Sex Education is a British Netflix series that explores the awkwardness of teenage sexuality with hilarious writing and a diverse cast (including Gillian Anderson from The X-Files). Its first season was met with immediate success, leading to a much-anticipated second season released on Jan. 17. The new season features a returning cast tackling new problems amidst Otis, the protagonist, trying to restart his sex therapy clinic for students at his high school.
Unfortunately, the best word to describe the new season is scattered. There’s little to no overarching plot, and the show suffers for it. Where the first season had a solid premise of Otis and his friends operating a sex therapy clinic (with each episode revolving around a new client that often led to Otis gaining insight about his own life), the second season falls apart by lacking a clear direction.
The sex clinic soon becomes null as Otis’s mother asserts herself into Moordale Secondary’s sex education curriculum, and she does so with little reasoning other than to seemingly give her son more screentime for other activities. The result, however, is a storyline that quickly dissolves into an overwhelming number of love triangles, miscommunication, and indecisiveness from characters not knowing whom they want to pursue romantically.
That’s not to say that Sex Education wastes its screentime. Through new characters the show continually opens up much-needed conversations centered around sexuality, exposing a wider audience specifically to asexuality and pansexuality. It also allows its minor characters to flourish. A considerable amount of screentime is given to dilemmas involving family and friends of the main characters, and it’s thoroughly entertaining — although it soon becomes one of the season’s shortcomings. Without a strong central narrative giving context as to why characters are being given attention, indulging the stories of side characters makes the series feel like it’s pulled in too many directions.
A single episode will feature the drama of Otis, his mother, and his best friend all having relationship issues while also trying to cram in the sensitive topic of sexual violence and another side character trying out for the school play. It’s enough material to fill up an episode, but it leaves the viewer questioning why any of it was explored. Season one was a great example of having just the right amount of filler with purpose. Eric, the best friend of Otis, has an arc where he’s the victim of a hate crime. Because of this experience he’s forced to reevaluate who he is, ultimately coming to terms with both his feminine and masculine sides as a gay man; Eric regains his confidence and even reconnects with his religion and family over the turmoil. This storyline was given the time it deserved, spanning several episodes but never taking away focus from the main plot.
Although the second season is disorganized, Sex Education is still an incredibly charming and heartfelt show with valuable insight into sexuality. It also has amazing diversity in its cast, including love interests that are often people of colour with complex backstories and a disabled character played by an actual disabled actor. Despite its flaws, it’s a binge-worthy watch that will provide ample reason to procrastinate during the upcoming reading break. Afterall, everyone could use a brush up on their Sex Education no matter how long it’s been.
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
