By Abby Knox, Newswire Intern

The countdown has ended: the third season of “Heartstopper”, a show for the gays, theys and everyone in between, is out. The newest season of “”Heartstopper” premiered on Oct. 3, with eight new episodes. 

The show follows a friend group of high schoolers living in the United Kingdom, focusing on the two main characters, Nick and Charlie. However, each character gets a prominent storyline for viewers to follow as they begin to figure out who they are as people and explore their own romantic relationships.

Unlike the swoony, sweet and sappy first two seasons of “Heartstopper,” season three tests relationships, sparks tears and explores the feelings of teenagedom. This show has a wide fan base due to the diverse characters and wide representation of various sexualities; that are less prevalent in popular media today, including characters Elle, Darcy and Isaac. These characters show the hardships of gender roles, being trans and being asexual and aromantic. Viewers keep coming back to get more of this iconic friend group and their riveting love stories. 

This season of “Heartstopper” was more mature than the previous seasons. As the last season foreshadowed, it was only a matter of time before disaster struck. Charlie’s mental health had been drastically declining at the end of last season, so when Charlie finally is too overwhelmed by his struggles with OCD and anorexia this season, he and Nick realize that Charlie needs professional help something that Nick cannot provide. 

From showing the mental health issues that Charlie was dealing with to the various couples exploring sexual intimacy, viewers were shown the good, bad and the ugly. It is important to note that as this show has progressed, the topics that are spoken about have increased in maturity. 

It is no surprise that this show is loved by many. Until they announce the next season, I will be rewatching all three seasons of “Heartstopper.”