Sex Education season 3 review: Boldly progressive, subtly empathetic and highly relatable; Netflix’s illusively titled show do not forget to tug at one’s heartstrings.
In the latest season of Sex Education, the position of Headteacher at Mooredale Secondary gets filled with new Hope (Jemima Kirke), specific rules are implemented, and lines (literal ones) are drawn to keep the hormonally charged teenagers from committing “sin”.
The highly anticipated season shows every character’s transformation that astonishingly saves the series from becoming a ‘risqué teen comedy’ that it previously threatened to be.
About the Show
The first two seasons saw Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Maeve (Emma Mackey) coming together to form their sex clinic.
They developed feelings and then drifting apart because of Isaac — who deleted Otis’s voicemail to protect Maeve from heartbreak and felt threatened by Otis.
Eric’s celebrated breakthrough and remarkable transformation in Adam, Ruby (Mimi Keene) and her friend’s fashionable rudeness, Lily (Tanya Reynolds) and Aimee’s (Aimee Lou Wood) empowerment, and Headteacher’s downfall — all got some pretty good applause from the audience.
The latest season comes as a fresh start in Moordale Secondary as its new Headteacher, Hope, tries to establish boundaries and preach abstinence in a school that has become popular as UK’s ‘Sex School’.
Meanwhile, Maeve finds Isaac attractive while Otis and Ruby enter a casual relationship. Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) shows Adam (Connor Swindells) a new world.
Still, eventually, their interests differ; a near to death experience for pregnant Dr Milburn (Gillian Anderson) and Maeve’s well-deserved chance at doing better in life — is what this season presents to its audience.
The Great and the Good
The show is eight episodes long, and the first four attempts to mend the loose ends of the previous seasons, along with an introduction to Hope and her visions for turning over the scandalous reputation of the school.
The show still manages to impart information regarding sexual health, various sexual orientations and relationships and is praiseworthy for opening its door to non-binary characters.
In one of the episodes, Jean Milburn asserts that it’s not always about physical intimacy. Despite all the heavy pettings and montage of sex scenes shown, this correctly summarizes the entire season 3.
Despite being ‘ uncomfortable ‘, the creators get full credit for writing an essential narrative for today’s generation.
The most important fact is that the humour in the show is not drawn upon the students’ choices but results from their confusion, as they face changes in their young adult life.
Both the residents of Moordale and their children accept changes beautifully and understand that it is a part of life.
The series levitates from its teen drama status as even the adult relationships develop fully in this latest season.
Jean (Gillian Anderson) and Jakob (Beck’s Mikael Persbrandt) try to create a familial safe place for their children; Mr and Mrs Groff (Alastair Petrie and Samantha Spiro) finds it complicated and confusing after their separation.
Even Hope, who unintentionally mirrors Dolores Umbridge, struggles with her issues amidst the ‘Sex School’ crisis.
The series does not portray only a single character as the protagonist and instead holds a mirror to every character involved’s life.
Several scenes could have been shorter, but such sequences build up the final story, like the school trip to France.
Moreover, the cinematography is highly commendable as Jamie Cairney and Oli Russell manages to pan their cameras from one character to another in a campus containing the same shot.
This lets the viewer better know the issues their favourite character is facing and solve those along with them.
Final Words
The series deserves recognition and praise because it employs all the tropes of typical teenage dramas and movies and retains its true essence of informative storytelling.
The issues faced by the teenagers of fictional Moordale are so realistic that the show becomes a must-watch for everyone.
