We are back with another season of Sex Education, and the world wasn’t ready for this heartbreaker
The opening scene starts with a montage of everyone having sex, a classic opening to a new season of the show. But Season 3 of Sex Education was the season of heartbreak. Most of the couples that got together in Season 2 are either having relationship issues or break up by the end of the season. Notably, this happens to Ruby and Otis, whose relationship didn’t even have a chance to fully develop before they broke up. We see their relationship start at the end of season two with them having casual sex. In season three, they became an official couple and it was refreshing to see. However, this relationship was short-lived, lasting only two episodes. She is the typical popular girl at school and we just barely got to know what her home life is like. I felt a little upset when they broke up, and it left me wanting more. I hoped to see more of them, and maybe find out more about Ruby’s backstory. We start to see this in episodes 3 and 4, but there are a lot of unanswered questions about her life.
As mentioned before, this season had no mercy for couples. Fan-favorites Adam and Eric have some relationship problems throughout the whole season. Eric wants to be more open with Adam; Adam wants to keep his love life a secret from his family because he doesn’t feel ready. In the end, they break up because Eric kisses someone else, but there was also a clash of differences between the two of them. As much as I love their relationship, this feels like a long time coming. They started having problems in Season 2 with Eric being afraid to be in a relationship for fear of being hurt. It’s just unfortunate that their issues caught up to them in the end.
On a positive note, Sex Education continues to do a good job with its representation of the LGBTQ+ community. It introduces its first non-binary character in the third season. The character, Cal, touches on some topics that they struggle with. They often find themselves in conflict with the headmistress on the clothing that they decide to wear. Cal wants to wear more loose-fitting and baggy clothes because that is what they are more comfortable with, but the headmistress won’t budge on the dress code. Cal goes back and forth with the headmistress and defends themself instead of not speaking up. It’s good to see this because it may help people who identify with Cal feel more comfortable with themselves and see someone that they can relate to. Also, I think it’s powerful for them to not only have a non-binary character, but a POC non-binary character. It shows how progressive the writers are and how they understand that young people want more representation in the media.
Something unexpected was the death of the cat, Jonathan. While the characters Cynthia and Jeffrey are having sex, their movement causes a microwave to crush the cat to death. It was just shocking to see. Not only did the couple seem scarred, but it also scarred me because of how graphic the death was. Though this does seem like a random moment in episode 3, it eventually leads to a storyline about grief. That being said, it’s still a jaw-dropping moment in the show that felt initially out of place.
Sex Education seems to always struggle with introducing a lot of characters and then not doing enough to develop them. A prime example of this is Rahim. Rahim was Eric’s boyfriend from before he and Adam started dating. Since the break-up, Rahim has been a character that’s just floating around. In my opinion, he’s a veryflat character that I wish the writers had given more of a deeper storyline to. In the future, the show needs to be more mindful of introducing characters that have more developed storylines.
Lastly, I thought the season finale fell a little flat. The previous episode felt more like the season finale than the last episode. There was a lot of drama happening in Episode 7 that left me wanting more for the next season. For a moment, I thought it was the finale until my Netflix said it was playing the next episode. All the cliffhangers and drama that was happening were answered in Episode 8, eliminating the cliffhanger effect of a season finale. Overall, Season 3 was my least favorite so far, but I’m curious to know what Season 4 will hold.
Imani Turner-Well is a third-year cinema and photography major who still isn’t over all the heartbreak in Season 3. They can be reached at [email protected].