Sex Education: Season 4/ Episode 7 – Recap and Review

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General Information

This section Includes information about the Director, Writer, and Cast.

Release Date (Netflix)	September 21, 2023
Director(s)	Alyssa McClelland
Writer(s)	Bella Heesom
Previously Noted Characters and Cast
Maeve	Emma Mackey
Otis	Asa Butterfield
O	Thaddea Graham
Aimee	Aimee Lou Wood
Isaac	George Robinson
Adam	Connor Swindells
Michael	Alistair Petrie
Jem	Bella Maclean
Jean	Gillian Anderson
Cal	Dua Saleh
Aisha	Alexandra James
Joanna	Lisa McGrillis
Jackson	Kedar Williams-Stirling
Beau	Reda Elazouar
Viv	Chinenye Ezeudu
Eric	Ncuti Gatwa
Ruby	Mimi Keene

Plot Recap

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A Troublesome Relationship With Myself And Others – Cal, Aisha, Jean, Joanna, Jackson, Beau, Viv, Aimee, Isaac

Cal continues to struggle with their gender identity to the point they are becoming prone to isolation. Aisha is getting a bit worried, but as Cal is struggling with their relationship with themselves, Viv is struggling in her relationship. Beau’s jealousy leads to him getting aggressive and hurting Viv, and she is shook. She talks to Jackson about it, who pauses talking about learning his dad might be named Jerome because Viv is at the point of tears and feels bad about being upset with Jackson over his criticism of Beau, considering he was right.

But the drama doesn’t end there. Joanna and Jean have a huge blowup because Jean is willing to pay Joanna’s debt, with strings attached, that includes therapy, which insults Joanna. But, the kicker is Isaac and Aimee staging a protest due to the lack of accessibility of their college, particularly the elevator. It causes a huge scene that takes most of the day to resolve, and alongside Isaac noting the inconsistency of the elevator, Aisha adds in her struggles and how she is sometimes excluded.

After all, to get things started, the fire alarm was pulled, and seemingly, while there was a loud and blaring noise, there weren’t lights or anything, so those hard of hearing like Aisha could know there was trouble. This is a problem, and the school paying for everything, but safety and accessibility features are something the administration says it will handle. When exactly is hard to say, but it was noted.

Like The Mom You Never Had – Otis, Maeve, Jean

There was an idea that Jean should properly meet Maeve. She picked them up after trespassing, Otis seems serious about her, and Jean wants to seem cool and chill, so why wouldn’t Maeve want to meet her? Well, because Maeve has heard Otis talk about his mom for ages and she can barely deal with him at times. So, imagine an older version?

But, while Otis is stuck in an elevator with O, more on that next, Maeve and Jean are connecting,whicht is as awkward as expected. Joanna just stormed off when Maeve arrived, and Maeve is now carrying her mom’s urn everywhere to make things all the more awkward.

Yet, in the long run, Jean is just what Maeve needs. She is the supportive, encouraging maternal presence who pushes Maeve to dream rather than settle. Jean even sprinkles a little bit of therapy in there by applauding Maeve, for she raised herself into a notable woman. And with that conversation, Maeve plans to head back to America.

Eventually, You Have To Let Go – Maeve, Otis, O, Aimee, Isaac, Adam, Michael, Jem

Before Otis arrives home and has a nice dinner with his mom and girlfriend, whom he finally has sex with, he spends some time with O. As you can imagine, being stuck in an elevator with O is not something that makes Otis happy, but in their time together, he finally gets some means of resolving his erectile dysfunction that is associated with his mom. It seems seeing her having a mental breakdown affected his opinion of love, and with O pointing that out, he is able to get hard and satisfy his girlfriend.

Now, does O reveal anything? Yes! She reveals why she joined the popular kids in bullying Ruby (to get popular) and why the sex clinic means so much to her (again, to be popular). But, going a little deeper than that, it is also because she is ace, and the easiest way for her to blend in and mask was to learn about sex enough to talk about it and understand it.

Which may lead you to ask, with confessing her reasoning and having a heart-to-heart, did either give a true apology? Not really. Ruby has backed someone new, and with both O and Otis cancelled, it seems they may win the election.

But, on a positive note, Maeve tells Otis she is going back to America, and he doesn’t make a big stink of it, and Maeve gives Isaac and Aimee her blessing. Leaving Adam, who is still going through trauma, thanks to Michael. He makes a mistake at work, which leads to him thinking he’ll get fired, but Jem makes it clear while he can’t repeat his mistake of trying to drive a tractor, he isn’t fired. So, with the realization that he has deep-seated issues that are making him overreact, he gives Michael a piece of his mind and even questions if hanging out recently was purely to get back with Maureen and he was just an ends to a means.

Review

Notable Performances or Moments

Maeve and Jean’s Scene

One of the things Maeve isn’t given that often is grace, care, and the ability to be vulnerable. Yes, with Isaac and Aimee, she has let them in, but they have always gotten that Maeve who is stern in the face of adversity, and even at Erin’s funeral, Isaac may have caught Maeve in a vulnerable moment, but one she could make out into something funny. With Jean, Maeve didn’t, or couldn’t, do that.

Her talking about settling, maybe triggering Jean’s own regrets in life, led to a scene where Maeve got the maternal figure she likely longed for, needed, maybe even craved, but resigned herself to the idea she’d never get it. Yet, in one afternoon, she got a sense of what it would have been like to have a supportive mother, and the tears flowed. Leading to two episodes in a row, Maeve made us cry.

Highlights

O’s Confession

Due to O being a manipulative character, as hesitant to take accountability as Otis, there is this push and pull between wanting to understand her and empathize but still call BS. She knows what she did to Ruby wasn’t right, yet refuses to apologize, similar to how Otis knows what he said and did to Eric wasn’t right, but he still refuses to have a real discussion about it.

But with O’s confession does come the need to ask whether she may seek something beyond being a sex therapist, with the election not looking in her favor? What could she do since she hasn’t pursued friendship and with being ace, relationships have been a challenge?

This being the last season means a lot of things are going to go unanswered, and with the rapid rise of O, I can only hope they end things on a high note.

On The Fence

Joanna’s Character Development Lagging Behind Everyone Else’s

Joanna is probably one of the worst new additions to the season. Yes, Jean and a flashback pushed the idea she is a hot mess due to things that happened in Joanna’s childhood. However, I need them to take that basic trope and, like how they did with Maeve, expand on it to make it specific. Having Joanna be a hot mess and purely fit the comedy aspect of the show is a disservice, if not an insult to characters who have better writing and performances who, like in the case of Abbi and Roman, have felt benched.

Viv In A Abusive Relationship

As said many times, representation matters, and “Sex Education” is built on showing different types of young people going through varying things. However, a part of me wishes Viv, of all people, wasn’t going through an abusive relationship. She is smart, dark-skinned, a girl with meat on her bones, and seeing her happy, even with a man a bit insecure, was something that I liked to see. Beau recognized the type of catch he has, so a guy like Jackson, who is handsome, athletic, and has an established relationship, that is something worth questioning.

Yet, instead, Beau is abusive, controlling, and potentially violent. It breaks my heart to see Viv go through that, but, at the same time, the depiction of love bombing as a red flag is not shown enough. For while it can seem cute, even boost the ego, it can also leave you vulnerable to someone getting into your heart through the backdoor and wreaking havoc.

Eric’s Faith Journey, At This Point

The struggle we have with Eric’s faith journey is that the show is so bloated that it hasn’t really gotten the focus it needs. A lot of Eric’s time has been about his relationship with Otis, and like how Abbi and Roman have been sent to the proverbial back of the bus, Eric has, in some ways, too. Now, this episode revisits the issues of his wavering faith and speaking to God, but I can only hope like Maeve, O, and some others have gotten to set aside the comedy and have a serious moment, Eric can have one too for the scene with Abbi wasn’t enough.

Also Worth Mentioning

1. Cal’s storyline and how it continues to give representation for FTM trans people

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