Episode 16: Roast The Characters - Heartbreak High

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Roast the Characters - Heartbreak High 

Some Characters Stayed Consistent... Others Tested My Patience.

New Opinions. Same Chaos. 

Streaming now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

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Welcome to another episode of the BingerLet Podcast, the show where I talk about things I love, things I hate, and everything in between when binging on anime books, movies, and TV shows. Yes, after a long hiatus and a period of reposting my old episodes, I'm back with new episodes. Let's see how consistent I can be this time. If you're not familiar with the format, the show will be split into five categories, which are Binge's Opinion, Is the Book Better, Movie vs TV, Originals vs. Remakes, and Roast the Characters. For today's episode, the category is Roast the Characters, where I'll be ranking some of the main characters from Netflix TV show Heartbreak High. If you're not familiar with the series, Heartbreak High is an Australian comedy-drama reboot of the 1994 series of the same name, which follows the students of Hartley High following the exposure of a scandalous map detailing all sexual hookups in the school created by our protagonist, Anne Marie, and her estranged best friend Harper. To start off, Heartbreak High would not have been a show that I would have put on my watch list had it not been for my sisters. When they started watching the show back when season one came out in 2022, I would pop in here and there and see clips that piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try and then I became invested. So I binged the whole of season one. Fast forward to 2026, the season finale came out and I realized I hadn't actually watched season two, so I binged it again. Now that I have the full story of each character, I feel like I can rank on my top three and boss and three a little bit better. And some ranked in the same position they were from season one, and there were some that generally surprised me, both good and bad. Let's discuss. But before I continue, as always, I just want to give a quick spoil alert. I will be talking about some of the plot points, so please don't be upset if you haven't watched it and I give too much away. But you have been warned. Kicking off with my favorite character, none other than Cash. He was one of the rankings that did not change from season one. Every time he was around, all I wanted to do was just jump into my screen and hug him every time. And when he finally decided to integrate into the friendship group and be in a relationship with Darren, I was elated for him because he deserved to be happy. No notes from me. Number two, we have Quinny, another ranking that didn't change. I feel like she was a really good representation of what it's like to feel like you have to censor yourself or act a certain way to not come across as too much for a part of you that you can't change or control. And what I loved about her story was when she started to become free, is what I'm looking for. Like more assertive of herself, more confident in who she was and how she acted. And my favorite part of her story was when she ended up being elected as the student body president because in that moment it showed how compassionate, caring, and attentive she is to others. The only note I have about her is I don't like who she ended up with in season three. No amount of redemption arc could make me root for my girl to end up with Taz. Taz needed at least another three seasons for me to feel any type of way about her, other than negative. Number three, Spider. Now, this one really surprised me because I could not stand him in season one. He was so low on my radar, I would consciously forget he existed until he popped up to be a misogynistic hater. Season two came and he was still a nuisance, but we started to learn about his home life and see him realize in real time that his home influence doesn't have to define who he is as a person. And I'm sorry, I started feeling really bad for him. I think his character development was probably the most rewarding by the end of season three. Like he generally became somewhat of a decent human being by heartbreak high standards, of course. And he turned from a dick to someone I could actually root for. I mean, I was even on his side when Missy started playing with him a little bit, so no notes from me. Honourable mention in the favorite department has to go to our main protagonist, Amory. She was for sure a love to hate and hate to love kind of character for me because majority of her initial actions were based on her self-centeredness that got her in a lot of trouble with people around her. However, I feel like she would genuinely reflect once the dust settled and try to correct her wrongs. She wasn't perfect by any means, but I think that was the point, and I'm grateful for that because you don't want a flawed protagonist that doesn't learn or grow or at least become a decent human being at the end. Again, not saying she was perfect, not saying she was amazing towards the end of season three, because I mean she still tried to get away with trespassing and attempted murder, but she was ready to take full responsibility and protect someone that, in my opinion, wasn't worth protecting. And that's accountability. My note for her stop making dumb decisions. And if something goes wrong because of your actions, please own up to it quickly because it shouldn't take you a full season to try and correct your wrongs. But I like you though, so okay. Now moving on to my three least favorite characters. Starting with Missy, I don't dislike her per se, but compared to other characters, she wasn't really that high on my list. I think it's more so because I wasn't really invested in her story. She felt pretty much like a supporting character for me, up until they began to focus on her when she started dating Spider. I mean, she did have her moments with Malachi, but again, it felt like a supporting role rather than an impactful moment that it could have been. So my notes to her would be that she could have been a bit more of an integral part of other characters' stories rather than just having a few lines here and there to further the plot, is what it was giving. Second to last, least favourite character, Dusty. I think Harper said it best. The issue is he's good looking and he knows it. And that becomes his personality because that's all I got from him. The moment I knew he was a waste of space was when he actively started going after Harper after he slept with her, knowing that her bestie, or former bestie at the time, was basically in love with him. And then he had the audacity to ask Amory advice on how to get Harper. And then it was made even worse when we found out he started the rumor about Amory and their teacher from the mandatory um ST or was it uh SLT class? Um, the teacher Jojo and Amory hooking up and then getting that woman suspended and investigated. All because he didn't want to attend the class anymore, but it backfired on him because the class wasn't cancelled, and the other students actually liked Jojo's, so they staged a holdup in the principal's office to bring back Jojo, and then when he got caught, he had the audacity to be upset about it, talking about, oh, it was before I realized how cool you were, Amory. Like that was supposed to do something. My guy. This woman was about to, if not already had been, put on the sex offenders list. What are we talking about? I can't be asked to even give any notes on this one because honestly, I don't care. Like they had that boy out of there by season two onwards. So, good riddance. And finally, we have my least favorite character from Heartbreak High. And that's none other than Sasha. And it wasn't even close. She consistently stayed on my hit list from how judgmental she was, how self-centered and close-minded she was, how hypocritical she was. Like, bro, the way she acted in the relationship with Quinny, I would have slapped her on Quinny's behalf. I kid you not. Because what is this ignorant, arrogant, nonsensical behavior? What do you mean? I don't want to have to take care of you. Did she ask you to take care of her, or did she ask you to be her girlfriend? And that bull she pulled with Quinny regarding the signing um reading of her favourite novel, we would have thought on site. The girl has been planning this for ages. So what if you don't like the series? That's your girl. Support her. Support her nerdy quirks, support her hobbies. You could have just told her you're not coming and saved Quinny the frustration and disappointment she felt with your negative energy just radiating all over the place. You lot have no idea how mad I was. Moving like one enemy when you're supposed to be my partner, you must be out of your mind. And then the icing on top of the cake, her almost killing someone. Now, I don't care what they said to try and explain it away. What was her intentions when she turned on that ride? If it wasn't to kill somebody, because that scenario could have only ended in someone getting hurt. And even when it was reported that someone was in a coma, even when it was said that Manakai got badly injured, even when the people she claimed she wanted to be friends with were about to get arrested, she said nothing. And that is why I will not be moved by her breaking down when they were having heart-to-heart after graduation. Because if she truly had felt remorse or clarity that her behavior, her actions, her feelings were hurtful to others, she would have confessed. And I'm sorry, but being excluded from a group chat does not excuse you almost killing someone. The thing is, I might have actually, for once, been on her side had she just confronted the group about the side group chat. I might have even felt bad for her. I might not have still liked her, but she could have got me in that one moment. But when it was revealed that it was her who turned on the ride, I was like, of course it was. Because this girl don't care. She doesn't care. And that's why she acted a whole fool during the college visit when she got called out for not practicing what she preaches. Because she cares about being perceived as righteous and kind and ethical, but not actually being it. The dishonorable mention will have to be Harper. I had one major issue with her. And my issue was that she never got exposed as the co-creator of the map. And she took forever to tell Amory why she did what she did. Because she had no problem ratting Anne Marie out, making her the outcast and shunned and definitely slightly bullied. Like, girl, if you wanted to prove a point, you should have taken the L with your bestie, even if you were trying to get back at her. I know why she did it. Okay, don't get me wrong. She went through a lot on the night of the festival with that creep shook and her father having a mental breakdown and attacking her and Amory being nowhere to be found. So I get her acting out and feeling like Amory had to pay in some kind of way. I get that. At the same time though, at least tell the girl what she did wrong before you go all nuclear on her. Like this was your bestie since childhood. So cuss her out. Fight her. Something. Okay? Don't just throw her to the walls and not even have the courtesy of explaining why. Best believe if I was taking some type of revenge or justice against someone like this, they will know why. But that's just me. And the whole sleeping with the guy Anne Marie was dating, like, come on. I know Dusty initiated, which again is why that boy is so low on my list. But Harper had to know how it would look. Like you you've already abandoned this girl publicly. Everyone knows you don't like her right now, even if they don't know why. So why would you sleep with her man? You'dn't already slept with her longtime crush and even become that crush's girlfriend, but you also had to have her man. But again, to clarify, just because she is low on the list, it doesn't mean I don't like her. Because by season two, three, I was cool on her for the most part. Like I was I was fine with her. I just wasn't a fan of her in season one because of her actions. And that's all for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed the show. Let me know what your ranking is of the characters of the Heartbreak High series. And as always, if you have any requests or suggestions on anything you'd like me to watch or read, please be sure to hit me up. You can find me on TikTok or Twitter at BingerLook Pod. I'm out and I'll catch you in a sec.