The New 'Heartstopper' Season 3 Trailer Gets Serious About Being Sixteen

Being a teenager has never been easy, no matter when you were born. Those final years of high school are when you're sure you're an adult in your head, but emotionally, you're still working on getting there. Everything that happens feels like it's all-encompassing, whether it's falling in love, deciding what path to take after graduation, or dealing with mental health issues. Netflix's LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story, Heartstopper, has been a critically lauded success for its ability to capture all that, from its gloriously nuanced take on coming out to its ensemble cast capturing the way relationships are hard for everyone because despite everything fairy tales tell you, love isn't magic.

Seasons 1 and 2 primarily focused on Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), from their meet-cute to their first kiss to the ups and downs of high school relationships. But Season 3 is when things begin to get real, as the stress of high school finally tips Charlie over the edge from vague flirting with a negative relationship to his body to a full-blown eating disorder. Moreover, though Nick wants to believe that if he just loves Charlie enough, it'll make him well, he will have to face the fact that love sometimes recognizes when the problem is bigger than being solved by any one person.

Season 3 also extends the issues of body dysmorphia to fan-favorite character Elle (Yasmin Finney), who is still adjusting to her body and the trauma of puberty. This trailer comes with trigger warnings, is what I'm saying, and the season's episodes probably will as well.