This article contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 2 episode 7, "Sorry".
Heartstopper season 2 continues to see Nick coming out to various people and in this new episode, he wants to tell his estranged father, Stéphane, about his relationship with Charlie. Meanwhile, the friend group prepares for prom and Elle receives some excellent news.
Let's recap this new episode of Heartstopper and see how Nick handles his dad, how Isaac is facing his own truth and why Darcy is struggling at home.
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 1 recap: Coming out is hard
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 2 recap: Family trouble
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 3 recap: Tao and Elle's first date
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 4 recap: Welcome to Paris
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 5 recap: Je t’aime, moi non plus
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 6 recap: Everybody's kissing
- Heartstopper season 2 episode 8 recap: Prom perfection
Concerns all around
For once, this new episode of Heartstopper does not start things off with a scene revolving around Nick and Charlie, but instead takes us to Tara’s bedroom. Tara and Darcy are kissing in bed when a knock on the door interrupts them. As Darcy hastily gets off the bed, Tara’s mother opens the door and reminds her daughter that her grandmother would have a heart attack if she knew she let Darcy sleepover so much.
It appears Darcy indeed spends quite a lot of time at Tara’s house and when we find her going home later, it’s made clear that home is not a place where Darcy feels happy. Between angry texts from her mother and a confrontation at the end of the episode about her prom outfit that leads to Darcy leaving home in the middle of the night, it is clear the teenage girl is not evolving in a loving home environment and that there is more to her family situation than she lets on in front of her friends and girlfriend.
We then find the various characters of the show glued to their phone like typical teenagers. While Nick is looking at pictures taken in Paris and noticing how little Charlie ate on the trip, the latter is browsing Instagram and getting direct messages from Ben asking to talk to him.
Meanwhile, Elle receives some great news: she’s been admitted to the Lambert School of Art and her art is going to be part of an exhibition there. She quickly shares the news about the exhibit with her friends and everyone is very excited for her, although it is clear Tao has concerns. When he asks if the exhibition means she was offered a spot at Lambert’s, Elle chooses to say she doesn’t know yet because she worries how he might take the news.
Conflicting feelings
While Tao is dancing in his room, happy as a clam about his relationship with Elle, his mother comes in and notices his good mood. He tells her he and Elle are together and his mom is so happy that she sets off to inform their whole family about it.
Meanwhile over at Nick’s, Sarah tells her sons their father is coming over for dinner in a couple of days and Nick asks if he can invite Charlie for the occasion. Sarah agrees and suggests they also invite his parents and sister, making a dinner party out of it. At the Springs, Charlie and Tori are playing Mario Kart when Charlie receives a text from Nick inviting him and his family for dinner, to which Tori says their mother might not be thrilled about it as she is not the biggest fan of Nick’s.
Later on, the friends group goes shopping for new outfits for their upcoming prom. While Darcy tries on a suit (that her friends will later help her purchase), Elle tells Tara how she indeed got into Lambert but doesn’t want to tell the others as she worries about Tao’s reaction. In another part of the store, Nick asks Charlie to be his prom date and the two boys agree on no matching suits.
While the others are busy shopping, Isaac meets up with James to clear up the air regarding what happened between them in Paris. Isaac explains that he thought he did like James but that when they kissed he felt nothing, and he wonders if something is wrong with him. When he meets up with his friends afterwards and they ask about him and James, Isaac gets aggravated with them for prying and trying to push him when there is no romance there.
When the gang goes to Lambert for Elle’s exhibit, it is quickly revealed that she has been admitted into this art school. Everyone is happy for her, or almost everyone, as Tao seems to be bummed out by the news. Looking around at the various art pieces, Isaac finds one he particularly enjoys and talks to the artist who made it. He learns that the artist aimed at representing his own journey of being asexual and aromantic and as he describes it, something resonates with Isaac, who seems to understand that this kid’s experiences reflect his own.
Happy and unhappy memories
On another side of the exhibition, Darcy gets an angry text from her mother asking her to come home right away, leading her and Tara to talk about how Darcy’s mother keeps being at odds with her.
When it’s time to reveal Elle’s art piece, she introduces it by explaining it captures happy memories during a time that was difficult for her. Unveiling her painting, it turns out to be a depiction of herself, Isaac, Charlie and Tao spending time together. The boys all hug her and she and Tao step aside to discuss the fact that she got into Lambert. He tells Elle that he doesn’t want her to decide where to go to school based on him and insists that all he cares about is her happiness. He also adds that he’ll want to be with her regardless of the school she attends.
Meanwhile, Nick and Charlie run into Ben at the exhibition. Ben insists on talking to Charlie, arguing he will not be going to the same school as him the following term and this might be the last time they see each other. He admits he was a “messed up person” when he and Charlie hooked up and says he really liked Charlie, and that he wishes he could have had with him what Nick and Charlie have, but that his parents would never accept him. But while Charlie agrees to hear him out, he isn’t about to forgive Ben.
Reminding him that when they first kissed, Ben didn’t even ask for Charlie’s consent and just acted upon his own desires, Charlie explains that it made him feel like all he deserved was someone who’d do whatever they wanted with him. He adds that even now, he still hears a voice in the back of his head telling him that he is worthless. For that, he will not forgive him just so that Ben can feel better about himself. He adds that he hopes Ben will become a better person so that he doesn’t hurt someone else, but concludes that he never wants to see him again.
An awkward dinner party
After the exhibition, Charlie and Nick make their way home for the dinner party with Stéphane. Before they set the table, Sarah reminds Nick that he doesn’t owe his father a thing and doesn’t have to come out to him, but Nick insists that he is not doing it for his dad, but rather for himself. The dinner goes well at first until Nick’s brother, David, brings up the subject of Nick and Charlie’s relationship. He is trying to force Nick to tell their father, and Tori seems about ready to stab him with her fork when she sees how he is acting.
Oblivious and hearing that Nick and Charlie both play rugby, Stéphane comments on how girls like rugby players and asks if they have girlfriends, provoking a sneer from David and discomfort from Nick and Charlie. Fed up with the way his brother is acting, Nick then decides to just say what he has to say: he and Charlie are dating, he is bisexual, and he actually doesn’t even care what his father thinks because his dad barely takes interest in his life anyway. He then turns to David and tells him his bullying doesn’t affect him either as he couldn’t care less about his brother’s opinion, and then Nick leaves the table.
His parents nudging him to follow Nick, Charlie also steps out to talk to his boyfriend. Sarah soon comes to check up on her son but cannot help him understand why his father is the way he is when Nick asks her about it. Later on, Stéphane is ready to leave and apologizes to Nick for being so absent, to which his son says he should show him that he wants to do better rather than telling him. Although he doesn’t say much on the topic of his sexuality, Stéphane tells Nick that Charlie seems like a nice young man and makes his exit.
Hearing him talk about Nick and Charlie in nasty terms over the phone, Tori gives David a piece of her mind and doesn’t stop short of threatening him if he ever is mean to her brother again. Meanwhile, Sarah tells Jane, Charlie’s mother, that Charlie is very special to Nick, and it makes Jane soften towards Nick. She even tells Charlie that they should have Nick and Sarah over in a few weeks. All's well that ends well, or almost, because as Nick and his mom are cleaning up later, Sarah points out that Charlie did not eat much during dinner, and a worried Nick goes on to Google information about eating disorders.
That’s it for this penultimate episode of Heartstopper season 2. Will Nick be able to help Charlie? What is going to happen to Darcy? What’s next for Isaac? Find out the answers to all your burning questions in the next episode of Heartstopper, now available on Netflix.
