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mindibindi · 7 months

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SEX EDUCATION FINAL SEASON: If There Was Orgasm, Then I Missed It.... 🍆💦🍑🍌👅🍌🍒🔥😏

The final season was good. It was not great. It was not everything I wanted it to be. It would’ve been a satisfying enough season if it had not been the last. And I acknowledge that it’s difficult to write a satisfying final season to such a popular, ground-breaking show. That said, here are few thoughts on the final season of “Sex Education”. Some came. Most didn't. Not Moordale: It took guts to do away with the old school and transplant the characters into a new environment. This was an interesting experiment which centred what had previously been marginalised and drove the progressive politics of the show further forward than they perhaps could’ve done in their old, more traditional, more repressed surroundings. (I liked that Otis and Maeve revisted Moordale Secondary tho). All the new characters were great, but then this show has always done a great job of finding interesting actors that seem to bring a level of freshness to their roles. Well done to the casting director. Props for the popular kids being two trans cuties who are having sex and issues in their sex life. Seeing Eric in his queer element was great. There was better disability inclusion, but the writing felt a little clunky and preachy at times, as this show is wont. And obviously we lost a few characters in the shuffle. Lily was the one I missed most. She would have loved Cavendish.

Aimee and Ruby: In terms of the young cast, the most satisfying storylines for me were Aimee’s and Ruby’s. When Aimee and Isaac began to connect, I was like: Yes, go there, do THAT. Maeve coming round in the end and realising that they're family was nice. Loved Aimee getting closure with her jeans thru art. Also liked the further fleshing out of Ruby’s backstory and her journey towards gaining popularity through being kind(er).

Eric: My least fave storyline was Eric’s whole religious epiphany thing. I liked that he found a fellow christian with whom he could share his conflicted feelings about being both queer and god-loving, but I’m not into organised religion or religion of any kind really (as is my right after being raised in it). I don’t believe in god so I don’t believe in divine signs. I don’t think they broke the reality of the show as such, but they were a bit obtuse and boring. I think when Eric spoke in church, his mum should’ve said she loved him as he is, his sisters (who've been supportive in the past) should have done the same, and they should have all left the church together. I think them all coming to the fundraiser later was super trite. It looked like a hasty way to wrap up that storyline after Eric left to rescue Cal. I also think that religions in general have to do way more than make placating noises, so having Eric enter into one was not my idea of a happy ending for him.

I think a better storyline for Eric, based on his history of being pulled in different directions by attractions to more than one person, would have been to discover polyamory. We had one polyamorous couple in the mix this season but it was mentioned once and they appeared together maybe twice. I think it would have been more in tune with the show for Eric to realise that traditional monogamy didn’t suit him and start seeking partners that would celebrate him in exploring ethical non-monogamy. Then we could have had an inside look at how that works for poly peeps, how people navigate less traditional sex and relationship models, what comes up for them mentally, emotionally, sexually, socially etc. In my opinion, the religion stuff just closes down possibility for this character, puts him in a box that the show admits is problematic. I would have preferred to see him open up to more possibility than any church can provide.

Adam and Fam: I liked the whole move into horses thing, liked that he became a teacher like his dad. It felt a little not-fleshed-out tho. It felt like the start of a new life for him, but just the start, with a long way still to go, which is kind of fine. That character does have a lot to learn and heal and these things take time. It would’ve been good to see him interact with some kids, maybe see how he treats a young boy differently to his father (maybe horse girl coulda had a son?). I’m not entirely sure about rehabilitating bullies/abusive parents. In my experience, it doesn’t happen but I recognise that this show is working with ideals, with the question: “what if we did sex and relationships better?” As such, I think they did a beautiful job of reconnecting father and son. It helps that both actors are so good at playing awkward masculinity. One awkward hug does not solve years of abuse and neglect but it was a start, I suppose. Horse girl was nice enough. When Adam admitted to being bisexual, I kinda wanted her to say: “Oh yeah, me too.” Because otherwise, she was just kinda there, emblematic of possibility. Adam should’ve moved into the farmhouse as a boarder, and Maureen should have moved some new boyfriend in. The parents should NOT have got back together. Hard nope. Some relationships end, and this was one that should’ve. Maureen should have continued her sexual exploration, maybe got into burlesque or BDSM. The dad should have had a hot affair with the art teacher (who should’ve been less of a ridiculous middle-aged man-eating woman cliche), or better yet, the home ec teacher. Bring food into sex.

Cal: Gender dysphoria distress is not something I have personal experience with so I would be interested to hear what people who do thought of this storyline. I was up for it but, if I’m honest, I can’t say I’m any more enlightened on what it feels like or what I should do for someone in similar circumstances. Though I like them, I think this is in part due to a lack of range in the actor playing Cal. I can say that the scene where they are by the ravine feeling suicidal meant a lot to me personally, cos I do have experience with that. (Jackson shoulda figured out where they were sooner tho).

Jackson: Didn’t love Jackson or Viv’s storylines. Jackson’s whole history was established way back and I NEVER appreciate when shows walk that back and go: “oh no it actually happened this way.” His whole swimming thing was cos Hannah Waddingham’s character was anxious about them having a connection but if he is the result of a previous relationship and her partner was already pregnant when they met then that changes that whole dynamic. Her insecurity makes more sense, is more intense, if having a child is a decision his mums take on together. Great to explore a scenario in which Jackson seeks out his biological roots but I don’t think he needed the extra trauma of two lying mums and an uncaring biological father. They should’ve stuck with the original context, there was enough shit there to sort out. Nice to see HWad’s in the mix, even if she only had two lines (but she’s super busy and big now so that’s probs why). I notice that all the previous acrimony between the mums has disappeared. So no therapy. No Jackson dealing with divorce. And no Hannah Waddingham having an affair with Gillian Anderson. So yeah, pretty disappointing all round.

Viv: Friendships are important but I kinda thought Jackson and Viv would’ve made a good couple…? Viv’s storyline was good for a teachable moment on coercion but not much else. Also I don’t think the boyfriend needed to grab her so hard. It doesn’t need to be hard to be scary and wrong.

Maeve: I liked how they brought Maeve home then sent her back, which was absolutely the right thing for her. Dan Levy was great and, again, the scene where she confronts him about being gate-keepery meant a lot to me personally, as a low-SES student at University. The stuff with the brother was all v. well-written and acted, although they seemed to forget about lil sis pretty quickly. Liked everyone showing up for the funeral, esp. the old Moordale teachers. The song was a def. highlight of the season. We also got some closure for Maeve/Isaac and Eric/Adam. Otis was, of course, a dick throughout but awkward lovable dickhead is kinda his brand. The climactic sex scene with Otis and Maeve was okay. Top marks for playing Jeff Buckley who was a big part of my high school experience. I wasn't as weirded out by it as I thought I might be (mostly cos I remember Asa Butterfeild from "Ashes to Ashes"). But jeez, for a show on sex, they don’t give a lot of time to foreplay, do they? IMPORTANT PSA for het dudes of all ages: DO NOT expect to be inside a girl/woman 10 seconds after kissing her. Maeve interacting with Jean was another highlight, but I would’ve liked a final call/text between Otis and Maeve, rather than leaving them both staring out windows thinking of the other. (On the other hand, totally get people who were for an Otis/Ruby endgame).

Jean: Okay, so I like this show as a whole but one of the major reasons I watch is for The Gillian. Jean Milburn is another in a long line of her iconic characters. So on the positive side: I actually liked the sister storyline. I have a sister and that felt appropriately intimate/infuriating. And they finally cast someone who actually could conceivably be related to Gillian Anderson (unlike “The Great”, “Crisis” and even Melissa in “The X Files”). GA has very unusual facial features but these two looked alike, got the dynamic right, and the backstory illuminated Jean a little more for us. I kinda missed overconfident, fashionable Jean, but hey, when you have Gillian Anderson, you’re gonna use her, right? I don’t know postpartum depression but I know depression and that felt real to me. Beautiful job, as always from GA. The relationship with Otis followed a similar rocky trajectory to other seasons and was as well-played as always by both, even if it yielded little in the way of growth. It did annoy me that Otis was like: “we need help” but then he barely acknowledged Joy when they were in the same room. My brother has just had a baby and whenever anyone walks in the room, it is ALL ABOUT the baby: talking to the baby, talking about the baby, holding the baby, playing with the baby…. So I was like: Otis! Pick up the baby! Cuddle your sister! (Being ignored in favour of the baby could also have heightened mum’s PPD. And how about modelling a young man participating, even minimally, in child-rearing, dear show??). The radio/podcast stuff was fine. As an Aussie, I was delighted to see Hannah Gadsby in the mix. People may not know this but she is a comedian, not an actor, so I loved seeing her do such a great job. Loved seeing her interact with Gillian so much, and looking fab too. Gillian also looked gorgeous, even while falling apart, and more so as her medication started to kick in. I say this just cos I like seeing women onscreen looking their age.

The biggest disappointment here was the disappearance of Jakob and the disintegration of that relationship (which had a lot more going for it than Adam’s parents). I don’t know if the actor was unavailable or if this was just the direction they chose but I missed both Jakob and Ola. If they were going to write them out tho, I do think it was better to have them gone before the show began. I didn’t wanna see that breakdown. They’d already introduced some elements into this relationship that weren’t necessary, imo. I don’t think they needed to make Jakob’s dead wife unfaithful. I think illness, death, single dadhood and late-in-life love is quite enough to deal with, esp. considering the limited screen time they had. I also don’t think they needed the overly hasty move-in, which seemed to me like a totally rookie mistake for a sex and relationships therapist to make. Of course that was not going to work! Otis and Ola being needlessly stroppy was likewise unhelpful for what could have been a joyous, sexy mature-aged romance. They placed all these unnecessary stresses on this relationship in order to force it to fail, the final stress being the paternity of Jean’s child, which, if they hadn’t introduced Jakob’s dead wife’s unfaithfulness might not have been such a huge deal, he might have been able to stick around and raise a child not biologically his (he already had two of those). I personally didn’t like what it did to his character either, since he initially seemed like such an open, honest, easy, considerate, responsible, mature, big-hearted kind of man. Was this their idea of giving him layers? Why did they have to turn the ONE good grown man in the show into a petty, bitter, suspicious little coward?

There was so much potential in the Jean/Jakob relationship and the problem with introducing so many new elements in a final season is that you risk not wrapping up some of the core elements you began with. Like Eric, Jean’s final season doesn’t really match her trajectory throughout the series. When we met her, she was having a lovely time having lots of casual sex but no relationships. Which is fine, except that her reasons for doing so were more to do with hurt and avoidance than with pure sexual expression and honest personal preference. She was still reacting to the disintegration of her marriage and the infidelity/promiscuity of her ex-husband (so to have her left for supposed infidelity/promiscuity seems again needlessly cruel). She was afraid of further heartbreak and, thru her relationship with Jakob, began to overcome that fear. While the PPD and Joanne storylines were solid, illuminating and enjoyable, they did not contribute to resolving the core issue Jean initially presented with. With Jakob, Jean was starting to ask herself: ‘’how do I trust again after being devastated by the infidelity of my son’s father?”, “how do I let go when I can’t control every outcome, aspect and possibility?”, “how do I live with someone again after living alone for so long?” Oddly enough separate residences never seemed to occur to anyone on this super progressive, groundbreaking show. Or you know, Ola could have gone off to college and Otis found some opportunity in America, leaving Jean and Jakob to try again in a different context, with different skills and a different spirit. (But personally I would have gone with separate residences for a time).

You could say that Jean’s issues were partially addressed in her relationship with Jo but we all know that familial and intimate relationships are different. Related but different. Jean’s issue was how to combine intimacy, trust, sex, romance and relationship. That can’t be resolved with a sister or a son. It can only be resolved with a romantic/sexual/life partner. Even if Jakob left for a while, I would have liked to see him come back (I wasn’t sure whether he would but it looked increasingly unlikely as the season continued). Otis or Jo could have called him. Or he coulda heard Jean on the radio. In the end, it looked like Jo and Motorcycle Man were going to be a thing so they coulda made a v. weird parenting foursome (which also would’ve helped alleviate Jean’s depression and workload! Look at that!). Now how’s that for an alternative family model? Why have one parent when you can have four (esp. when two of you have already raised kids)? That would have been great for Jean and Jakob (who get a little more time to themselves) and for Jo and Motorcycle Man (who may need some more responsible parents around). It would be good for Ola (who NAMED Joy, let’s not forget) and her sister, and also for Joy to have some loving siblings, since her big bro won’t pick her up and cuddle her.