We mentioned in our review of the second season of Sex Education that the show had improved from the first season and turned into a wholesome ensemble. The trend continues with season three, which is, perhaps, the best season yet. There is character development across the board, and the introduction of an antagonist for Moordale Secondary’s students raises the narrative stakes.
Otis (Asa Butterfield) has been hooking up with his schoolmate Ruby (Mimi Keene) secretly all summer, and now that school has started, he realizes that he doesn’t want to keep it secret anymore. Maeve (Emma Mackey) still has feelings for him, but she wants to move on as well with Isaac (George Robinson), until he reveals that he deleted Otis’ message.
Meanwhile, after Michael Groff (Alistair Petrie) was removed as head teacher, his replacement, Hope (Jemima Korle) arrives for the new semester, sporting a friendly facade while being determined to impose order on the students. Also, Jean (Gillian Anderson) tries to build a new family with Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt) but she eventually discovers that she has nothing in common with him.
There are a handful of other stories going on as well, including Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) dealing with her trauma from last season’s bus incident, Adam (Connor Swindell) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) being in different emotional places and comfort levels with their relationship, Lily (Tanya Reynolds) dealing with being kink-shamed for her fascination with alien erotica, and Mr. Groff dealing with a mid-life crisis living separated from his wife.
The show balances a plethora of themes and tones, including lewdity, romance, non-binary sexual orientations, therapeutic conversations and cringe comedy. It somehow manages to do this without making a mess and losing its identity.
One of the unexpected stars of this season is Ruby, who is fleshed out and given layers that evolve her beyond the stereotypical queen bee persona.
In fact, she struck such a chord among viewers that shippers have gotten into heated arguments about whether she is better for Otis than Maeve. Adam also gets in touch with his softer side and finds his happy place, thanks to help from his teacher Emily Sands (Rakhee Thakrar).
The show also tackles the titular subject matter in a different way, as Hope tries to bring back old fashioned, restrictive methods to teach students. This culminates in a daring act of rebellion by the students as they embrace their identity as students of ‘the sex school’ in a way that can only happen in fiction. In the aftermath, however, we see a vulnerable side of Hope, and Otis helps her deal with her grief.
If there’s one annoying element in this season, it’s how it stretches out the ‘will they/won’t they’ dynamic between Otis and Maeve.
While the writers do progress things between these two, they keep the viewers hanging by giving Maeve a detour in the US. Maybe they want to keep things interesting for the next (and possibly last) season.
Sex Education also makes inroads in portraying LBGTQ characters. While Jackson develops feelings for non-binary newcomer Cal (Kedar Williams-Stirling), Cal isn’t comfortable exploring intimacy with Jackson, and they feel that Jackson still sees them mostly as a girl. Eric also gets to explore his sexuality when he goes to attend a wedding in Nigeria, where homosexuality is illegal, and he discovers an underground scene where queer people indulge in and celebrate their desire.
Sex Education has grown into one of the finest shows in Netflix’s library, and given the sheer amount of content they put out, that’s impressive. Hopefully it will continue its momentum as the show heads into the fourth season.