Sex Education’s second season premiered on Netflix earlier this month, continuing the streaming service’s steady outpouring of edgy, weird, hormone-centric exclusives. Over the past few years, Sex Education, along with The End of the F***ing World, and Big Mouth, have amassed a cult following among teenagers and young adults.
First released in January of last year, the show quickly became a fan-favorite for its diversity and positive message about sex. Following up right where season one left off, this season continues exploring the antics of Moordale Secondary School students—specifically those of resident sex therapist-wannabe Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) as he deals with his complicated relationship with his new girlfriend Ola Nyman (Patricia Allison) and his lingering feelings for his sex-clinic business partner Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey).
This season, however, dials the weirdness up to eleven. Right from the get-go, it becomes obvious that they’re not going to hold back, clearly shown with a horrifyingly-vivid montage of Otis masturbating in increasingly-public locations, culminating with him getting caught by his sex-therapist mom Jean (Gillian Anderson) in her car. This display of unrestraint serves a prelude for the rest of the season, setting up Jean’s involvement in the actual sex education of her son and his peers. His mother’s involvement in his school starts to pose problems for Otis and Maeve’s sex clinic, as their clients start flocking to her scholarly, free advice. Even more problems arise for their sex clinic as Otis’ girlfriend Ola starts to feel jealous about his previous feelings for Maeve and demands that he stop talking to her.
While I personally don’t like when shows centered around teenagers start to focus too heavily on the parents (cough cough, Gossip Girl), Sex Education figures out how best to balance the two in a way that doesn’t detract the show’s primary viewers, teenagers and young adults. The issues that the adults in Sex Education face clearly mirror those of the primary characters. For example, Maureen Groff’s (Samantha Spiro) increasing frustration with her husband (Alistair Pettrie) ignoring her leads her to seek advice from Jean, and later, file for divorce.
In dealing with its main theme of sex-positivity, the show departs from its previous season by not specifically developing these ideas through the course of the sex clinic, but rather through the events that surround it––focusing more on the lives of people outside of them giving or receiving therapy. There’s more of an emphasis on the characters’ relationships, showcasing a more direct and practical display of sex-positivity. Characters like bad-boy Adam Groff (Connor Swindells) and Lily’s (Tanya Reynolds) gradual acceptance of their sexuality, Otis’ romantic relationships, his best friend Eric’s (Ncuti Gatwa) newfound confidence with his sexuality, and the relationships of all the parents highlight the main message of the show: you love who you love.
