Heartstopper‘s highly-anticipated second season premiered on Netflix on August 3, and the eight new episodes will warm your hearts, nearly break them, make them race and flutter, and fill them with pure joy.
In a direct continuation from the Season 1 finale, which saw Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) coming out to his mom, Season 2 of the series — adapted from Alice Oseman’s graphic novels — focuses on his budding relationship with Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and his coming out journey, along with Charlie’s past (and present) trauma, Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Tao’s (William Gao) will-they-won’t-they relationship, Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy’s (Kizzy Edgell) unexpected obstacles, and Isaac’s (Tobie Donovan) pursuit of self-discovery.
After daunting coursework, major milestones, and a class trip to Paris, Heartstopper‘s Season 2 finale follows the teens to prom for a memorable night of highs, lows, and reality checks. Wondering how Heartstopper Season 2 ends? Decider’s Episode 8 recap breaks down all the drama, romance, friendships, and revelations in “Perfect.”
The penultimate episode of Heartstopper Season 2 ended with Nick coming out to his dad and standing up to his brother at a dinner with Charlie and his family. Before his dad left, he hugged David goodbye and told Nick it was nice meeting his boyfriend, but he left without a hug, and Nick definitely noticed. Despite all the drama, he and Charlie ended the night with a kiss, but when Nick went inside to help his mom clean the kitchen, she observed that Charlie didn’t eat much at dinner, which made Nick’s mood drop again. He pulled out his phone and searched “eating disorders” on Google. Then after some cursory research, he distracted himself by looking at a photo of Tara in her suit on Instagram preparing for prom. As Nick is celebrating Tara’s fit, we cut to Tara, who’s trying on the suit again in her room. We see her mom burst in and scream at her, forbidding her to wear the suit out, and when Tara protests, her mom orders her to leave. In the final shot of the episode, we see Tara walking out of her house in the middle of the night.
Episode 8, “Perfect,” kicks off with another adorable wake-up scene. Nick opens his eyes, smiles at photos of him and Charlie, and posts on to Instagram with the caption: “boyfriends <3 (im bi, actually).” Iconic. When Charlie sees the post he’s overjoyed and assures Nick, “this is the best my life has ever been, everything is perfect.” But Nick’s still worried about him, and if this season taught us anything it’s that perfection — no matter how hard you try — is unattainable.
Ahead of prom, Tao *finally* asks Elle to be his girlfriend and she says yes. But not every relationship is thriving. Darcy is missing, and Tara’s starting to worry. She calls on her pals to help decorate for the big night in Darcy’s absence and naturally, they show up. Meanwhile, Mr. Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade) invites Mr. Farouk (Nima Taleghani) to “chaperone” with him, so let’s hope he shows up, too.
Still worried about Charlie, Nick invites him to breakfast, but Charlie declines and is stressing over mixed comments on Nick’s coming out Instagram post. Tao tells Nick people are idiots for assuming he’s straight, but Nick isn’t worried about them. His main concern is Charlie, so he tells Tao he thinks the attention has been getting to Charlie and says he fears the bullying he faced when he was forced to come out “really affected him” and “still causes him a lot of pain. Tao agrees, then reveals Charlie never discussed the details of his bullying. Tao says some people just keep parts of them hidden, then shares his dad died when he was 12 and that’s why he worries about losing friends and Elle.
The deep heart-to-heart and the crushing weight of these teens’ worries truly resonate throughout the season, but for a moment — when Charlie and Nick have their prom first looks — all feels right in the world. The group heads to the “Summer of Love” themed event, but Darcy still hasn’t shown. Tara initially plays it cool, but when she sees Nick inside, she tells him Darcy isn’t coming and she thinks something’s wrong. I, too, would like a heart-to-heart with Nick, please!
Though prom carries a lot of pressure within Heartstopper‘s core group, the night isn’t all bad. Nick’s friends tell him they missed him and support his coming out. Tao and Elle have an epic dance scene, and Tao accepts that she’s going to London. Mr. Ajayi and Mr. Farouk get their flirt on. And Isaac goes to the library and grabs a book that can teach him more about asexuality. Everything seems to be going swell school-wise, but Charlie asks Nick to leave and says they’ve been “so obsessed with the idea of coming out we forgot why we did it in the first place. It’s for us not them.”
Before the group heads out, Darcy finally shows up. But Tara went to Darcy’s house in hopes of finding her. Unfortunately, all she found was Darcy’s rude mother, who explained they got in a fight because “she looked like a lesbian” in her prom suit. Tara is crushed upon realizing Darcy’s been dealing with this painful part of her life all alone. And after the group reunites and shares a cathartic hug, Darcy reveals she slept in the park, her phone died, and she isn’t out to her parents. “I don’t think I ever will be. I hide who I am when I’m at home. Sometimes my mom makes me hate myself,” she explains.
The friends host their own DIY home prom and a dreamy sequence of dancing and laughter shows much-needed joy, freedom, and worry-free moments. Before the night ends, Charlie and Nick slip away for alone time, and in the comfort of his bedroom, Nick asks Charlie about the bullying, if everything is really fine, and reminds him he doesn’t have to be perfect.
Charlie shares he’s surprised at how homophobic people are nowadays before giving Nick a glimpse at the horrible treatment he experienced. “People would just call me disgusting to my face, and it went on for so long I think I started to believe what they were saying,” Charlie said. He told Nick he used to self-harm, though he says he doesn’t anymore, and Nick embraces him. After a classic Charlie apology, Nick reminds him they banned the “S word” and makes him promise to tell him if things ever get that bad again, reminding him he’s beloved, not a burden.
“I love your hair so much. I love your eyes. I love —” Nick says, before his mom returns home and interrupts the declaration we’ve desperately been waiting for. Charlie heads home happy. And though Nick’s clearly in love, he’s heartbroken by the thought of Charlie in pain.
Before the end credits roll, Charlie pulls out his phone and types “I love you” to Nick. Will he send the message? And is he really OK? We’ll have to wait until Season 3 to find out. (Not cool, Alice Oseman! Not! Cool!)
Heartstopper is now streaming on Netflix.