Heartbreak High

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.

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.

Amazing show, funny, emotional, great three-dimensional characters that highlight just how diverse the Australian population is. More realistic than Euphoria, think it will definitely appeal to fans of Sex Education (but not as graphic so okay for younger teens ~15). Really captured the experience of growing up in Australia. The casting was amazing, and the diversity in the cast really let the writers explore so many different Aussie experiences, especially loved seeing the Aboriginal representation actually done well. Great Aussie music too (The Divinyls, and strawberry kisses were fun throwbacks), will be devo'd if this isn't renewed ;) want season 2 asap.

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.

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.