The Australian dramedy Heartbreak High is a coming-of-age, zany and eccentric show that should definitely be on the radar for young adults right now. It’s inclusive, it’s exciting, and it’s got all the naughty you want mixed with the drama that’ll make your depressed self feel better about your tedious life. There’s nothing meticulous about this show; it’s all over the place, and season 2 is more so than season 1, for sure. This season is more about developing the existing characters and adding a few hot chilies to the soup to get you to cry out from the steam coming out your ears. Heartbreak High season 2 starts with the new term of school. Amerie and Harper are back to being besties, and now they’re a group of four with Darren and Quinni to hang around with. Already, it seems something’s a little bit off here, but Amerie’s only goal for the semester is to protect her bestie.
Spoiler Alert
Who is the winner, and what is his plan?
The first episode begins with a massive fire and the principal asking everyone if they’ve seen Harper or Amerie. Our first thought is, This is just a snapshot of the season finale, no? And we’re absolutely right. On the first day of school, we’re introduced to Timothy Voss (definitely not the right name for the dude), who is a returning PE teacher and who certainly has an interesting viewpoint on the state of the school and the world in its current climate. Jojo’s SLT classes are going just fine, but Spider and some of the other dudes feel a little bit left out, and Voss is the perfect motivation for them to step out of SLTs and try something more outdoorsy and more “manly.” Harper has PTSD from the incidents from the previous year, but she’s trying to just go through her life one day at a time. Chook’s on her mind all the time since they torched his car, and she can’t help but think anything wrong happening at the school might be Chook’s doing.
Spider and Ant are upset because Dusty’s also been kicked out of school, and everything feels more favorable toward the other genders, especially in SLT. So, Voss seizes the opportunity and creates his own club called the C-lords (make of that what you will). Immediately, it’s a competition between the “men” and the “rest.” In the meantime, the kids are now in year 11, so they get to stand for school captain. Amerie quickly learns that she’s still absolutely hated in the school, so she decides to stand against Sasha, the highly “woke” performative activist, and Spider, the leader of the Lords. Now, there’s a new guy in school named Rowan. Amerie and Malakai still have feelings for each other and get it on during break; however, Malakai also feels attracted to Rowan (it’s just getting started, kids).
What’s happening between Darren and Cash?
Harper’s bag goes missing on the first day, and when they find it, it’s got a dead bird on it. Whoever’s placed the bird there is nicknamed “bird psycho,” and the kids’ first suspicion is Chook. Amerie, Darren, and Quinni try to confront Chook about it, but he makes it clear that he’s not interested in messing with some kids, especially after they burned up his car. He knows the truth, but since his gang is in prison, he won’t do anything about it, so Harper’s in the clear. However, Chook gets into Darren’s head and gains insight into what Cash knew about what they were planning to do with Harper. All this time, Darren had been speaking with Cash every day from prison, but they decided to take a break and figure out their feelings after the meeting with Chook. It’s Cash’s nan who brings Darren back to their senses and reminds them that Cash would never hurt a living soul; Exhibit A, he saved a duck from being drowned by his cousin. When Cash gets out of prison, he chooses to go with Nan and Darren and leaves Chook hanging.
Cash and Darren are still soulmates; it seems like everything is perfect for them; however, when the idea of them moving in together with Harper pops up, Cash is vehemently against it. He loves his grandma and doesn’t want to leave her, but I guess he’s also afraid things are moving too fast for him and Darren. Again, it’s his nan who knocks some sense into him and even gives them a place that belongs to her boyfriend, Roger. Rent is low; it’s like a loft where all the kids can come to party—the perfect spot. Yet something’s still not okay. Cash tells Harper and Darren that he’s away from the crime life now, but he’s still afraid of Chook. Finally, Chook gets his attention by throwing a brick through his grandmother’s window. Cash agrees to do one last gig with Chook, but only if he’s left alone forever after.
Chook takes Cash to the middle of a lake and asks him to fish out some drugs. Cash thinks Chook’s going to murder him out there, but his plan is to get the truth out of Cash. Chook and Cash were like family before Cash’s Nan came about, which is why he feels so betrayed. The child of an addict and self-harmer aka CASH, so dubbed by Chook because it was written on all his forms. Chook thinks because he brought Cash up, he can force him to stay with the gang, but Cash reminds Chook that he also tried to do something horrible to Harper, so nothing would be like old times anymore. All this while Cash thinks the motor of the boat is broken, but it’s just Chook’s doing. He takes him back home, and Cash tells Chook to be better; however, the guy drives past the house, where Harper and Darren see him, making it look like Cash is back in the gang. This messes things up for them again, and Darren leaves and goes to find an ex named Jacob. Instead, they find Dusty, who is now in private school. We know Dusty and Darren used to be besties at some point, so Darren confides in Dusty about their difficulties with Cash.
When Cash finds out, he thinks Darren went in search of intimacy. He thinks he’s a burden on Darren, forcing them to stay almost celibate for him. Cash decides to break up with Darren despite their protests. However, at the end of the season, Cash’s nan forces him to go to the school dance, where he sees Darren with the puriteens, to prove that they can be free of intimacy and still be happy. It’s pretty obvious that Darren and Cash are soulmates at this point, and they’re finally at the stage of trying to solve their problems rather than just finding each other perfect. It’s the next step in their relationship, a real test, and it seems they’ve passed it.
What’s Happening With Quinni?
This season is dedicated to Quinni’s independence. With everything changing, Quinni is having a hard time in school, yet she doesn’t tell any of her friends because it feels like she’s being too selfish. However, when Bird Psycho appears, Quinni finally finds something to look forward to by herself—catching Bird Psycho. She turns into Sherlock Holmes and does all the research while also being Amerie’s vice-captain candidate, helping her out in her campaign. During a school trip, after all the kids take magic mushrooms, a sober Quinni spends all night trying to find Bird Psycho; however, she loses her phone, and when she finds it, she gets bitten by a snake. Fortunately, the class finds her in time, and they take her to Jojo.
After this incident, everything changes because the kids think Bird Psycho tried to kill Quinni. They don’t want her to stress, but Quinni will not be satisfied until she has an answer. On her birthday, Darren and the gang plan a special outing for Quinni and give her a new phone with the same case as her previous one. Quinni tells them that it was never about the phone, but the information she had on it. Quinni confesses to Darren that she doesn’t want to live by their rules anymore. She decides to be her completely honest self, even if it’s too eccentric for some. When Darren and Amerie need her, she doesn’t respond because it’s not what she wants to do, and I guess it’s her teaching them a lesson, but it’s totally the wrong timing.
On the day of the captain’s debate, Quinni has to get on stage instead of Amerie (we’ll get there later), and at first, she doesn’t say anything, passing all the questions; however, seeing how hypocritical the other two candidates are, she can’t help but speak up. She basically knows all the students in the school and is the perfect candidate who will listen to everybody rather than do this for selfish reasons. Unlike Spider and Sasha, I don’t think Quinni intentionally made it seem like she’s the better candidate than Amerie, but she gets chosen to be school captain by popular vote. This leads to a massive food fight after an angry Voss chucks a piece of pavlova at the principal’s face. Voss gets fired immediately, but before he leaves, he leaves Jojo with the message that she isn’t doing anything different than him by creating an army of man-hating women (and others).
Harper and the principal are friends?
Principal Woodsy actually cares for her kids, and she puts special focus on Harper, who decides to emancipate herself. Woodsy tries to get therapy, but nothing really works. Harper’s lawyer is a piece of garbage, and she really feels like nothing’s on her side. One day, she breaks down and almost kills Ant in a fit of rage (during the SLTs vs. Lords football match). Woodsy asks what she can do for her, and Harper lists a bunch of things that she needs help with, which would make her life much easier. One of them is driving lessons, and this becomes a bonding exercise for the two of them. Harper even advocates for Cash’s return to school because she knows that Woodsy cares for the kids individually, not just the reputation of the school, etc. Finally, Harper gets her license, and Woodsy is thrilled, making her the perfect guardian for Harper.
What’s Wrong With Voss?
Voss’s father was sent to prison because he was accused by his colleagues of harassment. Voss had told the boys it was just a small joke that got him out of a job and in prison, which made the boys feel for the guy. Just like that, Voss used his manipulative ways to teach the boys misogyny in the name of bringing things back to order. He makes them do military-style outdoor training, physically “bury their problems,” and teaches them to hate. Especially Jojo’s SLTs. For the longest time, it works, and Spider leads the guys to be under Voss; however, on the day of the formal, a fired Voss decides to teach the school a lesson by burning a symbol of patriarchy, the male genitalia, into the ground in front of the school. Spider, on hearing what Voss’ father really did, calls him a prick and gets slapped in the face by Voss. The violence completely takes him out of it and makes him realize that Voss is the real bad guy here. Voss tries to stage a protest; the whole school comes to see the spectacle, and the principal sends everyone back, but Voss still sets the oil on fire, which ends up burning up the school, too! But we’ll get back to that in just a bit.
Are Spider and Missy together?
Spider’s redemption arc is through Missy, who is a bisexual queen at the school. Missy and Spider start secretly hooking up, but Missy notices that there’s something wrong. She decides to show up at Spider’s house, ready for some action, but is interrupted by his mother. Missy’s invited to a terrifyingly awkward dinner, but it shows her why Spider is the way he is. Spider’s storyline is a reflection of what happens when people go too far with their “men-hating agenda.” Spider’s mother is an alcoholic who wanted a girl child and ended up hating on Spider ever since he was a child. All that she projected on Spider, he turned into. However, Spider falls in love with Missy and tells her that she makes him want to change. Missy does believe him for a bit; however, Sasha finds out about them, and she calls out Missy for being a hypocrite. So now, despite knowing Spider’s background and why he is the way he is, Missy gets peer pressured into hating on him again. She briefly breaks up with him and gets drunk on the night of the formal. Spider makes a huge apology speech after getting slapped by Voss, an enlightening moment for the dude. On the other hand, Jojo also tells Missy that she shouldn’t be hating men at this age; there’s a difference between wanting to know what you want and plain hating. In the end, Missy sees that Spider really wants to change, and she kisses him in public.
What’s Happening Between Amerie, Rowan, and Malakai?
Amerie and Malakai get back together, at least physically, at the start of the year. As Darren says, “Can’t even last a day.” However, Amerie wants to keep it casual for the moment because she needs to focus on Harper. Malakai and Rowan get close in the meantime, and suddenly, they’re totally into each other. This leaves Amerie alone again. However, Malakai is confused between Amerie and Rowan and is also still figuring things out for himself. Rowan, on the other hand, wants something more solid, and so they break it off before they’ve actually even started. Unfortunately, Amerie thinks that Malakai hates her because of the rumors spreading in school thanks to Bird Psycho, but it’s actually about him being bi. However, Amerie doesn’t confront Malakai in a positive way, which leaves them both alone. Malakai then learns that his mom is flying off to Switzerland, so he gets to choose between staying home with his dad or moving continents.
In the meantime, Rowan and Amerie are quite friendly, too, and Rowan offers Amerie a hand with her campaign video. They realize they have a thing for each other and kiss during Darren, Harper, and Cash’s housewarming party. Malakai ends up seeing this and, unfortunately, walks away from it with the thought of leaving. Amerie goes to meet Malakai the next day, and he just shuts her off, saying he doesn’t want her drama anymore. However, this is the most dramatic bit of it all, because Amerie’s pregnant with Malakai’s kid, and she just wanted him to know. She calls the bun “little feats” and plans on “dropping” it. Harper helps her with the pills, and Amerie thinks she can do it even with the school debate the next day because the two pills are to be taken two days apart.
However, things go horribly wrong; Amerie ends up missing the debate, and Malakai is the one who finds her in pain and takes her to Harper. She sits in the tub while Malakai supports her, and ultimately, little feats say goodbye. Amerie’s in a lot of pain and cries a lot, but she’s got her mates with her. However, Rowan sees that Amerie is hanging with Malakai, even though she told him she was sick and not able to go on a date. He sees this as a total threat and rams Malakai into the wall (not in a hot way), telling him that he and Amerie have a lot more history than he can imagine, and so he should leave her alone. This brings us to the real question of the whole season.
Who is Bird Psycho, and What’s His Story?
It turns out Rowan was in love with Amerie when they were 12 years old, and they found a hurt bird and nursed it together. They got close while feeding the bird every day; however, it ended up dying anyway. They held a funeral, which led to other kids laughing at them, and Amerie ended up saying Rowan had the idea for the funeral. The kids bullied Rowan, and he went home and got furious, throwing a fit. His younger brother got scared and tried to get to their parents from across the street; however, he ended up getting hit by a car and dying. Rowan still has anger issues, it seems, and he blames Amerie for his little brother’s death. I suppose it was all circumstantial; however, that’s why he came to Hartley as Bird Psycho to ruin Amerie’s life, just like she did his. A lesson learned in the worst way possible. At the formal, things are made worse when Amerie has a fight with Harper because Harper tells Malakai to leave Amerie alone. Amerie learns of Malakai’s leaving for Switzerland from Missy and realizes that she’s still in love with him. He had written a letter for her and left it in her locker, but it’s now all burned up.
In Heartbreak High episode 8, when Voss sets the school on fire, Rowan locks up Harper and Amerie in the AV room to show them a video of what happened to his brother. Amerie apologizes for being a terrible person, but she tells him she can’t apologize for his brother’s death. Rowan has a breakdown while Harper begs him to unlock the door because she can smell the smoke. Harper’s been holding on to her feelings all this time because of what happened, but at this moment, she realizes it was all in vain because she’s going to die. Fortunately, Quinni the detective gets a tip-off from Sasha, which helps them figure out that Rowan is Bird Psycho, and she rushes off to the school and saves Harper and Amerie. Amerie also gets Rowan out of the school before it completely burns down, showing him that she’s really not a bad person. Voss gets arrested for the fire as he claims he’s a phoenix rising from the ashes (bleh).
During Heartbreak High season 2’s ending, Quinni finally accepts that things have changed, and that’s alright because they’ll make it work together. Darren apologizes for making her feel like she has to live by their rules. Harper and Ant are quite the pairing, and Amerie finally proves to herself what she’s been trying to prove throughout the whole season—that she’s not a terrible person. The season ends in uncertainty for what’s to come next, with the school burned down and everyone at the end of their wits.
