Few comedy shows have found their precise niche over the last three years as skillfully as Starstruck. The BBC series created by Rose Matafeo (a verified triple threat who both stars and co-writes the episodes alongside Alice Snedden and Nic Sampson) is now in its third season, and while it does feel like the show is moving toward a natural endpoint, that doesn’t mean the ride is any less heartbreaking or sparkling with humor this time around. We viewers fell in love with the romance between Jessie (Matafeo) and A-list actor Tom Kapoor (Nikesh Patel) when the two first decided to give it a go back in Season 1, only for them to realize in Season 2 that there was a stark difference between the optimistic fantasy of a love story and the day-to-day reality of their vastly divergent lifestyles. The emotional ups and downs that ensued were as entertaining as they were painful to watch — Jessie’s tendency to always try and break the tension with a poorly-timed joke never helped all that much — and maybe we should have known it was too good to be true when the two ultimately reconciled by the finale, professing their love for each other in an inarguably filthy pond.

Season 3 doesn’t waste any time in shattering the remaining illusion. Over a montage that doesn’t demand a single line of significant dialogue — at least, nothing that can be deciphered through a soothing yet haunting use of The Association’s “Never My Love” — Jessie and Tom repeat all the stages of a relationship, from unbridled affection to incongruent views of their future together to ultimately, something that’s become too fractured to repair. Tom’s busy acting career constantly takes him away from home, and given what we already know of Jessie after two seasons, there’s no way she’d ever be content with a semi-long-distance relationship, spending significant stretches of time alone while her boyfriend is off filming another project. By the time we find Jessie sitting in bed, a single tear trailing down her cheek, with Tom framed just out of focus in a chair behind her, the distance between them isn’t just palpable; it’s devastating. But it’s how the show chooses to navigate the aftermath of their split, as they dance both in and out of each other’s orbit and around the idea of getting back together, that makes Season 3 the most quietly bold installment of this series to date.

‘Starstruck’ Season 3 Introduces an Intriguing New Relationship for Jessie
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In the two years since her breakup with Tom, Jessie’s not exactly prioritizing getting back into the dating game. Besides, there are more important events to focus on — like her best friend Kate (Emma Sidi) finally getting married to Ian (Al Roberts), which means Jessie needs to get her maid of honor speech in order, even if she’s still workshopping which jokes are entirely appropriate to tell right up until the moment she’s wielding the mic in front of everyone… and utterly and definitively bombs. It’s another perfect instance of Matafeo’s comedic timing, because even as Jessie might be mortified by the reception she’s receiving (complete with Kate facepalming from the main table and a random, handsome stranger who applauds on his way back from the bathroom, mistaking the resulting silence for the end of Jessie’s speech), you’ll still be laughing through vicarious, toe-curling awkwardness.

While attempting to dodge Tom (who’s also been invited as a guest) later on in the night, Jessie just so happens to encounter said handsome stranger, who suggests that the fastest way for her to stop focusing on her ex is to share a friendly kiss with someone she barely knows — and what better place to do that than at a wedding? It’s the first real instance we get of Jessie sharing a promising spark with someone new, and better still, he seems like he’s a refreshingly normal dude rather than the duds she’s been attempting to date post-Tom. Lorne MacFadyen brings a unique potency to the part of Liam the electrician, a Scottish Glen Powell in looks as well as charisma, leaving no doubt in your mind that if Jessie plans to make it official with this guy, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

RELATED: ‘Starstruck’ Season 2 Recap: Everything to Remember Before Season 3

‘Starstruck’ Season 3 Revolves Around More Than Romantic Love
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If Starstruck Season 3 were only about Jessie moving out of Tom’s place and moving on, though, it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as it is — but, as it turns out, she’s not the only one who’s found someone new within those two years since they last laid eyes on each other. Not only is Tom dating again, but he’s engaged to Clem (Constance Labbé), a winsome French actress who isn’t just designed to fill the tired “other woman” trope. Instead, we see Clem warmly embrace Jessie and the friends she and Tom still share, as well as skillfully taking Tom’s agent Cath (a delightfully shrewd Minnie Driver) down a peg or two when needed. The overhanging question of Season 3 might be about whether Tom and Jessie still have feelings for each other — and whether the attraction that exists is even enough to sustain a relationship anymore — but it also begs a separate question about whether the people who get caught up in their emotional yo-yo-ing, like Clem and Liam, deserve to be put in that position.

Although Jessie struggles to understand the magnetic pull of Tom’s presence, it doesn’t mean the show neglects the importance of her other relationships, with Kate chief among them. Now that her best friend is about to give birth, it’s a precipice for both women that feels equally exhilarating and terrifying, especially as they start to wonder (even out loud) how the dynamic might change. “Will you still tell me all your secrets when the baby is born?” Kate sleepily asks Jessie, in a quietly intimate scene between them halfway through the season. “Can I tell the baby all your secrets?” Jessie’s response is in the affirmative, but the entire moment feels tinged with a bigger question of uncertainty — all of her friends are clearly progressing towards the next stages in their lives, everything involving marriage and kids and homeownership. Is it even possible for Jessie to maintain the same relationships that she did before those milestones, or is she about to get left behind because she still doesn’t have every single one of those things herself?

‘Starstruck’ Season 3 Is Ultimately About Jessie’s Personal Journey
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What makes this season of Starstruck the show’s most relatable yet is how it lets Jessie step out on her own, without necessarily needing to rely on the element of a romance or a relationship to define herself. Some of the questions she’s grappling with are immediately identifiable to those of us who have wondered the exact same thing about how far we’ve progressed in our own lives, but some dilemmas are totally brand new for the series. Perhaps it’s most fitting that Jessie’s biggest wakeup call comes in the form of her bluntest friend Amelia (played by Snedden), who offers some last-minute perspective on her birthday of all days to “just appreciate what you have while you have it.” From that moment on, it feels like Jessie finally lets herself adopt that philosophy after almost an entire season of trying and failing to get it right the first time.

If there’s one message that Starstruck Season 3 offers up, it’s that this has first and foremost always been a show about Jessie herself, someone who is better known for messing up and making mistakes almost on instinct. But it’s also a season about how true growth, emotional or otherwise, doesn’t happen without moving forward rather than taking too many steps back into the past — no matter how appealing that past might look on paper. This time around, the show also has more distinct fall vibes, with one episode even revolving around a friend-cation booked in a countryside cottage, but don’t mistake the cozy aesthetic as a sign of more relaxed storytelling. Instead, Starstruck seems poised to redefine both itself and its winsome leading lady once again, just as it did when it stole our hearts all the way back in Season 1.

Rating: B+

The Big Picture

Starstruck Season 3 continues to deliver heartbreaking and humorous moments as Jessie and Tom’s relationship faces new challenges. Jessie finds a promising spark with Liam, a refreshingly normal guy, leading her to question if it’s time to move on from Tom. The season explores Jessie’s personal journey and growth, emphasizing the importance of moving forward and appreciating what she has.

Starstruck Season 3 premieres September 28, with all six episodes debuting on Max.