‘Heartstopper (season 3)’: when love isn’t enough

Creative: Alice Osman

Address: Andy Newbery

Distribution: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao, Yasmin Finney

Country: United Kingdom

Duration: Between 32 and 37 minutes. (8 episodes)

Year: 2024

Gender: comedy drama

Premiere: October 3, 2024 (Netflix)

★★★★

‘Heartstopper’ is an author series the one I like the most. Creator Alice Oseman is adapting her own collection of webcomics and graphic novels here. A group of young friends, mostly LGTBQI+To be fully immersed in the adventure of emotions, identity, gender and bodies. Adapts and enriches: from a very minimalist basic material, extensive choral workA period in which heroes gain nuances, secondary characters cease to be protagonists, or new creations emerge. Moreover, he was responsible for writing each of the episodes in the obsessive style of ‘Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight.

So there is a clear and unique vision behind ‘Heartstopper’; The empathetic voice of an Ottoman determined to promise young gays: everything will be okay, you will find your environment and safety. Even so, sometimes it takes time to find solutions to some problems. So far, we have talked about a 100 percent conciliatory series in which all kinds of disagreements, problems and misunderstandings are resolved in a short time. The third season is a completely different story. Vulnerable Charlie (Joe Locke)’s food issues become more apparent, and his almost always confident boyfriend, Nick (Kit Connor), feels it for once. He doesn’t have the right words or tools. to deal with the situation. Osman almost goes against the spirit of his own series and admits it: Love cannot do everything, love is not always enough. In some matters it is better to seek help from professionals; People like Nick’s psychiatrist aunt (played by Hayley Atwell, who is a great addition to these episodes) and Eddie Marsan and Jonathan Bailey, the photogenic therapist and historian respectively.

Gaps have widened for other couples in the friend group, but they seem to be more easily bridged. Ailing Tara (Corinna Brown) must tell her girlfriend Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), who is running away from an unsympathetic mother, that she might be better off taking all her mess to her grandmother’s house. Tao (William Gao, whose band Wasia Project is worth a listen) almost goes overboard with his attraction to Elle (Yasmin Finney), out of fear that she’ll leave him after she goes to art school. These last few stars are a sexual initiation plan this season, but it’s far from the only one: Did Oseman listen to the critical voices saying how weird it is that these kids only give each other chaste kisses? On the other hand, these chapters pay necessary and innovative attention to the character of Isaac (Tobie Donovan), an asexual and aromantic voracious reader who, like Oseman’s other protagonists, has no sexual desire or romantic feelings for other people. Without going any further, the book ‘Aşksız’ or Osman himself.

Despite seeking more conflict than ever before, ‘Heartstopper’ remains a bright visual object, very popularwith lingering references to the setting from which the story comes: In the picture, Oseman’s lines continue to intersect in the animated version (less dry leaves, more sparks of electricity and passion), and some of the transitions between pictures mimic jumping from one panel to the next in a comic book. Of course, the ending or one from the end many continue to move to the rhythm of alternative and dance pop of the previous generation: Beabadoobee, Rachel Chinouriri, Georgia, Romy, etc. Your habit of speeding up some songs is very bad. You must respect each other’s rhythms, both in relationships and in the use of pop music.