Promise

Episode Information

Airdate

August 3, 2023

Written by

Alice Oseman

Directed by

Euros Lyn

Run Time

32 minutes

Episode Guide
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"Family"	"Challenge"

Promise is the third episode of the second season of Netflix's Heartstopper, and the eleventh episode of the series overall.^[1]

Synopsis[]

Nick tries to come out to some of his teammates at a bonfire party after exams. Tao plans the perfect date. Things get weird between Tara and Darcy.

Plot[]

Issac, Charlie, and Tao discuss how he can approach a possible date idea between him and Elle.

At the rugby practice, Nick’s other friends try to be supportive of him by telling him that they aren’t like Harry. He is again unable to confide in them about him being bisexual.

However, when Charlie and Nick are kissing each other in the gym room, Coach Singh sees them and later calls Nick to her office.

She tells him that his situation with Charlie is okay, but he shouldn’t let it bring it into the game. She also turns out to be rather supportive of him by telling him about her wife and how she met her.

Everyone gets ready for their last exam as Charlie helps Nick study for his chemistry test and complete his essay just in time. Everyone rejoices about exams being over and the exciting Paris trip coming up.

Seemingly out of the blue, Tara confesses that she loves Darcy, but when she doesn’t respond to it the way she anticipated, she is taken a little aback by it.

At the Paris meeting everyone is asked to get into groups of 4 who they will be sharing a room with. Since boys and girls can’t share a room, Imogen is sort of left out.

Outside the meeting hall, Tao, dresses up and with a new look, he proposes the idea of a date to Elle with flowers in his hands. Elle says she likes him back, and they decide to go on their first date to the cinemas.

The two of them go to watch Moonrise Kingdom, a film that Elle loves but Tao hates. The rest of the evening is awkward, and when they head to the party in the woods, it finally comes out that Tao is just being insecure about losing Elle to her new friends, which has led him to be someone he is not.

Meanwhile, Nick tries really hard to muster up the courage to come out to his rugby mates during the bonfire, but he is disturbed by the confusion and consequences of it all. This is when Charlie intervenes and takes him home when he feels ill. Charlie comforts Nick and tells him that he doesn’t necessarily need to come out straight away and rids him of the promise that he made. However, there's a slight twitch in Charlie’s eye betraying his insecurity about being treated as another secret affair.