I recently finished every episode of Sex Education. I was left for a weekend with nothing to do, so I used the time to binge-watch all three seasons. I had initially overheard someone in the library saying that the opening to the first episode disturbed them, so naturally, I had an amazing time.

I was genuinely impressed with every single episode that I watched, and I just fell in love with the show instantly. It made me laugh, it made me feel really uplifted, and many times it made me very sad. The show is thought-provoking, and I can’t recommend it enough. However, do know that it is probably the raunchiest and dirtiest show that Netflix has ever made (at least from what I’ve seen). Because there is already a review of the first season of Sex Education, I’ll be going over the next two seasons of it. 

Season two picks off with the weight of Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) feeling heartbroken, Jean (Gillian Anderson) coming to terms with a real relationship, Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) trying to fight his never-ending pressure, Otis (Asa Butterfield) having a girlfriend for the first time, Adam (Connor Swindells) being sent away to a military academy, and Maeve (Emma Mackey) trying to hide her love for Otis. This seems like a lot to manage in one season, but writer Laurie Nunn made the bold decision to not only continue these storylines, BUT ADD EVEN MORE. I’m constantly in shock at how so many storylines can be managed while remaining as poignant and meaningful as ever, all in eight episodes. I give myself aneurysms just trying to write a script managing three different storylines at once and somehow the management in this show just feels effortless. With the mad mashup, it ends up leaving something for everyone to relate to.

The show brilliantly tackles all types of themes that emotionally punch viewers. It’s perfect for any kid in high school, but it can even work for any adult because it’s that effective. And in season three, Laurie Nunn decides to add EVEN MORE MAIN STORYLINES. While at this point, some fans of the show felt it was going too far, I thought it was managed nicely because the show perfectly invests you in every single character and makes you care about their story. 

Speaking of the characters, it is truly amazing how every single character in this show grabs my attention and never lets go. Many start off as classic high school stereotypes that immediately get subverted with well-done arcs that make some of the best written characters in television. Maeve steals nearly every scene she’s in, Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) manages to be both comic relief and a deep, insightful character, Adam’s redemption arc was profound and hopeful to watch, and somehow Ruby is one of my favorite characters. How in the world is the popular, mean girl unironically one of my favorite characters in the show? This is probably the one show in which I actually root for every single character and really hate no one because any character you likely hate now will get some kind of redemption later on. It just feels so refreshing to actually see a show with such layered and intriguing characters.

I am also always in awe at how this show can be so funny and sad at the same time. Sex Education uses raunchy humor as their source of comedic relief and somehow it feels natural. What I mean by that, is that I have seen so many different programs and movies that have just felt so over the top when it comes to raunchy humor (excluding Fleabag) and really feels like it’s only there for shock value and doesn’t pertain to the story that much. This show puts you in a world where you are seeing some deeply explicit content that somehow feels grounded and necessary to the story at hand. And most of all, it’s hilarious. I never thought I’d die of laughing at a show like this so often. Although it has its funny moments, there are still a lot of gut-punching sad ones. These somehow give off an even better effect than the humor does. I’m not trying to downplay the humor at all, but the serious moments of the show really make this entire run meaningful and insightful. I haven’t seen a better blend of comedy and drama on TV before this show.

Also, I think a great way to see how this show works so well is seeing how it compares to other teen drama shows that try everything that Sex Education has succeded with. One of these examples is diversity and inclusion. With so many of these shows (even in middle school), I can tell that they were really trying to force diversity. There is nothing wrong with that, but it just always seems apparent that either the writers didn’t want to add characters to the show to have diversity, or they didn’t even try. Riverdale tried to have representation of the LGBTQIA community but they either used blatant stereotypes or just pulled storylines out of left field to seem more diverse (I’m referring to the Cheryl Blossom storyline). Sex Education makes all of these attempts look like complete failures compared to their attempts at diversity. It feels like that because they really try to give characters actual traits rather than just labeling them as a reason for a pat on the back. Another one of these examples was with serious issues which 13 Reasons Why tried to tackle all the time. The entire motto was “to start a discussion,” but every attempt at it was either offensive in how inaccurate the issues were portrayed or severely crossing the line by including them. With Sex Education, deeply serious issues like teen depression and sexual assault are tackled respectfully and meaningfully. It’s genuinely been able to start real discussions and bring awareness to these issues.

So yes, I absolutely adore this show. It sought to capture the empathetic high school themes that John Hughes movies had in the ’80s and it flawlessly succeeds. It’s really had an impact on me. The show has somehow simultaneously made me feel comfortable being single in high school and feel sad about being single in high school. The later two seasons managed to expand on the already brilliant show and give it more room to grow. It’s a show that I would immediately recommend to any adult in the school looking for a heartfelt comedy show. I’d recommend it to students if they watch it without their parents and are comfortable with watching raunchy material (I don’t want to recommend it without warnings). Seriously, I was willing to watch The Boys with my dad and I refuse to ever watch this show with them if they ever do (which strangely I want them to).