymore. I could not help to feel sorry for Ben, even though he was cruel and meanspirited. But I understood him. He is gay but has yet to full admit it or accept it. Everything is terrifying at this stage. He plays this so convincingly that I genuinely felt his pain. I have met so many people like him in my life. Some were able to adjust; some were unable to; and some were so tortured, they never made it to feeling anything. An ‘Honorable Mention and shout-out has to be given to Jenny Walser who plays Charlie’s older sister, Tori Spring. A rather odd, a bit eccentric and introverted individual, who pops into Charlie’s room as if by magic. But she is astute, honest, and in the end, provides just the sisterly love and hugs a little brother needs in his moment of crisis. She is astonishingly charming in a semi-macabre way.
Of course, this sage takes on many creative twists and turns. What I admired the most about series was the honest portrayals. Bullying is prevalent (which is a massive problem in the USA as well) with no easy fixes suggested. A trans teen playing a trans teen is remarkable and noteworthy. The plot was not afraid to show kissing and real emotional connections between Ben and Charlie and Darcy and Tara. What I also liked about this series is its realistic approach to their situations. Nothing seemed extraordinary or artificial. Sure, there could be a budding romance between one straight guy and one gay guy, but the minute you get a chance to meet the other ‘straight’ friends, all that could change, and you are now in their world not yours. We have a long way to go before it becomes a world for all of us.
Honestly, this was a nice change of pace from the usually formulaic series from the BL world. For me, it seemed so much more intense, real, honest, and portrayed so much more practically. They made their relationships ‘ordinary’. And the characters also seemed ordinary. The chemistry between the two lead actors is exceptional and their connection so tangible and corporal. And the relationship between Charlie and Tao was breathtaking to watch. It felt genuine and honest and covered with a thick blanket of complete sincerity.
This is a well-crafted series with outstanding acting and brilliant writing. It now clearly puts England on the BL world map. The story is not just a cute story but filled with a lot of heartfelt raw emotions and responses. It is genuine coming-of-age adventure.
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