After the success of its first season, Sex Education returned for a second series in January, continuing to follow the lives (and sexual escapades) of Moordale’s staff and students …and Otis’ mum. Unafraid to tackle the growing pains of adolescence, Sex Education navigates the often difficult-to-speak-about aspects of our personal lives with comedy and heart.
There are many things which I enjoyed about the second season, and a few things which I didn’t. Ultimately, I enjoyed the second dose of Sex Education as much as the first. It is without doubt that the show’s ability to be both entertaining and informative is one of its greatest successes. That being said, here are a few things which I loved about the second season and a few things I did not (spoilers!).
Jackson’s Character Development
Jackson was very much a secondary character in the first season as his primary role was to be Maeve’s love interest. He had some relationship troubles with his parents but ultimately, he felt a little two dimensional compared to the other characters on the show. This season however, we were given a deeper insight into his complex relationship with his swimming career and his mum. Purposely injuring himself to the point of being unable to train, Jackson was able to pursue other interests after Viv confronted him about his future plans. Jackson became so much more than his ‘jock’ identity assigned to him in the first season. He became friends with social outcast Viv, excelled in something academic (and actually put effort into it!) and didn’t spend time chasing sex or girls (as A LOT of the Sex Education characters do). We also finally see him admit to his mum how he feels about swimming, which was a nice bit of closure after watching him internally struggle for two seasons. He is no longer Jackson the Jock.
Sexual Harassment
Amy’s run in with the blue-jacketed bus masturbator opened up important conversations surrounding sexual harassment. Amy’s insistence that she is ‘silly’ for wasting police time reflects how many young women may feel when confronted with more ‘subtle’ instances of sexual harassment: that they are simply minor inconveniences. Amy’s constant reassurance that she is ‘totally fine’ juxtaposed with her deteriorating mental health (imagining the perpetrator’s presence, unable to get on the bus and not wanting to be touched) demonstrated how such events can be detrimental to a person’s well-being, particularly if they don’t admit it. When the girls of Moordale shared their own experiences, it displayed how sexual harassment can take various forms, and urged us to consider how the behaviour’s of others (and perhaps ourselves) can create a lasting negative effect. My only critique is that Sex Education considers sexual harassment a female-only problem. It would have been interesting to see how men might also experience such acts.
Does anyone actually care about Otis and Ola’s relationship?
Otis and Ola’s relationship is lacking something: a relationship. We mostly see these two interact in group settings. And, when they are not in a group space, they are over-the-top awkward with each other (unless they’re playing video games). I never cared much for the Otis/Ola/Maeve love triangle because I just couldn’t believe that the relationship was real in the first place.
WHY WHY WHY does Eric choose ADAM?
Adam is my least favourite character on the show, mostly due to the fact that he says about five sentences over the duration of the second season, and when he does open his mouth it is just a monotonous drone. I’m still unsure if he has a personality. Eric on the other hand, who has enough personality to go around the entire Moordale student body, gets into a relationship with handsome Frenchie Rahim. Rahim, unlike Adam, doesn’t spend his time incessantly bullying Eric before proclaiming his love for him. Rather, he is straight-forward and to the point about his interest in Eric. They go on a few dates,he meets Eric’s family and they go to Eric’s church together. Wow! Eric really has something good here! …Until Eric’s mother makes a comment that he is just ‘not himself’ around Rahim. Perhaps a valid point if we consider new-relationship jitters an argument for ‘not being yourself’ (I don’t). What I don’t understand is how this translates to ‘dump Rahim and get with Adam’! I don’t think Eric was himself either when he was looking over his shoulder every two minutes at school worried he was going to get slammed in a locker. And yet, Sex Education wants us to believe that Eric would choose Adam over Rahim because he managed to confront his coming-out fears by holding Eric’s hand. I’m still mad about it (poor Rahim).
The Rushed Ruby/Otis sex storyline
Let’s be real, Ruby and Otis’ sex storyline was just a crude way to get a lesson on the morning-after-pill. Would Ruby really sleep with Otis, even if she was intoxicated? Would Otis even be able to have sex with Ruby? What about consent? How did they even end up sneaking off into the upstairs bedroom? Did Ruby approach Otis? Did Otis approach Ruby? Will this ever be spoken of again? Would this have been a better lesson on the importance of finding lost condoms up your vagina? So many unanswered questions. But hey, at least we found out that if you want to get the morning-after-pill, you have to get it yourself!
I want more Amy and Maeve!
I really do not care about Maeve and Otis.
I'm With Her 