Not everyone has fun during summer vacation. As Nick enjoys the Menorcan sun, Charlie spends a lot of time in his room to avoid his mother, while Tao and Elle are still aboard the most romantic summer train.
Let’s recap how the summer before sixth form went in this new episode of Heartstopper season 3...
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 3 episode 2, “Home”.
While Nick is off to Menorca for three weeks with his aunt Diane (played by Agent Carter’s Haley Atwell) and her family, Charlie remains in merry old England, at home, with his sister and his parents. And while he enjoys the company of Tori, he doesn’t necessarily get along well with his mother.
In fact, when the episode starts, he is telling Tori about declaring his love to Nick and he is on the verge of mentioning eating disorders when they are interrupted by their mom, who asks him to tidy up before going off on a tangent about how he and Nick are too young to have sex. Baffled, Charlie storms out of the room and away from that conversation.
Meanwhile, Nick is having a hard time enjoying the Menorcan sun, because he is worried about Charlie. Sure, they were all lovey-dovey with each other right before he left, texting more “I love yous” than they could type, but that doesn’t mean all is well in the world, and what Nick really wants to text Charlie is “have you eaten today.” He refrains from it though, as much as it pains him to be in the dark.
Lonely Charlie
It’s time for the likes of Elle, Tara, Tori and the others to check in at their school to receive their GCSE results, which are being prepared by flirting teachers Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk. All the kids get there and most of them find out they passed with flying colors (except for Darcy or so it seems). Charlie picks up Nick’s aced results, texts them to him, and then catches up with the other as they all set off to do their own things, much to Isaac’s dismay. He thought the squad would spend some time together but it seems that all the couples have better things to do.
Even Charlie doesn't want to hang out, which eventually sets off alarm bells for Isaac. As the weeks go by, he notices his friend is not responding to messages, skipping movie night at Tao’s (which was awkward anyway because Tao and Elle were all over each other) and just isolating himself. Isaac eventually comes to check in on Charlie who, indeed has been staying home, keeping to his room, passing on dinner to avoid his mother, and even being slow to respond to texts from Nick.
That’s all very unlike Charlie, and even Tori starts worrying. She ends up snooping on his computer and finds out he has been reading about eating disorders. By then it is week three of Nick being gone, and she messages him to ask when he is coming back, stating that she is concerned about her brother.
Meanwhile in Menorca, Nick can’t help but imagine the worst, and he even asks his aunt, who is a psychiatrist, about eating disorders. He doesn’t say it’s about Charlie at first, but he is more upfront about it at the end of the episode. When he finally tells her he thinks Charlie is anorexic, he explains he doesn’t know how to help him and Diane understands that Nick wants to do more for Charlie than he is able to. Therefore, she explains to her nephew that he can love and be there for his boyfriend, but that Charlie requires a kind of help that Nick cannot provide.
A fresh start
On a lighter note, more “I love yous” are uttered in this episode as Tao and Elle declare their feelings for each other. After they have a chat about Tao’s deceased father, and Elle sees that he fears losing the ones he loves, she reassures him that her going to a new school will not change her feelings about him. Sure she is excited about a new beginning at Lambert’s where she will get to expand her horizon, but that doesn’t mean they are done! In fact, they may not spend time together every single day, but it doesn't matter because they are in love.
Meanwhile, Darcy moves out of Tara’s and in with her grandmother, who is a lovely lady. However, Darcy’s mom has been trying to get in touch with her daughter, and Grandma leaves Darcy to decide what she wants to do about it. Turns out, Darcy wants none of it and decides to block her mother’s number. It’s time for a fresh start.
Eventually, things start to improve a little for Charlie as well because, after another argument with his mom, he picks up a phone call from Nick and melts down, saying that he now thinks Nick was right and that he does struggle with an eating disorder. However, he doesn’t believe he can talk to his parents about it.
Will Charlie find a way to talk to his mom and dad? Is there a way for him to heal? We’ll find out in the next episode of Heartstopper season 3, now available on Netflix.
