Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year for everyone. For some people, it can be a triggering holiday full of cringe-worthy moments. It’s the case for Charlie who does receive presents from Father Christmas, but also a lot of stress.
Let’s unpack the events of the winter break in this new episode of Heartstopper season 3.
NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Heartstopper season 3 episode 5, “Winter”.
On Christmas Day, Tori wakes up and by golly, she is not expecting to have a holly jolly Christmas. She knows the holiday brings in a lot of stress in the Spring household, especially with visiting grandparents always putting her mother in a grumpy mood.
Tori knows, however, that she can find comfort by Charlie’s side, so she spends time with him before the madness starts, hanging out in his room and then playing video games before the extended family arrives. And when they do, there’s Oliver the cute little cousin to lighten up the mood.
Over at Nick’s, things are definitely merrier, mostly because Nick has gotten a new puppy, a pug named Henry that he takes a selfie with before sending it to Charlie. Sure, even for Nick, family can be a bit challenging, especially his brother David, but he does his best to ignore the fact that he is moping around waiting for their father, who Nick knows does not have the habit of showing up for Christmas.
But for Charlie, this Christmas day is not easy, because freshly back from the mental health clinic, he doesn’t want to have to face his family’s comments about where he’s been. And sure enough, cousins, uncles and grandparents do not miss the mark and say several things that are triggering for Charlie. He does his best to keep his cool, but between his parents hovering over him and his uncle talking about straight jackets, it’s all a bit too much for him.
Have a cup of cheer
Fed up with his family, Charlie decides to go to Nick’s, much to Tori’s dismay as she wanted to at least have her brother by her side if she had to endure their family Christmas. However, it’s too overwhelming for Charlie, who had a fight with their mother and just wants to be out of there, so he leaves without even putting on a coat, and shows up at Nick’s drenched and in need of a nice cup of cheer.
Nick lends him clothes, Charlie meets Henry, they spend time making out… All in all the day gets better for Charlie, who even gets to meet aunt Diane and watch a Doctor Who Christmas special with Nick’s cousins. Tori even joins in, showing up at Nick’s to tell Charlie he left her to fend for herself at their house, which just wasn’t cool. They end up all spending time together, wishing their Christmas had gone well from the start, before Charlie and Tori return home, and Charlie reconciles with their parents.
While the Christmas part of the episode focuses primarily on what is going on at Nick’s and Charlie’s, we do spend a little bit of time with the rest of the Paris Squad. Most are having a good time at home with their families, and we find Elle and Tao spending the day together.
In fact, things are heating up between these two! And as they make out on Tao’s bed, things go south when he tries to put his hand on Elle’s chest. She immediately pulls away and Tao suggests they go for a walk instead. Later on, Tao brings the subject up again and Elle explains that while she also wants to “do things” with him, she isn’t sure how being transgender might affect her relationship with sex, and that when he touched her breast, it triggered her dysphoria, which made her feel like her body wasn’t hers. Tao underlines that he is okay with whatever she wants or doesn’t want to do, and they put the topic on the back burner for now.
Here’s to a new year
After Christmas, Heartstopper moves on to New Year’s Eve, which finds Nick picking up Charlie to drive him to a party now that he has his driver’s permit. They arrive and meet up with their friends, who have not seen Charlie since he’s been back from the clinic.
Everyone is having a great time and we catch up a little with some of the other characters, like Darcy, who is having a conversation with Elle’s friend Felix about trying out new pronouns and seeing how they feel about it. Felix points out that Darcy doesn’t have to rush to come out as anything and can just take the time they need to figure themselves out.
Meanwhile, Elle talks to Naomi about wanting to have sex with Tao, or at least do something more than kissing, but confides in her friend about her fears surrounding this next step. Naomi reassures Elle that she’ll be there for her no matter what, and so will Tao. It helps, and as midnight approaches and everyone finds their partner to kiss, Elle and Tao find a bedroom to be together.
Waiting for the midnight fireworks, Nick tells Charlie he is happy to have him back, and Tori admits to her brother that he is the only person she cares about. Charlie says this will not always be true, and we later see Tori cross paths with a boy who will surely be defrosting her cold little heart in future episodes.
Lastly, we catch up with Imogen and Sahar, who have a chat about what happened between them on Halloween. Imogen apologizes for her behavior, and Sahar explains that she doesn't want to be an experiment for Imogen, especially because she was the reason why Sahar realized she was bisexual in the first place. That surprises Imogen and when midnight strikes and all the couples kiss, so do these two.
It now seems like Heartstopper will be tackling the subject of sex more and more for the rest of this season. Are Nick and Charlie next? The only way to find out is to watch the next episode, now available on Netflix.
