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Otis (Asa Butterfield) becomes Netflix’s answer to the sex and love columnists of teen magazines from the early noughties as he attempts to resolve his peers’ sexual struggles with the occasional help of his sex therapist mother (Gillian Anderson) in Sex Education’s first season. Hilarious, educational, and heartwarming with a dash of coming-of-age clichés, it’s the series that everyone – not just the next generation – needs in 2019.

The series’ exploration of a broad variety of topics centre around the taboo surrounding sexuality in adolescence, Amongst an array of other teenage woes, its approach to gender, for example, makes very clear that in 2019, both young women and young men are still struggling when it comes to sex education. If you had told me even a year ago that a mainstream television series for teenagers would teach me about female masturbation and vaginismus, I would have had difficulty believing you. However, Sex Education’s blatant facing-down of taboo topics like female masturbation and unfiltered lesbian sexual intercourse is a major reason why the show has been such a hit. It seems the societal taboo surrounding female sexuality is on the decline.

On first glance, Sex Education’s female characters seem to be one-dimensional. Leading woman Maeve (Emma Mackey) comes across as Otis’ very own manic pixie dream girl, and Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) appears to be the show’s dumb, pretty bimbo. The line-up of female characters could seem to exist only to attend to the male character’s sexual needs – but this is not the case. They get their own stories. Similar to the Canadian TV series Degrassi and its exploration of the subject, Maeve’s abortion is depicted as factual, not emotional. The entire procedure is shown on-screen and, though other women at the clinic are seen dealing with the emotions that follow, the viewer is encouraged to focus on Maeve’s practical need to have the abortion. It is refreshing to see a series that neither patronises its viewers by creating an actions/consequences storyline out of this.

This series engages with recent rhetoric around the potentially negative outcomes of sexual liberation movements, which have lead to increased pressure not only to frequently engage in sexual behaviour, but to experience a ‘sexual awakening’ before a certain stage of adolescence. It’s equally fascinating and hilarious to watch the contrast between the expectations and realities of both male masturbation and female masturbation. Otis is on the receiving end of peer pressure to ‘successfully’ masturbate from his best friend, Eric (Ncuti Gawa), while Aimee is disgusted by the very idea – until she tries it. Her initial revulsion is due to the simple reason that, unlike her male counterparts, she has not been brought up to view self-pleasure as a normal or even healthy act. . This series is refreshing in the way it encourages the normalisation of exploring one’s sexuality, while discouraging pressure to experience a definitive, clear-cut process of puberty.

The show’s relationships – be they platonic, familial or romantic – are also refreshing in how they explore each character’s worst fears and flaws. The relationship dynamics between Otis and the other characters were highlights of the series for me. For something that could have easily been cliché, the will-they-won’t-they relationship between Otis and Maeve is surprisingly realistic. Asa Butterfield (best known for his roles in Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and X+Y’) and Emma Mackey are incredible actors and their respective performances make the series more enjoyable. When both characters are supposed to be interested in different people, the viewer never needs to be told in words that Otis and Maeve are still harbouring feelings for one another – it comes across in subtle changes in behaviour, like fluctuations in Otis’s tone of voice or Maeve’s suddenly awkward, nervous disposition whenever the two interact.

Close friendships between a gay and straight men are rarely seen on screen, yet Eric and Otis’s friendship does not rely on their different sexualities or on gimmicks; they are entirely different, ordinary people who are largely focused on the ‘survival’ of secondary school. Rather than ignoring these differences, the show chooses to reflect honest and authentic character flaws. Otis’s naivety and abandonment of Eric leads to his best friend walking on an empty road alone in drag – but the show is complex enough to allow them to strengthen s their friendship and individual empathy.

Don’t let the all-American appearance – which ranges from eternally sunny weather to the those quintessential letterman jackets – discourage you from watching this refreshing, revealing series. It bears similarities to some teen series, such as SKAM, which have been released over the last few years, but Sex Education may be enjoyed by viewers of any age. Anyone who watches is bound to learn something from this series – or at the very least have a laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o308rJlWKUc