Heartstopper is back for season 3, and my heart is full of butterflies again. The Netflix show has consistently managed to keep a light and fleeting touch to its whirlwind romance with a mix of genuine emotions and issues that plague a teenager. The current season opens with our characters (yes, even the ones who are not that important) being extremely kind and understanding of each other’s wants and needs. Most of the season, however, is about Charlie dealing with his eating disorder and body dysphoria while everyone else also struggles in some way. The season does feel like it was beating around the same topic again and again, to a point where it started getting repetitive with little to no development in the overall arc of the characters or the show in general. In the following article, I will take a look at everything major that takes place in Season 3 of Heartstopper, including what the ending means. Please be aware that this is going to be full of spoilers. Proceed with caution.
Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 1 “Love” Recap:
It’s beach day for the Paris gang. Charlie has been contemplating saying “I Love you” to Nick in spite of dating him for a while. He thinks it is too soon in their relationship and Nick would just not be on the same page as him and probably feel overwhelmed.
Even though Issac and his sister Tori tell him to say it right away – seeing how obsessed Nick is with him, Charlie just can’t get himself to it. At the beach, we also briefly learn that Isaac could be asexual and possibly aromantic, and he chooses Charlie to tell that first.
On the other hand, Tao is trying his best to have the Summer of Romance with Elle before she leaves, but it is clear that her going away to Lambert is affecting him. The two end up having a great time, both at the beach and at the candle-light-dominos-dinner that Tao has to resort to.
Charlie still has issues with his eating disorder, and we see Nick being extraordinarily kind and understanding towards that. However, we can see Nick is stressed out about Charlie’s anorexia as he discusses with Tara how caring for someone can be tiring.
Does Charlie confess his love for Nick?
Later, as Charlie expects Nick to say ‘I love you’ first, Nick brings up his eating disorder. Charlie, not expecting it, dismisses him.
Tara also confronts Darcy about her moving to her grandmother because, even though she loves her, a personal space is very important to her.
The episode ends with Charlie finally confessing and saying, “I Love You” to Nick. While he is stunned for a second as Charlie leaves, he rushes out of the shower, hugs and kisses him, and says it back.
Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 2 “Home” Recap:
Early on in the episode, we see Nick leave for three weeks for a holiday with his Aunt Diane (played by Hayley Atwell) and Uncle Nick to Menorca, while Charlie is still completely smudged by the feeling of saying, “I Love You.”
Anyway, the gang gets their GCSC results, and everyone does well – everyone except Darcy, who tears her report card and supposedly forgets about it.
After the results, Issac feels left out when everyone decides to do their thing instead of hanging out at their usual joint. Even Charlie doesn’t hang out with him – possibly because he fears getting caught for not eating anything.
We also see that Charlie is extremely conscious of his body, and Nick is aware that he has to help him in some way. He briefly tries to talk out about the matter with Aunt Diane but then keeps it to himself.
When Charlie mises movie night, a worried Issac tries to talk to Charlie; however, Charlie lies to him about missing Nick and his mother being annoying, but he does not tell him what he is struggling with.
We see Tori, who is probably aware of Charlie’s anorexia, trying to get him to talk about it but is unable to. She later just comes to his room, hugs him, and almost cries, confessing that she is worried about him. She later catches him reading up on ‘eating disorders’ and texts Nick about being worried for Charlie.
On Tao and Elle’s front, Elle finally tells Elle that she knows Tao is getting extremely conscious because he is worried about losing her (after having lost his father), but he can be sure that she is not going anywhere.
Will Nick be able to help Charlie with his eating disorder?
The ending of Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 2, gives us our first cry. On receiving Tori’s text, Nick calls Charlie, who just skipped dinner, to go to his room. Charlie, gathering all his courage, finally tells Nick that he is correct and that he does have an eating disorder. However, he can’t talk about it to his parents, knowing that they won’t understand it.
This makes Nick extremely worried. Seeing him, Aunt Diane gives him some of her wisdom by saying that his worrying wouldn’t help either of them and that there are times in life when you can’t do anything for your loved ones even though you want to.
“Love can’t cure mental illness,” says Aunt Diane as she suggests Nick help Charlie get professional help from a psychiatrist who understands eating disorders. Also, a person does not have to take all the weight of caring for a person.
Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 3 “Talk” Recap:
It’s the first day of sixth form for the group. Nick is back in town, and the first thing Charlie does in the morning is tell him how exhaustingly long the three weeks have been for him and how he can’t wait to kiss him. And they do. I mean, they hug first, but then they also kiss, and it’s beautiful.
Later, we see that Nick is extremely cautious about how he talks to Charlie, having taken notes from Aunt Diana. However, Charlie keeps feeling like his brain is going to a dark place that is hard to come out of.
At lunch, Nick and Charlie decide to eat lunch in the art room. Before that, Charlie tries to talk to Mr. Ajayi but cannot explain himself adequately. He is also not eager to express himself to Nick either. However, he is excited for the big thing he has planned for Nick’s birthday.
He plans a trip to the zoo with the group and everyone including Nick seems to enjoy it until Tao and Issac have a fit when the later calls him off for not being a good friend and Tao is not very sensitive about Issac’s choice to be single.
However, he later apologizes and promises to be a better friend to him. Issac also comes out to the entire group, and they are supportive of his stance as aromantic and asexual, telling him that it is a process and it will get better.
Will Charlie’s parents take his mental health seriously?
Tao senses something wrong with Charlie, but Nick tells him not to talk to him about it because it’s been really difficult.
Later, after Nick opens his presents which includes a bunch of his old jumpers and a cute book for the memories they would create, Nick expresses about being worried about Charlie’s mental health and requests him to talk to his parents about it before it gets worse.
So, accompanied by Nick for moral support and after having a written piece of paper that would help him, Charlie tells his parents about his mental health problems; requesting them to help him seek professional help. Will they take him seriously? It remains to be seen.
Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 4 “Journey” Recap:
The episode shifts two months, and it’s Christmas Eve. Charlie had been away for his eating disorder because his mental health took a toss for worse and he had to get checked into a mental health hospital for proper treatment. It’s possible that his parents were not too eager to get him treated straightaway because mental health is a ‘new concept’ for them, but it is never explicitly mentioned.
Anyway, the episode also focuses on the journey that Nick had while Charlie is away. He starts writing a journal and visits a party just so he could stay away from the thoughts of Charlie being alone, but it is clear he is also pretty darn lonely without him. Things get overwhelming for him too, hence the journaling helps to keep things in perspective.
The episode is, of course, about Charlie’s journey. We see him checking into the mental health institute, where he meets Geoff (Eddie Marsan) and Susan. Initially, it was very difficult for Charlie. He couldn’t talk to Nick because he felt that he would only overwhelm him. However, with time and patience, things got better.
Is Charlie healed of his mental health issues?
The journaling helped Charlie too, who managed to be alone at the institute while all his friends were hanging out with each other. He gets to know about updates in their lives via Tao’s – Darcy trying they/them pronouns, Imogen kissing her best friend while drunk, and Issac hating Charlie for the ending of “The Song of Achilles.”
So Charlie returns home, with his parents making extra effort to accommodate him, but everyone, including us and Charlie, knows that he can’t be healed of his issues just like that. Since it is a constant fight and a journey, it will only get better one step at a time, and with Nick by his side to hug him tight when it gets too much, I don’t think it would be really tough for him.
Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 5 “Winter” Recap:
It’s Christmas, and both Tori and Charlie are anxious about their grandparents coming home. They are aware that their mother doesn’t know how to regulate her emotions, which is why they don’t understand why she invites her parents and other family members every year.
The anxiety is on Nick’s front as well. He is unable to get his brother to not be a dick about their father not showing up. Which makes him say mean things about Charlie’s mental health.
Charlie disagrees with his mother, who wants him to just sit and take mean comments from extended family. He decides it best to leave for Nick’s, but we can see that Tori is also struggling as she requests Charlie to spend Christmas with her. He doesn’t as he puts himself first in this case and leaves.
At Nick’s place, they have a nice time, but we are aware that Charlie is still hiding part of what he is feeling. This comes out when Tori comes down to Nick’s place to fetch him. She and Nick tell Charlie he must allow them to help him.
Overall, it turns out to be a bittersweet Christmas for Charlie when his parents apologize for not keeping him first.
Tao and Elle try to go to second base, but something doesn’t fit right for Elle. Later, the two of them discuss how Elle’s body dysphoria of being trans kicked in, and even though Tao has only been supportive of her, it’s difficult for her.
Do Tao and Elle have sex?
The group reunites at the New Year’s Party, and everyone welcomes Charlie like he has been gone for years.
Elle is ready to have sex with Tao, so she expresses it to her friend. Her friend tells her that if she does believe it would be good, she should do it and so she does.
Briefly, and I say that with the briefest time possible, we saw Tori connecting with another person at the party before its new years.
Heartstopper Episode 6 “Body” Recap:
Charlie has been doing better mental health-wise, at least that’s what Dr. Geoff thinks. Everyone at school is also pretty nice to him as he starts back. There are of course certain lapses here and there but the fact that Charlie is thinking about finally retrying to have sex with Nick can be seen as a positive sign. However, his body issues are always hindering him from even proposing the question to him.
On the other hand, Elle’s viral art had let her to feature on a radio talk show. However, the show doesn’t end well when the questions asked by the host are downright degrading for the trans experience. It really hurts Elle to an extent where she walks out midway.
Anyway, it is Charlie’s birthday and everyone in the group shows up to have a great time, including Tori’s new ‘supposedly boyfriend’ Micheal who we saw in the previous episode. Everyone gets drunk at the party but Tara, who is going through a lot being the perfect student and the one who everyone looks up has a panic attack from all that pressure building up inside her. Charlie, who has learned how to deal with such serious problems in therapy helps her through the panic attack.
Nick, on the other hand, also tells Charlie that he is ready to have sex after he backed out from doing it in Paris. For his birthday, Nick takes Charlie to see the talks of one of his favorite authors and we can see that both of them are smitten by the fact that the man is really hot.
Back home, they try to go all the way but at the right moment, Charlie’s body dysphoria kicks in and they decide that they have to find a different place than Charlie’s house to do it.
Heartstopper Episode 7 “Together” Recap:
It’s blooming season for the kids. Everyone is right at the cusp of the age they actually get sexually active and we can clearly see that Nick is finally developing that sort of attraction towards Charlie. They both are of course nervous so something or the other keeps stopping them.
But caring for Charlie has been such an important thing in Nick’s life now that he has put his own thing like applying for college on the back burner. At the school, Mr. Ajayi requests Charlie to apply for Head Boy since he will be staying at Truham.
Nick and Charlie are getting more and more anxious about how to find time to have sex with each other. Nick asks around for advice while Charlie has another fight with his mum because she won’t let him have a sleepover at Nick’s.
To cheer her up, Tao makes Elle a little short film of their time together. On movie night, he plays that short for her and it makes her feel seen by him through and through.
Are Charlie and Nick able to have sex?
An upset Charlie lands on Nick’s door but for the first time in a while Nick opens up about being a mess and how he is unable to decide what he needs to do for university and everything else about his future. Seeing him open up helps Charlie connect with him more than ever and the two decide to finally go all the way.
Heartstopper Season 3 Finale, Episode 8 “Apart” Recap:
Post-sex, Charlie, and Nick decide that they will take things slow and learn to take it in a more concrete direction. However, when Charlie goes into Nick’s laptop to check his internet history, he realizes that Nick has been looking at universities. Although Nick claims that is looking for unis nearby, we can clearly see that he knows how co-dependent Charlie has become.
When Charlie returns home, his mum apologizes and accepts that she can be a little overbearing on him because her mother was like that towards her. Charlie forgives her and agrees that even he can be quick to get angry.
Later, Nick and the girl go out to check out some of the top universities that he has picked to try out. Constantly, we are aware that Kent or the universities around his home are not of his liking. He is only doing it so that he remains near Charlie. However, after seeing a few options, Nick does actually find Reeds, a university 4 hours away from home interesting. But the idea of leaving Charlie, not because he is sick, but because Nick doesn’t understand his own personality and identity without him makes him feel even more confused.
Since half of the folks are away and stuck in a traffic jam, Charlie, who, for the first time will be performing along with a local band at a nearby festival is worried about Nick not being there and vice versa. However, despite the anxiety, he is able to do it.
Heartstopper Season 3 Finale, Episode 8 “Apart” Ending, Explained:
Are Charlie and Nick going to be together?
The Season 3 finale of Heartstopper, i.e episode 8 shows us how Charlie is finally able to let go of his body dysphoria and is able to take his shirt off and be with Nick like the two of them always wanted.
This ending is pretty sweet. However, seeing how Nick is interested in joining a college that is away from home, the future of this relationship and Charlie’s anxiety cannot be determined just yet. It’s possible that Nick will go away for uni and Charlie will be fine since he now knows how to deal with his anxiety. However, it is also possible that the move may bring a certain lag in their relationship.
All of this depends on where Heartstopper Season 4 goes. We will have to wait for it to know.
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