Sex Education (Season 2)

Before we start, a quick note that although there are no major spoilers below for Season 2 of Sex Education (except for the first episode), I would recommend not reading this post until you've watched the show.











Sex Education season 2 starts with an extended montage of Otis jerking off everywhere. In the shower. At school. In bed. The montage ends when his mum catches him as he cums in the front seat of her car, which leads to a rather awkward conversation about boundaries. It sets the tone for season 2.

In season 1 of Sex Education Otis, the son of a successful sex therapist (played extraordinarily by Gillian Anderson), was a teenager who knew a lot about sex (despite being extremely inexperienced) and about communication, and monetized his knowledge by getting his peers to pay him for advice. The second season of the show has the courage to move away from this recipe and admit that Otis, while still a smart, sex-positive kid who wants to help his peers, is still no more than a teenager himself, not an expert, and that he does not always have all the answers (even when he does his research). In a different show, this change of pace might have spelled trouble, turning the show into a run of the mill teenage comedy/drama. Instead, this becomes one of the strengths of season 2.

The role played by Otis in the first season (giving good advice about sex and open communication in relationships) is now played by... well, by everyone. Sometimes Otis does give some good advice (although more often than not he is an entitled teenager who thinks only of himself). Sometimes his mum, who spends a lot of this season in the school, is the one to solve an issue. And sometimes, when this show is at its strongest, a couple (or more) of the characters band together and help each other out. It is in these scenarios when the show really shines, when the teenagers figure things out together, in ways that are more or less healthy, and learn (as we all do) that they are more alike than different.

The first season of Sex Education was about us getting to know the characters and understand them. The second season is about the characters growing up and learning some hard lessons. One theme in this season of the show is learning to love and accept yourself. It runs through the arcs of two of the main characters (and it's also part of the plot of one of the sex issues in one of the episodes). But a lot of the season is about learning to love others, and knowing what you will and will not accept in your relationships. It is about forgiveness and how far forgiveness goes. It is about telling others who you are, yes, and teaching them to accept you, but also about learning that sometimes that acceptance is not possible. There is a lot of boundary-setting in this season, and a lot of working hard to accept others' boundaries. But for me, a lot of this season is about hurt. About hurting others and being hurt, and living with it. About learning that not every problem can be resolved, and that sometimes things just don't work out. About getting over being hurt, and accepting that sometimes hurt changes people. And about the relationships that come out of being hurt together, forgiving each other for being hurt and helping others survive.

In some ways, the subjects addressed in this season are similar to the previous installment of the show: STDs, communication issues, confidence issues, sexuality issues. But there is a lot more. This time around the show tackles so much more than sex (the first season did too, but not as obviously). This reflects how the show has become more messy, how the characters are growing out of being archetypes and becoming people, flawed people who make mistakes and have victories. The second season also deals a lot more with the adults in the show, demonstrating what I've always suspected: that deep down we're all just overgrown teenagers.

I was worried that the second season of Sex Education would not live up to the first. In fact, I think, as a show, it's not as consistently good. But it's trying something different, and it's making it work. I'm hoping for a third season, and maybe, if I'm lucky, a fourth.