After eagerly waiting a year and a half for a new series, fans of Moordale High’s top students are back, as they deal with trials and tribulations of their sexuality and identities, as well as dealing with a new head of the school…
Of course the start of the series begins with sex, sex, sex. We see new couple Adam and Eric, Otis with a mysterious new sexual partner, Amie and Steve as they trial to deal through their relationship problems. As well as Lily and Ola in their alien sexual role play and much more goings on in the bedrooms of the Moordale residents.
Meanwhile, as they begin their new school term, they are introduced to their new head mistress, Mrs Hadden, or Hope (Jemima Kirke) as she prefers her students to call her. A former student herself, she hopes to turn the school around so it is no longer known for its sex school reputation.
In the background, Jean makes a go at it with Jakub again for the sake of their baby. Otis embarks on a new relationship with an unlikely school peer, whilst he deals with his ongoing feelings for Maeve. A new love interest for Jackson with new pupil Cal sees him explore relationships how he has never seen them before. Maeve questions her feelings, but starts to really think about what her future holds, alongside building up her relationship with her estranged mother again. It is a never ending drama for the residents of Moordale…
I have been a vivid fan of the series since day one, so after a long wait of course I was going to be excited for its return. Once again it did not fail to provide an entertaining viewing, and this new series in particular I feel like looked at more meaningful issues and explored them well through the characters, both new and old.
For instance, the new relationship between Adam and Eric. Eric of course we know is out as being gay and is proud of it, but it is Adam who is knew to it and being in a relationship with another man, as he is still keeping his mum Maureen in the dark about his sexuality. Their relationship was executed well as a sub plot as we saw both the ups and downs as Adam began to really open up to Eric and what he was comfortable with and how he was really starting to discover himself.
Connor Swindells – who plays Adam – even though he has been a recurring main character throughout the series, it was this new series where we saw a positive character development in Adam. Not only did we see a big change in him as he was exploring his sexuality, but also in his want to change at school and in his home life as well. A scene where Adam really stuck out was on his double date with Eric, Otis and his mystery new lover. Adam really started to open up and proved he was not the loner he has always been known to be. Before, Adam was never a stand-out character to me, but now he is definitely one of the sweetest out of the cast.
With a great series not only comes great acting and a great plot, but the perfect soundtrack as well. The soundtrack of this series included some great hits that will definitely be known by all ages (over 18 of course as that is what the series is rated at). The inclusion of primarily 80s tracks brought the fun factor the series always brings, and it was brought once again.
Sex Education has always been a series that deals with some of the more hard hitting topics, but primarily was a more laid back and funny viewing as in reality, it is a story about a bunch of teenagers with raging hormones discovering what sex really is, what they like and who they like (as well as who they really are). In series 3, there is still the element of the fun, but it felt like this was a more meaningful plot with the sub plots. It felt more emotional in places, particularly with new head Hope as on the outside she was a hard hearted person, bringing discipline into the halls of Moordale. However, she was dealing with her own pain as she was trying to go through another round of IVF as she was desperate to have her own child.
Now, I am a romantic at heart and I’m sure there are many fans of Sex Education that have been eagerly waiting for Otis and Maeve to finally admit their feelings to one another as they have always been in a will they? Won’t they? Situation. Without revealing too much, Otis and Maeve do finally share some intimate moments. HOWEVER, there needed to be more scenes throughout the series for them. When they were on screen together, it felt quite brief between them and in a way, it felt like he directors were just dangling something that has always been on the horizon between them, but it was taken away from us in one swoop. I still hold out hope for everyone’s favourite couple to be though…
The wait for this series was well worth it, as it was great to see all of our favourite characters back again as they deal through their sexual questions and lives. I hold out all hope in my being that Netflix will commission a series four for those pesky cliffhangers…
Feature image: Creative Blog