This post contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 2 episode 2, “Family”.
After experiencing a honeymoon phase, Heartstopper season 2's second episode sees Nick and Charlie having to face some challenges in their relationship as forces outside of their control start coming between them. Meanwhile, Elle is making new friends and Tao is starting to face his feelings.
Let’s see how this new episode of Heartstopper unfolded on Netflix for these beloved characters.
When family gets involved
This episode opens up on a parents-teachers conference at Nick and Charlie’s school and while one of them is getting praises from his teachers (Nick), the other is not doing so well. All Charlie’s parents keep hearing is that his schoolwork has taken a toll and that he is falling behind because he is distracted.
Of course, Charlie’s parents immediately identify the source of Charlie’s issues: his new relationship with Nick. They feel they have no other choice but to ban Charlie from seeing Nick until his coursework is up to date and his grades back on track. The least that can be said is that Charlie is not pleased by this turn of events.
Meanwhile, Nick’s brother David is home from university, but Nick is not thrilled to see him. He asks his mother not to say anything about Charlie and does his best to keep his brother at bay. Nick just has a lot on his mind. Not only are there the GCSE exams he needs to study for, but he is also concerned about Imogen now dating Ben, and worried about his brother’s reaction should he find out about him being bisexual.
Later on in the episode, while Nick is trying to study, his brother comes into his room and sees he received a text with heart emojis from someone named Charlie. He immediately assumes Charlie is a girl and Nick just wants him gone.
When friendships crumble
With Elle feeling like her crush on Tao cannot get anywhere, she starts putting some distance between them. At school, while the other girls are getting excited by the fact they will have a prom at the end of term, Elle tries to figure out what to do about Tao when he asks her to hang out. She decides against it, having already made plans to visit the Lambert School of Art that day anyway.
During the school visit, Elle meets other prospective students and makes friends with fellow trans kids Naomi and Felix. Wanting to stay away from Tao, she spends more and more time with them the following days, to Tao’s great dismay. He starts realizing he doesn’t want to lose Elle and when his mother points out that he should fight to stay by her side, Tao finally comes to terms with his feelings about Elle. At the end of the episodes, he rushes to Charlie and Isaac to tell them he likes her and that he needs their help to tell Elle.
With everything he’s got going on, Nick’s head isn’t in the game for his math GCSE exam. Before taking the test, he runs into Imogen and warns her about Ben not being a good guy, but his vagueness regarding why does not make Imogen want to listen to him. Nick just wants to protect his friend but he isn’t going about it in the most efficient way. Earlier in the episode, he confronted Ben about his behavior with Charlie and voiced his concerns that he might also treat Imogen poorly. However, Ben was defensive and argued that for all he knew, Nick might just be as bad for Charlie as he was, given that he hasn’t been particularly public about their relationship either.
When things blow up
Nick’s math exam does not go well so Charlie decides to disobey his parents and pay him a visit at home. While the two boys are hanging out in Nick’s room, David shows up and meets Charlie. Realizing the text he saw came from a boy and not a girl, he accuses Charlie of being the boy that “turned his brother gay.” Nick confronts his brother’s obvious homophobia and they have a heated argument that eventually gets their mother involved. Charlie decides to leave and later apologizes for stirring up trouble for Nick, to which the latter says that none of it was his fault. There will always be people who do not react well to Nick coming out and he assures Charlie that he can handle them.
After coming home from Nick’s, Charlie has to face the wrath of his mother who tells him he is grounded for the rest of the term for sneaking out. Nick and Charlie did manage to see each other several times when they were not supposed to during this episode, including a lovely outing at the park with Nellie after which Nick posted a picture of Charlie and his dog on Instagram, taking a new step toward making the nature of their relationship more and more public. But after being caught sneaking out, Charlie better not go against his parents’ wishes again or his ability to see Nick, and even go on the upcoming school trip to Paris, might be in jeopardy.
How will Tao confess his feelings to Elle? Will Charlie get into more trouble with his parents? Find out more in the next episode of Heartstopper, now available on Netflix. And if you're looking for more things to watch, check out our recommendations for the best shows on Netflix that you should be watching right now.
