Sex Education is a Netflix comedy drama series set in a modern countryside British 6th Form College. Despite the location, the show very noticeably resembles an American High School movie, whilst the rural village setting mysteriously has the racial diversity of East London and the sexual diversity of a Brighton Pride Parade. Our story centres on Otis, a shy and socially awkward teenager whose mother is a sexual health therapist. Having picked up much of her knowledge via osmosis, Otis becomes a sex guru and therapist for the students, dealing with their technicolour sex concerns.
I like it best when the show focuses on an episodic "problem of the week" format, wherein Otis is tasked with figuring out what is wrong (sexually) with any given individual or couple. You actually are in danger of learning a lot from these; I'd never thought I would get a five minute classroom session on how to properly douche my asshole, but Sex Education does what it says on the tin. These parts of the story are lively, funny, and they work well to put a human face on the parts of sex a large number of people find icky. It certainly does the job much better than Netflix's Bonding last year, which if anything made sexually active adults and fetishists look weirder.
Then there's a extra special episode which deals with sexual assault. It's probably one of the best takes on the issue I've ever seen in a comedy show, capturing the confusion of a victim who both feels the situation is too banal to make a big deal about it, but is still deeply traumatised by it. It's a really nuanced and delicate take on the issue that alternates between comedy and tragedy.
Beyond the episodic elements, there are a few longer form stories. Some - particularly one between Otis's mother and a folksy local plumber - are sweet. But others, particularly Otis's perpetual will they/won't they relationship with his best friend Maeve, gets on my nerves. Many of the characters get locked into standard love triangles throughout both seasons, and the show is overly fond of contriving ways to confound the right people getting together, Maybe an unrequited lover somehow misses that one vital message, or stumbles across their paramour just as they have decided to share a private kiss with a third person. One plot follows an unlikely romance between a violent bully and his victim, their fist fight suddenly turning into a make-out scene. The bully is an interesting character in his own right, but the plot feels a little too outlandish and rose-tinted to feature in this show. Whilst the show mostly works, it's times like these where it makes the mistake are of recycling some of the more dated and hackneyed tropes that aren't worth the trouble.
Series We Don't Need No Education
Sex Education is a Netflix comedy drama series set in a modern countryside British 6th Form College. Despite the location, the show very noticeably resembles an American High School movie, whilst the rural village setting mysteriously has the racial diversity of East London and the sexual diversity of a Brighton Pride Parade. Our story centres on Otis, a shy and socially awkward teenager whose mother is a sexual health therapist. Having picked up much of her knowledge via osmosis, Otis becomes a sex guru and therapist for the students, dealing with their technicolour sex concerns.
I like it best when the show focuses on an episodic "problem of the week" format, wherein Otis is tasked with figuring out what is wrong (sexually) with any given individual or couple. You actually are in danger of learning a lot from these; I'd never thought I would get a five minute classroom session on how to properly douche my asshole, but Sex Education does what it says on the tin. These parts of the story are lively, funny, and they work well to put a human face on the parts of sex a large number of people find icky. It certainly does the job much better than Netflix's Bonding last year, which if anything made sexually active adults and fetishists look weirder.
Then there's a extra special episode which deals with sexual assault. It's probably one of the best takes on the issue I've ever seen in a comedy show, capturing the confusion of a victim who both feels the situation is too banal to make a big deal about it, but is still deeply traumatised by it. It's a really nuanced and delicate take on the issue that alternates between comedy and tragedy.
Beyond the episodic elements, there are a few longer form stories. Some - particularly one between Otis's mother and a folksy local plumber - are sweet. But others, particularly Otis's perpetual will they/won't they relationship with his best friend Maeve, gets on my nerves. Many of the characters get locked into standard love triangles throughout both seasons, and the show is overly fond of contriving ways to confound the right people getting together, Maybe an unrequited lover somehow misses that one vital message, or stumbles across their paramour just as they have decided to share a private kiss with a third person. One plot follows an unlikely romance between a violent bully and his victim, their fist fight suddenly turning into a make-out scene. The bully is an interesting character in his own right, but the plot feels a little too outlandish and rose-tinted to feature in this show. Whilst the show mostly works, it's times like these where it makes the mistake are of recycling some of the more dated and hackneyed tropes that aren't worth the trouble.