Sex Education, Season Three: Unforgettable, and just as heart-warming as ever

A montage of feral pleasures, a reluctant dissent into a dictatorship, a flying poo, and of course, an abundance of candid social commentary, Nunn’s Sex Education season three has it all.

Alike to the previous season’s jarring inception with a car, an over-excited Otis (Asa Butterfield), and a stunned Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson), the new season starts with a bang. Various comedic glimpses of the characters during sex declares to viewers that Season Three really has arrived; I would not expect anything less from a show which aims to normalise exploration of young people’s desire.

Image: Sex Education official Twitter

Although the melting pot of 70s to 90s to 00s aesthetics was sometimes confusing, I enjoy how Sex Education creates its own microcosm to discuss important themes such as identity. I adored the non-binary representation in this season. The introduction of Cal (Dua Saleh), in-keeping with Sex Education’s commitment to social commentary, allowed Nunn to demonstrate what it can be like to be young, marginalised, and LGBTQIA+. New headmistress Hope (Jemima Kirke) was obsessed with Cal’s choice to wear the ‘boys’ uniform (aka, trousers), though claiming to be a ‘feminist’, clearly her feminism does not include people like Cal. Bounding into the first episode with spirit and pride, it was however clear by the end of Episode One that Hope is not all she seems. The minute she saw Adam (Connor Swindells) and mistook him for head boy rather than Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling), racial bias and discrimination was outlined as a strong theme of the season.

Discussing the non-binary experience candidly was a priority, especially clear through the inclusion of chest binding, which if you did not know already, involves compressing the chest with materials, a common practice for genderfluid, non-binary people and trans-men. Layla (Robyn Holdaway), another non-binary person, asks Cal for their help to bind correctly – which was an important issue to draw awareness to. Cal’s supportive comment, ‘you’re glowing’ really articulated the beauty of truthfully expressing identity. I expect more backstory on Cal to come in the following season.

It has been regarded as slightly disappointing that Hope’s character wasn’t redeemed in the last episode. Though Hope made an excellent antagonist, who was not a simple villain due to her struggle with IVF, I think it is fair she hasn’t been redeemed, as her character would really need to make amends for her actions. I mean, she literally locked Cal in a classroom just because she saw them as a rebellious troublemaker for wearing oversized pants – jeez.

Sex Education, in being truthful to the teenage experience, features a fair amount of frustrating love triangles. I warmed to the idea of Isaac (George Robinson) and Maeve (Emma Mackey) together with slight caution, as though the scene where they have their first kiss is tender and sensitive, the show had ultimately been gearing up for an Otis and Maeve kiss for two whole seasons. I was not even side-tracked by Otis’s and Ruby’s (Mimi Keene) brief relationship, because, though many may disagree, I just don’t see it. Neon lighting and casts of beautiful shadow sets the scene for Otis’s and Maeve’s first kiss, with Otis repeating the words he left on her voicemail before Isaac deleted it, where the show concluded last season. Distinct colourings reference Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World which really sealed the deal romantically here and I’ll admit begrudgingly, I was sold.

Nunn’s writing has a special power to develop a fondness for characters, Adam Groff, of course, being a perfect example. Adam’s encounters as out as gay for the first time are delved into, in addition to his tumultuous relationship with one of my favourite character’s, Eric, (Ncuti Gatwa). Anyone who watched the last two seasons knows these two have come far – and seeing them in a relationship was inevitable. True to Nunn’s creative USP, witty dialogue about Adam’s engagement with the Kardashians really made me chuckle.

Compelling cultural implications are explored through Eric’s trip to Nigeria, showing the underground LGBTQIA+ scene as blooming with positivity, despite the dangerous reality of living in a country where homosexuality is illegal. With the backdrop of Eric’s trip to Nigeria, the different stages of each other’s coming out journey become disparate, and judgment is not cast on Eric for his decision to break up with Adam. Somehow, I suspect (and hope) that one way or another this isn’t the end for them, at least as friends.

Three-dimensional characters are clearly important for Nunn which was further seen through Lily’s (Tanya Reynolds) and Ola’s (Patricia Alison) relationship. Ola is missing her deceased mother and thrown quickly into the makeshift Milburn family home with her dad Jakob (Mikael Persbrandt), as Jean is pregnant with his baby. Lily does not notice Ola’s sadness, as she’s dealing with her own. Lily’s rampant alien-sex stories in previous seasons were mostly treated as, though an honest expression of sexuality, humorous and comedic. It was heart-breaking to see Lily tear down her bright, animated posters and get rid of her space buns and graphic eyeliner because of new school rules set by Hope, as well as the subsequent backlash from her Alien-Sex publication in the Moordale Gazette. It was only fitting that both Ola and Lily’s story would conclude with them embracing each other under the stars.

Maeve and Aimee (Aimée Lou Wood) had many notable moments, from poo jokes to an agreement to be each other’s mum’s, they are undeniably loveable and quotable characters, whose friendship I greatly envy.

Image: Sex Education official Twitter

There was no need for a cat to be brutally murdered in Episode Three, though – I’d skip the first two minutes of that episode unless you are cold, twisted, and dead inside! Seriously, what was the reason?!

From heart-wrenching, tense moments to light-hearted banter, Sex Education Season Three was an emotional rollercoaster, one I would gladly ride again. The most memorable out of its two predecessors, I am eager to see how the story unfolds now the kids of Sex Education have kicked Hope out and ushered in a new era.

By Rozz Cottrell