Heartbreak High, an Australian drama, brings the same standards in storytelling and acting that this high school drama established previously. If you haven’t read my review of season 1 in a while, I made a list of all the things I liked about the series. They are all still part of the series and still top my list of favorite things.
Heartbreak High deals with typical teen angst, but there are plenty of serious problems and situations facing these high school kids. In this season there is a revenge stalking story, an abortion story, plenty of sex and gender issues, and a series long election race to be elected high school captain. Running for the office are Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran), Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish), and Amerie (Ayesha Madon).
Two new characters enter the story. Voss (Angus Sampson) is a teacher. He wants to incite the boys to band together to destroy women and girls and get rid of wokeness in the school.
Rowan (Sam Rechner) is a new student who first forms a relationship with Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) and later with Amerie. His presence in the school adds all sorts of secrets and drama that extend to the very end of the season.
Harper (Asher Yasbincek) remains a central character. When the season begins people are awaiting trial because of her sexual assault.
One of the thematic elements is that several of the kids want to be better people. Less hurtful and kinder. It is a fraught change for them, particularly Amerie and Spider.
The heart of the series is coming of age drama. Shifting relationships, finding your true self, sexual identity, gender identity, gender and race politics, and dealing with adult sized problems at a young age. All those issues face this group of kids. I’ve come nowhere near naming all the significant characters in the series. Most of them are clearly developed and have important parts to play in the overall story. It’s an excellent cast.
I completely recommend this series. If you haven’t seen season 1, start there and get caught up before you start season 2.
Season 2 of Heartbreak High is available in full on Netflix now. Women directors were Gracie Otto and Jessie Oldfield.