Still great: why the third season of Sex Education was worse than the previous ones
Netflix's Sex Education is still the best teen relationship series ever, but the plot started to sag in its third season. Sophia Brontween explains why the narrative in the new episodes turned out to be completely imperfect
“I don’t know what to tell him,” says Eric, who needs to make peace with Adam. “Just tell him how you feel,” Otis advises. And this simple recommendation is the whole essence of the third season. One small conversation for a person turns into a big sexual revolution for an entire school.
Teenagers in the town of Moordale spent the first two seasons trying to build love and finally successfully have sex, because they thought it was the best way to understand themselves and the world around them. The characters grew up, mastered sex, and immediately found out that, firstly, it does not solve any problems, and secondly, it entails new difficulties in relationships, which still need to be resolved through conversation.
There is a feeling that the writers simply couldn’t figure out how to correctly integrate trans characters into the narrative
The third season of Sex Education proves that this project is the best show about sex, which can talk about it easily and ironically. It’s surprising that the scriptwriters, who, in essence, retell truisms to an audience of millions, still manage not to slip into dogmatism and moralizing. “Virginity is just a social construct.” “Masturbation is also sex.” “All vulvas are different and beautiful.” “You can be a man no matter what your sexual orientation.” "Size doesn't matter." “Orgasm is not the goal of sex, you need to enjoy the process.” Those who agree that these are obvious and basic principles are pleased to hear about this. For those who are just learning to get to know themselves and other people along with the characters in the series, it is useful to hear about this. Perhaps this unique storytelling style is the main strength of Sex Education.
As expected, in the new season Netflix wanted to touch on the topic of queer relationships and trans transition - in recent years, the streaming service as a whole has been actively talking about how difficult it is for non-binary people to integrate into society. This is an important and complex topic that the writers still seem to have failed to handle. The plot simply falls short of storytelling on an ideological level. There is a feeling that the writers simply could not figure out how to correctly fit trans characters into the narrative so that it seemed natural and logical. I had to resort to banal methods - the grass was greener before, the best is the enemy of the good.
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In the second season, the students got Principal Groff fired because he doesn't understand the importance of sex education and prevents teenagers from discovering their gender identity. Therefore, a new leader comes to Moordale - the young and energetic Hope (translated from English as "hope"), who recently graduated from this school and, according to her, understands what teenagers need better than old-school teachers.
The audience, along with the students, think that they are waiting for progressive educational methods, within the framework of which it is easier for teenagers to understand what they want from life and who they want to be. But in fact, it turns out that Hope dreams of banning sex, dressing everyone in a faceless gray uniform and forcing them to think only about school all day long, forgetting that grades are not the main thing.
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