An artist’s rendition of characters Maeve Wiley (Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey, left) and Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield, right) from Netflix’s “Sex Ed”, sharing a quiet moment outside of a gas station. Graphic by Laura Hinojosa ‘23
By Anika Singh ’24
Staff Writer; Web Editor
Netflix’s newest season of “Sex Education” allows viewers to feel as if they are eavesdropping on the latest gossip during a high school passing period, while also providing catharsis for the trauma that accompanies being a teenager. The third season, released on Netflix on Sept. 17, brings audiences back to some of their favorite characters from the town of Moordale. “Sex Education” has its strong points when it comes to portraying teenagers on an emotional, cultural and sexual level, even if it exhausts certain storylines and disregards promising subplots.
As always, the show does not shy away from sexually explicit scenes, beginning with a montage of characters exploring their sexuality, set to “I Think We’re Alone Now” by the American power pop band The Rubinoos. This chaotic and raunchy scene sets viewers up to expect the wild ride to come.
In this season, Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), Moordale Secondary School’s amateur sex therapist, his best friend, Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa) and an ever-expanding cast of characters. This season provides an exciting overarching plot, showcasing conflict between the Moordale administration and students along with relatable teen antics, hooking viewers with the introduction of new characters and unresolved drama from Otis’s past.
“Sex Education” excels when it comes to representation, partly because it faces taboo conversations head-on. The season discusses sexual harassment from the perspective of the victim. It also embraces queer topics and even fetishes and kinks, often through the lens of literal sex education provided by Otis and his mother, Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson), a practicing sex therapist. This season explores various problems that students at Moordale face, including Eric’s new relationship with his bully-turned-boyfriend Adam Groff (Connor Swindells) and Otis’ neverending miscommunication with his longtime romantic interest, Maeve Wiley (Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey). As these issues threaten students’ relationships and friendships, an off-putting new headmistress, Hope Haddon (Jemima Kirke), arrives at Moordale with a conservative agenda. Her immediate imposition of dated rules, such as mandatory school uniforms and a crackdown on sexually explicit art, imply that Moordale’s expressive atmosphere is in jeopardy.
Against this changing setting, the show provides a nuanced outlook on gender and sexuality through the introduction of a new character — Cal (Dua Saleh), a nonbinary student who is frequently targeted by Hope for their gender identity and expression. Cal’s rebellion against the strictly gendered environment is a compelling subplot to witness. The blatant ignorance displayed by some of Cal’s peers and the new headmistress, who targets Cal’s call for inclusivity at Moordale, makes viewers root for Cal. It’s refreshing to see “Sex Education” bring up everyday issues faced by nonbinary individuals, while keeping their identity relevant to the plot. We see Cal, along with their friends Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) and Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu), tackle issues about sex and gender. Throughout the season, characters advocate for non-gendered bathrooms and non-gendered school uniforms. With this story line, “Sex Education” establishes its willingness to interrogate the gender binary as part of its commitment to diversity.
While the show succeeds in bringing up social issues, such as sexual health and societal pressures on teens, the show falls flat when it comes to developing characters’ storylines from previous seasons. The will-they-won’t-they plotline between Maeve and Otis, which has existed since season one, is exhausting to keep up with. At the end of the second season, the pair were left to deal with a miscommunication involving a love confession from Otis via voicemail that was deleted before it reached Maeve. As their wires continue to cross, it becomes overwhelming for the audience to follow without losing interest.
In addition to dragging out plotlines, the show completely sidelines several of its old subplots, such as the relationship between Otis’ ex-girlfriend Ola Nyman (Patricia Allison) and the alien-obsessed Lily Iglehart (Tanya Reynolds), the fan-favorite queer couple. The neglect of this relationship illustrates how the show’s writers prolong plotlines that should have an expiration date. Lily’s quirkiness and hobby of writing sexually explicit stories make her a target for Hope, bringing her into a more prominent role. The couple, though, barely has enough shared screen time to explore their relationship, and when they do, it is shown in passing, or only to address Ola’s uncertainty. In one scene, Ola expresses feeling invalidated by Lily devoting the majority of her time to writing erotic science fiction instead of acknowledging Ola’s emotions. Though this scene highlights their relationship, it does not make sense for their storyline. Toward the end of season two, the two appear extremely happy, alien erotica and all. This dilemma appears suddenly, confusing audiences and adding yet another plotline to a season already spread too thin.
Despite the lack of focus on some characters and plotlines from previous seasons, “Sex Education” succeeds in delivering witty humor, especially coming from Jean. Jean stands out as a recurring character who lives up to her portrayal in earlier seasons, providing well-timed jokes to lighten the mood as she tries her best to make light of her difficult pregnancy. Jean’s character epitomizes “Sex Education” at its strongest, tackling difficult subjects through humor while providing quality advice.
The third season of “Sex Education” has its flaws, but it makes up for them through its socially relevant plotlines, strong recurring characters and its perfect mixture of humor and sentimentality.