Three Of Swords – As the finale of Heartbreak High begins, Amerie Wadia (Ayesha Madon) tells Harper McLean (Asher Yasbincek) that she can’t imagine what she has been through, but she wants to understand. In a flashback, Justin (Ben Oxenbould) approaches Harper to see if he has any coins since his bank card has expired. Once he says it is only for milk, she agrees to give him some money. She meets up with Amerie and they begin talking about her house potentially being haunted. Amerie agrees to let her stay at her place tonight before they meet with Ca$h (Will McDonald) who sells them drugs. Chook (Tom Wilson) continues eyeballing Harper. They go to the concert and party today. Then, they go to the toilets where they find a paper bracelet. Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish) catches up with them later and offers them a drink. While Amerie takes one, Harper suggests he has drugged them.

Harper asks Spider to back off since she thinks he is in love with Amerie. She tells him that Amerie is too good for him before catching up with her. Amerie believes she is going to hook up with Dusty soon. Harper goes inside to get her fortune read. The fortune teller warns her that a crisis looms. He goes on to say that her heart is being pierced by the Three Swords. That is grief, loss, and heartbreak. She is going to suffer a loss and betrayal. Something evil is clinging to her everywhere she goes so she is in for some dark times. Although he claims he can help, Harper throws the cards up and says tarots are BS. Harper returns to Amerie before receiving a text from her father asking if she locked the doors and windows. She won’t tell Amerie who it is. When Amerie checks on her, Harper insists she is fine. Once they return to the party, Harper tells her friend that she wants to chill on the ug-drays tonight.

She takes the drugs and throws them away. Amerie walks off to get another drink leaving Harper alone. Harper tries to use her phone to contact her only to find that her battery is almost dead. She continues drinking and dancing alone. Later, she wakes up in a car with Chook, Ca$h, and Jayden (Ari McCarthy). She asks if they’re dropping her at home. They begin laughing and saying they’re just taking a detour. The boys encourage her to smile because she looks better when she smiles. Before long, they stop at a petrol station. Chook goes in to grab some drinks while Ca$h and Harper wait in the vehicle with others. Ca$h signals for Harper to escape when he unlocks the door. She manages to get out of the car and continues running while the boys chase her. Harper crashes to the ground before hiding in the bushes next to her. They look for her briefly but eventually quit. Harper walks to Amerie’s house in hopes that she’ll let her in.

She goes home where she finds her dad freaking out and claiming there is a wolf outside the house. He doesn’t recognize her. She tries to remind him who she is, but he begins thinking she might be the wolf. Harper locks herself in her room after her father comes after her. Justin continues screaming while Harper remains locked in her room. In the morning, the ambulance officers knock on her bedroom door. When she comes out of her room, she watches her father get taken away on a gurney. After Harper says she doesn’t have friends or family to stay with, she is told her father has been involuntarily admitted to the hospital. They’re going to organize emergency foster care for her while he is in the hospital. Harper goes to the bathroom where she shaves her head. In the present, Amerie says she is sorry and suggests punching her in the face must feel justified right now.

Although Harper meant to punch her in the face, she wasn’t trying to punish her. Since that night, Harper hasn’t felt in control of anything. Amerie says the cops know about her dad so she wonders if they know about the eshays. Harper doesn’t think she should say anything because she was drunk and made dumb choices that night. She also worries that those guys would come after her and punish Ca$h who is the only reason she made it out of the car. Harper asks why Amerie didn’t let her in that night. Amerie reveals that she ended up going home with Spider who was surprisingly sweet to her after their fight. She didn’t say anything because she knew Harper wouldn’t let her live it down. They didn’t do it anything though since he couldn’t get it up. Huma comes over to say Harper’s dad is awake and asking for her. Harper isn’t ready to see him yet. Rivers (Scott Major) visits Darren (James Majoos) at his workplace.

They sit together during Darren’s break as Rivers says they’re going to have a moment whether Darren likes it or not. Rivers knows Darren is in pain and a sad Darren is worse than extra Darren. He pleads with him to tell him what is going on. Darren explains they told Ca$h they’d be friends with him even though that isn’t what they want. Darren knows Rivers doesn’t like him, but he isn’t who he thinks. Rivers says he’ll try to separate those feeling and give him advice. He says love is sometimes about timing, but Darren doesn’t believe that. Instead, Darren suggests they are a hard person to love. Rivers thought the same about himself when he was that age. He thought no one would come for him if he hit out first, but they came for him anyway. Now, he is sitting here with his queen, black, non-binary kid and it is wonderful. He encourages Darren to let people know how beautiful they are. Once Darren says they are really in love with Ca$h, Rivers suggests he might have to do the crazy thing.

When Darren goes back to work, Rivers has a conversation with the boss. In the middle of the night, Amerie gets up to tell her mom it is all her fault because she let Harper down twice when she needed her the most. Her mom begins comforting her while saying this isn’t her fault. Amerie reveals she was so scared of her father that she stabbed him. They agree that she won’t go back there because they’ll figure something out. Amerie wants the people who put her in the car to suffer and be as scared as she was. They can’t just get away with it. Harper makes a complaint. She wants to know the likelihood they’ll go to jail if she names them. Without other evidence, the task is difficult because they can just say they were going to give her a lift home. Harper says she is done before leaving. As they walk towards the school, they see Spider and Dusty. Amerie asks if she knows they made the accusation against Jojo.

Harper took the blame because she had nothing to lose while Amerie had everything to lose. They learn that Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) is back. Quinni (Chloe Hayden) says she can’t believe they’re still here after everything they did. Darren says they barely got community service, but they’re probably going to get suspended. When the others go inside, Amerie talks to Ca$h who says he didn’t do anything because they would’ve beaten him up and left him there. She complains that they’re going to get away with it because there is no evidence. He insists they’ve never done it before although he can’t say they won’t do it again. Amerie finds it screwed up that he is still hanging out with them. She asks him to stay away from Darren. When they go to class, Woodsy (Rachel House) tells them footage of their protest has circulated and the press for the school has been positive for once.

Although they’re going to have to get the cleaning bill, their civil disobedience has captured the hearts of Australia. They soon learn that Jojo Obah (Chika Ikogwe) is coming back. She tells them they should start a new chapter. Even though they might hate this class, she thinks it is important. After class, she tells everyone that she is going to get Dusty, Spider, and Ant to help pack up and prepare for the next lesson. She thinks it is best that she and Amerie are never alone in a classroom again. Outside, Dusty (Josh Heuston) tries to apologize to Amerie who believes he should apologize to Harper. Spider returns to do the same. Amerie insists this doesn’t fix anything. Darren runs into Harper and says he thinks his superpower is invisibility. Darren hasn’t been the best person recently, but they think they can make this work. Darren will love him for what he is because Darren wants this.

Darren wants him more than anything. Ca$h suggests they should stop wasting each other’s time. He says he can’t try before going inside and shutting the door. Harper finally goes to the hospital but stops short of talking to her father. Ca$h brings Nan (Maggie Dence) more food. She admits he is always looking after her so she wonders who is going to look after him. Later, he hangs out with Chook and the others. While the others are distracted, Ca$h takes Jayden’s phone and walks out of the room. He goes to the bathroom so he can send the video to Harper who watches it with Amerie. Later, Ca$h walks down the road when he is supposed to be in class. When he sees the cops talking to Nan, he runs for it and they chase him. Ant notices Ca$h running down the street just before he enters the classroom. He expresses his love for Darren and says the only good thing about coming here is seeing his face.

Darren says it took. They kiss before the cops come in and arrest Ca$h. Later, Quinni asks why Chook isn’t in jail. Harper explains that they let him go because he wasn’t in the video. They hope Chook died and is reincarnated into something crappy. Darren believes they need to cleanse themselves by jumping into the water nearby. Once they get out of the water, Malakai offers Amerie his socks since she left hers on the beach. Later, Amerie and Harper get a snack. When they see Chook’s car, they hide close by. He goes inside. Harper decides to break the windows of his car and Amerie soon joins him. Harper gets into the car and sets it on fire before Amerie pulls her out and they run away. Chook finds out what has happened as the episode ends.

 

Heartbreak High Review

While some aspects of Heartbreak High were better than others and certain characters were more likable, the series was mostly enjoyable overall. While the series attempted to tackle difficult topics, it often played those topics off instead of delving into them in a serious way. Harper’s near sexual assault was quickly overshadowed by her father’s antics at home. Multiple characters were arrested for this, yet it was mostly joked about and Chook even said one of them was a repeat offender.

In this aspect, it somewhat felt like a missed opportunity to really explore the impact of such issues. Oftentimes, the characters seemed like they were in college a lot more than high school, especially with the adult themes. Some scenes were genuinely uplifting as viewers will cheer for specific characters and their relationships.

There were moments that induced cringe and others that were truly unbelievable, but the first season was a good starting point to show viewers what Heartbreak High has to offer. Those who have fallen in love with the stories and characters will likely be demanding a second season. If the series had taken the subject matter a bit more seriously, it likely could’ve been even more impactful.

The finale scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Heartbreak High can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work or contact us by clicking this link.