Apprentice sex therapist Otis Millburn returns to service. Sex Education season 2 airs this Friday on Netflix. By early 2019, this series for teens that spoke of sex in a positive way had become a phenomenon around the world.
Otis (Asa Butterfiel), 16, lives alone with his somewhat invasive mother, Jean (Gillian Anderson), a sex therapist, and spends all his time with his best friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), a gay teenager of Ghanaian origin, with a flamboyant personality. The hero launches with Maeve (Emma Mackey), the asocial but brilliant rebel, in a particular business : using the knowledge which comes from his mother, he starts to advise the pupils of the school on their sex life, in exchange for money .
What you need to know about Sex Education season 2:
- It'll be out in 3 days.
- Maeve always makes fucks.
- Otis is wearing the same down jacket.
- There's a new kid 🇫🇷😏 ...
Resolutely modern
Through the "cases" treated by Otis and the tribulations of the characters, the first season tackled masturbation, vaginismus, difficulties in reaching orgasm, lesbian sex, consent or communication between sexual partners. Without forgetting the classic subjects of teen shows , such as the pressure undergone by high school students, the relationship with parents or the importance of asserting oneself. A retro-looking series yet resolutely modern and inclusive, tinged with a welcome "British" humor.
The public was not mistaken. The first season was viewed (at least 70% of the program) by nearly 40 million households worldwide during the first four weeks, according to a press release from Netflix.
#SexEducation has come out with a bang - the smart and emotional series is on pace to be watched by over 40 million accounts over its first month pic.twitter.com/TAsklhTSQH
- See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) January 17, 2019Chlamydia epidemic
In this season 2, we find the high school students of Moordale at the start of a new year: Otis explores his new impulses with Ola (Patricia Allison), who is trying to make friends. Eric flashes on a new French student, Rahim (Sami Outalbali, seen in Les Grands et Mortel ), Maeve faces the arrival of his mother, Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) is still under pressure, Aimee (Aimee-Lou Wood ) thinks about his future and Adam (Connor Swindells) makes his military college debut. As for Lily (Tania Reynolds), she directed the school play. However, an epidemic of chlamydia turns everything upside down and forces adults to question how they talk to teens about sex.
Sex Education season 2 is more interested in relationships, sex life and the aspirations of teachers and parents, confirming that it is aimed at adolescents as well as their parents. . Above all, this season leaves more room for other sexual orientations and practices, for friendship between girls, and develops its secondary characters. Sex Education therefore pursues what makes it original in fiction for teens, and continues to strive to reflect the diversity of society ... And of sex.
"Most of the characters come from my life, people I know," the creator of the series, Laurie Nunn, said at the end of October at 20 Minutes . There are various people in my life, this representation in the series was logical. The characters in Sex Educatio n are in fact of different skin color, gender and sexual orientation, and the series gives voice to very different experiences.
The importance of representation
It was a conscious step by the designer, who carried out the castings without predefined appearance criteria - notably ethnic -. The only exception is the character of Eric, who was written as an Afro descendant: "We knew we wanted to tell an intersectional and specific story," says the screenwriter. When people watch television, they want to be represented. I think it's very important, especially for young audiences. We can't represent everyone because we don't have enough space, and it's frustrating. "In this season 2, Nunn intends to put in the foreground" the female characters "and explore" the labels and the "boxes" that go with sexualities ".
The 33-year-old screenwriter graduated from the National Film and TV School in the United Kingdom and does not hide her influences and her love of teenage fiction, from films by John Hugues to Lolita in spite of myself , passing through the series Freaks and Geeks . “What I really wanted was to take familiar shots of teen movies and series and find ways to look at them from a different perspective. "
Let the characters emancipate
If the characters in the series are quickly identified as particular "types" (the geek , the sportsman, the rebel, the young gay, the pretty girl, etc.), Sex Education takes great pleasure in showing that they are more than we think ... and let them free themselves. "When you're in high school, it's like you only have one personality trait, especially as a woman," recalls actress Aime Lou-Woods. The series goes against that, each character is revealed little by little at the end of season 1, and it continues in the second. "
Likewise, Tanya Reynolds says she is delighted "to play a character who wants sex, who is aware of her desires and is not ashamed of it". Her character, Lily, is a "refreshing" version, according to the actress, of the weirdo , the bizarre girl, who here completely assumes her tastes and her pleasure - in an ever more exciting way in this second season.
"This new perspective, the ethnic diversity, the subjects it addresses, all this explains why the series was so well received, said Ncuti Gatwa, Eric's interpreter. I would have loved to see a series like Sex Education when I was young. "The actor also recounts receiving messages" every day, from around the world. People who tell me how much the show helped them be who they wanted. I have, for example, a lot of messages from people who live in countries where being gay is illegal. "
These messages, whether testimonials or thanks, the actors and actresses of the series all receive them. A sign, perhaps, that sex Education has succeeded in its mission: to allow spectators to feel represented.
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