‘Heartbreak High’ Boss Breaks Down the Status of Season 2 Couples & Teases Season 3 Obstacles
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Heartbreak High Season 2 finale and beyond.]
Heartbreak High really proved its moniker with Season 2, which dropped on Netflix on April 11. The season was filled with strife for our favorite couples, and while many are looking optimistic for a potential Season 3, no one is out of the woods when it comes to longtime bliss.
Amerie (Ayesha Madon) and Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) spent yet another season being on again and off again as Malakai processed the fact that he’s bisexual. Both Malakai and Amerie worked out their relationship frustrations with Rowan (Sam Rechner). He helped Amerie and Malakai realize they were still in love with each other, but not before Malakai decided to leave the country with his mom.
He did leave a letter confessing his feelings behind for Amerie to find, but it was burned up with the rest of the school after the Cumlord’s failed protest at the homecoming dance, so Amerie may never know what Malakai meant to tell her.
Ca$h (Will McDonald) and Darren (James Majoos) also went through it in Season 2 as Ca$h tried to stay on the up and up after Harper (Asher Yasbincek) dropped the charges against his gang. Ditching the gang life was harder than Ca$h expected, and the tension between him and Darren was only exacerbated by their opposing sexualities. They still haven’t given up on each other, but the future is uncertain as they try to balance their respective needs in a relationship.
Meanwhile, Harper and Spider (Bryn Chapman-Parish) found love in unexpected places in Season 2 with differing results. Harper spent the majority of Season 2 trying to reclaim a sense of normal after her extensive trauma in Season 1 and found comfort in Ant (Brodie Townsend). They both acknowledged that Harper wasn’t ready for a romantic relationship, but by the homecoming dance, Harper was starting to warm up to the idea. Across the field, Spider and Missy (Sherry Lee-Watson) finally owned up to their opposites-attract romance, to the shock of basically everyone in the school.
Do any of these couples have what it takes to make it to endgame? TV Insider spoke with Heartbreak High executive producer Carly Heaton about the Season 2 couples, what brings them together, and what she thinks will keep them apart if the show is renewed for Season 3. Scroll down for the latest scoop.
Heartbreak High, Season 2, Now Streaming on Netflix
Malakai & Amerie
Heaton began our couples breakdown by acknowledging that she and her writing team have seen the TikToks about Amerie and Malakai being endgame after Season 2, but she also said that the star-crossed pair still have a lot of work to do on themselves.
“They are such a beautiful couple,” Heaton admitted. However, “they have so many opportunities but mess it up. Malakai has got his own things to explore about his sexual identity… I think [Amerie] knows where she’s got to go now, but whether she’s actually capable of getting there will be a big question for Season 3.”
The burning question (see what we did there?) on a lot of fans’ minds is what was in the letter Malakai left in Amerie’s locker before he hopped on a plane to Europe. Heaton confessed that there may be a way for fans to find out that answer if the show is renewed. “It’s funny, we were just passing around the actual photo of the letter that was on set yesterday. The writing team are talking about it, so watch this space,” she teased.
It’s not just distance that may keep Amerie and Malakai apart in the future. Heaton explained that Malakai also has some work to do on himself before these two could be in a relationship. “Amerie is in a good place. She knows what work she needs to do,” Heaton said. “Malakai has to get out of his own way. He says Amerie creates drama, but I think it’s Malakai who likes to create drama. Even with the distance, can Malakai get over himself?”
Ca$h & Darren
Heaton praised her writers’ room for creating the nuanced depiction of Ca$h’s asexuality in the series. While he and Darren are still in love and committed to making their relationship work, there is still a tough road ahead to find a compromise that allows them both to meet their needs and not be uncomfortable or suppressed.
“They’ve made the commitment now to try and make it work together. When you’ve got someone hyper-sexual like Darren, and then asexual or ace like Ca$h, how do you actually make those two opposing forces come together? What system will they come up with? That’s where we left in Season 2,” Heaton recapped. “They are making the effort here. They are going to try and make it work. It probably has lots of different ways to test how they can make it work for both parties, so that will be an exploration for Season 3.”
A lot of experimentation lies ahead for them if the series is renewed, and Heaton thinks the couple will not find a solution right off the bat. “Is there an actual method [for] someone who needs sex in their life and someone who doesn’t want it?” Heaton questioned.
We also still need to worry about whether Ca$h can still be seduced back to the Eshay life. “We have a saying that you can take a boy out of Australia but you can’t take the Australia out of him. Chook [Tom Wilson] is a huge part of Ca$h’s life, can he ever really escape him? How far can you run away from your past before you are drawn back? It’s something we definitely have to watch out for,” Heaton explained. “We were very scared by that [speed boat scene] as well. Chook is a really scary character, and they’ve got a really deep bond, which I think you can see on that boat. You really get insight into Chook’s world too and how they’ve grown up together, how they were really family. If that’s the only family you’ve known, how do you move away from that? Can you ever escape it?”
Harper & Ant
Harper’s gone through it for two seasons now. After yet another near-death experience, the traumatized teen is learning to let down the walls around her heart though. Ant’s pure spirit has worn her down. While things are still fresh between them, Heaton admitted that they provided one of her favorite scenes in all of Season 2.
“One of my favorite moments is when they are in the sick bay and he’s like, ‘I don’t think you want to and I’ve got to understand the layers of consent here.’ Hopefully, we’ll see something from them in the future,” the executive producer revealed. “Harper had to go through a lot of healing… She was really trying to move on and have a normal teenage life, even though she’s emancipated from her father. She’s had a very traumatic experience and a near rap in a car. It was a balance of healing and being a normal teenager. What is the point she’s ready to dive back into a relationship? Who is that person going to be with? Ant is such a rock for her.”
The fact that Harper and Ant are so different in their personalities is actually what makes them such a great fit. “He really is an open book. He will ask a dumb question and doesn’t worry about how it appears. He just wants to know the answer,” Heaton detailed. “That’s the opposite of what Harper is. She’s very closed and very considered and very fearful about what’s going around her. Having someone who is the polar opposite will make her feel safe in the world. That’s what Ant does for her. He’s a real rock and a safety net.”
However, Heaton cautioned that Harper’s trauma isn’t over yet. The potential Season 3 will reveal whether she’s really ready to jump into something romantic and whether she’s healed enough to let Ant all the way into her heart.
Missy & Spider
Speaking of polar opposites, no one saw Missy and Spider’s hookup coming in Season 2. With Spider spending most of the season with the Men’s Rights group, the Cumlords, it was unclear whether these two would be able to find stable ground outside of their instant attraction.
“Neither of them understands what their attraction is. It is really on that base pheromone level. It’s like they can’t help themselves,” Heaton said of the unexpected duo. But Spider managed to get something out of being with the Cumlords that people also didn’t expect.
“There’s a lot of talk about toxic masculinity and how you portray that without being too heavy with it. Young men are bombarded with so much in the world around the Andrew Tates [of the world] and what it means to be a man. Spider learns what it is to be a man by being in the cohort, but not in the way that you think. He didn’t buy the propaganda at the end. He realized that you can evolve and that being sensitive, open, and vulnerable is actually what’s going to get you where you need to go. That’s what it means to be a man. It’s the exact opposite of what he was being preached, and that’s beautiful.”
Spider and Missy both overcome their egos by the end of the season and let everyone know they are a thing at the homecoming dance. But do they have the staying power? Heaton teased that will be their journey in the next season.
“Can they stay together? Can two people who are such polar opposites stay together and can Spider maintain his growth?” The producer questioned. “Was this just a blip in the pan where he’s learned something and he’s going to go back to his old ways, or is he going to stay this way? Missy could not stay with someone like the old Spider. Can he keep changing?”
