Heartbreak High

Finally, autistic actors are being casted to play autistic characters. This series was the first time I've ever seen myself authentically represented on-screen, the first time I've seen myself shown as anything other than a punchline or a cause for pity. I hope this is the start of change for representation of autistic people in media.

As an Australian teenager, a lot of the media I come across is heavily Americanized and not at all relatable, so this was definitely a welcome change. This is an incredibly candid and funny look into what modern adolescence in Australia is really like, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I started off absolutely hating this reboot of one of my favorite TV shows. I thought it was badly written, over the top woke bs and I was absolutely gonna vote this down and give it a one star review.

I continued watching the episodes and started to realize the damn thing was growing on me...

The writing wasn't great in many areas and I cringed more than a few times with some of the lines that were written.

But honestly, I have to say I got to the end of the last episode and wanted another season.

I am still in love with Peter Rivers as much today as I was back in the 90's...I loved him more than I loved Drazic.

My favorite character without a doubt is Darren.

PLEASE GIVE US ANOTHER SEASON.

As a gen z teen who watches all the latest I find myself cringing at a lot of teen shows nowadays. It's too 80s with the whole vibe, or painfully older than teen years. I wanted to hate this show but I think it's the best gen z rep I've seen. It just has so many true aspects to it of being a teen nowadays and even how they presented romance in the show for teen years. Wish we could have seen more to be honest, it's a show I would watch a few seasons worth if they came out but still loved it even without the extension. Good show and felt like someone from my generation helped write it , very relatable.

I don't often write reviews, but I felt this series needed some serious vindication.

Firstly, I've never seen the original so this was completely fresh for me.

Secondly, I think the comparisons to 'Sex Education' (which I'm a huge fan of) are just lazy; Sex Education did not invent the archetype of hormonal teenagers, I mean come on 🙄

The acting is solid, the stories are entertaining and reasonably unique and the inclusion, at least for me, did not feel tokenistic in the slightest; Australia, particularly in inner city suburbs, is hugely diverse, and this show provides an 'accurate' (as much as a tv show can be) and entertaining portrayal of modern teen life.

Give it a go, and if you can spare yourself the unfair comparisons to other shows that strike a passing resemblance, you might actually enjoy yourself.

Season One: 9/10

Themes: High School, Drama, Friendship, Romance, Lgbtq+, Gay, Lesbian, Non-Binary, Asexuality, Sexual Assault, Autism, Sex Education, Police Violence, Parties, Popularity, Troubled Teens & Australian.

Review: I was very pleasantly surprised with this series and I can honestly say I was invested. I thought the acting was great, the storyline was well-crafted and the writing was pretty ace too. All around, it was well done! The characters were also well-developed and they were all interesting in their own way. Almost all of them annoyed me in some way or another, but that also made them seem more real, I guess. I definitely have characters and storylines I prefer over others, but generally the whole series intrigued and entertained me! It was fun, emotional and surprising.

Top four characters: 1) Darren Rivers, 2) Harper McLean, 3) Douglas 'Ca$h' Piggott and 4) Quinni Gallagher-Jones.