★★★★
New Term, new problems as Otis and Maeve's sex clinic continues despite pressure from Otis's new relationship and his mother Dr Jean Milburn beginning her own sex ed counselling at Moordale.
Episodes: 8 Classification: 18 Channel: Netflix
It shouldn't be a surprise that the sophomore season of Netflix's hormone-addled raunchy but sweet sex dramedy ends up having an awkward but brilliant season as creator Laurie Nunn and the writing staff utilise conventional rom-com clichés to explore the more troublesome realities of sexual life. While predictable in most outcomes, Sex Education's return still packs a punch with incredible moments of comedy and heartache as just about every character goes through a life-altering challenge testing their relationships with loved ones, friends and romantic partners. Season 2 evolves beyond the initial set up from the series as the sex clinic basically takes a backseat for most of the episodes with various emotional storylines focusing on the vast supporting cast tackling singular issues that go beyond the spectrum of Otis and Maeve's black market business. Gillian Anderson's Jean Milburn integration into Moordale Secondary School is an initial problem for the clinic but the storyline evolves in Nunn and the writers directly questioning the integrity and responsibility of Otis' actions in his untrained capacity as a teenage sex therapist.
Pretty much picking up where we left off from when we saw Asa Butterfield's character of Otis finally able to have a breakthrough in his sexual repression and finally be able to successfully masturbate. Right from the opening sequence, it's clear that the breakout success of the first season hasn't tempered any of the righteous bawdy glory as even the most amorous of viewers will be shocked at Sex Education's expressive but hilarious comedy. From Otis' opening masturb-athon to Lily's glorious, iconic, hentai inspired space musical interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, the comedy will leave you gasping for breath from how the cast, writers and directors can craft such heartwarming and effective character work through the absurd imagery. It's all in service to normalising sex, to breaking down those taboo barriers that separate knowledge from hysteria (the first episode revolving around a chlamydia outbreak that all the students believe is airborne) and allowing everyone to see how these "shocking" or "strange" notions are completely normal and nothing to be ashamed of. This season examines the spectrum of sexuality in very inclusive and informative storylines, with a quick acknowledgement of asexuality (I'm asexual myself so love to see some honest representation that's not the butt of a joke) but also looking at Adam Groff's acceptance of his bisexuality, Ola's realisation of her pansexuality, homosexuality through Eric and Rahim's new relationship and how your self-worth and identity is not defined through any romantic relationship, as the three main characters have to examine what is most important to themselves beyond their love triangles.
Season 2 is a lot about growing pains and while the show still excels in its dramatic moments, the reliance of conventional romance clichés hinders some creativity to the show. While the first season heavily featured Asa Butterfield and Emma Mackey's Otis and Maeve forming their partnership and developing unknown requited feelings for one another, season 2 brings them apart with Otis' new relationship with Ola and eventually Otis' introspective breakdown. An inverse to how Otis pined for Maeve when she was dating Jackson Marchetti, it is now Maeve longingly looking at Otis as Aimee Lou Wood's scene-stealing Aimee comments on how she should tell Otis how she feels, similar to how Ncuti Gatwa's Eric encouraged Otis. It's classic Sam x Diane, Ross x Rachel will they won't they and it's frustrating beyond the whole miscommunications between the two but more of how Nunn and Sex Education's creativity in character work reduces the main characters to clichéd storylines while other characters are given more room to breathe. However, these conventions are not alien to the aesthetic of the show which has always had a not so subtle John Hughes tribute rom-com style to the American high school infusion of British countryside glamour. The first half is heavy on classic tropes of Maeve and Otis dancing around one another with tension building with Ola, forcing two strong-willed female characters to despise each other over a boy (something that never really works for me). The second half of the season then cleverly uses the fallout of these devices to examine themes of toxic masculinity, Maeve's trust issues, the miscommunication between the character's emotional traumas and subtly question why Otis and Maeve are drawn to one another. With the many references to Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet over the season, the implication of star crossed lovers is clear and season 2 does capitalise on Butterfield and Mackey's exhilarating chemistry in the brief scenes they have together.
One of the main themes of the show is ever-present in so many storylines and that's the psychological affect of parents on their children. Both Otis and Maeve have their baggage with their families with both issues driving them apart; Maeve's abandonment and trust issues due to her absent father, criminal brother and addict mother along with Otis' subconscious fear of becoming his degenerate, adultering father. This fear is the apparent source of his sexual repression but has evolved into Otis facing the complicated natures of his personality, he's a character so desperate not to fail that the same desperation blinds him to what is truly the right thing to do concerning Maeve, Ola, and the truth to the sex clinic. Emma Mackey as Maeve Wiley continues to be an absolute force as the tough girl with a heart of gold, exploring another side of her family dynamic with Anne Marie Duff appearing as Erin, Maeve's mother whose turning over a new life. The show continues to examine the character's deep intelligence with her stepping out of her comfort zone into joining the school quiz team and establishing roots for herself beyond a relationship with Jackson, new love interest Issac, and most importantly Otis. While certain fans may be unsatisfied at how the season leaves the romance between the two characters, their storylines are more in service to their own personal growth and set an interesting stage for the next season as they both appear to have reached clarity in what they want for themselves.
But it's not just Otis and Maeve cashing in on the love triangles, no the always loveable and delightfully charming Ncuti Gatwa as Otis' best friend Eric Effiong is caught between a relationship with his new adoring boyfriend Rahim and the sexually confused and emotionally distant former bully Adam Groff. Connor Swindells as Adam is one of the most interesting characters of Sex Education, a subtle yet complicated performance that explores emotional abuse and oppressor redemption as he's come so far from the dumb bully stereotype. Adam, a character who had bullied Eric for years continues to be attracted to each other after their sexual tryst at the end of season 1, leaving both characters lost to what they truly want. Relationships, love, romance, attractions are all so complicated and out of our control as seen through the many relationships of Sex Education but the handling of Eric and Adam is fascinating. Rahim is the obvious better choice for Eric, a proud gay man who loves him but the connection Eric has with Adam speaks to that indescribable bond people form, their nightly excursions to the train yard to break things was a delightfully strange courtship as Adam struggles to understand his sexuality. It's a question for Eric, much like Otis and Maeve of what does he truly want? the abuse between the two characters is acknowledged and Adam doesn't get a free pass because he's more sympathetic as a character with both Otis and Eric directly confronting the history of it all. It's a look at how the intimacy between people, not sex or passion but that attachment you have to another person whether it be platonic or romantic that can inspire people, Adam wants to be better for Eric, the support he finds with Eric makes him want to be better as he relationships with his mother, father and friends becomes more clear in the new season.
Sex Education takes deeply complicated looks of different sexual orientations and relationships, not just the high school ones as Gillian Anderson's Jean begins a relationship with Ola's father Jakob (which makes for a really awkward case of meet the parents for Otis and Ola's new relationship) the handling of the mature relationships shows just how difficult it all is and how it feedbacks into the younger characters. Obvious tension builds between Otis and Jean as their subsequent relationships strain in the odd pseudo-step family dynamic that been created, culminating in Anderson and Butterfield sharing a handful of devastating scenes about the trust between the two characters. Adam's arc is influenced by an arc revolving around his parents, Headmaster Groff and Maureen Groff getting a divorce with Samantha Spiro as Maureen being such a delight, especially when standing up to her husband's dictatorial ways and begins to prioritise her own needs and joys. Kedar Williams-Stirling returning as Jackson, who gratefully does not get sidelined since ending his relationship with Maeve, continues his compelling storyline facing his anxieties and extends further into the relationship with his parents. Jackson's storyline also reminded me heavily of a storyline from The Spectular Spider-Man cartoon show which saw an injured jock, form a friendship with his intellectual, less popular tutor and join a high school production of a Shakespeare play. Jackson's storyline is great but it was a strange connection as the social barriers that separate characters continue to be broken. Chinenye Ezeudu as Viv, Jackson's academic tutor, Maeve's quiz team partner and all-around socially awkward genius is an amazing addition to the show. Her scenes against Williams-Stirling have a great rapport, along with the rest of the cast as Viv plays well into Maeve and Aimee's storylines.
Sex Education doesn't just play into the uncomfortable cringe-worthy territory just for laughs or to make the romances a little more dramatic, Nunn and her writing team this season tackle some upsetting material in such an inspiring way. Aimee Lou Wood's performance as the aptly named Aimee in the first season was played more comedy, a cheerful interpretation of a loveable dumb blonde filled with naivety and love for her friends. Basically, Aimee is the best and season 2 uses this soft spot for the character to explore the idea of sexual assault and female solidarity. Aimee's experience with sexual assault isn't full-blown graphic rape as is the usual go-to for prestige television but an incident that she and many could dismiss as trivial. Sophie Goodhart, the episode's scribe takes Aimee, Maeve and the audience step by step on this journey of realisation that none of this behaviour is normal, that it is assault and how so much of sexual harassment has been "normalised" and how sexism is used to brush off this behaviour. Aimee doesn't even realise she has been assaulted, brushes it off as a random coincidence and makes excuses for her abuser reflecting the character's naivete but because Aimee may have smiled at the man or made the effort to look beautiful it may be her fault (it's not, it never is, and if you think that don't speak to me cause I'll break your jaw). The show never makes that implication and takes the proper steps to educate the audience about surviving even the most insignificant of assaults, I really appreciated how the police characters never slut-shamed Aimee and constantly reassured her about remembering the details. This astonishing storyline concludes in an incredible episode written by Nunn, which sees a majority of the female characters in a classic "Breakfast Club" detention scenario where the various tensions between characters (mostly Maeve and Ola) are cast aside for a greater cause of female empowerment and sisterhood. Despite differences, feuds, bad blood and social hierarchy the characters of Sex Education bond through their shared experiences of sexual harassment and doesn't hold back in highlighting the cruel reality that pretty much all women face in this horrible world. Another amazing example of how the peculiar style of the show is perfectly grounded by its cast and the quality of the scripting.
Returning to the idea of how the adults influence their children, essentially the premise of the entire show is built from that very idea as Otis' exposure to his sex therapist parents have him running his own underground school sex clinic. Season 2 goes deeper into Otis' relationship with Jean, new conflicts arising with her romance with Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt's return is stellar against Anderson, providing plenty of domestic comedy bliss) but also to her continued analysis of his personal life. Jean has yet to meet Maeve but like the themes of the whole season, her focus is on Otis' unravelling and irresponsible behaviour towards her, his friends and his unethical sex clinic. Nunn wisely forcing the initial premise to be directly questioned and possibly dismantled for the sake of broader narrative development making next year's return to Moordale all the more fascinating. Otis' sexual repression appears to be gone but it's like a dam breaking, and his hormones are out of control leaving our protagonist into reckless, messy circumstances that leave Jean distraught at where she went wrong as a parent. Tying all back to the return of James Purefoy as Remi Milburn, the loathsome philanderer whose shallow, vain persona still hangs over Otis and Jean like a thunder cloud. However, as despicable as the character is Purefoy brings the comedic good and honestly, one of the best scenes of the whole series that see him directly confront his toxic masculinity and his failures as a father and husband passing onto Otis. His final scene with Otis and seeing all the girls on the bus in episode 7 are just outstanding television battling serious issues in both the most bittersweet and heartwarming ways.
It's not a perfect season, there are pacing issues in the latter episodes and some storylines feel rushed or put on pause for season 3 but the character development and direct spotlight to tougher issues makes Sex Education's return a welcome one. There are so many brilliant elements I have barely scratched the surface on and even with the clichéd hiccups it's still captivating television, the brilliant definitely outweighing the mediocre. The whole cast is brilliant, everyone knocks out of the park from main players to supporting (Jim Howick as Mr Hendricks is still a magnificent scene-stealer) and it's so nice to be back in the beautiful vistas of Moordale, a heaven on earth. It can get uncomfortable but it is all to the benefit of the character's evolution, life gets messy, nothing is perfect, it never goes the way you plan and you can only do your best in trying to make it to the next day especially when you're an awkward teenager trying to survive high school. These characters make mistakes but season 2 is about them learning from them and growing into wiser people. It's not too late for them to change for better and for all the bawdy, ridiculous hilarity its the heart to all of these beautiful character's journeys that make Sex Education such a worthwhile and enlightening experience.
Created by: #LaurieNunn
Main Cast: #AsaButterfield, #GillianAnderson, #NcutiGatwa, #EmmaMackey, #ConnorSwindells, #KedarWilliamsStirling, #AlistairPetrie, #MimiKeene, #AimeeLouWood, #ChaneilKular, #SimoneAshley, #TanyaReynolds, #MikaelPersbrandt, #PatriciaAllison, #JamesPurefoy, #SamiOutalbali, #ChinenyeEzeudu, #AnneMarieDuff
Release Date: January 17th 2020
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images from the Internet Movie Database
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