Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 2, “Love” Spoilers Ahead
Nick Nelson is one of the sweetest characters on TV, so it makes complete sense that he’d struggle deeply in not knowing how to help Charlie. But Heartstopper Season 3 doesn’t waste any time in giving us a wholesome moment where his Aunt Diane, played by Hayley Atwell, helps him see how he can be there without shattering himself in the process.
There’s much to appreciate about the scene, starting with the open-air setting and featuring flashes to home with voiceovers that tie the moment together, making it more powerful in the process. Because of the rise in conversations surrounding mental health, it’s easy to believe that we should have all the correct answers. Whether sixteen-year-old teenagers or thirty-year-old adults—it’s easy to feel powerless when we want to help someone but don’t know how to. This is why Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 2, “Love,” is so important as yet another reminder of why professional help matters.
Simultaneously, language is the key here, and the scene hits as evocatively as it does because it’s straightforward and honest. Nick can’t heal Charlie on his own; no single person can because love doesn’t cure mental illness. It’s a beautiful reminder to have on our low days that therapy is vital to giving us the coping mechanisms necessary to fight against our battles. No matter how much they love us, our friends cannot fix us. Our significant others can’t either. It’s paralyzing at times to feel helpless, but shouldering someone else’s pain because we believe that we should makes it more challenging to be there.
“It’s okay that you’re scared. I know that you think it’s your job to save him, and I know that it feels like you’re each other’s whole world, but that dependency isn’t healthy for anyone. Charlie needs someone who isn’t his 16-year-old boyfriend. He needs help from a doctor or a therapist, someone that understands eating disorders and knows how to treat them. Love can’t cure a mental illness. […] There’s lots of things that you can do. You can be there for him, just to talk or to listen. You can cheer him up when he’s having one of his bad days. And on those bad days, you can ask him what you could do to help. Standing together, even when it’s hard. But also, knowing that sometimes, people need more support than one person can give. That’s love, darling.”
So, Nick’s aunt gives him the best advice by reminding him of how vital it is that he cannot fix Charlie. But he can be there for him. He can listen, which is something that we often forget is so powerful in allowing a person to feel less alone in their burdens. He could ask him how he could help. It’s easy to feel like we should know what to do when, at times, the person suffering doesn’t either. Maybe, at the moment, Charlie simply needs to lean on Nick’s shoulder without either of them saying a word. Maybe he needs Nick to hold his hand while he reads the letter aloud to his parents. We can’t always know if we don’t ask, and it doesn’t make us a bad friend or significant other if this is ever the case.
It’s also lovely that in the flashes toward home, we see all the characters in their states of struggle. We are reminded that, if nothing else, this group has each other to hold onto in times of need. None of them can fix the other, but how they continue to show up is a lovely and heartwarming display of true friendship.
Now streaming on Netflix: What are your thoughts on how Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 2, “Love” addresses mental illness? Let us know in the comments below.
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