Heartbreak High premiered on Netflix with its 8 episodes on September 14, 2022. Although a reboot of the 1994 Aussie series that goes by the same name, the 2022 TV series delves into the lives of a different set of characters. At the heart of it, both shows are concerned with the young lives of students at Hartley High dealing with friendships, love, sexualities, identity crisis, and heartbreaks.
The 2022 reboot stars a fairly new bunch of talented actors including the protagonists and BFFs Ayesha Madon as Amerie and Asher Yasbincek as Harper. Others playing a significant role in the midst are Thomas Weatherall as Malakai, Chloe Hayden as Quinni, James Majoos as Darren, Will McDonald as Ca$h, Rachel House as Woodsy (their “woke” principal), and more.
Netflix puts the storyline of the series across as:
BEST FRIENDS AMERIE AND HARPER HAVE BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY MAPPING OUT HARTLEY HIGH’S WILD HOOK-UP SCENE — UNTIL EVERYONE FINDS OUT THEIR SECRET PROJECT.
-This Article Contains Spoiler for Heartbreak High (2022)-
The basic premise of the show is centered around the friendship shared between Amerie and Harper, which gets severed right at the beginning for reasons unknown to us. The trailer makes it seem as if the exposure of the “Incest Map” played a role in this massive breakup. However, that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of it, rather it’s just something that plays out at the wrong time coincidentally.
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Through it all, one question persists till the end – What happened at the music festival that drove Harper to the edge? Whatever it is, it puts the two’s long-standing heartfelt relationship to the test. So what happens at the end? Do the two get back together and befriend each other again? Is the cause of Harper’s distress ever revealed to us?
And what about the rest of the main characters who are also going through their own heartbreaks? What happens to Malakai? Does Ca$h get caught by the police? Does he ever confess his feelings for Darren? Also, will there be a second season of Heartbreak High to clear up the mess created at the end? If you’re looking for the answers to all these questions, then you should read ahead as we’ve unpacked the ending of the show for you below.
Heartbreak High Ending
To explain the ending, one has to retrace one’s steps back to the beginning and Heartbreak High does exactly that. It takes us back to the aforementioned music festival, i.e. the night that changed it all. Ever since the beginning, it’s kind of been hinted that Harper has been carrying a lot of trauma around, hence the poor choices thereafter.
The last episode’s title Three of Swords is a dig at what the fortune teller told her at the festival when she pulled this tarot card. The three swords piercing her heart symbolize “grief, loss, heartbreak”. Whether you believe in it or not is up for debate but Harper’s life at home has been completely turned upside down and it’s these three emotions that change everything around her.
After being separated from Amerie at the festival and taking the drugs both of them acquired from the ‘eshays’ at the beginning, Harper loses consciousness and everything becomes a blur. That’s when the drug dealers kidnap her. Thankfully (that’s one way to put it), Ca$h is driving the car so when they stop at a gas station, he surreptitiously unlocks the car which gives her a chance to escape and live.
She walks back home and stops at Amerie’s on the way but Spider was in her room at the time, so when Harper knocks at her door, Amerie doesn’t open it. Unwillingly, Harper turns in her own house’s direction where a bigger mishap awaits her.
This is the first time the show reveals the well-hidden secret that her father had been suffering from a mental disorder as a result of which he attacked his own daughter, thinking she was a wolf. The night seems to get only worse for Harper so she locks herself inside and the next morning she shaves her head, probably because she doesn’t want to carry the memory of the previous night when one of the drug dealing boys pulled her hair to stop her.
Upon hearing the entire story, Amerie is scared for her friend’s well-being and doesn’t want her to go back to her house again. On a lighter note, Malakai is back from his peaceful retreat, and even though he and Amerie had agreed to stay friends, you can easily notice that both of them still have some lingering feelings for each other.
Hartley High gets its much-deserved happy ending with Miss Jojo coming back to school as their English and SLT teacher. And it’s during the later moments of this session that Ca$h finally rushes into the classroom and confesses his undying love for Darren before getting caught by the police. The other ‘eshays’ are also incarcerated for the time being as Ca$h sends Harper a video of the fateful night which she uses as evidence to build up her case. Unfortunately, Chook, the main culprit wasn’t on the video so he couldn’t be arrested.
Never mind the police, in the final scene of the episode, Harper has her own means of justice to serve and all her pent aggression pours out with all its might as she starts breaking his car. Amerie tries to stop her but eventually joins along and to finish it all Harper sets Chook’s car on fire, and the two barely escape before the owner of the car catches them.
Each character of their inner circle – Amerie, Harper, Darren, Quinni, and Malakai has found their own happy ending by the time of the finale’s conclusion but it still leaves us to ponder over Ca$h’s situation. Keeping that aside, for now, thankfully we can attest to one thing, come heaven or hell, Amerie and Harper are back together and nothing is coming in the way of their friendship again.
Heartbreak High is now streaming on Netflix.
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“After being separated from Amerie at the festival and taking the drugs both of them acquired from the ‘eshays…” they didn’t get a chance to take the drugs. The girls were drinking alcohol from their water bottles and getting beers. (Remember Amerie asked Harper if she wanted to drop and that is when Harper threw the sunscreen bottle? The drugs were in it.) Then, Amerie went to get another beer so Harper guzzled down what was in her water bottle. Harper must have passed out from drinking so much alcohol, not by doing drugs.
“Ca$h is driving the car.” No he was not. The steering wheel was on the right side of vehicle so Ca$h was in the passenger seat.