Jules’ Journal: Heartbreak High: Horny, Messy & Unfiltered In The Best Possible Way

Repeat Offenders Section Editor Juliette Allen delves into Netflix’s Heartbreak High’s upcoming finale season and it’s refreshingly honest takes on growing up & hooking up

Promo Still 2022- 2026 (Cr . Hannah Carroll Chapman)

Another sex issue is underway, and it comes with the best possible timing! Blush’s article submission deadline coincides with the titillating Heartbreak High’s third and final season coming out on Netflix, and it’s set to be a chaotic and fun-filled journey. You heard it right, “For one last semester, school is in session with our favourite band of lovable, messy, chaotic Australian teens” [1]. It’s bittersweet seeing it coming to an end, but it’s sure to be one last epic ride as the seniors face finishing school at Hartley High with a bang. 

Heartbreak High’s successful reboot first graced our screens back in 2022, almost as an ode to the likes of Sex Education, a show featuring the same themes of exploring sexual identity with a diverse range of teenagers in one messy British high school, Moordale. Sex Education left us yearning for more relatable stories on Netflix, and thankfully Heartbreak High began to fill that void with a bit of Aussie banter, with nuanced additions of neurodivergent characters and First Nations Peoples and representations. Since its first release, the show has gone on to gain an international fanbase that embraced the slang and Australianisms and made it even more of a big hit.  

Along with having relatable characters everyone can find themselves in, Heartbreak High also represents sex in a more realistic way, especially in the context of high school and raging teenage hormones. Its unabashed representation of sex or sexual feelings puts these dilemmas at the forefront of everything at this school. One such example is the ‘Incest map’ discussed early in season one, where teachers discover a drawing in the school which lays out a pretty vulgar yet hilarious and detailed web, connecting students who had sex of any kind with one another in a tangled mess. This led to the students’ punishment of Sexual Literacy Tutorials, aptly dubbed “SL(u)Ts”. Those guilty of making the map and those whose names were included had to undertake a course learning about STIs, how to use proper consent, contraceptives and more.

It’s not only this class that demonstrates appropriate discussions on sex. We see them in practice through on-screen sex scenes. One such viewer, Brigitte Murphy, notes in Ramona Magazine:

“I noticed how realistic the sex scenes felt, there are sometimes awkward discussions, other times it’s quick and silly and wonderfully there are representations of communication. Movies and TV shows for years have shown sex scenes with sexy background music and very little conversation, [conversely] when Amerie and Malakai have sex for the first time they communicate with each other. And although it seems like a small detail to include, it’s so amazing (and important) to watch on screen” [2]. 

Such themes on sex only continue to evolve in season two with a “petri dish of lo-fi chemsex, anti-fap apps, incel erectile dysfunction, cute throuples, BDSM fantasies and bi-curious explorations. Nobody stays closeted or curious for long on this campus, and being sexually extra is celebrated” [3]. Not only does this season touch on the more wild and intriguing sexual fantasies and desires of these teens, but also continues to balance the sex with more serious storylines, with many surrounding mental health. In season two, one such storyline follows the main character, Amerie, through the process of her abortion. At the same time as dealing with a serious, contentious issue, the show manages to make it almost light-hearted and not too intense, showing the characters Malakai, with whom Amerie had sex with, and her best friend, Harper, as they take care of her and do their best to make her feel better and comfortable. It is these scenes where you, as a viewer, are seeing all the realities play out on screen. The downright weird, the funny and the raw.  

Now onto the much-hyped final season. One thing is for certain: there will be a lot of sex, tomfoolery, laugh-out-loud moments, and much drama to be had, especially with where we left off the relationships—or situationships—in season two. What we definitely know about the final hurrah so far, according to WHO, is that there will be some fun new characters, plus some good ol’ muck-up day mayhem. The plot is said to “follow the characters scrambling to cover up a revenge prank gone wrong, following a who-done-it style plot as buried secrets boil over, exploding among the already tumultuous reality that is transitioning into adulthood” [4]. I myself am intrigued to see the final season play out, and maybe I’ll see you there. Cheers SL(u)T’s. 

References:

[1] Anne, V. (2026). ‘Heartbreak High’ Season 3 Trailer Mentions Muff Diving of All Things. Autostraddle.  Heartbreak High' Season 3 Trailer Mentions Muff Diving of All Things 

[2] Brigette Murphy (2022). I Loved Heartbreak High C*NT. 

Ramona Magazine.  I Loved Heartbreak High C*NT - Ramona Magazine 

[3] Valentish, J. (2024). The Highs and Heartbreaks of Modern Love. 

Broadsheet. Sherry-Lee Watson & Bryn Chapman Parish From Heartbreak High Season Two  

[4]  Newman, F. (2026). Everything you need to know about Heartbreak High Season Three. WHO. Everything we know about Heartbreak High season 3 

By Juliette Allen