Heartstopper is a show that “makes your heart stop in its tracks,” just like the name implies. It is back with the third season installment and we can’t get enough of Nick and Charlie, the main couple. Unlike other shows about teenagers and prioritizing sex, this show takes a more realistic turn of events that happen when you’re 16 years old.

It explores the topic of saying “I love you” first and how awkward it is to maybe not get it in return. It explores uncomfortable decisions like asking your girlfriend to move out because you need space. Tara and Darcy also navigate what it means to experience the not-so-smooth path of being in love. Tara is yet to figure out what to do next and Darcy embraces being non-binary.

Others like Tao and Elle also explore saying I love you and what it means to have sex for the first time as a trans person. If there is one thing the show never fails to do, it is to give representation at all times. Elle also experiences transphobia and shrinks into herself, therefore reinforcing that transphobia is a hate crime.

Issac, “the friend who reads,” as Charlie’s sister Tori calls him. He explores what it means to be asexual and aromantic in a group where everyone is romantically and even sometimes sexually involved with one another.

Issac isn’t the only one navigating his sexuality as Imogen and Sahar navigate friends with benefits, situationship, and even bisexual awakening. 

Charlie also battles an eating disorder and isolates. It is “left” to Nick to figure out how to love this person through everything. With the help of Charlie’s family and Nick, Charlie starts to feel better and eventually relies on his friends for some moral support. Nick neglects himself through this ordeal but is reminded by Tara to feel things and move past them.

Nick and Charlie also navigate taking it a step further by exploring sex. Nick, like every virgin, is concerned while Charlie gets stuck in the loop of body dysmorphia but forces on as he gives in to having sex.

If Heartstopper does one thing right, it is the ability to entertain and yet educate its audience on the realities of being a queer person in teenage years.