S01.E01: Meet

[secnarf]

Airing April 22 2022

[starri]

Weirdly, my main takeaway was this: 

Holy hell, it’s Olivia Colman!

[Bill1978]

27 minutes ago, starri said:

Weirdly, my main takeaway was this: 

Holy hell, it’s Olivia Colman!

That was my response as well. I even watched the credits to confirm it was her. Was her involvement kept a secret or did I miss the announcement she was in this?

[starri]

1 hour ago, Bill1978 said:

That was my response as well. I even watched the credits to confirm it was her. Was her involvement kept a secret or did I miss the announcement she was in this?

I hadn't really paid attention to anything beyond the general production news and then the trailer, so when she appeared my first reaction was "Wow, they cast someone who really looks like Olivia Colman."

OTOH, the first thing I ever say her in was Beautiful People, the sitcom adaptation of Simon Doonan's memoir, so she's been the mom of a gay teen before.

I also appreciated that the teenagers all mostly looked like teenagers.

[secnarf]

I also hadn't heard anything about Olivia Colman being in this, but I am really looking forward to it - I enjoy pretty much anything she does.

So far enjoying the show, but I could do without the cartoon birds and whatnot floating across the screen. It feels like they don't trust the actors to convey the required emotions, so they are relying on cutesy animations instead.

[ApathyMonger]

21 hours ago, Bill1978 said:

That was my response as well. I even watched the credits to confirm it was her. Was her involvement kept a secret or did I miss the announcement she was in this?

Yeah, critics were asked to keep it a secret, which not all of them did: https://episodicmedium.substack.com/p/review-heartstopper-meet-season-1

Quote

So Netflix’s screener email had a warning that I wasn’t allowed to reveal who was cast as Nick’s mother before they announced it, and I said to myself “Who in the world could it possibly be in such a relatively small part that it would be such a big deal?” And then I heard Olivia Colman’s voice, and I was like “Oh, okay, fair.” Definitely made me move faster through screeners knowing that she’d be playing out scenes from later in the series. (And unfortunately, one outlet did ignore this note on the screeners, so many of you didn’t get to experience it as a surprise like I did).

 

[festivus]

I love the art room. Like, that would be my happy place if I went to that school.

[takalotti]

I’m from the US, so I’m not terribly familiar with British school structures and terms, but I’m guessing “form” is basically homeroom and not really a course with curriculum, right? Their form proctor/teacher was a little bit exposition heavy, but that’s okay.

Visually, Nick reminds me a lot of Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from Harry Potter). It’s not just the red hair and complexion. It’s also the crooked mouth/smile (such as the first time he says Hi to Charlie). 

I feel like Ben is a little bit too much of a trope, making him feel more like a caricature than a character. But maybe that’ll change. Just the ‘I don’t really care about how you enjoyed your break, I’m only saying the bare minimum to get a kiss’ interruption, the wiping of the mouth, the extreme rejection to Charlie’s “Hey” that wouldn’t be normal from someone who actually didn’t know Charlie, all seemed really over the top. I get what they’re trying to convey, but I just have a hard time believing that even someone in Ben’s situation would act this over the top  

Man, when Ben texted Charlie to meet up “just to talk” I literally called out “No! Don’t do it! Stick to your guns and say no!” But I was definitely cheering him on while he called Ben out. It’s not the “what” it’s the “how.” Charlie can handle keeping things on the DL while someone is figuring themselves out. But how Ben did it was incredibly demeaning. Ugh, and the “no one else is gonna love you” gaslighting/emotional abuse. 

I don’t really see how it could have seemed to Nick like something was up with Charlie while they were getting changed when it seemed to me like Charlie only got Ben’s message just as he was leaving the phys ed building. But I guess that’s unimportant. 

N: You say sorry a lot. 
C: (opens mouth)
N: Don’t say it. 
C: I kind of want to say it. 
Me: 😂

And whoa. Pretty ballsy of Charlie to put an X at the end of that first text message, wasn’t it?

Edited May 12, 2022 by takalotti

[lovett1979]

7 hours ago, takalotti said:

And whoa. Pretty ballsy of Charlie to put an X at the end of that first text message, wasn’t it?

I believe that's a common thing for Brits when they text or write internet comments. It doesn't mean kiss like Americans would use it. It's more just a friendly sign-off. https://britainexplained.com/what-that-x-means-on-messages/

[takalotti]

8 hours ago, lovett1979 said:

I believe that's a common thing for Brits when they text or write internet comments. It doesn't mean kiss like Americans would use it. It's more just a friendly sign-off. https://britainexplained.com/what-that-x-means-on-messages/

Ohhhh, thank you for that clarification! Since it was used in a text to/from Ben, I thought it had the same romantic significance that I’m used to. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by takalotti

[Anela]

Form room was where we would start the day, and later in the day, too. Our form teacher was our main teacher, who would also show up in another class. One of mine was our history teacher. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Anela

[lovett1979]

1 hour ago, Anela said:

Form room was where we would start the day, and later in the day, too. Our form teacher was our main teacher, who would also show up in another class. One of mine was our history teacher. 

Yup, that sounds like the American homeroom class.

[takalotti]

Since Nick already knew Ben, it would have been kind of awesome if that hallway encounter had gone like…

C: Hey. 
B: What?
C: … Just, hi. 
B: Why are you talking to me? I don’t even know you. (To Nick) All right, mate?
N: Yeah, all right. So Ben, this is Charlie. He’s in my form. Charlie, this is Ben. We hang out sometimes. Now you know each other and it’s fine to say hi to each other, yeah? Okay, bye Ben.

[JustHereForFood]

I just started watching this, what a cute series. It reminds me of Love, Victor and because of all the colors also of To all the boys I've loved before. Just a great thing to watch as comfort TV.

[Sesquipedalia]

Spoiler

 

I am rewatching Season 1 before moving on to Season 2, and I'm enjoying it just as much the second time around.

Nick is so dreamy. It's weird for a 50-year-old lesbian to say, but I would totally have a crush on him too if I were Charlie. The scene with Ben reminded me of when Blaine confronted Karofsky after he kissed Kurt on Glee. I guess I am a sucker for the standing up to a repressed gay bully trope.

 

On 4/22/2022 at 9:38 PM, secnarf said:

So far enjoying the show, but I could do without the cartoon birds and whatnot floating across the screen. It feels like they don't trust the actors to convey the required emotions, so they are relying on cutesy animations instead.

I was wondering how people would feel about this. I had the same thought--The actors can pull off the emotions without the animations. However, I also sort of like it. I think it adds to the sweet, fairy tale vibe. It also gives the show a distinctive style. Or at least it seems distinctive to me. Have any other shows done something similar?