(Netflix. Heartbreak High season 2 poster. Chaotic poster with characters from the show. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/heartbreak_high_2022/s02, 2024)
Introduction
After a two-year hiatus, Heartbreak High’s Gen-Z reboot returned with its second season on April 11, 2024. The first season was refreshing and relatable for Gen-Z teenagers and twenty-somethings. It was inclusive in representation for many communities, bloody hilarious, and something I would have liked to have existed in high school. You may be wondering if its succeeding season had the same effect on viewers. That is precisely what this review is going to dive into.
Season 1 of Heartbreak High focused on Amerie Wadia, a popular Indian-Australian girl at Hartley High who quickly became a pariah after being discovered she had created a ‘sex map’ that exposed the sexual encounters of her classmates. After this, the students on the map attend a class called the ‘Sexual Literacy Tutorial’ aka ‘SLTS’/sluts’. This storyline was a catalyst for many others as the season progressed. Other prominent storylines in this season included Amerie’s broken best friendship with Harper Mclean and why it fell apart, her new friendship with two outcasts, Darren Rivers and Quinni Gallagher-Jones, and her love triangle with Malakai Mitchell and Dustin Reed. The writers and actors of the show did an impressive job capturing the essence of Gen-Z individuals through the characters’ storylines and dialogue. By the end of the season, the show resolves most of the storylines, leaving viewers with a cliffhanger.
Now, onto Season 2…
First, I have a lukewarm opinion of this season. It felt more diluted than its predecessor, evident from how the writers wrote the tone, plot, and characters this time. The plot needed cohesion and an attempt to continue the storylines from Season 1. For example, at the end of Season 1, Harper confessed to Amerie that she ended their friendship because Amerie accidentally abandoned her at a concert, resulting in the worst night of her life. During this night, a group of ‘eshay’ boys chased her, and after reaching home, she experienced her dad having an episode, disbelieving that she was his daughter, thinking she was a wolf. The writers could have explored Harper taking the ‘eshays’ to court and how the event affected her, but it was put on the back burner from the first episode to introduce the Bird Psycho mystery and the school election plot.
This season’s plot still focused on Amerie, who wanted to earn back her reputation by running for school captain. She was also a target of an anonymous antagonist, Bird Psycho, and was in the middle of another love triangle with Malakai Mitchell and new student Rowan Callaghan. This season was still fun to watch, but it felt like too much was introduced and happening simultaneously to follow along. For example, Harper’s season 1 storyline ends abruptly from her decision to drop the case against the eshays. Then, it focuses on new storylines, such as Amerie running for school captain and trying to figure out who Bird Psycho is, all while the other characters, Darren and Quinni, have their storylines. The show can improve in succeeding seasons by balancing handling new storylines while fleshing out and concluding existing ones.
This season’s tone felt akin to how a restaurant would change their recipe in making their dishes, leading them to taste weirdly watered down. The characters this season are either diluted or exaggerated versions of themselves from how their attitudes and overall demeanour were drastically different. For example, Darren Rivers is an unapologetic non-binary individual with they/them pronouns and a fellow outcast of Hartley High alongside Quinni Gallagher-Jones and Amerie Wadia. The writers introduced them in season 1 and wrote Darren beautifully, as they were a favourite to fans. They were hilarious and provided representation for non-binary individuals. In season 2, this is still the case, but they feel mellowed down as they are not as confident in themselves anymore as they were in season 1.
Now, let’s move on to the aspects of season 2 that were great about it. It was still a fun rollercoaster of a ride to watch, much like season 1, the representation of many communities that aren’t portrayed enough in media, such as LGBTQ+, individuals living with autism and Indigenous Australians. Not only did it provide representation, but it also explored how intersectional a teenager can realise they are while growing up. For example, Quinni Gallagher-Jones, a girl living with autism, struggled with finding herself after ‘masking’ for so long. After pretending for many years because of society’s norms, she realises she doesn’t know who she is anymore but wants to find herself again. This experience is relatable for many twenty-somethings who go through the same thing because they feel too different from the world.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Heartbreak High season 2 was a chaotic, fun ride for viewers but needed more cohesive execution.
