Review | Sex Education season two tackles hard hitting story lines
Season two was available for streaming on Netflix on Friday, January 17th. In regards to season three, there is no confirmation that the show has been renewed for another season.
It seemed as though we were all glued to our screens for the entire month of January 2019, watching with great intent as 15 year old Otis Milburn fumbled his way through high school as a sex therapist. The notion of this awkward virgin giving advice to peers older and more experienced than himself was as enduring as it was clumsy, and so many of us flocked to the Netflix original to follow the stories of Otis and the complex characters that were his friends and fellow students.
“Sex Education” season one, released one year ago on the most popular of streaming services, was an instant hit due to its heartwarming characters and complex narratives. As we watched Otis fall in love with the school’s resident badass, Maeve, we gazed in earnest support as his best friend Eric embraced his boldness in both looks and gay pride. We cheered when Otis’s mother, Jean, finally admitted her feelings for her handsome handyman, and we were left shocked when Eric made out with his long time bully, Adam. “Sex Education” season one left many immediately longing for season two, but with high expectations.
A very long 12 months later, “Sex Education” season two was dropped on Netflix and like many people I know, I started and finished all eight, 50 minute episodes in the course of two days. I was hooked, but not as simplistically as I was during the first season.
Season two presented far more difficult, hard hitting story lines that took so many for a loop. From Adam and Eric’s secret love affair intimately woven with Adam’s struggle to accept his bisexuality, to the exposure of Maeve’s complicated relationship with her on-again/off-again addict mother, season two presented not only one, but multiple layers of depths to the characters we learned to love so quickly. Maeve’s ex-boyfriend Jackson, a star swimmer on the school’s team, finally snaps under pressure and self-injures so he can finally take the break from the sport that he deserves. Otis’s ex-girlfriend Ola embraces her sexual fluidity and ends the season dating Moordale High’s oddest, yet most beloved thespian Lily. We immediately remember why we loved earnest Otis and his very specific brand of sex therapy, but are awoken to the realization that he is a young man in an occupation he doesn’t belong in.
But perhaps the most impactful story arc of “Sex Education” season two is that of Aimee, Maeve’s beloved best friend and Moordale’s most bubbly persona. Aimee is introduced in season one as Adam’s girlfriend and an “almost” popular girl desperate to fit in. Her dedication to Maeve is just barely outshone by her colorful outfits, bouncy curls and one-liners: “School’s hard enough without having to date an actual flasher,” being one of my favorites. But when Aimee is sexually assaulted while riding the bus to school by a disgusting specimen of a man in season two, her sunny demeanor takes a surprisingly heartbreaking turn.
It is only after being (almost) physically pushed to the police station by Maeve that Aimee begins to realize the severity of what happened to her. Her major concern about the condition of her favorite boot leg jeans rapidly transforms into a post-traumatic stress like reaction; she can’t get on the bus. She sees this man at almost every turn. She refuses to be touched by her enormously dorky, yet wonderfully sweet boyfriend. We see a sadness and darkness in her that is so distant from her season one persona.
One of the many reason I love “Sex Education” is because of the wonderfully diverse characters it presents – the women of the show are perhaps the most varying in personality, race, sexual orientation and as such make it very clear that they are not all friends. But their shared experiences of rape and sexual assault unifies these complex young women and forges a bond on screen that is rare in our day in age of entertainment. As they all board the bus together at the end of season two, Aimee is supported by women who are not her friends, but who see the horrific impact of her assault and as such, lift her up.