The charming Sex Education brings to mind Richard Curtis movies, if they were set in a high school instead of a bookstore on Notting Hill and Hugh Grant was a high-schooler. All that is expected from the gospel according to Curtis are present and correct. There are the sexual misadventures, the love, the tears and the witty comebacks in proper British accents with wall-to-wall pop music providing a rousing background score.
Like comfort food, all the ingredients including the big competition that a parent makes it to at the last moment, the acerbic, conflicted wheelchair-bound cutie, the gay best friend, the school dance and the musical appear at the appropriate moments. And it is not a bad thing at all.
At the end of Season 1, Otis Milburn, awkward around girls, with trouble masturbating, but no trouble doling out sex advice, kisses Ola. The sex clinic Otis and bad girl Maeve run is in trouble as the two have a falling out and Maeve might be kicked out of school. Adam, headmaster Groff’s son, who bullied Otis’ best friend, Eric, for the longest time, kisses him. Rich, popular and pretty Aimee quits the mean brigade to stand up for Maeve. Headboy and swimming champion Jackson breaks up with Maeve. Lily, who writes alien erotica is no closer to losing her virginity.
The grown-ups from Otis’ commitment-phobic sex therapist mum Jean to her lover Jakob (who is also Ola’s dad) and teachers —Miss Sands, Mr Hendricks and headmaster Groff — have their share of troubles too.
- Season 2
- Episodes: 8
- Run time: 46 to 52 minutes
- Created by Laurie Nunn
- Starring: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Connor Swindells, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Alistair Petrie, Mimi Keene, Aimee Lou Wood, Chaneil Kular, Simone Ashley, Tanya Reynolds, Mikael Persbrandt, Patricia Allison, James Purefoy
Season 2 opens with a bang with Moordale High in the midst of chlamydia outbreak. Otis is in a relationship and has to stop talking and put all his theory into practice. Adam is sent off to military school, Jean is asked to revise the sex education curriculum at Moordale much to Groff’s disgust. Jackson finds a new interest and Maeve joins the Quizheads. Absent parents Otis’ father Remi and Maeve’s mum, Erin, make an appearance.
New characters introduced this season include Rahim, a transfer student from France who is interested in Eric, Viv, a Brainiac who has no time for friends but coaches Jackson in English and Maths and new boy Steve who become Aimee’s boyfriend. Sex continues to be central to the show with discussions on pansexuality and how to douche. With Otis otherwise occupied, it is Jean who is dispensing advice to worried teenagers and a few grown-ups as well.
The excellent writing from season one continues this time around with arcs staying true to the character, and not going off on random tangents just for ratings or to push the story along. For instance, no one but Lily could have designed and staged that psychedelic sexy version of Romeo and Juliet . Aimee’s reaction to the incident on the bus also rings true as does her decision to bake cakes.
The acting is top notch. Leading the field is Asa Butterfield who makes for a very likeable Otis. Gillian Anderson is pitch perfect as Jean, the mum everyone would love and hate to have. Ncuti Gatwa is a show-stealer as the flamboyant Eric, while Emma Mackey as Maeve has traded her pink hair for black and is as rebellious as ever.
Apart from the big four, Connor Swindells (Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson), Alistair Petrie (Groff), Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee), Tanya Reynolds (Lily), Mikael Persbrandt (Jakob), Patricia Allison (Ola) and James Purefoy (Remi) have breathed life into their roles creating characters we care about. Season 2 ends with many fascinating openings for the next installment, which will be very welcome. It will be another chance to hang out with these cool dudes and dudettes as they figure out important life lessons, as well as the proper time to wait to respond to a text from someone you are interested in.
Sex Education streams on Netflix
