Series / Heartstopper (2022)

Boy meets boy.

Tori: Hypothetically, though: dream guy?

Charlie: I don't know. Just someone I can have a laugh with. And who's nice. And kind. And likes being with me.

Heartstopper is a British romantic teen drama series based on the webcomic of the same name by Alice Oseman. Oseman also developed and wrote for the show.

The series follows teenagers Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) who meet and become friends on the first day of term at Truham Grammar School for Boys. Charlie, having been outed as gay the previous year, soon develops a crush on Nick. Charlie's friends Tao (William Gao), Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan) are worried this crush will lead to him getting hurt but are nonetheless supportive. But things might not be as black-and-white as that, because Nick starts to question whether he likes Charlie as just a friend, or something much more...

The first season was released on Netflix on April 22, 2022. On May 20, it was renewed for two more seasons. The second season was released on August 3, 2023.

The character sheet for the Netflix adaptation can be found here.

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This series contains examples of:

• Adapted Out: Charlie's little brother Oliver was written out of the show to avoid the complications of working with child actors, leaving Tori as his only sibling. Charlie's friend Aled Last was also written out, replaced with original character Isaac, because doing justice to Aled's story from Radio Silence would require more runtime than the show could spare.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed with Charlie, who is already a Nice Guy to begin with. In the series though, he blames himself for Nick's fight with Harry Greene, even considering breaking up with Nick to keep him out of trouble. By contrast, comic!Charlie wished he could have seen it.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the comic, Ben was still a cheating narcissist who attempted to sexually assault Charlie, but he left Charlie alone after Harry's birthday party. Here, Ben's also shown to be emotionally abusive during their liaisons, pretends not to know Charlie while out in public, repeatedly corners Charlie after their breakup just to belittle and gaslight him, and even attempts to blackmail Charlie by threatening to out Nick. Despite his expanded role showing Ben committing more misdeeds than in the comics, his characterization seems slightly different. While still an inexcusable villain in the Netflix series, Ben's expressions and tone express a character that is frustrated, angry and desperate rather than the smiling and sinister character from the comics.
• Adaptation Expansion: A number of plotlines are given far more focus as opposed to being in the background of Nick and Charlie's love story.
  • Elle's transfer to Harvey Greene Grammar School (a.k.a. Higgs) since coming out as transgender and her struggle to make new friends.
  • Tara's coming out as a lesbian and announcement of her relationship with Darcy.
  • Tao deals not only with getting bullied for defending Charlie, but also with his own insecurities over the changing dynamic of his friend group after Elle moves to Higgs and Charlie starts spending more time with Nick.
• Alone in a Crowd: Episode three opens with Nick standing silent and scared among his laughing friends after realising he's probably LGBTQ+.
  • Season two has several scenes of Isaac depicted like this, particularly during Tara's birthday party in Paris. This becomes much more pronounced once Tao and Elle get together, leaving Isaac Alone Among the Couples. This eventually leads him to discover that he is asexual and aromantic.
• Animal Motif: Dogs for Nick. He's compared to a golden retriever, has the friendly, loyal personality to match, and is always with his dog Nellie.
• Apologises a Lot: Charlie. It gets to the point where Nick says he's not allowed to say the "S" word.
• Ascended Extra: Elle, Tao, Tara and Darcy all have a greater presence in the show and have storylines and scenes independent of Nick and Charlie. Same with Ben, whose role remains essentially the same but has added scenes that were not in the original comic.
• The Atoner: The show deconstructs this trope twice in season two with Harry and Ben.
  • In Harry's case, his attempt to apologize to Charlie and Nick for his homophobia, transphobia and generally awful behaviour is negated by the fact that he's mostly doing it in an attempt to get an invite to Tara's birthday party. Not to mention the fact he's pressuring Charlie to forgive him publicly. Charlie responds by slamming a door in his face.
  • Meanwhile with Ben, he repeatedly harasses and corners Charlie so he can apologize for the assault he committed in season one and end things on good terms before he leaves Truham next year, culminating in him ambushing Charlie at Elle's art show. His reformation is not received well with good reason: he never properly apologizes to Charlie for sexually assaulting him, instead repeatedly blaming him for not giving Ben enough time to figure out his sexuality. Despite his sincere regret and desire to change he doesn't actually put in the work to atone nor is self-aware enough to recognize how much he hurt Charlie, instead deflecting and blaming everyone else around him, which is why Charlie wishes him well but refuses to forgive him or accept his apology.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Nick realises he may have more than platonic feelings for Charlie when he ends up watching him sleep and resists the urge to hold his hand.
• Beta Couple: Elle and Tao's burgeoning romance is a secondary plotline after Nick and Charlie's developing relationship. Tara and Darcy as well.
• The Big Damn Kiss:
  • Unsurprisingly happens in the episode titled "Kiss." Charlie and Nick's first kiss happens at Harry's 16th birthday party.
  • Tao and Elle finally kiss at the Louvre, complete with Foot Popping.
• Big Sister Instinct: As Charlie's older sister, Tori is naturally wary of Nick and his intentions. She always makes sure to support Charlie (though not without some choice, snarky comments) and hugs him after assuring him that Nick and Tao getting into fights with Harry is not his fault. In the second season, she calmly threatens to end David if she ever hears him badmouth her brother again.
• Birthday Party Goes Wrong: Tara's birthday party during the Paris trip abruptly ends because her girlfriend gets queasy and hurls. She hadn't been super enthusiastic to begin with because Darcy had been avoiding talking about Tara saying "I love you" days prior and the continued lack of talking about it was weighing on her.
• Bisexual Love Triangle: Heavily teased between Charlie and Tara for Nick. Subverted within a few episodes — Tara is revealed to be a lesbian.
• Bi-Wildered: Everyone is quick to assume that Nick is straight, with even Elle saying that he's "the straightest person I've ever seen." Things change when Nick grows closer to Charlie and they kiss at Harry's birthday party, which causes him a great amount of confusion. He spends the remainder of the season questioning his sexuality and even after getting together with Charlie is hesitant to put a label on it. This is rectified in the season finale after he and Charlie become boyfriends and he explicitly settles on coming out as bisexual.
• Blackmail Backfire: After Charlie stands up to Ben, he threatens to out Nick and his secret relationship with Charlie. Charlie easily counters by saying Ben wouldn't want his previous affair with Charlie to get out either. Charlie makes it clear he would never do that because unlike Ben, he's actually a decent person.
• Bonding Through Shared Earbuds: Happens between two pairs: Tao and Elle, then later Charlie and Nick.
• Bookends: The series starts with Charlie secretly meeting up with Ben and Ben ordering him not to say anything about them. It ends with Nick confirming to Charlie that he wants to tell people they're together.
• Break His Heart to Save Him:
  • Charlie tells the rugby boys that Nick isn't his type and he'd never fancy him. Although it's to protect Nick, who is still in the closet, the exchange obviously crushes both of them.
  • Charlie later tries to end their relationship so Nick can get his old life back following several fights with Harry. Thankfully, Nick makes it clear that he doesn't want to be saved or go back to his friends.
• Bully Hunter:
  • Tao is fiercely protective of Charlie, Elle and his other friends, and defends them against Harry and the other boys.
  • Nick rescues Charlie from Ben in the first episode, calls Harry out on his homophobia, and eventually escalates to physically fighting him.
  • Charlie moves into this role in Season 2, shielding Nick from the harassment he suffered when he was outed.
• Bystander Syndrome: Discussed when Charlie says not all of the rugby boys are like Harry and Nick points out that even if they are nice they still didn't speak out against Harry's behaviour. Nick himself feels guilty for being around his friends for so long and not realising how cruel they are. At one point he imagines watching Charlie's bullying, and not being able to reach him or do anything.
• Call-Back: In Season 1, Tao grumpily imagines having to befriend the rugby lads and watch Marvel films with them. In Season 2, Nick jokes that Charlie fell asleep from finding a Marvel film boring, the latter admitting to not being a fan.
• Cast Full of Gay: The major cast is almost entirely on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, consisting of Charlie (gay), Nick ( bisexual), Tara and Darcy (lesbians), Elle (a transgender girl) and Isaac (asexual and aromantic) with Tao and Imogen as the straight minority. The second season also introduces a number of queer recurring students like James, Sahar, Naomi and Felix, and hints that Imogen isn't as straight as she thinks, either. Even the relevant teachers are all queer: Mr. Ajayi is gay, as is Mr. Farouk. Coach Singh is also revealed to be a lesbian, mentioning a wife she met at university.
• Class Trip: Season two (from episodes 4 to 6) has the main characters go on a class trip to Paris as part of their language studies. This includes the students that aren't studying French.
• Creator Cameo: Alice Oseman appears in the season finale as a train passenger sitting near Nick and Charlie during their trip to the beach.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • Charlie's friend Isaac and Nick's friend Imogen did not exist in the comic and were created solely for the show.
  • In season two Elle makes two new friends from the Lambert College of Arts, Naomi and Felix who were also not in the original comic.
• Changing Yourself for Love: Tao cuts his hair and watches a film he despises because it's Elle's favorite. It's received poorly and the movie date goes terribly because she doesn't want him to change for her.
• Coming-Out Story:
  • Tara officially comes out as a lesbian on Instagram and adjusts to the gossip and hate speech that arises at school soon afterward.
  • Nick tells everyone in his and Charlie's close friend group as well as his mum by the end of the first season and goes Instagram-official by the end of the second.
• The Determinator: Charlie. Despite everything he goes through, he will keep pushing through.
• Distressed Dude: Charlie when Ben sexually assaults him after school. Luckily, Nick arrives to throw Ben off Charlie.
• Domestic Abuse: Ben is emotionally and verbally abusive to Charlie during their secret relationship, ignoring his feelings, gaslighting him, and mocking him in public. When Charlie ends things between them he moves to physical and sexual assault. Much of Nick and Charlie's relationship focuses on Charlie dealing with his insecurities and how differently Nick acts. He treats Imogen in a similar manner after they get together in Season 2 — preying on her loneliness, ignoring her, and talking down to her. Thanks to Nick, Charlie and Elle's advice, Imogen is able to end things before they get worse.
• Double Date: Tara and Darcy suggest this to Nick, who enthusiastically agrees. Darcy then turns this into a matchmaking attempt by suggesting the group invite Tao and Elle for a triple date.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Both the main characters across the story.
  • Before and during the series Charlie endures bullying, an abusive relationship, and self-confidence issues, but his kindness and longstanding support for Nick wins out, and he finishes the season with a loving boyfriend and happier than he's ever been.
  • Meanwhile Nick deals with going from popular rugby king to increasingly isolated, confused, and losing most of his friends. However in doing so he finds genuine friends, stops burying his true self, and ends up with Charlie.
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: Nick overhears Charlie and Tao arguing in the arcade bathroom about his and Charlie's friendship. Nick is worried that Charlie would accidentally out him to Tao but doesn't.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Elle eats alone in the canteen upon moving to Higgs because she doesn't know anyone there. Charlie eats in the corner of the art room when bullying gets bad.
• Easter Egg: Alice Oseman's other works set in the Heartstopper universe are hidden in the background of the show - her novels Solitaire and I Was Born For This can be seen on Charlie's bookshelf and at the arcade Isaac is holding a copy of Radio Silence.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Nick's first proper scene has him going out of his way to talk to Charlie, doing his maths homework on the way to class but refusing help because he needs to learn, and turning a pen smudge on Charlie's hand into a smiley face — establishing him as sweet, goofy, determined to figure things out for himself, and someone who brings happiness into Charlie's life.
  • Before that, there's Charlie's first meeting with Ben. Charlie wants a genuine connection, shown by his asking Ben how his Christmas was. Ben gives a quick answer and cuts off Charlie's answer with a kiss, indicating he doesn't really care and is just looking for a quick snog.
• Everyone Can See It: Everyone can tell that Tao and Elle harbor romantic feelings for each other.
• Everyone Has Standards: When Ben calls Imogen a bitch during their breakup, even Harry calls him out for it.
• First Kiss: Several.
  • Nick and Tara had their first kiss with each other when they were 13.
  • Charlie and Nick have their first kiss at Harry's birthday party.
  • Darcy and Tara also discuss their first kiss, and bicker over whether it took until their second or sixth kiss for Tara to realise she was a lesbian.
  • In season two Tao and Elle have theirs in the Louvre on their class trip to Paris, with the dialogue implying that they are each other's first.
  • James kisses Isaac, saying that he's never kissed anyone before. It's not received well by Isaac, due to the fact he is asexual/aromantic.
• Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: Harry is barely finished calling Charlie a slur before Nick's fist connects with his face.
• Foil: Ben Hope and Tara Jones's personalities and journeys in dealing with their respective sexualities contrast and complement Nick and his realization that he is bisexual.
  • Tara is a step ahead of Nick, having already realized she is LGBTQ+ and is in a relationship with Darcy. Like Nick she has a partner who was more confident about their sexual orientation, and whose friendship prompted her to realise she was queer. She comes out earlier than Nick and has to contend with the negative talk about her and her lesbian identity from people at her school.
  • Ben, meanwhile, is deep in the closet and is so terrified of being seen as anything but straight that he refuses to acknowledge Charlie in public. He is also extremely inconsiderate of Charlie's needs and feelings, only meeting him when he wants and balks when Charlie calls him his boyfriend. This is in complete contrast with Nick, who while hesitant about coming out is nothing but supportive, kind and always cares about Charlie's feelings.
• Forceful Kiss: Ben pins down and forcefully kisses Charlie after claiming he just wanted to meet up to talk.
• Gaussian Girl: A Rare Male Example happens when Charlie first lays eyes on Nick: the camera shows a soft focus on Nick which is aided by the warm lighting and subtle lens flare from the nearby window.
• Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: Openly gay Charlie falls for "ginormous heterosexual" rugby king Nick.
• Good Parents:
  • Sarah Nelson is deeply loving and understanding of Nick, notices how much he cares about Charlie, and offers advice on dating and friendship problems. When Nick comes out to her, she immediately pulls him into a hug and affirms that she loves him.
  • Julio Spring accepts Charlie's sexuality, and reassures him that he's around for support if Truham bullies try anything.
• Grand Romantic Gesture:
  • In the first series finale, Nick abandons the school's rugby match to run off with Charlie.
  • Attempted by Tao for Elle with a bouquet of flowers and a makeover, all to ask for a date.
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: Tao admits to himself (and to his friends) that he has romantic feelings for his best friend Elle after she makes new artist friends. It's news to nobody but him, as Everyone Can See It.
• Hands-On Approach: Charlie guides Nick's hands to play some drumbeats, once at home and once before the orchestra concert.
• Hate Sink:
  • Harry has very few, if any redeeming qualities. He's smug, obnoxious, and delights in putting others down and passing it off as "banter".
  • Ben also qualifies, forcing himself on Charlie in the first episode and continuously harassing him in private throughout the first season. Charlie's doubts about his relationship with Nick stem in part from Ben gaslighting him during their dalliance. Ben even threatens to out Nick and Charlie's relationship after Charlie tells him off for a third time, though this results in a Blackmail Backfire.
• High-School Dance: Truham-Higgs has a joint prom in the finale of season 2, the theme being "Summer of Love."
• Holding Hands: Multiple times between Nick and Charlie. Nick realises his feelings after Charlie takes his hands during drum practice, they secretly hold hands under the table and at the cinema after getting together, and Nick grabs Charlie's hand in front of everyone in the season finale.
• Homage: When Tao and Elle go to see Moonrise Kingdom together, they're filmed in Wes Anderson's signature style (face-forward, symmetrical, whimsical props).
• I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: Tao and Elle state multiple times to each other, themselves, and every Shipper on Deck that they don't want to jeopardize their status as best friends by becoming anything more. They eventually change their minds.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Tara and Darcy's storyline in season 2 has Tara say "I love you" to Darcy who pretends she didn't hear it and spends several episodes deflecting and joking about to avoid having any sort of serious discussion.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode has a One-Word Title, much like the chapter names from the source comic. Episode 6 of season 2 subverts this, entitled "Truth/Dare," though the words revolve on the title screen so only one is displayed at a time.
• If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: Tao delivers a warning to Nick at the bowling alley, believing him to be messing around with Charlie. Tao himself is on the receiving end from Elle's father, though it's quickly revealed that the man was joking.
• Imagine Spot:
  • Charlie has a brief one where he imagines Nick coming out as gay and confessing his love to him, complete with the screen turning pink and cherry blossom petals falling all around. Nick in reality asks Charlie to join the rugby team.
  • Darker examples of this include Charlie imagining Nick rejecting him, Nick imagining the bullying Charlie suffered the year prior, and Nick imagining everyone saying cruel things to him when he's promised to come out to some members of his team at the bonfire.
• Incompatible Orientation:
  • Elle cryptically explains that there's no way Tara would like Nick back, as she's keeping Tara's secret about being a lesbian.
  • Season two has James's incompatible a crush on Isaac, who likes James just fine and attempts to reciprocate his crush but is unable to because he is asexual/aromantic.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Imogen has a habit of assuming heterosexuality, especially when talking with girls.
  • When Nick's rugby teammates try to apologize to him for the incident at the movie theater, the moment is kinda ruined by one of them calling Nick and Charlie "best friends".
• Interrupted Intimacy: Always PG, but kissing is interrupted multiple times.
  • Elle walks into a classroom to see Tara and Darcy holding hands, to which Darcy claims she's admiring how soft Tara's hands are. This also counts as the official Relationship Reveal.
  • Isaac walks into the nurse's room, causing Nick to break eye contact with Charlie and shift away.
  • Coach Singh discovers that Nick and Charlie are dating when she walks in on them kissing after practice.
• Ironic Name: Ben's last name is Hope, which is the last word you'd use to describe his Domestic Abuser characterisation.
• It's All My Fault: Charlie has the tendency to believe this and feels guilty for situations where he was clearly the victim, including Tao defending him against Harry and Nick choosing to ditch his unhealthy friend group.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Charlie tries to break up with Nick because he believes he'd be better off without him. Nick refuses to let him do it and establishes that Charlie is what makes him happy.
• Jerkass:
  • Harry Greene — an aggressive, homophobic, and transphobic bully who makes a point of annoying and belittling almost everyone he comes across.
  • Ben sexually assaults Charlie by forcefully kissing him after Charlie makes it clear he doesn't want to date Ben anymore. He also goes out of his way to hurt Charlie's feelings after being rejected, calling Charlie a desperate loser who nobody will ever love. In the second season, he's demeaning and dismissive to his girlfriend.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tao. He may be moody, blunt, and possessive of his friends but deep down cherishes them all and will go to bat for them against anybody that tries to hurt them, physically or verbally.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Darcy and Tara. Darcy prefers suits and has short hair. Tara loves makeup, dresses, and does ballet.
• Montages: Charlie has a Training Montage where he practices tackling after he joins the rugby team. More importantly, the season finale features a Falling-in-Love Montage between Nick and Charlie that continues in the opening montage of the second season.
• Last Het Romance:
  • Nick and Tara's kiss when they were 13 contributed to Tara realising she was a lesbian. Subverted from Nick's side, as he genuinely did have a crush on her — which later helps him figure out he's bisexual and likes both guys and girls.
  • Last Allo Romance for Isaac, who after kissing James realizes he doesn't feel the attraction he's "supposed" to feel. This leads to discovering asexuality and aromanticism.
• Love at First Sight: Crush At First Sight at least, as Charlie is immediately smitten when he sees Nick across the classroom and they exchange slightly breathless greetings.
• Love Dodecahedron: In the first half of the first season, reaching its peak in episode 3 and 4. Imogen likes Nick, who everyone thinks is still into his former crush Tara, but she's secretly dating Darcy, and Nick has actually fallen for Charlie, who feels the same but is being pursued by his ex Ben. Whew.
• Meaningful Name: Charlie's surname is Spring — the season of regrowth and hope following harder times.
• Nice Guy: Both the leads.
  • Nick is incredibly kind, compassionate and sensitive to others' feelings. It becomes a problem in "Secret" and the following episode when Imogen asks him out on a date and he doesn't know how to say no without humiliating her.
  • Charlie is more introverted, but sweet, gentle and always putting others first. Deconstructed however, as Charlie hates being an inconvenience (Mr. Ajayi even points out it took him 3 months to open up about the bullying) and so believes he makes others' lives harder by virtue of existing, even apologizing when his friends defend him from undeserved harassment, which he is too gentle to do anything about but endure. He even considers breaking up with Nick just so the latter won't get into fights or lose friends anymore, blaming himself despite being reminded several times that Harry absolutely had it coming.
• Now, Let Me Carry You: Charlie spends Season 2 taking care of Nick, including protecting him from Harry, helping him study for exams, comforting him about his Dad and brother, and supporting him through coming out. The season ends with Nick saying it's his turn to look after Charlie and encourages him to open up about his eating disorder and trauma from bullying.
• One-Gender School: Truham Grammar School for Boys and Harvey Greene Grammar School for Girls (abbreviated to Higgs), natch. Both schools are within close distance of each other, as Tori and Charlie take the same bus and Elle expectantly looks out into the walking crowd for Tao. Many of their events and school trips are combined.
• One of the Guys: Imogen regularly hangs out with Nick and his all-guy group of friends before school, and has known Nick since Year 7. Though she does seem to have some female friends.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • When Charlie admits to thinking everyone would be better off if he didn't exist, the normally emotionless and sarcastic Tori has visible tears in her eyes and immediately hugs him.
  • Quiet Isaac leaves all his friends stunned by his angry outburst caused by them assuming everything has to have romantic intentions.
• Opposites Attract: Shy, nerdy wallflower Charlie falls for the sporty, outgoing "king of rugby" Nick. As the series continues it becomes clear they're not so different, with Nick revealed to be much dorkier and more sensitive than people think.
• Painting the Medium: In scenes of heightened emotion or romantic tension between characters, animated objects appear in the frame like leaves blowing, snow falling, pulsing hearts or electric sparks. This connects to the source material being a webcomic.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: "Bully" has Charlie and Tao falling out after the former fails to tell the latter about their new relationship. Tao believes he wasn't told because he's slowly being abandoned and gets into a fight with Harry. Fortunately they make up in the season finale.
• The Prom Plot: The second season finale has the Year 11 prom as a focal point. It's Nick and Charlie's first public event together, Isaac comes to terms with his sexuality, and Darcy is nowhere to be found. It ends with the main characters ditching prom to just hang out together.
• Queer Colors:
  • When Tara comes out to Nick, the room has orange and pink lights, colors of the lesbian pride flag.
  • The scene where Tara and Darcy kiss in public at the party has a rainbow color scheme to the light that shines behind them.
  • Nick is often accompanied by the "Bisexual Lighting" color scheme, particularly in the party and the movies scene.
• The Quiet One: Isaac. He doesn't say much, aside from cheeky attempts at egging on Charlie's crushes with straight boys, and is always seen with a book in his hand. As a result, it's all the more jarring when he delivers an angry outburst to his friends for assuming everything has to have romantic intentions.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Charlie delivers an epic one to Ben in the finale, calling him out on hurting Charlie because of his own self-hatred and insecurity.
  • Nick gives several to Harry for being a homophobic bully, including one on his birthday.
  • Midway through a tense family dinner, Nick reaches his breaking point and calls out his dad for barely being in his sons' lives and his older brother for being an immature, homophobic bully.
• Relationship Upgrade: In "Boyfriend," Nick and Charlie take a trip to the beach where Nick comes to terms with his bisexuality and confirms that he and Charlie are boyfriends.
• Rescue Romance: Downplayed. Charlie had a crush on Nick very early on, though it catalyzed when Nick threw Ben when the latter attempted to sexually assault Charlie.
• Romantic False Lead: Subverted with Imogen. The show makes it clear that Nick, despite being bisexual, has no interest in Imogen and is only romantically interested in Charlie. Nick only agrees to a date with Imogen because she asked in front of all of their friends and he didn't want to hurt her feelings and because her dog recently died. He quickly shuts it down after Charlie's birthday party, politely explaining to her he doesn't like her the same way.
• Romantic Rain: The end of episode 3 ("Kiss") and the beginning of episode 4 ("Secret") has Nick showing up at Charlie's doorstep rain-soaked from head to toe the morning after they kissed at Harry's party. The pair kiss again, once in Charlie's bedroom and once more under an umbrella after they start a secret romance.
• Running Gag:
  • Tori startling Charlie whenever she silently enters a scene.
  • People asking if anyone actually knows the rules of rugby.
  • Nick or Charlie asking "why are we like this?" when awkwardly navigating their relationship.
• Sarcastic Confession: When one of the rugby boys teases Nick and asks if he was the one who gave Charlie a hickey, Nick retorts "What if I did? Are you jealous?"
• School Bullying Is Harmless: Averted hard. Charlie is still suffering from severe self-esteem issues as a result of past bullying; multiple teachers, parents and friends comment on how much damage it did; and both he and Nick are worried that Nick could go through the same thing if their relationship is found out.
• Secret Relationship:
  • At the beginning of the series, Charlie regularly meets up with popular student Ben Hope. Ben is rude toward Charlie, insistent on keeping their dalliance under wraps, resisting any attempt at small talk from Charlie and pretending not to know who Charlie is in public. It's clear this relationship is deeply unhealthy and that Ben is only using Charlie whenever he's in the mood to kiss a boy. Charlie makes the decision to break things off with Ben once he's had enough of being mistreated.
  • This is contrasted later with Charlie and Nick's secret relationship. While Nick is scared of coming out, he is the complete opposite of Ben. He's nothing but loving and caring towards Charlie, is not afraid to be seen with him and regularly defends him in public. Their relationship is mutually beneficial, the two always prioritizing each other's safety and happiness above all else.
  • A downplayed example occurs with Tara and Darcy, whose relationship is initially a secret but they eventually come to a point where they don't feel like hiding it any longer. Season 2 reveals that their relationship is and will likely always remain a secret from Darcy's parents.
• Security Cling: Nick grabs Charlie's hand when frightened by the horror film they're watching.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Musical, bookish Charlie and popular, sporty Nick. Also reflected in their appearances as Charlie is slightly-built pretty boy, while Nick is taller with stockier features.
  Nick: "Well you are kind of a gay nerd."
  Charlie: "Shut up rugby lad."
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Elle and later Nick for Darcy/Tara.
  • Nick, Charlie, Darcy and Tara for Elle/Tao and plot to set them up. Extended in the second season because Everyone Can See It, even Tao's extended family being noted as shippers. Tao's mom had been just waiting for him to finally admit he liked Elle romantically.
  • Multiple characters for Charlie/Nick:
    • Isaac "wants to believe in romance" between the two of them despite thinking Nick is a ginormous heterosexual.
    • Tara and Darcy are the first people Nick tells and are thrilled to double-date.
    • Elle reassures Charlie that Nick and Tara won't ever happen, and is overjoyed when Charlie's pining pays off.
    • Sarah Nelson likes Charlie from the get-go and notices Nick is much more himself around him.
    • Tori Spring assures Charlie that she suspects that Nick isn’t as straight as he seems.
    • It's a small moment, but in the last episode when Nick leads Charlie into the school building, Imogen gives the two a small smile.
    • Averted with Tao who is suspicious Nick will hurt Charlie and pull him away from the group. Although he's devastated when he finds out they're together and didn't tell him, he eventually comes around and has a heart to heart with Nick about looking after Charlie.
  • When Charlie suddenly has a hickey on the Paris trip, it soon becomes a topic of gossip among the classmates outside the friend group, with many suspecting newly out James.
• Spontaneous Crowd Formation: What starts as a fight between Tao and Harry that's only witnessed by the rugby lads soon grows a large crowd, helped by someone running into the canteen and announcing it to everyone.
• Strongly Worded Letter: Charlie assumes that when Tao begins his "if he ever does anything to hurt you" speech that it will end in a promise to murder Nick. Tao admits he was going to send a "strongly-worded DM."
• Stunned Silence: Everyone at dinner falls silent when Imogen tears into Ben, correctly deducing he's more interested in Charlie than her, and subsequently dumping him for being a terrible boyfriend.
• Third-Option Love Interest: In-universe. At Harry's birthday party, Nick's friends pester him about whether he's going to hook up with Tara (his childhood crush) or Imogen (who currently likes him). Instead he invites Charlie.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Nick stares blankly in the episode 3 opening after realising his feelings for Charlie and spending the night wondering if he's gay.
• Token Good Teammate: Deconstructed. Nick is much nicer than the other boys in his group, dislikes them bullying people, and happily bonds with "borderline outcast" Charlie...and because of this falls out with most of his friends and moves onto a better group.
  Nick: I'm just so angry at myself for not seeing that all my friends suck.
• Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Charlie sometimes, once leading him to turn down Tori's offer of pizza. Takes a darker turn in Season 2 as it is revealed that Charlie has an eating disorder due in large part to the bullying he suffered.
• True Companions: Tao, Charlie, Elle and Isaac have been friends for years and supported each other through teenage struggles and insecurities. This contrasts with Nick's friends, especially Harry, who Nick realises he never fit in with. By the end of the season, Charlie's original group has extended to include Nick, Tara and Darcy as well. In Season 2, they even get a proper nickname as "The Paris Gang" and add in Sahar and sometimes Imogen.
• Unknown Rival: Charlie is this to poor Imogen twice. In Season One, she asks out Nick who is already secretly dating Charlie. In Season Two she moves on with Ben...who is Charlie's ex and still obsessing over him.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Darcy pukes right on Mr. Ajayi's bedsheets, in clear view of the camera.
• You Are Grounded!: Charlie is grounded after his parents learn that his grades have slipped. He's not allowed to hang out with Nick at either boy's house until he turns in his term paper.
• You Are Worth Hell: Downplayed as they are just ordinary high schoolers, but Nick makes it clear that Charlie is worth every bit of trouble and loss of popularity.
  Nick: "I don't care about getting into fights or pissing off my mates or anything like that. It's all worth it to be with you."

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