Sex Education Review

Sex Education is a teen comedy/drama that stars Asa Butterfield as the sixth former Otis Milburn, a sexually repressed son of sex therapist and published author Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson). 
Otis joins the Moordale secondary school and along with his friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), the pair are a couple of outcasts in the school. Eric is bullied daily by the school bully Adam Groff (Connor Swindells), but an opportunity to spare his friend arises and with the aid of an intelligent but self destructive girl called Maeve (Emma Mackey), Otis is able to give his best friend some reprieve. Turns out, having a mom for a therapist has imparted some skills onto Otis and he's able to use them to help the school bully with an issue of a sexual nature. The quick thinking Maeve pounces on the chance to monopolise the other students sexual problems with the aid of Otis whom haplessly begins to develop feelings for Maeve, who has a very hard time getting close to anyone. The series primarily focuses on the developing relationship between these two leads and the situations the two find themselves in as they run the convert school sex clinic.

I was hooked on this show as soon as the first episode ended, it's got great characters who are very well written and acted. The dialogue is smart and every actor is on point at making each character believable. There's a lot of stereotypes here, but it's all done so well it doesn't matter.
As well as a great cast of primary characters, the secondary characters bring just as much to the table and help flesh out the primary characters, such as Eric's introverted father. The show does a great job of subverting your expectations of the two's relationship and it really pays off.
The parent and child interactions and growth is interwoven between the relationships of the student, adding to the sense of overwhelm that young adults go through at that turbulent time; the peer pressure of their friends and the expectancy of their parents. This show captures it all whilst at the same time being hilariously candid about sex.

If you're looking for a show that's aiming to tackle subjects deeply, then Sex Education won't provide that. It's a light hearted show that focuses on character development above making a statement about homophobia, bullying or peer pressure. Sex Education is a show that you can watch and escape into, disappear into it's time bending aesthetic. I mention that because it's been a bit of a sticking point for some, generally speaking most characters and places look like they're from the 70's but then everyone has a smart phone and Otis plays Zelda on his Switch, so it's clearly based in current times.

At 55 minutes a piece and only eight episodes, Sex Education uses it's full run time very well. I think it definetly helps skimming off two hour long episodes to prevent padding through the series.
Sex Education is a great show, great cast, great writing. What's not to like? I wholly recommend watching and I can't wait for season 2!