Sex Education: Season 2 — Review
Synopsis: Otis Milburn, a socially awkward high school student, lives with his sex-therapist mother, Jean. In Season 1, Otis and his friend Maeve Wiley set up a sex clinic at school to capitalise on his intuitive talent for sex advice. In Season 2, as a late bloomer, Otis must master his newly discovered sexual urges to progress with his girlfriend Ola while also dealing with his now-strained relationship with Maeve. Meanwhile, Moordale Secondary is in the throes of a chlamydia outbreak, highlighting the need for better sex education, and new kids arrive who challenge the status quo.
Format: 8 episodes, streaming on Netflix simultaneously.
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Connor Swindells, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Alistair Petrie, Mimi Keene, Aimee Lou Wood, Chaneil Kular, Simone Ashley, Tanya Reynolds, Mikael Persbrandt, Patricia Allison, James Purefoy, Chinenye Ezeudu, George Robinson, Sami Outalbali
Directors: Ben Taylor (1, 6–8), Sophie Goodhart (2–3), Alice Seabright (4–5)
Writers: Laurie Nunn (created by; 1–2, 4–5, 7–8), Mawaan Rizwan (2), Sophie Goodhart (3, 6), Rosie Jones (4), Richard Gadd (6)
Review
Twelve months ago, Sex Education came out of nowhere and captured people’s hearts and attention, finishing 2019 as the eighth most-popular series on Netflix. With a wonderfully diverse cast delivering an honest, funny, and heartfelt story that handled the subject of sex in a mature manner, it was one of the best new shows of 2019 (it would have been number six on our best new shows of 2019 list).
So it’s a little concerning that, at the time of writing, not a single piece of footage from Season 2 had been released—no trailers, no teasers, only a handful of still images. Even the regular “New on Netflix” video reused Season 1 footage. In an era of teasers for trailers and a flood of clips on every platform, the lack of promotion so close to release was surprising. I can only assume Netflix planned to rely on word of mouth—which isn’t a bad plan, because this season is fantastic. [Editor’s note: 12 hours after this review was posted, Netflix released the trailer embedded below.]
Set a little while after Season 1, Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Ola (Patricia Allison) are still together, but that’s soon tested by the revelation that Jean (Gillian Anderson) and Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt) are also in a relationship. Maeve (Emma Mackey) is visited by her mother (Anne-Marie Duff), who seeks a second chance and introduces Maeve to her little sister. Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) finds himself in a love triangle with new kid Rahim (Sami Outalbali) and Adam (Connor Swindells), who returns home after a short stint in military school.
Season 2 sees a slight shift in focus. With tension between Otis and Maeve, and a new counsellor on campus after a chlamydia outbreak, there are fewer sex-clinic stories than in the first season. That leaves more time for the characters we came to love in Season 1 and to expand the world of Moordale. We get more interactions between characters, and those with smaller roles previously are given more opportunities to shine—like “The Untouchables” Anwar (Chaneil Kular), Ruby (Mimi Keene), and Olivia (Simone Ashley), and teachers Miss Sands (Rakhee Thakrar) and Mr Hendricks (Jim Howick).
Jean is the biggest beneficiary of this change; she’s given much more to do. Gillian Anderson does some of the best work of her career as Jean struggles with being in a serious relationship for the first time in a long time, taking on more work, and navigating a more strained relationship with Otis. In Season 1, Jean seemed always in control and endlessly confident. Seeing cracks this season is both fun and, at times, heartbreaking.
Otis has a really nice arc. He wrestles with his feelings for both Maeve and Ola, as well as having a male presence in his home—something he’s never really had before. If Season 1 saw him becoming a man in a sexual/biological sense (getting to the point where he was able to masturbate at the end of last season), then this season is more about him becoming a man in the societal sense—and deciding what kind of man he wants to be.
Maeve continues to be fantastic as she lets go of the tough-girl persona, joins the school’s quiz team, and develops a friendship with Isaac (George Robinson), a sharp-witted wheelchair user who’s one of the season’s best additions. Maeve and Isaac play perfectly off each other, and I’m keen to see where those two go next.
The love triangle involving Eric, Rahim, and Adam is wonderfully pulled off, with the writers—and Connor Swindells—making Adam someone the audience will want to see Eric end up with. Their courtship is quite sweet, and Adam’s growth this season is a joy to watch. Ncuti Gatwa continues to delight; the way he delivers certain lines—particularly calling someone a “dirty, dirty boy”—had me laughing just thinking back on them.
When Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) broke up with Maeve at the end of Season 1, it would have been easy to reduce his role. Instead, he gets a prominent plot about the pressure to be a successful swimmer and figuring out who he is outside of that. After an injury, he’s assigned a tutor, Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu), with whom he forms an interesting friendship, and he lands the lead in the school play—directed by Lily, who can’t help but make it anything but standard Shakespeare. Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) also gets a strong storyline that threads perfectly through the season. She may only get a couple of scenes for a few episodes in a row, but when it reaches its conclusion, it’s deeply satisfying.
The writing across the board is fantastic. There are a few familiar, even cliché, moments, but they’re written and performed so well they’re easily forgiven. The show ramps up slowly, but the wait is worth it: every storyline lands satisfyingly, and the seeds for Season 3 are perfectly planted.
Craft
The music in Sex Education is stellar. Whether it’s the score by composer Oli Julian or the needle-drops curated by music supervisor Matt Biffa, every scene is paired perfectly to elevate the moment. The show also looks beautiful, with Jamie Cairney’s cinematography making even mundane locations—like the school or the trailer park—visually interesting.
Verdict
For me, Sex Education has set the bar for 2020—and it’s very high. From writing and acting to music and visuals, this is a truly special show that deserves far more attention and promotion than it’s getting. Expect it to be one of the year’s best, even if it’s only January.
Sex Education: Season 2 releases on Netflix on 17 January 2020.
