The highly anticipated third season of the Netflix series ‘Sex Education’ was released in late September, and immediately rocketed to number one on the site. This season, like the previous two, started with a bang. While the unfiltered sexual montages might take some by surprise, this is nothing new for Sex Education. Despite surprising new directions for some of the characters, the show continues to teach its audience incredibly important lessons about sex, consent, and communication through a thoughtful representation of teenagers.
The new season may have been frustrating for some, with the show’s main relationships not ‘working out’ in conventional ways, but the challenges that these relationships undergo are realistic and necessary. While some get more screen time than others, no character feels left stranded, with varying yet satisfying degrees of development throughout. Take Cal, introduced in Season Three, who is a non-binary character who doesn’t simply exist to be ‘the non-binary’, but plays an important role in helping Jackson, the former star athlete, understand his anxiety and feel comfortable in his life without swimming.
From the very start of the show, the audience anticipated main characters Maeve and Otis getting together, with their joint for-profit ‘sex-advice clinic’ as the main plotline. After three seasons of miscommunication and frustratingly well-suited alternative love interests, the two give in to their undeniable attraction. However, Maeve makes a difficult but necessary decision to put her academic career over love. Maeve is constantly taking care of people, whether it be through the clinic, her best friend Aimee who struggles after a traumatic sexual assault experience, or her little sister who must be taken away from their addict mother. For the first time, we see Maeve taking what she wants unapologetically, and it’s liberating.
Another core couple in the show, Eric and Adam, had to put a pause on their relationship toward the season’s ending. We see both Eric and Adam grow immensely throughout the show – as individuals and in their relationship together. While the somewhat controversial ‘closeted bully’ trope was utilized in most of Season One, Adam’s character has developed. We see his points of challenge and how he grows to be a better person and partner to Eric. However, Eric has his own battles to fight, and at a high point in the season – the Nigeria trip – we get to understand his identity even more.
Attending a wedding, Eric interacts with a photographer, Oba, who, through subtle remarks, identifies him as a fellow queer person. “There are a lot of us here; we just have to speak quietly,” Oba tells him. This is a moment of incredibly rare and important representation. The show highlights the difficult circumstances of institutionally criminalized queer people, without erasing, pitying, or exploiting their plight for entertainment. We then get to see beautifully free moments for Eric, who is finally able to connect two parts of his identity that always seemed to conflict.
Yet, many took issue with Eric’s unfaithfulness to Adam. There’s no denying that cheating is an unfair thing to do to someone, but this season allowed Eric to be flawed and imperfect, which is another important element of love and relationships that needed to be represented healthily.
The charm of Sex Education is its masterful blending of lighthearted, humorous teen activities with serious and relatable takeaways. It takes teenagers seriously, doesn’t over-dramatize or exploit real-life issues that they face for shock value, or spectate teenage recklessness from an unsympathetic angle. The characters are compelling as always, and the thoughtful representation that initially drew many to the show is still a strong component, despite the unhappiness some may have felt with the direction of this season.