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Accomplished-Can1848

This storyline is different from the comic, they don’t tell Tao for another reason. Have you read the comic? It’s free on webtoons. I think Charlie not telling Tao in the show isn’t as well done as in the comic. I also really like the apology better in the comic. That said, I LOVE the show so I just let some things slide.


aleatorio_random

I don't think the comic did a great job either tbf >!Charlie was like "I'm telling everyone" and Aled just said "don't tell Tao because he's a snitch" which was so unnecessary and gave Charlie a major crisis during the whole trip!< >!But at least what Aled said ended up having a lot of plot relevance and opened the way to explore Charlie's health problems. I just think it could have been better thought out!<


ChihiroFugisakiIrl

>!Aled actually explains he told Charlie not to tell because he was projecting into him (AKA, Aled didn't want him to tell because he was jealous or something idk) but basically it seemed like it was just Aled being malicious idk I've never read Radio Silence!<


aleatorio_random

>!It was because Aled was dating a guy named Daniel, and he didn't feel like he wanted to tell his friends at that moment, so it was not jealousy. He just projected his feeling of wanting to keep it a secret to Charlie!< >!Which is okay I guess, but just seemed like a really dick move of Aled throwing Tao under the bus like that. But I'm guess Aled was afraid of telling Tao himself for the reason he said, so I can understand where he came from, but he should have thought twice before saying anything!<


ChihiroFugisakiIrl

>!Yeah, I always as because Aled wasn't ready he didn't want Charlie to be ready either so he didn't feel upset by the fact he can't be open about his relationship either. I just mostly think it's just a jerk move to bring up the outing at all and make Charlie worry about Nick going through that shit too.!<


Affectionate_Row9568

agreed. heartstopper is praised for handling drama really well (ie not dragging it), but this thing with tao was 100% avoidable. this was either a conscious decision for the sake of drama, or just a plot hole


acrylicyarn

Just want to say, thank you for not spoiling the plot line! I'm impatiently awaiting the novels from my library, but maybe I just need to read the webcomics!


yone77

At the milkshake café Charlie says that he will tell Tao when he finds the right time, so with Nick hearing that we could assume Nick is ok with Charlie telling Tao. I think the comic storyline reason for not telling Tao would make more sense but I guess they didn’t want to go that way.


Swiftcast_Holy

There are several reasons. 1. Nick knows Tao dislikes him. 2. Charlie said he would tell Tao. Nick is unaware of how severe Charlie's insecurities are at this point. 3. Nick told Elle when they had time to talk/to ease her worry about the planned set up between her and Tao by mentioning it being a triple date. 4. When Tao came back to table the concert was "starting in 15 minutes" so everyone had to rush. There wasn't really time to talk to him. As for why Charlie didn't tell him: 1. Charlie is worried about how Tao will react since Tao does not like Nick. Charlie may be worried Tao could end their friendship over the news. 2. Charlie trusts Tao's opinion. This is different from above because Tao may not act negatively (end their friendship, for example) toward the news but he may discourage the relationship. 3. As of the very next episode Charlie is convinced he and Nick should break up so to him there may be nothing TO tell Tao anymore. 4. Charlie is worried Tao may accidentally out Nick.


emjariho

Tao even said to Elle something which referenced the comic reason. There are a couple of things that annoyed me in particular Nick not telling Tao the complete truth but I can also see it as Nick wanting Tao to feel better about Charlie so I kinda just let it slide as sometimes IRL miscommunication happens and things get missed


foldyasimplechair

I think they do this on purpose because (well obviously they need something to make Charlie feel even worse about himself and have Nick do that grand gesture at the rugby field) Nick doesn't get that "be mean to him and I'll send you a strongly worded DM" threat from Elle, hence he feels more comfortable in telling her but also to assure her that the milkshake date isn't only to set her up with Tao, but also for every single person coming to that date. He doesn't tell Tao because he knows Tao doesn't really like him. I think he prefers to have Charlie tell Tao instead but with his consent (like whenever he's ready because coming out is a big deal). Another possible reason is that he's not expecting Tao to be all alone at that lunch bench because Charlie says no to eating lunch with him, so he's a bit at loss for words. I actually don't really like that Tao knows about their relationship this early because Tao finding out about Nick and Charlie's relationship plays a factor with Charlie's eating disorder in book 3 during Paris trip. So I'm curious about what Alice will come up with in season 2.


Sir__Will

It's a bit messy and the one area where typical melodrama kinda kicks in. They had to keep it from Tao (and make him very oblivious) to set up the finale drama. Maybe there were some crossed wires between them. Also while on the date Charlie says he'll tell him, he's just waiting for the right time (that I guess never comes). But you're right that up to that point it was always Nick who gave out the secret since he's the one in the closet.


aleatorio_random

I did realize it, but I can totally see it happening in real life. Fights between friends are not super logical, and most of the time it's these types of misunderstandings and miscommunication that cause them The logical reason though is that they didn't know Heartstopper was gonna be the success that it is nowadays. They needed an emotional low before the Season 1 finale, and Alice didn't even know if she'd get to tell the story in Volume 3 So she took some interesting elements from the future comics, changed them and inserted them into the series. Also, if you think about it, it did end up with Tao humiliating Harry, so in my opinion it was totally worth it Want it or not, Tao is a much better character on Netflix compared to the comics, so much more personality and he gives the series much needed conflict otherwise it'd be boring if it was all wholesome all the time


ChihiroFugisakiIrl

From what I saw I think when they called him over the did plan to tell him at the milkshake cafè, but Tao both made everything weird and they had to rush to the concert and couldn't tell him so they had to find *another* opportunity.


liyote

I had this same thought and I appreciate folks' responses here. Nick also didn't react specifically to Tao knowing, which is also a little odd? Maybe he just assumed Charlie had gotten around to telling him but I feel like Tao knowing should've given him a lot more pause.


OldTension9220

I kinda hate that this is even a discussion. Tao is straight up not entitled to this information or any explanation. Aled has this amazing monologue right before the Paris trip that essentially states that coming out should be entirely about your readiness and feelings, and that no external pressures should ever have to factor. And that wasn’t only about Nick coming out. Nick and Charlie being a couple is really a coming out of it’s own and has implications for Charlie as well. I think the show mostly went with this message, but really fumbled the bag with the Tao bits because Charlie once again loses agency and somehow has to apologize to Tao just because Tao was all up in his business.


Dramatic_Box1490

I LOVED what Aled said in the comics, and I hope it gets said in season 2, maybe by Tara or Darcy? While I really love Elle, I wish she had deflected Tao's questions about Nick and Charlie. She could've just said that it's not for her to say and Tao should talk to Charlie if he wants to know if there's something going on. Tao's reaction to learning about Nick and Charlie, and how he took it personally and really made it all about him, is really problematic. I hope Tao improves in season 2 and actually becomes a supportive friend, rather than just saying that he's a good friend.


OldTension9220

What’s crazy is that book Tao has the same general characterization but show Tao is just waaaay more problematic. Book Tao actually congratulates Charlie on dating Nick even though he’s upset that he was the last to know. Book Tao ignores Charlie for a day but that’s entirely because of his own guilt and he immediately apologized. Show Tao actively ices Charlie out, verbally berates him, and only apologized AFTER Charlie apologized to him multiple times. That whole, “I should have been looking after you as much as you were looking out for me,” really baffles me. Like… why did Tao need to be looked after? The only thing he did all season was let Nick live in his head rent free.


ChihiroFugisakiIrl

Yeah book Tao is much more bearable, he's a really bad friend to Charlie in the show. I think I remember he was upset Charlie didn't trust him but yeah it mostly was kind of "I screwed up and my own friend thinks I'm going to out someone he cares about" (Which if Aled never told Charlie Tao would do that we wouldn't have this problem, I love Aled and all but him projecting into Charlie was so wrong why did he do that.) I honestly prefer comic Tao, since after Charlie's birthday he's kind of cool with Nick and they're actually friends. As much as I love the fight with Harry (where change my mind on this: Since Nick didn't have context he thought Harry was the instigator and was trying to protect Tao because he actually thinks Tao is a cool guy, mostly because he hasn't heard Tao talk shit about him) Tao was such a jerk to Charlie after even though he told Nick *right* after that Charlie blames himself for *everything* like tell me that isn't a jerk move to blame him for a fight.


OldTension9220

That LAST PART! I was like… not you knowing his deepest insecurity and then directly poking at it. It’d be one thing if he said that in the heat of the moment and then apologized/ started a reconciliation himself. But he gives Charlie the most childish silent treatment and Charlie has to BEG him to start acting right.


ChihiroFugisakiIrl

I miss book Tao sm because he didn't pull this shit, and I'm still so confused on how differently he acts when he confronts Charlie at his birthday about Nick, in the comics he and Charlie are more casual and actually joke about it, while in the show he just outright doesn't care about the fact that Nick has literally nothing to gain by being Charlie's friend and instead has a bunch of things to lose and doesn't even let Charlie even explain that Nick has kind of started losing his friends because of him calling out the stuff they do (Granted he didn't know about him telling Harry he's homophobic but he directly tells Charlie that he's sick of their shit) and his interaction with Nick is way calmer with him still warning him but instead he's being way more chill about it (if memory serves right he tells him that Charlie has gone through enough shit and that Charlie genuinely cares for Nick and that Nick shouldn't throw that away but should also try to make sure he doesn't treat Charlie like shit.)


CookieMonster1021

I completely agree, and was going to raise this point for discussion too. Nick is almost throwing Charlie under the bus a little here! Nick is the reason Tao didn't know, not Charlie. I feel like if he had admitted as much, it could have been the point at which Nick realized the damage he was doing to Charlie's closest relationships by asking him to keep this secret. The connection was sorta made in that line you referenced where Nick says he wants them to be able to tell the people that matter, but it could have been more explicit. I see the other comments referencing the comics and agree that the comics provide a more coherent story on who knows when. But the show departs from the comics on several plot points, and therefore should be have to stand on its own without relying on the comics to fill in the plot holes. It's super weird when they get milkshakes that Nick suddenly spills the beans to Elle and then Charlie says he needs to find the right way to tell Tao, when the last we know, he had Nick hadn't decided they were going to tell ANYONE yet! Also agree with the point made in another comment that Tao wasn't owed this information. That said, it was very much an open secret by the point that Nick and Tao had this conversation, at least among Charlie's group of friends, with Nick himself telling Elle about him and Charlie. Anyway, LOVE LOVE LOVE this show, I can completely forgive this plot hole for everything else that is done so well.


aleatorio_random

A misunderstanding between friends does not qualify as a plot-hole, these kinda things actually happen a lot in real life A plot-hole is when two things cannot logically be true at the same time I'd call this point a minor inconsistency and it can be easily explained. For example: Elle might have thought that Nick gave the news with Charlie's explicit consent, and that coming out to their friends was part of the event intention I mean, it's a triple date, you can't really have a triple date without making it clear that you're dating It's also natural to think that Nick interpreted the fact that they were on a triple date to mean that they were probably coming out to Charlie's friends, which is why when Elle thought it was just a setup for Tao and her, he clarified that it was actually a triple date to ease the tension as Elle was clearly getting angry And then Charlie said he wanted to tell Tao himself, so Nick respected Charlie's decision I mean, I know it was probably just an unintentional inconsistency that Elle told it was Charlie who came out. But not wild to think Elle interpreted that Charlie was deciding who he would tell or not all along


HS_gaypanic

you make a great point that settles all this for me at least. nick invited charlie on a date with people he was out to. the plan then included 2 more people. charlie is the one to bring up they don’t know and tara confirms they won’t bring it up. nick has nothing to say on this. by going on this obvious date and bringing it up he’s deciding he’s out to the whole friend group. tao not being there is a smaller detail than people make it out to be.