What started in season one as a humble yet accurate and moving portrayal of love, sex and queerness has now exploded into a full-on, on-screen Pride with more nuances and conversations than any teen show has been willing to tackle (that I know of, at least). With a ripe 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Sex Education manages to portray so many awkward moments of teenage sexuality without ever feeling less than raw, hilarious and way too relatable. Amidst all the male accountability, queer love and ever-embarrassing situations are some of the best characters I’ve seen. Revel in the magic with me that is Sex Education’s oh-so-complex cast of characters!
Spoiler alert: Read no further if you’re not caught up on Season 2!
Content warning: Mentions of sexual assault and self-harm.
- Eric – ★ ★ ★ ★
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Season 2 did my man Eric so, so well – for a while, at least. I thought for sure Otis and every other straight character was going to be afforded a happily-ever-after while Eric would suffer a broken heart and lots more shame, like season 1. Apparently, the directors said f*ck that: introducing – Rahim.
As I’m sure it did for almost all viewers, that romantic scene on the Ferris wheel just about took me out – but it was scenes like that which masked the fact that life was not all paradise for the couple. Eric’s mom made a great comment in noticing that he’s a different person with Rahim, something I didn’t even consider until she said it! Then I started thinking back: Eric doesn’t like nor understand the poetry Rahim gives him and loves so much; Eric likes musicals while Rahim hates them; oh, and you know, that tiny detail of Eric being a fervent Christian while Rahim is an atheist whose family was forced to leave their country due to religious violence…yeah, that might be a problem. The list of differences appears to go on and on, from tiny likes to foundational concepts.
Though I absolutely adored when Eric chose Rahim because he was comfortable being loved out loud (as opposed to Adam who was still closeted and hurting), the foundation of what sets up a good relationship – similar interest – simply wasn’t there. Eric was willing to forgo these things in order to just be loved for once, and I was totally rooting for him, being masked by the beauty of that.
When Adam makes the boldest move of anyone this season and comes out during the Romeo and Juliet production to declare his love for Eric, I had mixed feelings. Thankfully, Eric points this out: Adam spent forever bullying the crap out of Eric for being gay, and now he expects them to run off into the sunset?
Well, apparently, yes. Rahim leaves in tears, as did I; I only hope Adam is truly good to Eric going forward.
- Otis – ★ ★ ★
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Watching a white male dismantle the patriarchy and promote healthy romantic and sexual relationships among his peers is honestly a refreshing take on a high school show. But eventually Sex Education forces Otis to deal with his own incredible privilege he has seemed to conveniently hide behind throughout the series.
During his drunken rant in episode 6 against Maeve and Ola, he exposes his nice-guy complex loud and clear for the whole school to hear. Ola tackles this in the season finale when Otis tries to apologize. She says he’s so preoccupied with being a good guy that it doesn’t work out, and it’s as though he’s afraid of turning into his deadbeat dad.
This sparks Otis’ need to confront his father for once and creates a stirring conversation between the two. His dad admits to leaving their family simply because he’s an “asshole” and doesn’t try to blame anything or anyone but himself. Ironically, he’s on his book tour for Is Masculinity In a Crisis? and being upheld as some kind of woke-man-god and signs a fan’s copy right in the middle of his conversation with his son. He tells Otis never to read the book.
Otis tries to make right by his selfish behaviour that characterized his season but is thwarted in his final act when Isaac, Maeve’s new friend, deletes Otis’ message saying he’s in love with Maeve. For this move – and the many other times he came in clutch – Isaac is kinda my hero and kinda my villain. I can’t wait to see where that goes in season 3!
- Adam – ★ ★ ★
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Oh, Adam, a nomad at his worst. When we left off in season 1, this stereotypically self-hating bully kissed Eric and got shipped off to the military – cue the curtains!
It doesn’t take long for Adam to be kicked out of military school either, but this is an opportunity to start fresh in the outside world. He gets a job where Ola works, and the two slowly become friends. Ola outs herself as pansexual to Adam first, and though he pretends not to care about the conversation, it promotes him to critically analyze his own sexuality for the first time.
So, yes, he goes home and masturbates to a poster with a man and woman on it, trying to figure out who to look at. (What’d you think I meant, that he researches for scholarly articles?) It sounds weird, but I appreciate these scenes because it shows how the effects of an open conversation about sexuality can actually help others.
Still upset over Eric’s new relationship, however, Adam outs himself as bisexual to Eric and takes Ola to the scrapyard where the two break things and deal with their broken hearts. Adam gets Eric in the end, though, when he is ready and able to love Eric in the open. It was also refreshing to see Eric’s African family receive Adam so simply; Eric’s mom really said she’d cook Adam jollof – now that’s love!
- Ola – ★ ★ ★ ★
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Okay – if Ola’s pansexuality was a shocking twist to you, you missed a hell of a lot of blatant cues. Well, perhaps blatant to me. In the very first episode, we find out that Lily will be Ola’s school guide and they instantly hit it off when talking about comics. The way Ola blushes with Lily 10 minutes into the season was enough for me to call queer, truly. Fast forward to episode 4, and that lingering hug said it all.
Otis’ clearly undying love for Maeve wasn’t going away anytime soon, and Ola knew this, but it wasn’t simply this she dumped him for. She knew and honoured the fact that the person for her is someone a lot less rigid. Ola is definitely the spunky and relaxed type and would need someone similar going forward. Someone like…Lily! These two are so sweet and I’m glad the show incorporated Lily with a more important role rather than simply being the comic dork.
- Maeve – ★ ★ ★
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If the dyed hair was any indication, season 2 was going to be a mess for Maeve, and boy did the show deliver.
Honestly, what even happened with Maeve this time around? I was disappointed to see her cast as the jealous girl-best-friend during Ola and Otis’ relationship. Perhaps this characterization was key for Ola calling her out as a fake feminist who knows all the literature but can’t come through for other women – particularly ones she doesn’t like or have things in common with. But, it’s a pretty hypocritical note coming from Ola who threatened Otis to stop being Maeve’s friend. Plus, jealousy is a normal, human reaction, and one Maeve was able to own up to.
She certainly shines better with regards to Aimee’s drama, believing and reporting her sexual assault. Maeve truly is an all-around good person, and we see that shine, too, when her wayward mother Erin, an addict who abandoned Maeve in childhood, pops onto the scene with a baby. Big yikes.
Nevertheless, under Maeve’s hard demeanour she, like always, craves her mother’s support and the love and friendship of those around her. She takes Erin in and they grow a pretty decent relationship under the circumstances – until Erin relapses once and Maeve calls Child Protective Services. Bigger yikes.
Closing the season off like that for Maeve seemed to dismiss the amazing progress she garnered – her place back in school, an enriched studies class and winning a national trivia championship. Season 2 was quite messy for Maeve, and I’m really hoping for better for her going forward.
- Jackson – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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Our introduction to Jackson seems to carry that familiar smell of the Big Sad – Maeve’s just dumped him for her not-so-secret, secret devotion to Otis; his mothers are constantly fighting and on the highway to divorce (literally), and one of his mothers is putting way too much pressure on his swimming career. With all that stress, Sex Education showcases in Jackson something rarely expressed in male characters – self-harm.
While his friend is lifting weights on the pulley machine, Jackson watches calculatedly and jams his hand inside right when the pounds and pounds of pure metal come crashing down onto his hand. With broken bones, he’s unable to get back in the pool anytime soon: a secret success. This rings all too similar to Degrassi character Campbell Saunders who cut due to the pressures of hockey and bullying and eventually committed suicide.
But in Jackson’s case, intervention occurs in the form of Viv, a nerdy girl on the Quiz Heads with Maeve, who tutors Jackson and eventually forms a friendship. Viv walks in on Jackson about to self-harm again by punching a mirror because he doesn’t want his hand to heal. She sits with him through the high-stress scenario and even drops some knowledge that self-harmers are nine times more likely to commit suicide. Though Jackson shrugs her off, she goes to his parents anyway in order to keep him safe. The season culminates in their restored friendship, both more self-confident and with a new friend. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
I so love that this glimpse into the reality of self-harming behaviour was done through a rarely-seen masculine perspective and results in survival rather than shaming or suicide. Jackson and Viv are true, true friend goals!
- Aimee – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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Aimee’s sexual assault on the bus brought a harrowing darkness to the otherwise poppy show, like Jackson’s self-harm, but was portrayed and handled so, so well. After being ejaculated on by a stranger on public transit, Aimee shrugs the experience off until Maeve gets her to report it to the police. After this, the reality of the situation sits and we see her traumatized descent.
One of the only inconveniences she voices is that she can no longer wear her favourite pair of jeans, and is often seen scratching at the spot where the man came. But viewers see the darker side of things as she begins to hallucinate him wherever she goes, no longer feeling safe. It comes to head when the girls are in detention, forced to write about what binds them together as women. After an afternoon of bickering and backhanded insults, Aimee yells at everyone and admits what she is going through. She tells Maeve what gets to her is that “he looked so nice”: you’d never have thought someone so unsuspecting could commit such a violating act.
The girls come together and each share personal stories of sexual assault, emphasizing the pervasiveness of the issue. (Wonderfully, they tell their teacher it’s their collective struggle that binds them and little else, an awesome commentary from the show.)
Ola takes the girls to the scrapyard, and they bust the crap out of a car in anger. I loved every second of it. Gradually, Aimee feels more comfortable with her boyfriend Steve, asking for a hug when they used to sit apart in the earlier stages of her trauma. I adored that this need was voiced, and her boundaries beforehand were respected. It goes to show that communication truly is that simple.
Sex Education does almost everything for me; going forward, it would be nice to have some trans representation, especially given they’ve hit almost every other identity under the rainbow but that one. If this magic-making crew stays dedicated to the honest, funny and progressive formula they’ve got going on, I doubt we’ll be anything short of disappointed!