As Charlie and Nick reunite following Nick’s vacation, and everyone heads back to school, some hard topics need to be addressed.
Let’s recap what happened at the beginning of the school year in this new episode of Heartstopper season 3.
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 3 episode 3, “Talk”.
Nick is back from Menorca but he hasn’t seen Charlie yet. Their big reunion happens at school where they finally get to hug each other again after three excruciating weeks apart. They even find a quiet spot to make out before class! Meanwhile, everyone else is getting back in the groove of life at school. A teacher suggests to Tara that she should apply to be a prefect, while Tao sends Elle a good luck text on her first day at Lambert.
Summer has been eventful for teachers as well, as we find out Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk are now dating, and would very much like to avoid being at the center of student gossip. That is unlikely to last long though, because it takes Charlie less than a minute to figure out those too are together as he walks in on them being quite close during their lunch break. He then tries to talk to Mr. Ajayi about his mental health struggles, but cannot quite find the words.
The art room is actually where Nick and Charlie are meeting for lunch, Nick having suggested it following the advice of his aunt Diane. He wants to talk to Charlie and that requires a safe space, where he can express his concerns, tell Charlie how much he cares about him, and avoid making it all about food. But it’s hard for him to watch Charlie break his food into small pieces without actually eating it, and when he brings up the heavy phone conversation they had during his vacation, Charlie says he doesn’t want to think about it and would rather focus all his mental space on Nick’s upcoming birthday.
Bad friends
The following Saturday, Nick comes to pick Charlie up and runs into Tori, who asks if he has managed to talk to Charlie about his troubles. He tells her he is trying to help, and she thanks him before Charlie arrives and they are off to celebrate Nick’s birthday. They meet up with the rest of the Paris Squad at the zoo, where they all spend the day feeding animals and taking selfies. Except for Charlie, who even refuses to be in a group selfie, which Tao finds weird.
Speaking of Tao, he gets into an argument with Isaac after the latter points out that Tao has been obsessed with Elle all summer and has been a bad friend overall lately. Tao gets mad about it and it takes Elle reminding him that he too used to be upset with Charlie for having a similar behavior at the beginning of his relationship with Nick to make Tao see that he has, indeed, been a bad friend.
That leads him to apologize to Isaac, who has been feeling like a third-wheel to all of his friends’ relationships and finally confesses to the gang that it has been tough for him to navigate the fact that he is asexual and aromantic. He is still processing how that affects who he is and what his future might be, and he at last gets some comfort from his friends, who reassure him that there is no need to rush the journey he is on.
Someone else seems to be going through some changes as well. At school, Tara notices that Darcy is not wearing her regular uniform and has switched from a skirt to trousers. Then later at the zoo, Darcy rants about not liking being called a “lady” because that is not what she is. Tara clocks that comment, and although no one is putting words on this just yet, it looks like Darcy might be on path to redefine her gender identity.
The talk
Before the gang leaves the zoo, Tao asks Nick about Charlie’s well-being, wondering if something is going on with his friend. Thinking it is not his place to say, Nick tells Tao so and asks him to drop the topic when the latter asks whether he should just talk to Charlie about it. The thing is that more and more people are noticing something is off about Charlie, and Nick feels the pressure to do something about it.
Later at his house, after opening a cute birthday present from Charlie, Nick mentions how Charlie has been very tired all day and explains he has been worried about him, seeing him being stressed, exhausted and sad. He goes on to say he knows he cannot fix Charlie’s issues, but that he wants him to try and talk to someone, whether that is his parents or a doctor. Charlie breaks down in tears, saying he fears he’ll never get better and voicing his concerns that his parents might not believe what he is going through or get angry at him. To ease his worry, Nick offers to be with him when Charlie talks to his parents.
When they arrive at Charlie’s house, Charlie is nervous but he has written down what to say, preparing himself for a difficult conversation. Nick sits by his side and holds his hand as Charlie tells his mother and father (while his sister listens from the other room) that the state of his mental health has been bad lately, and that he hasn’t been able to eat because of it. “I want to get better,” he concludes as his parents listen and this emotional episode ends.
Will Charlie get the help he needs? Watch the next episode of Heartstopper season 3, now available on Netflix, to find out.
