Sex Education. It sounds like a boring documentary your science teacher would make you watch in middle school, right?
If you thought that, you would be wrong! It’s a very popular Netflix show that has received 40 million views within one month of season 2 being released this January. In comparison, this is the same response that the Netflix hit YOU had within its first month of season 2, which was also released in the past few months. Since the release of season 2, Sex Educaiton has announced that season 3 is now in the works, which is great for fans because the end of season 2 left viewers on many different cliff hangers…
If you like looking at ratings before watching a tv show or movie to see if it’s worth watching, continue reading because I have looked them up for you. Sex Education has been rated 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.3/10 on IMDb, and 9.3/10 on TV.com. And if these statistics aren’t convincing enough, you can take my word for it that it is a great show. In fact, I think Sex Education is one of the best Netflix shows you will watch this year. I’m sure once you start watching it, you will want to binge-watch the rest. I warn you now.
Set somewhere in the English countryside, the show has an edgy setting and a very aesthetically pleasing vibe. The best word to describe it is – quirky. Though set in modern-day, it takes on a 1980’s vibe. Everyone uses iPhones and technology, but the clothes, cars, music, and furniture are not from this decade. What’s more, the school is set like an American high school with lockers and varsity jackets. Therefore, it’s not quite true to its setting, but it does cleverly appeal to both audiences on each side of the pond. Â
That is just one reason why I love the show. The other two reasons are that the characters, humor, and storylines are all amazing to follow (technically that’s three), and the show incorporates many essential topics in our society that sometimes we are too embarrassed to talk about or are frankly just not educated about in school. It covers topics such as pop-culture, slut-shaming, homophobia, abortion, consent, relationships, sex (of course), and many other topics. Listing them out like that seems like it may be difficult or even confusing to watch, but it isn’t. The show has been written so beautifully and sensitively around the topics, while at the same being educational to those who watch it.
If that hasn’t interested you yet, the cast is also amazing, not just for their acting, but for the diversity and representation of modern-day society. You may have heard of Asa Butterfield; he stared in Hugo and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In Sex Education, he plays the main character, Otis Milburn. His mother on the show, Dr. Jean Milburn, is played by Gillian Anderson, who starred in The X-Files. Many of the others in the cast are new actors such as Emma Mackey, who is mistaken for Margot Robbie, and Ncuti Gatwa, who has the best accent!
I really do hope that after reading this you will watch Sex Education if you haven’t already done so. It is truly a great show and one of my favorites for so many reasons. I love the representation and awareness it is creating. I love that it is teaching our generation and younger generations so many different important topics.