Imogen’s Sahar storyline explained – is heartstopper’s ‘straight’ friend really queer?

While Imogen Heaney’s early storylines in Heartstopper Centered on her romantic involvement with boys, a season 3 interaction with Sahar made Imogen’s sexuality less clear. Based on the beloved webcomic series by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper is a beloved coming-of-age British Netflix series centered around the romance between schoolmates Charlie and Nick. Support them in the Heartstopper Cast is an ensemble of LGBTQ+ teen characters.

Imogen stands out as one of the only “straight” characters Among the heart teens. Much of season 1 revolves around her crush on Nick, though she’s understanding when he breaks the news that he’s not attracted to her. The beginning of Heartstopper Season 2 sees Imogen dating Ben, which everyone knows is a bad idea after his toxic behavior towards Charlie. Imogen eventually breaks up with him, leaving her storyline up in the air – until an interaction with Sahar changes everything, especially the romantic trajectory for Heartstoppers self-described “ally.”

Imogen & Sahar share a kiss in Heartstopper Season 3

They eventually agree to remain friends

in Heartstopper Season 3, Episode 4, “Journey,” The teens have a raging Halloween party where Imogen and Sahar are passionately seen. This is a big surprise because Imogen has never given any indication that she is attracted to girls. But when others at the party draw attention to their kiss, Imogen plays it off like it’s nothing. Sahar is, of course, upset and storms off.

Later, from the toilet where she is vomiting up the massive amount of wine she consumed at the party, Imogen defends her actions to Nick. “Everyone kisses everyone when they’re drunk… I’m allowed to experiment. It’s like when I got a boyfriend, and she was mad at me for no reason“, she says. Drunk or not, Imogen is completely oblivious to Sahar’s feelings. Sahar is bisexual, so a kiss with another girl to her is more than just a little intoxicated fun at a party. What’s more, Imogen has yet again missed the point that Sahar is mad about the boyfriend hinting at deeper feelings for her.

But beneath Imogen’s spiteful nature are sympathetic reasons. She clearly feels the need to represent as equal, as symbolized by her dressing as Barbie, the quintessential symbol of the heterosexual woman, in the party. She may have made light of the kiss, but as seen later in the season, These were feelings that Imogen had been struggling with for a while, and at the time, liquid courage was the only way she was going to act on them..

Unsurprisingly, things get awkward between Imogen and Sahar after that kiss. But two episodes later, Imogen does the brave thing and talks to Sahar about the rift between them. Imogen maturely takes accountability for her actions and Sahar forgives her. As the girls acknowledge, it is through their relationship that they have learned a lot about who they are – For Sahar, it is that she is bisexual, and for Imogen, it is sexual, she is not sure who she is now. They also recognize that there is an attraction to each other, but agree that the best thing is for them to be friends.

Imogen’s sexuality is not fully defined in Heartstopper

She admits to Nick that she never really liked a boy

It would have been easy for Imogen to apologize to Sahar while ignoring her internal questions about her sexuality. But even though she feels a little lost, Imogen knows that repressing her feelings isn’t the answer. in the Heartstopper Season 3 finale, she and Nick share a room on a road trip, and Imogen asks Nick if that’s weird. His response that “boys and girls can be just friends” encourages her to come clean about her former crush on him.

Imogen admits that the crush was less about really liking Nick and more about the pressure to like boys and find a boyfriend. While she didn’t get any romantic or sexual satisfaction from pursuing Nick or having a relationship with Ben, Imogen shares that it’s the attention from boys that made her “Feel important.” This leads to her breaking down and crying to Nick that she doesn’t know who she is.

This is such an important scene because although it is a wonderful thing that society has become more open and accepting of people’s varied sexualities, not everyone knows their identity. Imogen felt what she thought was real comfort in living in a heteronormative societyWhere presentation directly meant she is “Doing life right.”

Although it came at the cost of denying who she really was, it was easier and less scary than admitting that she hadn’t fully figured it out yet. And even if she doesn’t, that’s okay. Labels, like sexual orientation, are meant to help, not hurt. As long as Imogen is Imogen, that’s all that matters. Nick acknowledges as much when he puts his arm around Imogen and tells her, “You are my friend.”

What’s next for Imogen in Heartstopper Season 4

She will likely continue to explore her sexual identity

Like these Heartstopper The season 3 finale showed the teens thinking about university and their overall post-secondary school future. It is a big step towards freedom and adulthood, and As Imogen considers the path she will take after graduation, it will likely lead to a greater contemplation of her sexuality.. Her confession scene to Nick was a big, brave step, and the upcoming one Heartstopper Season 4 will likely see Imogen continue to explore who she is, with friends like Nick and Sahar firmly in her corner.