Though I studied abroad in Italy last semester, my longtime fans know that I love nothing more than a good old-fashioned British special. Even better if it’s focused on some teenage shenanigans! All of this explains why I sat and watched the second season of “Sex Education” in eight consecutive hours after it was released on Jan. 17. I swear I have a life.
Let’s take a pause for a second. If you haven’t even heard of “Sex Education,” it’s a Netflix show about a boy, Otis, played by Asa Butterfield, whose mom is a sex therapist. Taking what he’s learned from her, he starts to help all of his incredibly sexually-driven peers with their sex and relationship issues. This starts to be quite a lucrative business, as it seems sex education isn’t taught well anywhere, and his classmates have a whole slew of ridiculous situations they need Otis’ help to get out of. Otis thus brings in a girl named Maeve, played by Emma Mackey, to help with the business side of the business. All’s well and good until Otis starts falling in love with Maeve.
With the basic plot down, season one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. Maeve was kicked out of school and Otis was finally able to masturbate. Yeah…um…not going to explain that one, but I swear it’s a good show! I like pinky-swear, or something. But, it is a good heads up that this show is extremely sexually explicit. Not for kids and definitely something you watch in your bedroom and not in your communal lounge. Keep this one to yourselves.
I’ll be honest, I liked season two quite a bit. It keeps the momentum of season one. It’s a unique show that I think really shows the accuracies of what high school was like. As it’s a Netflix show and not made for cable TV, it can be as explicit as it wants, and thus is able to stay closer to reality of what a day in high school is really like. My high school experience definitely looked a lot more like this than it did “Gilmore Girls” or “One Tree Hill.” What this show does well is maintain the maturity and accuracy of a show set in a high school, but also pokes fun at itself. Teenagers in real life think that they’re in an episode of “Gossip Girl,” when really they’re all covered in the type of awkward-funny that “Sex Education” is able to maintain.
What I really enjoyed about season two was the deeper insight into Maeve. She is one of the most dynamic, realistic female characters I’ve ever seen portrayed on screen. We received hints or peeks at just how difficult her home life was in season one, as she lives alone in a trailer park after her mom and brother abandoned her. I mentioned before that season one ends with Maeve kicked out of school, but the reasoning behind this is she took the fall for some illegal activities her brother was involved in. Her story in season one also ended with her finally falling in love with Otis the same way he’s in love with her but then realizing that he didn’t wait for her and fell in love with someone else. Rough ticket.
I’ll be completely honest with you though, I didn’t like season two as much as season one. I’m easily distracted, it’s just a fact of life. Thus, when they started introducing a lot of little side stories and side characters that took over a lot of the screen time, I got bored. I cannot for the life of me watch “Game of Thrones,” just because I can’t keep up with who’s who and who’s up to what. I know, I know, I sound 100 years old. Whatever. You’re young, I bet you’ll be able to keep up and like season two just as much as season one. It’s a good show. Give it a chance. Not only are the characters more relatable to everyday situations, but it’s a show that’ll have you going through the full range of emotions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and feel so frustrated you could burst. If all of that happens in just eight episodes, you know it’s a second season to watch.
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