The first season of Heartstopper had an unexpected afterlife. The series, adapted from the popular young-adult graphic novels by Alice Oseman, was a hit among its intended audience of teenagers, but it also tapped into the complicated heartache of older viewers. Many LGBTQ+ adults found themselves moved by its portrait of queer adolescence, describing it as what they wished they could have experienced themselves. For many, the wholesome romance between two teenage boys had a bittersweet edge to it.
Its return comes with the weight of expectation on its shoulders. Much of the first run chronicled the will-they-won’t-they between popular rugby player Nick (Kit Connor) and the artier Charlie (Joe Locke), who was bullied after his classmates found out he was gay. But the gentleness of its approach was all part of its charm. Charlie had a group of similarly arty friends, who supported him through the trials and tribulations of coming out, and his crush on Nick had a fairytale ending.
