Review: Heartstopper, "Heat" & "Truth / Dare" | Season 2, Episodes 5 & 6
The show's other relationships may never fully take center stage, but Paris gives them a bigger spotlight
The biggest change to Heartstopper in its transition from webcomic to television series has been a matter of balance. The comics are almost exclusively about Charlie and Nick, and while there are stories for other characters, they’re presented primarily as reference points for Nick or Charlie’s relationship. Elle and Tao still go from friends to lovers, and Tara and Darcy are still in love with each other, but those are smaller stories in the comics than they’ve become in the show, meaning that the show is juggling a larger set of conflicts and connections.
Elle and Tao’s story has been given some more detail, like the botched date at the movies and the threat of Elle’s departure for art school to be with her new friends, but for the most part it has remained largely the same story: they begin the Paris trip on uncertain terms, grow closer nerding out over art history, and then have their first kiss at the Louvre and just never stop making out after that. It’s a very…