Sex Education Season Four: REVIEW

I honestly think it's a safeguarding issue at this point...

Photo from IMDb

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

Like most people, I love to binge a series, and I watched Sex Education season four in one day - and I have a lot of thoughts on it. This review contains spoilers (saying it again to cover my back in case you didn't get it the first time), and it is also heavily - if not entirely - opinion-based.

Firstly, let's begin with the settings. This isn't primarily an issue with this season alone, but I have been giving it particular thought because of the new release: this would NOT happen in a typical English secondary school. I understand the importance of suspending your disbelief when you watch TV shows, but it just irks me. If there was any inkling of an unsolicited, unregulated, unqualified, and unprofessional sex advice centre on ANY campus, especially run by a student (???), there would be an assembly, several emails to parents, and most likely, a suspension. It's honestly crazy to me that a school would not be concerned about this child and report him to some sort of social service - does this NOT seem like a safeguarding issue?

Granted I went to a catholic high school, so it would be shut down as swiftly as it was started, but the sex advice clinic run by a student just feels insane. I know it's the point of the show but come on, is it really that likely? No students would go in real life. I think they'd think whoever started it was insane, or a pervert.

That bugbear aside, I can get on with my actual review.

There were multiple storylines to follow in this season, which I think made it a little bit hard to follow. There were multiple cast members that were not returning to the show this time round, so it felt as though the show lacked the vibrancy of the previous seasons. Season four saw the characters moved to Cavendish College, a ‘student led’ institution, after their previous school (Moordale) was closed down. This change of setting was jarring and felt weirdly Americanised. I know there are plenty of colleges that wear non-uniforms and the out-there costume design is integral to Sex Education, but it makes it less relatable to me.

The new cast of characters were a positive. There was so much diversity, with a trans couple getting a lot of screentime and a deaf woman as another protagonist. This is always refreshing with Sex Education – they always have good representation. Some storylines across the seasons include mental health issues, sexual assault, disability representation and single parenting.

However, there was something that I took issue with, regarding two of the primary antagonists in the show this time. O, played by Thaddea Graham, and Beau, played by Reda Elazouar, were both portrayed poorly. O was Otis’ (Asa Butterfield) main rival in this season, and it came to light that she was also Ruby’s (Mimi Keene) bully at a school camp. Beau was briefly Viv’s (Chinenye Ezeudu) boyfriend, although he quickly showed his true colours when he became controlling and abusive – jealously accusing Viv of flirting with other men and gripping on to her wrist aggressively.

Although I am certain the idea of a second sex therapist and childhood bully of the school’s ‘Queen Bee’ was integral to the plot, and there was an extremely important conversation about how deceptive abusive relationships can be, it felt weird to me that Sex Education chose two POC to be the ‘villains’. That could be me looking too deeply into that, but it just didn’t sit very well with me for a show that is usually so good at representation?

I like that the show touched on Eric’s (Ncuti Gatwa) relationship with his religious as an openly gay teenager. As he grapples with the idea of his baptism, Eric confronts whether or nor he is comfortable ‘renouncing sin’, which the church implies is his homosexuality. He meets another member of the congregation at a queer night in a club, and they share a sexual encounter, but the other man ultimately renounces ‘sin’ and goes ahead with the baptism. There is a really touching moment in the later episodes where Eric says he will get baptised if the church loves and accepts him as he is, and he is met with absolute silence, until his mum stands up and announces to the church (who’s opinions she has respected massively throughout the series) that she loves him. When nobody else echoes this – which is a refreshing portrayal of reality that sometimes, despite the best intentions, bravery does not prevail over people – Eric does not get baptised. But he decides that he wants to become a pastor in his future, paving the way and being the role model that he didn’t have in the church. I think it was really important that Eric still had a relationship with the church, as religious trauma is quite common amongst LGBTQ+ people. and it was a really lovely way of showing people who may be grappling with these issues that there are outcomes available.

Sticking to the topic of mothers, the death of Maeve’s (Emma Mackey) mum was heartbreaking. There were plotlines in previous seasons about Maeve’s relationship with her mother and her mother, Erin’s, addiction issues. It was a very intense and heavy storyline and it was heartbreaking to watch, but they shared touching moments throughout this time. The death actually happened off screen, and although Maeve was getting less airtime this season, there was one thing that really stuck with me. After hearing of the death of her mother, Maeve and her brother Sean stayed in the hospital for a little bit, before Sean, played by Edward Bluemel, left her alone. His emotions were so raw, but I’ll go into that in a bit. Maeve sat on a chair in the waiting room and decided to finish a crossword she had started before she got the news, without shedding a single tear. It was a divesting portrayal of grief because it was nearly the perfect depiction of derealization that can come from the sudden death of a loved one. When she got in the car with Otis and Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), who had been waiting in the car park, she said “I finished my crossword.” The simplicity and rawness of that really broke my heart, and I think Emma Mackey is an incredible actress.

Touching briefly on grief, the way Sean grieved was equally well done. His immediate response when speaking to Otis and Aimee was tearful and vulnerable, before he went off in a car with his friend. He turned back to using drugs in the show, which was upsetting to Maeve as their mother died of an overdose. However, Sean insists he was only using “a little bit”, but this turned out to be even more upsetting. During the funeral, he walked out after giving an angry ‘eulogy’ and shouted that he was going to “die alone, like mum.” It was left unresolved, which is an important conversation about loved ones with addiction issues, as sometimes there is no real way to help, even when you are there as much as you can be. It was an extremely important and well-acted storyline, and the funeral episode was devastating.

Aimee was a very central character in this season. To help Maeve overcome the idea that nobody would come to Erin’s funeral, Aimee invited people from Moordale who were important to Maeve, and she made cupcakes and supported her friend throughout the whole process, which was just a really lovely idea. More on her own storyline, however.

Aimee had decided to take art in this college, and she struggled with the idea that she had to ‘say something’ with her art. One of her most iconic lines this season came from when a group of builders told her to smile for them, and she turned around and screamed at them “I’m not smiling because I’ve just been to a f*****g funeral; I’m also not smiling because you’re f*****g talking to me.” This followed Aimee’s assault in an earlier season. That impacted her issues with intimacy, that in turn impacted her relationships.

During this season, Aimee had started a relationship with Maeve’s ‘sort-of ex’, Isaac (George Robinson), who was very understanding and was fully supportive of taking things at Aimee’s pace, which was incredible. He encouraged her to take up photography, and when she showed him her final project about how she always felt like she was in the jeans she wore when she was assaulted, he was so proud of her.

Her final scene in the show displayed her dancing in front of the bus stop where she caught the bus that the assault occurred on, while the jeans burned in front of her, signifying a release from the fear she felt from those jeans. It was a really important scene, and it was a very significant end to the sexual assault storyline, allowing Aimee to process her trauma and feel better in herself.

Of course, there were several other important storylines, including but not limited to Cal’s (Dua Saleh) dysphoria journey as they struggled with their non-binary identity. This was triggered by things such as their period, and the side effects of taking T (testosterone), as well as wanting top surgery. These issues are extremely important, as there is a huge debate around transgender rights in the UK at the moment, with NHS waiting lists reaching over six years for some appointments. Having shows aimed at teenage demographics that can start conversations like this are vital, and I’m really glad platforms like Netflix are opening these doors.

Two storylines that concerned Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) were him finding a lump, and struggling with the implications of this, as well as trying to discover his parentage to meet his dad. Although they were interconnected, I think they would have been more impactful if the writers had focused on one in depth, rather than splitting his screentime between two. They were both resolved, one more positively than the other (the lump was not cancerous), and although they had extremely important ideas and intentions behind them, I fear the writers were trying to do too much, and it lessened the impact of some issues.

I don’t know how I really feel about this season. It didn’t really feel necessary to me, as I do think it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Had they left it at the end of the last season, it would have been poignant and allowing fans to come to their own conclusions, as well as leaving the show in a place that felt natural. However, with this season, it felt contrived and a little bit (sorry Netflix) money-grabbing. As so many characters had left the show, the cast felt half-hearted. It was just weird to me, and I just can’t say I enjoyed it as much as previous seasons.

There are so many plot points I haven’t mentioned either. These include Maeve in America, the relationship advice that was actually being given – including issues on intimacy, connection and body confidence – and the very important ideas of disability representation. (That was actually a very well-done issue, with Isaac almost missing a mock exam because the lift at the college was broken so he couldn’t get up the stairs in his wheelchair. The other students staged a ‘sit-in’ until the lift was fixed). I also didn’t really touch on Otis’ mum, Jean (Gillian Anderson), and her journey as a single parent to Joy. The thing that annoyed me deeply about that plotline was the emergence of a surprise sister, who had never been mentioned in any way before – a very, very tired trope. There were also plot points about Adam and his father, formerly Headmaster Groff (Connor Swindells and Alistair Petrie respectively) and their father/son relationship, which was a nice touch, but I don't really have enough thoughts on that to form a really coherent opinion.

While some of these storylines were better than the other, I just don’t think they really saved season four overall. I will say, Roman, I love you. So much. What an icon.

I would say I am disappointed overall by this season. It was good, but it just wasn’t necessary.

TLDR: Here is a quick pros and cons list of this entire season and my entire review summarised if you saw this wall of text and were put off by my rambling.

Pros:

- Good trans representation

- Good conversation about disability rights and accessibility

- Good way to open discussions about serious issues to young people

- A few good storylines

- Realistic portrayal of grief

- Important discussions about sexual assault and intimacy

Cons:

- It would literally never happen in a British secondary school ever

- Most storylines were underdeveloped

- Too much going on to really emphasize with most characters

- Unfulfilled due to many of the actors dropping out

That pretty much covers it.