Heartbreak High (2022 TV series)

Heartbreak High is an Australian comedy drama television series created for Netflix, by Hannah Carroll Chapman. It is a soft reboot of the 1994 series first screened on Network Ten. The series follows the students and teachers of Hartley High as they navigate racial tensions in Australia, high school romances, and all sorts of teen angst. It features an ensemble cast including Ayesha Madon, Thomas Weatherall, Bryn Chapman Parish, Asher Yasbincek, James Majoos, Chloé Hayden, Will McDonald, Gemma Chua-Tran, Sherry-Lee Watson, Josh Heuston, Brodie Townsend, Chika Ikogwe, Scott Major and Rachel House. Sam Rechner, Kartanya Maynard and Angus Sampson joined the series in its second season.

Heartbreak High premiered on Netflix on 14 September 2022. The following month, it was renewed for a second season, which premiered on 11 April 2024. In May 2024, the series was renewed for a third and final season. The first season received universal praise from critics, while the second season divided critics and audiences. It has received numerous accolades, including an International Emmy Award and six AACTA Awards (of 15 nominations).

Premise

After a map detailing the sexual exploits of Hartley High's students is discovered graffitied on the wall of the school, all of the students whose names were on it are forced to attend a new sexual education course called the Sexual Literacy Tutorial (SLT, pronounced "sluts" by the students). The map's creator, Amerie Wadia (Ayesha Madon), becomes a social outcast after taking the fall for its co-author, Harper McLean (Asher Yasbincek), who has stopped talking to her following a tragedy at a music festival they attended.

Cast

Main

• Ayesha Madon as Amerie Wadia, a brash, working-class Indian-Australian girl who becomes a pariah at Hartley High.
• Thomas Weatherall as Malakai Mitchell, a bisexual Bundjalung basketball jock new to Hartley.
• Bryn Chapman Parish as Spencer "Spider" White, the demisexual class clown.
• Asher Yasbincek as Harper McLean, Amerie's best friend who has a falling out with her in the first episode.
• James Majoos as Darren Rivers, a queer and non-binary student who befriends Amerie.
• Chloé Hayden as Quinn "Quinni" Gallagher-Jones, Darren's lesbian best friend who is autistic.
• Will McDonald as Douglas "Ca$h" Piggott, an asexual eshay, drug dealer and food delivery driver.
• Gemma Chua-Tran as Sasha So, a Chinese-Australian lesbian.
• Sherry-Lee Watson as Missy Beckett, a bisexual Indigenous student who used to be involved with Sasha.
• Joshua Heuston as Dustin "Dusty" Reid, a bisexual musician involved with Harper. (Series 1; guest series 2)
• Brodie Townsend as Anthony "Ant" Vaughn, an affable, big-hearted student.
• Chika Ikogwe as Josephine "Jojo" Obah, English and SLT's teacher at Hartley High.
• Scott Major as Peter Rivers, Darren's father, who reprises his role from the 1994 series. (Series 1)
• Rachel House as Principal Stacy "Woodsy" Woods, the performatively woke school principal at Hartley High.
• Sam Rechner as Rowan Callaghan, a country boy from Dubbo new to Hartley High. (Series 2)
• Kartanya Maynard as Zoe Clarke, an Indigenous student. (Series 2)
• Angus Sampson as Timothy Voss, a "pro-male", misogynistic sports teacher. (Series 2)

Recurring and notable guest stars

• Isabella Gutierrez as Chaka Cardenes, who reprises her role from the 1994 series.
• Ben Oxenbould as Justin McLean, Harper's dad. (Series 1)
• Justin Smith as Jim the Maintenance Man. (Series 1)
• Sandy Sharma as Huma Wadia, Amerie's mother.
• Tom Wilson as Chook, the leader of the eshays and one of Ca$h's friends.
• Kye McMaster as Tilla, one of Ca$h's friends.
• Ari McCarthy as Jayden, one of Ca$h's friends.
• Maggie Dence as Nan, Ca$h's grandmother.
• Robyn Malcolm as Cait White, Spider's mother. (Series 2)
• Stephen Hunter as Coach Arkell. (Series 1)
• Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Kurt Peterson, who reprises his role from the 1994 series. (Series 1)
• Natalie Tran as Rhea Brown, a local author. (Series 1)
• Jude Hyland as Jett Callaghan, Rowan's younger brother. (Series 2)
• Lara Cox as Anita Scheppers, who reprises her role from the 1994 series. (Series 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2024)

Production

The series is a soft-reboot of the 1994 series first screened on Network Ten. The series follow the students and teachers of Hartley High as they navigate racial tensions in Australia, high school romances, and all sorts of teen angst.

The series was announced in December 2020. The TV series was mostly filmed in the suburbs of Maroubra and Matraville of New South Wales between November 2021 and February 2022.

A second season was announced on 19 October 2022. Production on the second season began on 28 May 2023 and wrapped on 29 August 2023. It was released on the 11th of April 2024.

A third and final season was announced on 9 May 2024.

Release

The first season premiered on 14 September 2022. The second season premiered on 11 April 2024.

Reception

Audience viewership

The first season of Heartbreak High debuted at number six on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles for the tracking week of 19–25 September 2022 with 18.25 million hours viewed. On the following week, it climbed to number five and garnered 14.88 million viewing hours. The series remained in the top 10 for the third week, placing at number eight with 9.48 million viewing hours.

The second season debuted at number seven on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles for the tracking week of 8-14 April 2024 with 15.8 million hours viewed. On the following week, it climbed to number five and garnered 20 million viewing hours. On its third week, it ranked at number nine, earning 12 million viewing hours.

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 100%, based on reviews from ten critics, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The second season has an approval rating of 50%, based on reviews from six critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10.

The show received praise for its racial, sexuality, gender and neurodivergent representation, realism towards modern teenhood, costumes and visuals. It was also positively compared to other popular modern teen dramas (which viewers found it very similar to), including Euphoria, Never Have I Ever and Sex Education. Alex Henderson of The Conversation said that the show addressed serious topics like substance abuse, discrimination or youth crime, but still uses comical moments and avoids cliché moments whilst showing mistakes made by the characters. Mitchell Adams of The Sydney Morning Herald commented on the representation of autism, saying "scenes where Quinni feels overwhelmed just sitting on a bus, or being at a party while forcing herself to mask how she feels in order to better fit in and not upset people, depict a pain neurodivergent people know all too well". Collider named the series as one of the best new TV shows of 2022.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

• Heartbreak High at IMDb
• Heartbreak High on Netflix