Harper McLean (Asher Yasbincek) is a terror towards Amerie Wadia (Ayesha Madon) in Netflix comedy TV shows, Heartbreak High stands out with its sharp sense of humor, realism, willingness to address serious topics, and diverse cast. One of the more important characters in the series, Harper, has had quite the arc.

Harper McLean was Amerie's best friend before the start of the series, but something happened at a musical festival a week before the series premiere, "Map B**ch", that caused them to have a falling out. This event is shown in bits and pieces throughout season 1, but the full scope of their problem is not revealed until the finale. Harper has always been a tough cookie, but in season 1, she's downright hostile, and it's hard to empathize with her. Even after her backstory is revealed and she redeems herself, it can be difficult to view her with any sympathy.

Harper Treats Amerie Very Poorly In Heartbreak High

Season 1 Harper Is Nearly Irredeemable

From the first episode, Harper comes out swinging as the villain, literally. After a heated exchange over the authorship of the "incest map," a crude diagram of everyone's sexual history at Hartley High, Harper punches Amerie hard enough in the nose to send her to the medical wing with a bloody face. Harper does more than physical harm, too. She's involved in not one, but two, love triangles that directly hurt the people she is "supposed" to care about. First, she's secretly sleeping with Dusty (Joshua Heuston), whom Amerie has long had a crush on.

What's worse, even after Harper its she slept with him, and Harper and Amerie appear to be getting back on the right foot, she sleeps with Dusty again, and this time brings in another of Amerie's crushes. After she finds out Dusty was sleeping with Harper, Amerie sets her sights on Malakai (Thomas Weatherall), and she ends up losing her virginity to him. Just one episode later, Harper ends up having a threesome with Dusty and Malakai.

Her refusal to take responsibility for her actions makes many of her scenes all the more frustrating to watch. The worst part of all of this is that Harper completely refuses to explain why she is ghosting her former best friend. It's finally revealed in the season 1 finale that while Amerie was drunkenly hooking up with Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish) after the music festival, Harper was violently protecting herself from her dad and was escaping a near-sexual assault by Chook (Tom Wilson).

It's not fair for Harper to hold Amerie's mistake over her head when she wasn't in control.

Harper tried to knock on Amerie's window to find somewhere to stay that night, but Amerie was too drunk and distracted to notice. It's definitely not a good friend move by Amerie, but she had had so much to drink, she doesn't even the night. It's not fair for Harper to hold Amerie's mistake over her head when she wasn't in control.

While Harper Is At Fault, She's Also Had A Difficult Upbringing

Harper's Father Is A Violent Menace

Haper is truly unlikeable for a lot of reasons, and Heartbreak High doesn't make it easy to root for her. However, there are a few reasons why fans should give her a bit of a break sometimes. Harper comes from a very troubled home. It turns out, the reason she was out on the streets after the music festival is because her father, Justin (Ben Oxenbould), is demanding money from her, presumably for meth, for what is probably not the first time, based on her reaction.

After she flees Chook and the others, who suggest they will sexually assault her, she runs to Amerie's but is kept out of her friend's home, too. With no other choice, Harper heads back home. There, her own father attacks her while in a meth-induced psychosis. That's when she stabs him with a knife. This is an extreme night for Harper, but it's not entirely out of the ordinary for her. She has had a terrible home life, and while that doesn't excuse her actions, it should be taken into , particularly when you're finding it difficult to accept her actions.

Asher Yasbincek's Comments About Harper

Yasbincek Was Concerned With Harper's Home Life

Asher Yasbincek has said how important Harper's home life is to her character. She said (via YoungEntertainmentMag),

"I definitely made sure I was really informed and really aware of what [Harper] was going through at that time when we started filming... The stuff with my dad was probably the most rewarding to shoot because it was my biggest challenge on the project."

Yasbincek was using Harper's home life as the basis for her character, and it was from that character trait that she decided who Harper would be in season 1. A lot of how Harper behaves and how she interacts with Amerie stems from her relationship with her father. It's not just a difficult relationship, it's an actively dangerous one. It requires her to pick up a knife to defend herself.

When you're fighting for your life against your father, then a fist fight with your friend may not seem like the worst thing.

When you're fighting for your life against your father, then a fist fight with your friend may not seem like the worst thing. In Harper's worldview, she's having something akin to an argument, while to Amerie, a punch to the face is received just as most people would receive it: with anger, hate, and fear.

Harper Has Completely Changed Into A Protagonist In Heartbreak High Season 2

Heartbreak High Season 3 Should See Harper And Amerie As Good Of Friends As Ever

After the events of season 1, Harper has done a complete 180. She and Amerie are back to being friends, and after hearing about what Harper had to go through, Amerie is extra-protective around her friend. In Heartbreak High season 2, Harper has had to deal with the fallout of Chook attempting to sexually assault her and her father attacking her. She's positioned as one of the protagonists, and with how much she is forced to take on, it's no wonder she acted less than kind the previous season.

In the Heartbreak High season 2 finale, Harper and Amerie are trapped in the school as it burns. Harper is nearly unconscious from smoke inhalation by the time she's rescued. By being the center of attention for that finale, along with Amerie, Heartbreak High has now officially positioned Harper back on the side of the protagonists. Heartbreak High season 3 began production in November 2024, and it will be sure to see Harper and Amerie grow even closer as friends (via Netflix).