Sex Education
Cast: Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa
Creator : Laurie Nunn
When the first season of Netflix's Sex Education dropped, it instantly blew up because a, Gillian Anderson was in it and b, it was ground-breaking. Set in a British high-school Moordale, the show looked like the typical American teen movies people grew up watching- from Grease to She’s All That, which was ironical in itself. The accent, mannerisms and slangs were British, but the show felt American.
However, Sex Education took people’s expectations and turned it around completely. It was based on Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), a lanky awkward teenager who starts an underground sex therapist business with rebel girl Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey, who looked like a young Margot Robbie) because he has more education about sexual and reproductive health than the whole high-school, thanks to his therpist mother (Anderson).
The first season was also amazing for its diversity with multi-ethnic, multi-religious people with various sexualities. The show was quirky and investigative and hilarious – however, it ended with multiple heartbreaks with people waiting for an entire year for season 2, which thankfully did not disappoint.
The second season started where the previous one left off. Otis, who is a year older and experienced, has mastered the act of self-pleasure which creates extremely difficult situations for him, often in public places. This acts as a set up of the show, a series of events where a bunch of kids come of age and try to navigate their teenage years. Likewise, on the first day of the new term, there is mass hysteria about the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, which points out to the obvious failure of sex education curriculum in Moordale. The chairman of the school decides to hire Otis' mother Jean. The presence of his mother on campus as a sex therapist is not only embarrassing for Otis now, but also bad for his business.
The show portrays sex and sex education in the realest of forms, and never tries to airbrush it in any way. All the characters have their own journey. Otis has a girlfriend now, Ola, but he is actually in love with Maeve.
Maeve likes Otis back but he is now in a relationship with someone else and she has to navigate her life in a caravan as a school-drop out with a runaway drug-dealing brother and an abandoning user mother. Otis' bestfriend, Eric, played by the charming Ncuti Gatwa, is the best part of the show. Unlike the last season where he deals with bullying, homophobia and heartbreak, this time Eris is happier, healthier and accepted.
Many other characters get extremely interesting character arcs. Many of these characters actually become aware of their sexuality, and the moments of self realisation are so pure. A certain character realises that they are pansexual, another learns that being asexual does not mean that she is broken, a certain male character comes out as bisexual – and these are executed perfectly without any shred of objection or caricature. The ethnic diversity in the show is also commendable. The people of colour in the show are not tokens, the women have different interests and fulfilling character arcs. People of various body types are represented and there is also the character of Isaac, played by George Robinson, a disabled teen who has a very big effect on the destiny of some major characters.
However, one of the most commendable feat by the show is how it deals a sexual harassment storyline. In a show like this, it is very easy to only show the bright and fun side of sex without addressing the fact that not all touches are welcome and not a lot of time people fully understand what consent is.
The ensemble cast is amazing with their performance but Ncuti Gatwa as Eric, Connor Swindells as Adam, Aimee Lou Wood as Aimee, Alistair Petrie as the dictatorial headmaster steal the show, sometimes from the main characters. A special mention goes out to Chinenye Ezeudu who plays Viv, a character so real that is very rarely written for TV. Asa Butterfield and Emma Mackey make you root for them, and even when there are much less scenes with the two of them together, the chemistry is unmissable.
It isn’t known yet if Sex Education is coming back for a season 3 or not but we are praying that it does because the show leaves us with everything sorted except one major, excruciating cliff-hanger. Sex Education is a show that you must watch on a weekend, relaxed. Extremely binge-worthy, the eight hours will end before you know it.
Rating: 4/5
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