Therapy is back in session. We're back and the teenagers are still (somewhat) alright. If you thought we saw it all from season 1, I'm here to tell you we haven't. Not even close. Season 2 of Sex Education opens up to the revelation that Otis finally reached the finish line and can't seem to stop. He's finally comfortable with himself and the fact he has a girlfriend now. Otis, played by Asa Butterfield, also isn't currently doing his underground sex therapy sessions at school since Maeve, played by Emma Mackey, got suspended in season 1. It's going great... until it's not. Moordale High nearly crumbles to the ground as it deals with rumors of an STI breakout. This rocks the student body and their parents to full-on panic mode. It becomes quickly apparent that Otis's sex advice skills are what Moordale High needs, especially when his best friend Eric, played by Ncuti Gatwa, seems to have caught an admirer's eye. This season hit it off with a bang - literally. The drama was instant and stayed there. It seemed that everyone had relationship problems this season. I counted at least four characters who were conflicted about who they should be with. Four! I loved these new bits of love conflict, but I know a lot of people aren't into that. (In the words of Marie Kondo, I love mess.) Ironically, the parts that shined the most this season didn't even involve romance. Jackson, played by Kedar Williams-Stirling, is still feeling the pressure from season 1, so he starts a friendship with awkward genius Viv, played by Chinenye Ezeudu, by convincing her to tutor him. Their friendship is an odd one, and yet it works so well against everything else. The fact that the relationship between two teens, no romantic subtext involved, was really refreshing in this constant horny mess that makes up Moordale High. Aimee Lou Woods, who played Aimee Gibbs, had the most pivotal storyline this whole season. (Trigger warning!) Aimee gets sexually assaulted on a bus ride to school. We go on this journey of her realizing what this means for her. You feel her confusion at the beginning of why would someone do that? You feel her fear of trying to get back on the bus again. You feel her shame in how she pulls away from her friends and her boyfriend. Sex Education found a way to make such a hard topic into a moving experience of comfort, female-empowering support, and knowing that you're not alone. I also loved how the writers did not shy away from making Otis unlikeable this season. It shows that being a teenage boy and gaining confidence in yourself is not always a good thing.
This show is groundbreaking. It normalizes having conversations about sex and how no one (even the parents) knows everything. Not to mention how these characters are still teenagers themselves - fucking up and learning to become their own person. Did I knock off some rating points because SOME people still aren't together by the end of season 2? You bet I did.
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