The Big Picture
Heartstopper Season 2 brings bigger stakes and expands on the relationships of the friend group, while still staying true to the heart of the graphic novels. Changes to the source material, made by series author Alice Oseman, make the show even stronger as an adaptation and keep the audience engaged with drama and higher stakes. Characters created for the show like Isaac and Imogen bring representation and depth, allowing for more expansion and adding to the overall story.
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Heartstopper.
Heartstopper, based on the graphic novels of the same name by Alice Oseman, has once again climbed the Netflix top ten charts with the premiere of Season 2 of the beloved series. Heartstopper is the coming-of-age story of Charlie and Nick, two teenagers who form a friendship in school that quickly develops into something more. The show also covers the relationships of the entire friend group, including Tara and Darcy, and Tao and Elle. The show is a very good adaptation of the graphic novels, but that doesn’t mean there are not big changes in the show. While changes are always a bit adverse to the fan base, they are made by series author Alice Oseman who writes the show as well. Their changes to the source material make the show an even stronger adaptation.
Heartstopper Season 2 Has Bigger Stakes
Oseman had already opened up on their changing of Nick’s coming out story, which had been changed slightly and elongated in the show compared to the comic. The second season follows suit in the same way, bringing bigger stakes to every subplot, and is punctuated by the centering of Charlie’s eating disorder and mental health. A lot of Charlie’s plot line has been moved up. While it is a big part of this section of the comics, Charlie and Nick’s emotional talk they had at the end of the season was moved up from a later point. Charlies parent’s reaction to their relationship is also slightly changed. Instead of being more accepting, Charlie’s mom has an adverse reaction to the relationship and blames Nick for Charlie’s slipping grades instead of noticing her child struggling, which also came later in the comics. Her poor handling of the situation is one of the reasons Charlie begins to struggle more.
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Other notable changes surround the other relationships in the friend group. Elle and Tao, who get together relatively smoothly in the comics, have a bit of a rocky start in the show. Tao, who is scared that he is going to lose Elle to her joining an art school (she stays at Higgs in the graphic novel) and leaving Higgs, tries to act cool and accidentally tanks his first date with Elle, causing an awkward split between them. But all is well in the end when Elle makes the first move in the Louvre, and they finally get together in the iconic way they did in the source material.
There is also a deeper look into Tara and Darcy’s relationship, where Darcy avoids saying “I love you” back to Tara. Later in the show we eventually see why, as her home life is extremely abusive and toxic, and she is seemingly kicked out of her home at the end of the season. Darcy’s home life is canon in the graphic novels, but there is not much of a focus on it. These expansions of the source material allow the show to keep the audience enticed but still keep the heart of the graphic novels. As Oseman put it in the interview above, “when problems arise in the story of the comics they’re solved almost immediately […] but it doesn’t work for TV because if there’s no drama, people will get bored.” The prom at the end of Season 2 attests to the way drama is used to up the stakes a bit. The comics are a straightforward story. Things rarely go as wrong as they do in the show, but a live-action adaptation needs that drama to succeed.
Which Characters Were Created or Cut for the Show?
Oseman, who was already making changes to their graphic novel’s plot in adapting, also had to make some tough choices surrounding supporting characters that could be in the show. One of the graphic novel’s most beloved characters was cut, Oliver, the younger brother of Charlie and Tori, for space to grow other plots and characters and because having a child on set makes filming harder. While it is sad, and Oliver would have been an adorable addition, it makes sense why he was ultimately cut from the show. One other character was cut (and replaced), and that was Aled. Aled has a bigger history in the Heartstopper universe, as he is a protagonist in Oseman’s novel Radio Silence. Aled serves as the fourth member of the friend group of Charlie, Tao, and Elle, and is one of the first people to realize Nick and Charlie are together, though he says nothing about it. While these characters are great, cutting (or replacing) them allowed Oseman to go in new directions with the show to provide more representation.
Isaac is a new addition to the story of Heartstopper, and he takes the place of Aled. Of course, one may ask: why not just keep Aled? Well, Aled would require too much space for not enough development where Oseman wanted to go. Heartstopper is all about representation, and Isaac allows more expansion. In season one, fans were quick to love Isaac, who seemed unbothered, with his nose in a different book in every scene. In Season 2, Isaac’s journey explores the asexual and aromantic identities, something close to home to Oseman, who also identifies as aro/ace. Though Isaac is not in the graphic novels, he is a great addition that brings a needed representation to TV.
Another character who’s new for the show is Imogen, yes, the iconic self-proclaimed “ally” herself! As Oseman mentioned, the show needed more drama to keep audiences watching, and Imogen was an invention for that. She not only gives Nick more depth, as they are close friends but also serves as a bit more drama for him after she asks Nick out. Of course, it is resolved in a rather timely manner, and in a way that is not invalidating on her part, thankfully. Imogen has grown into a beloved character in a role that could have easily been created to be passive and annoying. In Season 2, she becomes a bigger part of the friend group, and it is teased she has a new love interest in Sahar, so maybe she’s not the ally she thought she was.
Heartstopper has the best-case scenario for an adaptation of a book. How many other shows can say that the author is on board to write all the episodes for the Netflix series? Not many at all. Oseman understands what to prioritize in an adaptation, even if that means making some major changes to their source material. So far, it seems Heartstopper has captured the hearts of many people. It has already secured a third season, so if it continues to grow, we can hope to see more Heartstopper in the future. There are still many volumes of the graphic novels to be adapted. Oseman’s strength is embracing these changes, and implementing them in their own way. Don’t let these changes scare you off, the show is equally good as the source it is adapting.
Heartstopper is streaming on Netflix, with a third season in the works.
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