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syceusfig · 7 months

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Sex Education S4.

Hi friends, its been a while. Shit has been pouring down and I've been here with no umbrella, just hoping for it to end and it hasn't but you know what? Acceptance is a gift. So here I am, accepting things and writing a rant about the forth season of Sex Education because I might actually be going insane. If I feel like it, I might do a proper analysis of the show as a whole because it is absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend watching it if you haven't yet. That being said, spoilers for Sex Education season 4 (and potentially other seasons) ahead.

I'm honestly not entirely sure how I feel about this season. I think I prefer it to the third season but not to the first and second. To begin, I think it might be nice to cover why that might be.

So the first, probably most striking factor, is how crowded Sex Education got in the third season. There were (from what I found) 18 characters considered part of the main cast in the third season, which made it very difficult for the show to put any focus on specific characters and shortened the amount of time we got with the main three. Now, the forth season cut out quite a few characters and managed to do it somewhat naturally with Otis and Eric's shift from Moordale to Cavendish, as well as Jean finding out Jakob was not Joy's father. Most of the characters that were cut out had completed storylines (in my opinion) so I wasn't too bothered by it however I felt that Ola and Jakob's complete removal from the show was too sudden as there was no consolidation from Jean finding out Jakob wasn't Joy's father to him completely leaving. I also thought that Ola not being in Adam's life made no sense as I was really hoping they'd get more screentime this season after they got so little of it last season.

I want to note that I do know Patricia Allison (the actress who plays Ola) had said she would not be returning for the forth season and things like that do happen, however it is still very unfortunate and I wish Ola would've at least still have been mentioned by Adam, acknowledging her absence in his life because her complete erasure felt unnatural to me and didn't make much sense overall.

In spite of this, cutting some characters out was generally a good thing. It allowed the show to focus and develop more on characters, giving them more complete, well-developed storylines (or it should have, but we'll get to that) and removing the struggle for screentime I felt there was in Season 3.

One of the downfalls of this season, however, was the failure to fully take advantage of the newfound lack of crowing. There was a certain choppiness to the third season and all the storylines felt disjointed. Which can be okay, as characters do need to develop by themselves, but too much individuality can take away from the whole. The first two seasons of Sex Education had that wholeness, characters had storylines but they were connected in a way; there was a bigger picture that formed as each character developed their smaller, individual pictures. Unfortunately, the choppiness from the third season remained in the forth. Though less, there was a disjointedness. The characters were very strongly "grouped" this season and their storylines hugely revolved around those groups and those groups only. There was no bigger picture, there was no "ultimate" which left a sense of unfinished.

Speaking of unfinished, I'm going to move into individual things that worked and didn't work this season, starting with Jackson and Cal. Quite simply, there was no resolution. Their relationship went nowhere this season, it was just something that sort of lingered over the audience's head but never went anywhere. I found it increasingly frustrating and thought there were multiple moments that could've been worked to create a resolution between them, whatever that may have been. Like when Cal went missing, if Jackson had found them rather than Eric, something could have been done there, a talk, a moment, anything. I just didn't like how they were sort of glossed over. Ultimately, I felt their storyline was unfinished and, as a whole, discarded.

Before moving on I want to talk a little bit more about Cal. I thought they had a lot of potential when they were introduced in Season 3 them being non-binary was practically their only defining trait. I had hope that more would be done with them this season because it's great to have NB representation in shows but I don't feel more has been done. There were some pros, like us getting a bit of a view into Cal's home life, but aside from that it didn't feel like much had changed and the only moment Cal was at all crucial to the story was right at the end.

I also felt that Otis and Eric's "rift" didn't work. One of my favourite things about Sex Education has been Otis and Eric's relationship because they have an incredible bond despite their differences and are always there for each other when needed. The lack of this relationship this season was very much missed. While I understand Eric's inclination to befriend people he felt were more similar to him, I feel the show navigated this badly and it was sort of an afterthought. Otis and Eric's fight was furthermore incredibly redundant as it was similar to fights Otis and Eric previously had made up and moved on from, making it seem like a fight for the sake of a fight.

There was quite a bit of fighting for the sake of fighting this season. Which brings me to my next point, Maeve and Otis. I was firstly glad the show had them keep in contact while Maeve was in America so they didn't start in that sort of strange, vague place they did in the third season. However, their on and off this season was very unnecessary. With the death of Maeve's mum and her having just come back from America, their relationship would have already faced enough challenges and obstacles. Getting to watch them navigate that in a relationship would have worked a lot better than the same "will they, won't they" the show has been doing for three seasons already. It's gotten old. We ended up not getting much time with them as a couple which I was really hoping for.

Maeve and Otis' ending in and off itself was understandable but I am very upset regardless. I loved the bit with the note, I thought it wrapped everything up very well. I liked that she kept the shirt, I liked that she chose herself and her future, I like how he closed his eyes when she left so, to be fair, I liked quite a lot. But, as I've said, I wish we had gotten more time with them in the season because I think it would've made it more impactful.

Something that wasn't major but I quickly want to talk about was Eric's relationship with religion this season. While I liked that the show presented how difficult it can be being a queer person who is still religious and finds community in church or worship in general, I found Eric's religion journey confusing. The abstract aspects of it (like the signs, the woman who I suppose was God, etc.) were kind of like when Villanelle started seeing Jesus in "Killing Eve". I didn't think the abstract aspects really fit with the rest of the show so it all just felt out of place. However, I liked that it brought about a lovely family moment with Eric and his mum.

I've been talking mostly about what didn't work so I'm switching to something that has. Family moments were something this season absolutely nailed. The scene between Maeve and Jean was absolutely beautiful and so tender. I loved everything about it and I think the show did wonderfully, especially because Jean and Maeve properly meeting was something I have been waiting for since the start of the show. This and the simple, lovely moment were Cal and their mum were lying together.

Also worth mentioning Adam and his dad's slowly growing and healing relationship. Mr. Groff's development throughout the show has been done astonishingly well, I was genuinely rooting for him this season and I loved seeing him trying with Adam. I also thought Adam was great. I liked that he found something he loved, accepting school wasn't for him because it really isn't for everyone and it's very nice to see that acknowledged.

So, there were nice things about this season and I did enjoy it (I mean, I finished it the day after it came out) despite it definitely not being my favourite. Now, I have a multitude of different issues with the end probably because so much pressure and anticipation goes into an ending that when it doesn't reach the expectations we set for it, it can be very detrimental to our overall enjoyment. For Sex Education, I think there are a lot of little things that could have been changed to make the ending more satisfying, more final. But, if I keep going I will never, ever stop (and it is mainly minor things that could've been done) so I think I'll just end this post here on a semi-positive note.

Sex Education is a great show. Yes, it was better at the start and yes I think it could've been wrapped up earlier hopefully leaving us with a more satisfying ending. But it's still very much worth the watch, there's a lot to love, and I still recommend watching it regardless. I want to be clear in saying I don't think this season or the ending was horrible by any means I just expected and hoped for more. Anyway, if you have any thoughts do share them whether or not you agree with me; I'm always happy to discuss.

#sex education #sex ed s4 #sex ed spoilers #netflix #show review #more like show rant #i cannot shut up #shows #netflix series #netflix shows

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