Stars: 5/5
Netflix’s season two of “Sex Education” is even more humorous and heartfelt than the first.
Shows about growing up and exploring sexuality have become popular over the past couple years. “Big Mouth” and “Sex Education” are beloved by fans who relate to the message they bring and the truth they tell.
The show established that in its first season and came back even better in its second season. The storyline is meaningful, and we see real character growth throughout. By the last episode, you’ll be laughing, crying and desperately wanting another season.
The season starts off rocky with Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his girlfriend Ola (Patricia Allison) discovering that Otis’s mother, (Gillian Anderson) Dr. Milburn, is dating Ola’s father Jackob (Mikael Persbrandt).
Otis wants to have space from his mom to grow up, but when an outbreak of Chlamydia seems to take over the school, Dr. Milburn feels the need to come and spread information about sex to the students.
The parents and students in the show could have used a show like this at this time. The lack of knowledge they had on these topics was astounding. Sure, it may have been exaggerated, but some schools desperately need to update their sex education programs, and some parents need to learn to have discussions with their teenagers about safe sex.
We do get a great glee-like performances to attempt to discuss the issue, but all it really did was make it worse. Honestly, I’m not complaining because I love a good messy acapella showcase.
We continue on, Maeve (Emma Mackey) gets to come back to school. Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) feels crushed by the pressure of swimming and actually decided to crush his hand, putting it in a cast and preventing him from swimming for a while.
With Maeve back, she decides to start running the business again with Otis. With his mom on campus, he hopes she doesn’t find out, but he then begins to worry about her stealing all of their clients.
Maeve also realizes she still has feelings for Otis even though he’s moved on with Ola, which leads to the girls not having the best relationship. Maeve also has to deal with her mom coming back with some surpries and a new mysterious neighbor.
The relationship drama doesn’t stop there, with the new it-boy having an interest in Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) after his secret lover Adam (Connor Swindells) comes back from military camp.
This season was about the characters learning about themselves and discovering who they are. One of the most powerful messages I’ve seen made for teens occurred through the second half of the season, when Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) gets sexually assaulted.
The incident affects her, impacting her relationships and day-to-day activities.
It’s sadly true that everyone you meet has a story about an event that shouldn’t have occurred, but it’s amazing to see the women in Aimee’s life share their stories and support her through her difficult time.
The show talks about different sexualities, sexual assault, womanhood, mental health issues and of course sex education. All important topics that the main audience should know about, and they get to learn about it through funny dialogue and high-quality drama.
We finally get to see Maeve open up, Jackson discuss his mental health issues and Otis admit his true feelings about his parent’s relationship. There’s a lot of ups and downs, and even more surprises in this season, but it’s incredible to watch and I honestly enjoyed it from start to finish.
From big parties to super sexual and a funny “Romeo and Juliet” musical that looks a lot like “Rocky Horror,” “Sex Education” season two does not disappoint.