(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
One of the big criticisms of Heartstopper, particularly from its older fans, has been the show’s complete lack of sex.
That’s not to say people are clamoring for teenage characters to viscerally go at it on screen, which would be concerning for obvious reasons. But there is a validity to the complaints—it’s certainly odd that two teenage boys who are completely smitten with one another and spend most of their time in one another’s bedrooms don’t seem to be interested in anything more than staring into one another’s eyes. Plus, there are plenty of ways to show people being intimate on screen without it being explicit or exploitative, particularly when it comes to underage characters.
Both Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) have been together since the show’s first season, and in Season 3, now streaming on Netflix, they finally do what fans have been waiting for: They have sex.
Of course, it’s that very lack of sexual energy that’s defined much of Heartstopper’s popularity through its first two seasons. The show, created by Alice Oseman and based on her graphic novels, is almost relentlessly twee. Sentimentality has always been the game here—in comparison to other popular teen shows like Euphoria and Sex Education, Heartstopper is practically a eunuch. The show has always been more interested in examining, say, the electric power of a hug or the intense feelings that come from staring into one another’s eyes than sex.
So naturally, it was a big deal when it was revealed that in Season 3 of Heartstopper, Charlie and Nick were finally going to have sex. Finally! Joe Locke and Kit Connor revealed they shot sex scenes for seven hours, fueling speculation online as to what that could look like. And now that Heartstopper is back on Netflix, we know the answer—and it fits the show perfectly.
Both Charlie and Nick are ready, and at the end of Episode 7, “Together,” they’re ready to have sex for the first time. The pair race back to Nick’s house, and they rapidly start to undress each other—but they’re quickly interrupted by Nick’s older brother, which unsurprisingly kills the mood. The moment feels like a knowing tease—fans have waited this long for sex, so they can wait a few minutes more.
At the end of the episode, the pivotal moment finally arrives. It begins earnestly, with Charlie and Nick sharing an emotionally vulnerable conversation in bed together.
It’s Charlie who’s struggled most throughout Season 3, particularly with his eating disorder, but the moment allows Nick to reveal his own concerns. One year older than Charlie, Nick is panicked about the future and going off to university while Charlie has a year left of school. Nick apologizes for rambling, but Charlie comforts him, saying he understands and that “you’re allowed to be a mess sometimes.” They kiss tenderly, and normally, that’s where a Heartstopper scene would end.
Instead, the two begin to kiss passionately with animated sparks flying (a Heartstopper staple). Charlie gets on top of Nick and asks him if anyone else is home. Nick says no, and it’s on. There’s an “Ode to A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat” by Del Water Gap needle drop, and the lyrics perfectly set the scene:
“I don’t want to fight this anymore /I just want to lay back and watch you pin me to the bed.”
“This is literally the only thing I’ve been able to think about,” Nick tells Charlie, knowing what’s coming next. “Me too,” Charlie responds.
Kit Connor and Joe Locke
Samuel Dore/NetflixIn a series of close-ups, Nick and Charlie hold each other close, kissing, looking longingly into each other’s eyes, and start to take their clothes off—they even ask each other if it’s okay to do so with respect and care. It’s slow, patient, and bursting with love. Unsurprisingly, no sex is seen, as the camera pans up to the bedroom wall to an old Polaroid of the boys kissing, ending the episode. Still, that doesn’t stop the sequence from being exceptionally romantic and sweet.
The magic of the scene is that it finally delivers what fans have been longing for—Nick and Charlie having sex—while maintaining the very essence of Heartstopper.
A sex scene similar to something you’d see in Euphoria or Sex Education would be jarring in the worst way: completely out of place and out of touch with everything the show does. Nick and Charlie’s first sex scene in Heartstopper may be surprisingly brief, but it effectively nails the heightened emotions that come along with discovering sex—the nervousness, the giddiness, the clumsiness—and emotions are what this show is all about. It’s always been about the connection between Nick and Charlie, and the long-awaited sex scene delivers it beautifully.
