Starstruck Season 3 Review: Same Heart and Charm, Even Bigger Feelings

After three seasons, it’s time to say goodbye to Jessie, Tom, Kate, and the Starstruck crew with a season that offers fewer laughs but just as much heart, charm, and solid character work as the ones before it.

Two years have passed since the Starstruck Season 2 finale, and we saw Jessie and Tom’s reunion in the lake. In that time, quite a lot has happened, from Kate and Ian having a baby and getting married to Jessie and Tom breaking up and Tom getting engaged to Clem.

That latter is essentially the catalyst for this season as complications arise, feelings bubble up again, and new paths are revealed for the characters as everyone closes out a chapter and opens another.

Growth Is the Name of the Game

The final season of Starstruck sees Jessie surrounded by friends within her circle, dealing with obstacles of adulthood, from marriage to impending parenthood. So, it’s no surprise that we see her deal with sorting her own adult life out.

I love how it’s approached throughout the season, with a good measure of self-deprecation and comedy, making Jessie’s overall arc feel far too relatable. Intertwined with the humor is a stunning amount of earnestness from what we see in Jessie and everyone within the group.

Ian spends most of the season slightly manic and anxious as he and Kate prepare to care for another human being. Though most of his antics are played for laughs amid the tension brewing around him, he gets a wonderfully raw moment in the hospital waiting room in the finale.

Sharing his fears that he will fail fatherhood with Tom is another grounded moment that pulls at the heartstrings and is entirely understandable. Nikesh Patel and Al Roberts play the moment between the two so sweetly.

At that moment, you realize precisely how ingrained Tom has become in Jessie’s friendship group, and there’s something so lovely about that. He manages to parse out what Kate’s situation is during the engagement party and lends Ian an ear while offering some advice his own father imparted to him.

One of the more surprising aspects of the season is how much Steve and Sarah’s relationship and dynamic come further to the fore for the viewers’ attention. We get to see how they function as both parents and a couple despite the façade they put in place for their friends. I love Jessie’s closeness to them, even babysitting their daughter while they go out with Sarah’s boss.

It leads to a sweet, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when a drunk Steve comes in to check on their daughter, and Jessie gets a moment of honesty from her friend about the prospect of having another child.

Admittedly, none of these beautiful moments are subtle, but they add a layer of nuance to what we see Jessie and Tom work through in a way that lets you understand where they stand on what they want clearly by the final scene of the series.

Best Friend Break Ups & Babies

As much as we see Jessie’s evolving relationships with Tom and Liam, the final season also shows viewers a fascinating aspect of adulthood, the changing dynamic as the prospect of a child looms.  

Kate’s pregnancy leads to interesting beats throughout the final season that offer some perspective on her changing relationship with Jessie. She tries to maintain a grasp on how things are between them without accepting that growth requires change. The best example is when she asks Jessie if she’ll still be the keeper of all her secrets when the baby’s born.

The way it’s delivered may initially feel like a throwaway line, but you can see from Jessie’s expression that she understands what her best friend needs. This need for assurances makes their friendship break up at the end of episode four and pull at your heartstrings. The dynamic has changed because of all their attempts at keeping things the same.

Emma Sidi and Rose Matafeo do an excellent job playing the anger, hurt, and betrayal they each feel at unearthing those secrets so well. Those feelings make their makeup more grounded and heartwarming before the baby is born.

A Bittersweet Ending to a Wonderful Story, And I Have a Lot of Feelings

Going into the final season of Starstruck, there were two ways I thought the show could end: either leaning into the romantic comedy origins of the series or choosing to go the more grounded route, offering viewers a different kind of “happy ending” than they anticipated.

It’s funny that I began watching the season being afraid of the latter. By the time Jessie walks out of that hospital, you understand why it ends the way it does while also being heartbroken at how things end for Jessie and Tom. (Yes, I contain multitudes.)

Rose Matafeo and Nikesh Patel do a fantastic job breaking viewers’ hearts in the chapel scene. The way that they try to keep things light at the beginning, joking about what Jessie and Tom’s wedding would have looked like while the inevitability of the end of their relationship lingers over them, leaves you speechlessly taking it all in.

The fact that they comfort each other with the knowledge that they still want to love each other while also facing the truth that they want different things out of life leaves me feeling literally all the feelings.

It’s just so heartbreaking in an eye-blurring, chest-tightening way that leaves you disappointed but understanding completely why it ends this way, and that’s what makes me appreciate what the show has been able to do.

Overall, the final season of Starstruck may have fewer laughs. Still, the heart and charm that’s been there from the beginning remains, just with a dose of more grounded storytelling and introspection, all in the span of six thirty-minute episodes.

All these big feelings and relatable moments make for a perfect end to this chapter and the beginning of another as their stories continue without us.

Random Thoughts

• There is an interesting Fleabag-esque aspect to how Jessie and Tom’s final scene plays out. But while we see Fleabag grow in the final season in the way she deals with things, we get what feels like the beginnings of that in the last moments of Starstruck. Honestly, I could write another thousand words on this. But I will spare you all.
• Amelia gets the designation of unsung hero of the season as she tells Jessie like it is on her birthday at the pub. Telling her to “get a grip” and “stop being a little bitch” is hilarious and a solid piece of honest advice that all friends should offer when the moment calls for it.
• I love Minnie Driver, but given the season’s tone, I appreciate that they keep Cath contained in Episode Three’s interactions.
• Clem and Liam were fine additions to the final season, not being overly utilized while allowing viewers to see little moments of each together with their respective partners.
• A question still lingers on my mind as she drives off with Liam: If marriage or babies aren’t in the plans, what happens when the inevitable proposal comes around?
• Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to sit and work through these big feelings.

What did you think of this final season of Starstruck? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

Starstruck is now available to stream on Max.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

What to Stream in October: Our Flag Means Death, Totally Killer, Lessons in Chemistry