The Reel Review
In Season Two of Sex Education, socially-awkward Otis (Asa Butterfield) and misperceived bad girl Maeve (Emma Mackey) get some stiff competition for their high school sex therapy business when Otis’ sex therapist mother (Gillian Anderson) decides to help the school create a new sex ed curriculum. All of this takes place amidst a backdrop of various sexual topics and some potentially new love interests.
Set to a rousingly fun soundtrack, show creator Laurie Nunn continues to expand on all of the first season’s subtle, clever stories – this time, tackling a new slate of issues, which includes unwanted sexual advances, masturbation, anal sex, the morning after pill and sexual identity – all with the same refreshing degree of frankness, humor and heart as season one.
Anderson (The X Files) gets to show us more sides to her character this season, as she and a bit more grown up looking Butterfield continue their great onscreen chemistry. We also, however, get new stories from the expanding supporting cast of quirky, confused, horny teenagers… and adults. In particular, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa and Patricia Allison all get a chance to show off their acting chops in the stories centered around the teens and Samantha Spiro’s story of the sexually neglected housewife is an insightful one. In sum, the show’s fresh, bawdy take on sexuality makes Sex Education a fun class from which we can all benefit and enjoy.
REEL FACTS
• Although Netflix has not yet officially announced it, season three of Sex Education reportedly is scheduled to start filming in May 2020. 40 million viewers streamed season one.
• Connor Swindles (Brad, the son of the school headmaster) and Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee, Maeve’s best friend) are dating in real life.
• As a result of the #metoo movement, Netflix hired an intimacy coordinator to ensure that the cast felt comfortable and safe while rehearing and filming intimate scenes.
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