Heartstopper season 3 spoilers follow.
PSA for any girls that used to like making out with their girl friends on a night out: you're probably gay now.
Okay, maybe that's too cut-and-dry. But Heartstopper has worked its magic with one of its more annoying (sorry) characters in season three, with the surprising and welcome awakening of Imogen.
It had been hinted that the group's token 'straight' friend was in fact queer in Heartstopper's season two finale, with many wondering whether this thread might be pulled on even more in the new run of episodes.
Cut to Imogen, mid-fancy dress party and after copious amounts of wine, ferociously making out with her friend Sahar.
Related: Heartstopper's approach to sex in season 3 should silence the critics
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"Everyone kisses everyone when they're drunk," Imogen says between vomit spews, brushing the whole thing off and putting their locking of lips down to an "experiment".
Trouble is, in case you need a reminder, Sahar is bisexual and has previously made her more-than-friends feelings for Imogen obvious. So it was a little sucky of Imogen to 'experiment' with her – something that, episodes later, she does eventually come to realise – but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
There are a multitude of reasons why so many women shut down or talk themselves out of an attraction to other women (or to any other gender, besides men). There's a pesky thing called 'comphet' (ie 'compulsory heterosexuality', the notion that heterosexuality is a straitjacket enforced by social expectations) – a term that wasn't actually muttered once during Heartstopper's third outing, but a theme that was screamed through Imogen's journey on the show.
Related: Heartstopper season 3's change of tone is for the better
It's ironic that Imogen chooses to dress as Barbie for the fancy dress party – an unrealistically beautiful toy doll, given to kids to play with, who has her own Ken (Nick was apparently meant to play that role, but Captain America was calling...).
It's a sad – somewhat creepy, actually – reality that, from a young age, those conditioned as girls are raised to believe that it's our destiny to end up with a man. In fact, whether we realise it or not, so much of our self-worth can be tied up in whether or not we attract the attention or approval of men.
It's hard then to untangle whether we are actually returning that attraction for ourselves, or whether we just enjoy the feeling of being wanted.
When this is intertwined with society's assumption that everyone is straight unless you literally "come out" to say otherwise, it's no wonder that many women don't actually realise that they're queer (or at least have the vocabulary to articulate how they've always felt).
Of course, a genuine attraction to men doesn't rule out being part of the LGBTQ+ crew – bisexual+ folks exist! – but in the 'rules' and norms of a patriarchy that centres the needs of men, it can be harder to figure it all out.
Imogen comes some way towards piecing it all together, in a powerful conversation with her former boyfriend-turned-close-friend Nick.
"It's weird I used to like you," she tells him.
As the pair sit across from each other in a hotel room they're about to share (boys and girls can just be friends, Nick reminds her), it's assumed that Imogen is about to do what she has always done – entertain the attention of a boy.
But she then goes on to open up about what's been on her mind, and it soon turns into something very different.
"I'm not sure I did like you… like that," she explained. "I think I kind of felt a pressure to have a boyfriend."
Imogen went on to tell Nick that she felt like having a boyfriend was just "what cool girls do", adding that she "liked having attention from boys" because it made her "feel important" and like she was "doing life right".
Finally, Imogen concluded that when she really thought about it, "I don't think I've ever liked a boy, actually…"
While Imogen never labelled herself, a conversation with Sahar had her opening up even more.
After Imogen apologises (in her own way) for continually hurting her, Sahar tells Imogen that she couldn't ever hate her, because she had helped her to realise something pretty big about herself.
"I guess I could say the same about you," Imogen replies.
Although the pair agree that they're both better off as friends because they'd be "awful together", this mirrored realisation and understanding brings them closer.
Heartstopper is, quite rightly, widely celebrated for its vast and nuanced representation across the LGBTQ+ rainbow. And now Imogen is part of that club.
Heartstopper is available on Netflix.
TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
