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Title- Sex Education
Creators- Laurie Nunn
Cast- Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Aimee Lou-Wood, Connor Swindells plus an ensemble cast
Genre- teen drama, comedy, drama
Length- three series of eight episodes
Platform- Netflix
Rating- 4/5 stars
Plot
Sex Education primarily follows Otis Milburn, a student at Moordale Secondary School. Otis begins the series ambivalent about sex, in part because his single mother Jean is a sex therapist who frequently has affairs with male suitors but is unable to maintain romantic relationships.
Brief summary for all three series taken from Wikipedia
Opinions
In case you didn't know, Sex Education is one of my favourite shows of all time. When it first dropped in 2019, I watched the first series four times in a row because it was that good. This series has been anticipated for a while because of how series two ended and because of how long we've had to wait because of COVID. I have more to say than I can fit into one blog post, so I've picked what I think are the key points/things I want to talk about. My very brief summary is that compared to the first two series, this one was weaker but still good. I wasn't disappointed or bored, I just didn't quite have the same connection as I did to the first two. I easily gave the first two 5 stars without a second thought, but this one gets 4 stars because it just missed the mark for me.
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I think the main storyline was the love square that we had going between Otis, Maeve, Ruby and Issac. I am not a big fan of love triangles or any other shapes, but this one kinda worked. Let's talk about the Otis and Ruby romance first. I was quite surprised by it, but after the events of series two, it did work. It allowed us to finally get to know Ruby better after only getting small insights in the first two series. It was inevitable that the two would break up as they weren't 100% compatible and it would have been cruel of Otis to lead her on when he didn't love her. I hope we get to see more of Ruby following her breakup with Otis as she faded into the background after their relationship ended. This then leads us to Maeve and Issac. I think they work wonderfully as friends, but not as romantic partners. They understood what the other had been through and they brought the best out in each other. A romance would have complicated that. I never hated Issac, I thought that while his actions were wrong, he was just trying to protect his friend. I would like to see them just as friends for the next series. Finally, let's talk about Otis and Maeve. We've had this big "will they, won't they" plotline going since series one and we've still got it going. I am getting a bit tired of it at this point, but if they don't get together properly at some point before the show ends, I will revolt.
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One of the things I really didn't like about this series was how they treated Eric. His actions throughout just felt completely off character. The way he treated Adam was appalling. As someone who had struggled with coming to terms with his own sexuality due to lack of support, Eric should have been much more supportive of Adam and his journey. They've turned Eric into someone who will cheat on his boyfriend without a second thought. He isn't the same character as in series one, he isn't even recognisable as that character. I was very disappointed with his storyline this series.
Speaking of Adam, he has had one of the best, if not the best, story arcs throughout the shows run. We got to see that he wanted to become a better person, not just for those in his life, but for himself. He's slowly beginning to accept his sexuality and he wants to do better at school. We get to learn why he is so quick to violence and why he struggles with his emotions. One of the things that bugged me a bit was how the media reported Adam's journey with his sexuality. They called him gay, when he has clearly stated he was bisexual. This could have been such a good chance to have some strong bisexual rep and it fell a bit flat for me. I hope they return to the topic of Adam's bisexuality. The final episode made me smile and cry for him. He has become one of my favourite characters and Connor Swindells deserves an award for his performance as it was incredible. Michael's storyline was just as beautiful and very similar to Adam's. Series two did him a bit dirty as he wasn't a textbook villain. We got to see that just like his son he wants to change and undo the years of damage by his own father. They were some lovely scenes, especially the ones when he stood up to his arrogant brother. Their storylines were probably my favourite this series and were the ones I found the most interesting.
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Aimee's storyline was another powerful one. It showed her slow recovery from her sexual assault. I liked that they didn't gloss over it and say that she was magically fixed after the bus scene. Her interactions with Jean during her therapy sessions were so strong. The fact that we get to see her hear being told that what happened wasn't her fault was another important moment. Aimee Lou-Wood 100% deserved the BAFTA she won for playing Aimee in series two and she just goes from strength to strength in her performances. Her friendship with Maeve finally saw a few bumps in the road, which is what it needed for it to progress. They are very different people but they are able to fix that and still love each other. It is one of the best relationships in this show. As sad as it was for her to breakup with Steve, I think it needed to happen. It will be nice to see Aimee without a boyfriend.
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I genuinely cried when I thought they might kill Jean off after she experienced complications with her labour. The idea of Otis and Joy not having a mum was so sad. Her overall storyarc was a bit dull. She did have some great lines, such as shouting at the tea and the doctors at the hospital. The show just wouldn't work without her. I am excited to see who could be the father of her baby as it clearly isn't Jakob. My theory at the moment is that it's motorbike Dan as we saw him outside the hospital and we wouldn't have seen him unless it was a clue.
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I think one of my problems with this series was that there were too many characters, which resulted in too many storylines and it felt diluted. There are so many characters that I have't even touched on, like Lily's storyline was heartbreaking. Ola didn't really have one and I found her a bit annoying this series. We didn't get to see some characters, such as Jackson's other mum and Remi Milburn this series. Speaking of Jackson, he just felt like a background character and didn't really have a storyline. The same went for Viv and they were great characters with an iconic friendship. The new characters didn't really add much, other than for Cal to be introduced as a non-binary character and for that to be their sole personality trait. They had one good scene with another non-binary character and that was it. I didn't mind Hope as the villain. I felt that she was under a lot of pressure and that it had damaged her own morals. The parallels with her needing total control in her professional life compared to her lack of control over her body was a strong one. I'd like to see her return, but then her storyline also felt complete. Compared to previous series, there's was just too much going on, but not enough big events.
I am of the belief that series four should be the final one. Have the students finishing their time as secondary school pupils and go off to university. I think a fifth series wouldn't work. We've already reached a point were there are too many characters and therefore too many story arcs to resolve. The writing, performances, directing and overall production were great. This show should go out on a high while it still can.
Here is a list of things I would like to happen in series four:
- Otis and Maeve get together properly
- Adam and Michael to fix their relationship or work towards it, plus Adam competing in dog shows
- Eric figuring out what he wants in a boyfriend and not cheating on them
- Either Mr Hendricks or Miss Sands becoming the new headteacher of Moordale
- Aimee continuing on her journey of recovery
- Ruby to become a more developed character outside her relationship with Otis
- A strong ending of them going to university, with Otis training to become a therapist and Maeve studying English Literature
