Sex Education – Season 3 Review

Socially awkward high school student Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) may not have much experience in the lovemaking department, but he gets good guidance on the topic in his personal sex-ed course — living with mom Jean (Gillian Anderson), who is a sex therapist. Being surrounded by manuals, videos, and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis has become a reluctant expert on the subject. When his classmates learn about his home life, Otis decides to use his insider knowledge to improve his status at school, so he teams with whip-smart bad girl Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) to set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their classmates’ problems. But through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realizes that he may need some therapy of his own.

Usually, I wouldn’t even bother going out of my way to watch a show such as Sex Education mainly because I find that the vast majority of them are nothing more than raunchy comedies constantly aiming for shock value without actually having any substance or depth whatsoever. I’ve heard about Sex Education ever since its debut on Netflix back in 2019 but decided to pass on it. However, so many people kept telling me to watch the show, saying that they think I’d like it so just about two weeks ago I finally caved in and turned it on, not expecting much.

Will it be funny? I hoped so, but my expectations weren’t sky-high. After watching it, my only regret was that I didn’t start watching it as soon as season one debuted because it just may be my favorite Netflix series of all time and in my top five favorite shows ever. Period. Of course, at the end of the second season, I was absolutely furious after seeing (spoiler alert) Isaac (George Robinson) delete Otis’ heartfelt voicemail to his crush Maeve.

The whole show had been slowly building up to Maeve and Otis finally realizing that they genuinely love each other, and so whenever Otis leaves the voicemail for her to listen to, it’s almost impossible not to shed a tear. “Finally!”, you think “they will be together soon after she hears this!”, only for Isaac to be selfish and delete it because he also has a crush on her. There’s a lot of burning questions and unresolved threads from season two that are discussed thoroughly in season three of Sex Education which is undoubtedly the best season to date.

Much like the two seasons that came before it, Sex Education‘s third outing proves to be so much more than just a show about teens having sex and the problems they face while traversing these desires while in high school. Instead of going for dull raunchy humor that has nothing else to offer, this show has always aimed to be so much more. It dares to have characters that actually go through meaningful arcs and feel so grounded you’d swear they are real.

Otis is probably my favorite character and he sort of reminds me of myself in a way – especially him being extremely awkward. Here, he gets the most development he’s ever gotten and it was also such a delight to see him and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) again. They’re easily my favorite fictional friendship and one of the things I loved so much about this entire series is the way their friendship is portrayed. Eric is an openly gay man and has been best friends with Otis for years.

Because of how close they are, they are always seen doing pretty much everything together. So many shows and movies would’ve tried to force them as a couple, but Sex Education shows that it’s possible and healthy to have a best friend who is gay. And also, Eric is not a character whose sole character trait is his sexuality, either. He is an ambitious young man with big hopes and dreams and feels like somebody you could know in real life. He’s not only the funniest character in the entire series but he’s also one that goes through so much in his home life. His journey in season three was an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least.

Season three features the best writing I’ve seen in the series as well. Each episode feels like it has an extremely impactful story that never goes on for too long. They all hit the right emotional beats while also being outrageously funny and awkward at times as well. Even though Otis has definitely had some experience in life and in the sexual realm, he is still not an expert (or a sexpert), and the show isn’t afraid to show his mistakes.

And while it is definitely funny to laugh at Otis and his failures, the show makes the wise decision to show his growth as a person. Each character gets so fleshed out here to the point where, in the final episode, I legitimately cried because I know wholeheartedly that this is probably going to be the last season. And of course, in typical Sex Education fashion, the final episode doesn’t end with stupid clichés and it certainly doesn’t end in some conventional way.

You may have some ideas in your head about how this third season will wrap up but I can assure you that your theories are more than likely wrong. It’s the kind of ending that’s so inexplicably perfect but also leaves you craving more. At the moment, there’s really no telling whether or not we will get to see Otis, Maeve, Ruby, Lilly, Ola, Eric, Adam, and the rest of the gang again but even if we don’t I wouldn’t be devastated. Do I want to see more of these people and their various (mis)adventures? Of course, I do. They feel like family to me. But at the same time, it does bring me comfort to see just how well handled this third season was. If this truly is the end, then I can take comfort in the fact that I went on a wild ride that I will truly never forget. Laurie Nunn has created one of the most beautiful shows of all time.