They're young, in love, and they're navigating the hallways of high school.

The Netflix series, Heartstopper, is a romcom for soft hearts everywhere.

The two teenage boys at the center of the story go from rugby teammates to good friends to, you

guessed it, something more.

The series just returned for a second season, so we decided to revisit our conversation about the first season.

I'm Glenn Weldon.

And I'm Linda Holmes, and in this encore episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour,

we're talking about Heartstopper.

Joining me in Glenn today is Mark Blankenship. He is the reviews editor of Prime Timer.

Welcome back Mark. Hello, very happy to be here and

also joining us is film and culture critic Kate Young. Hi Kate. Hi Kate

I'm delighted to be back. Well Hartstopper was created by Alice Osmond, who also wrote the web comic, the series is based on.

Joe Locke plays Charlie, a shy kid who's been through a lot of bullying at his all- boys school since he came out. Kit Connor plays

Nick, a friendly and popular rugby star who has only ever dated girls, but when the two meet,

they instantly take a shine to each other and when it blooms into a possible romance,

sorry about any spoilers. They have a lot to figure out. At the same time, Charlie's best friend

Tao, played by William Gao, is missing the increasingly

distracted Charlie as well as their mutual friend L, played by Yasmin Finney, who is

trans and has transferred to the nearby all-girls school.

There are eight episodes.

It is streaming on Netflix.

Let's get to it.

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