Sex Education Ending Explained: Unpacking What Each Character's Story Represents
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- Sex Education was a heartfelt show that explored the many facets of teenagerdom in a relatable, compelling way. Today we want to unpack where the show left everyone in the end and the deeper meaning behind each character’s arc and what it represents.
Join our PATREON to unlock our Members-Only Series “Total Take," vote on what we cover next, and earn more exciting perks: / thetake
Become a RUclips Member: bit.ly/jointhetake
Watch our TikTok: / thisisthetake
Bonus Content and Articles: www.the-take.com
Follow our Socials: linktr.ee/thisisthetake
CHAPTERS
00:00 Where does Sex Education leave off?
00:17 Maeve
04:24 Otis
08:06 Eric
10:30 Jean
11:52 Ruby & The Coven
13:33 Cal
14:16 Adam
15:13 Aimee & Isaac
CREDITS
Executive Producers: Debra Minoff & Susannah McCullough
Chief Creative Director: Susannah McCullough
Associate Producer: Tyler Allen
Writer: Susannah McCullough & Jessica Babineaux
Narrator: Jessica Babineaux
Video Editor: Carson Bradley 
Развлечения
JOIN OUR PATREON to unlock our Members-Only Series “TOTAL TAKE” and more exciting new perks: www.patreon.com/thetake
Ruby realizing that she didn't need Otis' friendship, that her speaking out and sharing her shame set her free...that was the best.
Very true ...still hurtful how Otis didn't appreciate ruby.
Also maeve calling her out for years of slutshaming and bullying was also needed
Rubys ending of no longer letting her self be strung along by Otis was compelling to me. Its weird as a viewer to feel vindication that she has freed herself from the main character we’re supposed to be rooting for, but I think it realistically reflects how these situations form in real life. Often the person leading someone on doesn’t realize how much they are taking advantage of the power they have over someone who has unrequited feelings for them. She latched on to Otis so quickly because it was the first time she allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable, and was met with rejection which was likely her worst fear. I think a lot of people have had that experience and seeing her rise above it and protect her own well-being was powerful.
I agree. I do think that her story does become a full circle because when she was little she wanted to be friends with the cool kids but when O told everyone her secret all the cool kids made fun of her and that motivated her to become the cool kid and I thought it was nice that by the end of the show she finally gets to become friends with the students that are considered to be popular. That could just be me reading to much into it though.
@@cooperwolfe5478but she already was in a company with popular kids back in the previous school so I’m not sure about the full circle happening in the 4th season in that context. I guess it would have been much more powerful if she friended with some regular people as it would’ve shown that she does not give a fuck about being popular anymore: she tried it, she knows she got it (beauty, arrogance, etc.), but she simply does not need it.
What’s interesting to me is that Otis is supposed to be the definition of an unpopular kid, and the fact that she was able to fall in love with him probably was the realisation of idea of full circle (she finally came to the state where she was not ashamed of him in public). But yeah the ending where she chose herself (with any friends) was great, done with humiliating (it’s funny how awkward Otis broke her popular Ruby’s heart, so it’s like double humiliating)
I agree but I also experience in real life that if you don't like that person back. You are the villain as well. So it's a lose, lose in this world for unrequited love. I hated that Otis treated ruby like that. I was definitely ready for him to move on from Maeve. And actually give Ruby a chance but that wasn't the story they were telling which is fine.
I teared up when otis's mom talked to maeve. Such a beautiful conversation.
One thing I really liked about the ending of this show that this show was successfull in doing something in which the show friends failed. To be able to let the female lead go and chase her dreams without any baggage and the male lead accepting it, even if it destroyed him emotionally.
I had my doubts midway through but I was really pleased with the way they wrapped everything up for each character, especially Aimee, Eric, and Adam. And Adam's family!!
Video Analysis was well done. I'd also like to add that Viv's storyline was short but also EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
I'm actually glad that Maeve choose to return to America, even if it meant leaving Otis, Aimee and her other friends behind. She never really fit in at Moordale, so she had to find her true calling.
I know this is an odd thing to highlight but I love the fact that one of the best friendships in the show is between Jackson and Viv. It is an often held belief that a straight guy and a straight girl can't be friends but these too prove that they can.
People praise Ruby as one of the better parts of this season but whilst they tried to flesh out her character and give her more depth with her backstory, they never really addressed her past bad behaviour or her feeling any remorse for being a bully (aside from that one small “cockbiter” scene with Maeve)
Yeah, this irks me as well. I enjoyed the last season, and I liked how the different storylines were wrapped up, but going on Reddit, I saw the general opinion was that the season sucked. A large complaint was that Otis should have ended up with Ruby. The Otis and Ruby shipping started with the last season with people saying that he should pick her over Maeve, but people seem to forget that Ruby is kind of a terrible person. She was a bully the entire time at Moordale and wasn't even a good girlfriend to Otis - she tried to control him most of the time. Just because she came to love him and treated him a bit better because she loved him, didn't actually make her a good person - she still treated everyone else badly. And yes, she does get a bit of a redemption arc this season, but as you said, we never really see much remorse from her for her past bullying. And most of the reason she gets better this season wasn't because she felt the need to change but because she was at the bottom of the popularity food chain in that new school and didn't have the power she had at Moordale, otherwise I don't think she would have changed at all.
FACTS!!! But honestly, seeing her be unpopular and having to work her way to being popular to me was that universes cosmic justice happening before our eyes. I didn't want her to be popular so easy and to actually change.
I'm SO glad that the writers let Otis and Maeve break up and have her chase her dreams in the US. It's so much more realistic than them as 'endgame.'
I wanted so bad for Otis to leave maeve and choose ruby, but as the 4th season ended, he doesn't deserve either of them.
Why are Jackson and Viv always left out of the breakdown videos about this show 😣
Agree
But yeah! Her calling out that self-centred jerk was everything for kids like us!
Did anybody noticed cameo-scene from "Mean Girls", with famous baking cookies and "he doesn't even go to this school!"?
Maeve & Otis’ goodbye is probably the most painful breakup in TV history.
I cried so much watching that scene.
I’m in a long distance relationship right now and Asa’s performance was so legit and impressive in that scene. I have seen that face in real life 😭. It was a very sad ending but it was very well written and performed
Boah it was when Jakob left the first time that killed me
As disappointing as most of the final season was - some truly terrible decisions and moments, where most of the characters ended up was very satisfying, especially the Groffs
Yeah I agree. I was happy for Adam and his Dad and that ended being my favorite storyline in the show and was the most satisfying ending to any of the subplots
popular? maeve wasn’t popular at all.
She's known by everybody as the rebellious, quiet outcast who does homework
She wasn't popular in the sense of being well-liked, but she was popular, in that everyone knew her and her "bad-girl" reputation. She had a bad reputation (which was mostly not deserved and was based on lies) - she was known as the wild girl and the one who "puts out" (to put it in high school terms).
@@siswatching exactly, that’s not popular. She was BULLIED by the popular kids. (Ruby, Anwar, Olivia)
The world will feel a little emptyer without sex education and big mouth, they truely brode something new to the netflix table
Sex educated season 4 was definitely a season of all time!
I enjoyed the season but i definitely left unsatisfied but i wouldnt want to do without the final season. It was definitely necessary.
Oooo thank for the video, I’ve been waiting to hear the opinion from you💜
You missed Jackson and Viv in your video.
Honestly, Jean, Ruby, and Maeve carried that season. Eric has a religious awakening out of nowhere, Otis is insufferable, Aimee and Issac lack the chemistry of Maeve and Issac, Jackson's story felt like they had nothing new for him so went straight to the cliche, Viv was underdevolped this season after a terrific S3, Cal worried me because I felt there were so many issues just quickly mentioned then glossed over (like teens self medicating with hormones. I know people who do this and I love them/worry about their health) and dont get me started on the Gen Z rainbowdust cardboard cutouts that were the token queer kids. Made me miss Lily, our rightful Galactic Queen.
S4 just had WAY too much going on and it was too concerned about its legacy as a queer show, rather than just focusing on queer characters. The good, the bad, and the bumping uglies. So many characters were way too sanitized and added too late in the series to be properly devolped.
hey, I got a request sense it's almost Halloween why do a breakdown of the "mad scientist" trope in movies. keep up the work
a lot of people have been hating on the last season so this was really interesting to see as an alternative perspective, and i agree w most everything in this video
I felt like this season the final season was super rushed. Could have benefited with one more season.
they wrote it as a normal season and then got told it was the final one so they quickly had to write a final. So yes, it literally WAS rushed :(
I spent the whole season imagining Jakob in random fits of rage and depression and Ola having a deep resentment towards Jean and Otis while trying to be there for her dad. I mean hell, she even named the baby! They all lived together... fuck, that was a psychological horror in itself and we never actually saw that
I felt Jakob's absence so much in this season. He was one of the strongest and yet (imho) underrated characters on the show.
@@bookFreak8191 ehhh, he became a little annoying towards his middle appearances when he makes Jean feel invaded. But he does stand out as a highlight of the show
I wish people realized that "each other" works for everything, even more than two people.
The first 3 seasons were absolutely brilliant, the golden standard that all shows should strive for.
The last season was an absolute disappointment. I wish there was anything smart to explain and unpack, but the writing really treated the audience like we're super stupid.
The new characters were shallow and boring, the plots were seriously underwritten and preachy, the pacing and tone were off...
Eh, at least we got Amy's photography and story of Adam and his dad. The rest was a total trainwreck and I'm still very sad about that.
i agree. The school in the first three seasons was obviously heavily American teen trope influenced, but it still felt somewhat realistic. Cavendish however? Total fantasy. Did they even take real classes (other than art and that one math class)? The principal is totally fine with a teenager with zero training/credentials being a sex therapist? The majority of the student body being LGBTQ+ in a rural town? Also with the differences in educational systems between the UK and North America, I'm confused on Maeve's program. And also the assumption that after it ends she can just stay in America indefinitely. Realistically Uni in the UK would make way more sense financially. In fact I don't get why they didn't just send her to a prestigious program in say London or maybe somewhere in Scotland or something. I agree that the best parts were the growth of Amy and Adam. And Eric was awesome as usual.
100%
Cal story help me so much
What annoyed me the most in the last season were the too many plots. They focused too much in minor character's issues, and some of them were solved so fast that made it super unrealistic (like Viv and her abusive new boyfriend)
Please make a video about O's arc. I loved her story.
Maeve is a total dream boat
They really should have made sure Mikael Persbrandt was contracted to come back. Unless I missed a moment I think his last exchange with Ottis in season 3 was like even if she doesn't make it you still have a family and all of sudden just cuz You Are Not The Father, he peace's out--doesn't seem in character--even if he's not the baby daddy. Also, as a disabled person, they really did Isaac wrong. He's the villain of the early seasons, pretty much. They could have used him to more deeply explore issues around sex and disability--but nope his arc is: he gets to yell about the lift and date Aimee, which to me just felt: who haven't we paired off yet: uhhh them.I feel like Adam's parents getting back together, really ruined the chance for the dad to have positive growth more than I read some self-help books. Seemed like a perfect sometimes moving forward is moving on lesson and how does he build a healthier connection with someone else, now just Adam? I'm not non-binary so can't speak to that, but Cal always felt like really underdeveloped, and I don't get why they are randomly American. I feel like they just smashed all the storylines together and kind of said: here you go. The fact there was another student (O) who also did therapy just didn't really seem believable, either. It all just felt rushed, and it all fell apart. Also, the sex scene with Meave just seemed like it was there for the watcher who wanted it--but gets undercut by the story. OT suddenly being shit to Meave cuz she wants to follow her dreams also seems to betray who he was. It just sucks when a show you thought was doing some interesting things unrolls in the last season. Makes you kind of not want to re-visit.
I dunno if Netflix just pulled the plug or Eric getting to be The Doctor killed it or if they wrote themselves into a corner by selling the school, or if too many people leaving limited the writing, but I feel like we needed one more season to let some of the ideas breathe. It's really hard to end a show with an ensemble cast like this in a pleasing way, but I feel like a lot of choices just didn't make sense. A proper ending would show OT heading off to tour uni and he sees Meave on the cover of a lit mag and texts her: your story was great or something.
I feel like Ruby is the standout, because she realized she didn't need OT in her life, great moment. But I can't help but feel like a lot of the characterizations this season betrayed a lot of the growth they have been going through and their general characterizations.
Agreeeee. Disappointed but expected. Very rushed like they just had to figure smth out suddenly
First half of this season was a drag. All the conflicts seemed so forced and cliched. It picked up though.
How feel-good
I wish Aimee ended the show without any romantic interests. I don’t really like her and Issac together.
Thanks! The story would have developed just as well if they were just friends...
Wouldn't that insinuate that she never fully healed enough to open herself up again? Isn't it cool that not only is she choosing to be with a guy who likes her, but one she actually likes too for a change ... Or no?
I think part of the problem is that Isaac is a sanctimonious, irritating prat. Aimee deserved someone better.
I was onboard for their connection, they really had amazing friendship chemistry... Romantic, not so much.
what about jackson????
Ms. Sands 💚
And Aimee?
This was literally felt like putting in a team of rookies in the 4th quarter of game 6 .like why?
I`m really happy Maueve chose career over love. She deserved much more than a teenage fling with Otis.
I love this show, but come on Otis was always portrayed empathetic, smart and generous. The last season reduced him to a 'white male priviledge'.
You can be all those things and still have blindspots due to the privilege you have.
On the other seasons we saw Otis being sooo immature and selfish. Remember the speech at the party?
How I wished Eric would have gotten together with Adam and Jeab with Jacob. Oh and lots more of the couples that could have been... it was such a sad last season but I still liked some aspects like Adams family getting back together. Still hard to swallo that it was the last seaon.
frankly I think Adam's dad didn't deserve redemption. he copied and showed around details of the sex lives of minors (minors he was responsible for!!!) to get petty revenge because he thought Otis' mom had convinced his wife of getting a divorce just because he didn't wanna face that he had treated her like shit. that's something a teeny would do, at best (tbh it felt like it was stolen right from Mean Girls, but it worked there because it actually was a teenager doing it). and he did not seem sorry for doing it. he didn't apologize or own up to it and he didn't even put on consequences for himself (like, idk, getting a job that doesn't involve kids because he should clearly not be trusted with them). it's nice for him that he's finally growing as a person, but he should not be obsolved like this.
I think that’s true for a lot of characters on SE, where they do complete 180’s and get to change without really looking at their pasts. I thought the same of Ruby, even though I really like her character, the way they completely glossed over her bully past seemed rushed to me. The only one who really faces consequences and their past is Adam, but I think that’s because his improvement started in the earlier seasons.
I really don't mean this to come across as rude (apologies if it does, just trying to offer some feedback) but could the narrator please tone down the intense up-and-down cadence when speaking? It's quite distracting to listen to "the SER-ies ENDS with MAEVE LEAV-ing Otis AND the REST of her LIFE be-HIND."
Shepherd's Chapel Network !!!!!!! Do you know where America is mentioned in the Bible ???????
Everybody looked really old this season (old enough to pretend to be a teen)
Yeah even Asa who used to look like a teenager he doesn’t anymore. Which makes sense he’s 26 years old now. Can’t look like a teenager forever
Maeve popular? Wow first sentence and it already shows a lack of understanding of the character lol. She’s edgy and apparently confident but she’s actually the underdog who’s seen as the promiscuous daughter of a drug addict...
Maeve was NOT popular.
Oh my god, you were paid to say all these things, you literally word to word repeat what the writer of the sex education said about Eric’s and Otis’s friendship.
Do you have the receipt?
Great, now I don't have to watch this show
I find problematic that the money that was crowdfunded specificallu to feed people in need at church, was usee at the end (and without the ok of the participants) to pay for the top surgery of a 17yo.
The church refused the money. What were they supposed to do? Force them to take the money. It still went to a good cause.
@@era95v not what I would call a good cause, no... They should have given it back. I would never consent to donate money for the mutilation of a troubled teenager.
@@fynna8640 Cal wasn’t troubled. They weee having mental health problems because who they are did not match their outside. And who on that school would have asked for their money back?
@@era95vCal had disappeared for days, what do you call troubled if she wasnt? You have a point with that fictional school, but still, in real life, giving money to feed people in need (and they can be found everywhere outside of a church!), and giving money to crowdfund unnecessary surgery would not be the same at all.
@@fynna8640 They disappeared for a few hours, not even a day. They’re a young person who needs help, that money was earmarked for those who need help. The surgery was necessary for someone’s wellbeing. Just because you don’t understand how someone in Cals position would feel doesn’t mean that their feelings aren’t valid.
Thanks for this video so that I do not watch the final season. Man this is preachy as hell.
I didn't like season 4... Sex Ed should have ended on season 3.
Did you know new York has STDs then Texas. One example abstinence only instead sex Ed. Also les sexual assaults
Otis seemed like an unnecessary character on this show. The other characters were more diverse and had more interesting backstories.
Otis: has slept with Maeve once (after pining for her for years) and now they are separated by a literal ocean. Instead of 1 he is now living with 3 women - ambitious, overworked mother, 3-month-old baby and deeply disturbed aunt. He is also deprived of what gave his existence meaning, his sex clinic. What he has done to deserve this I don’t know. Oh yeah, I forgot, white male privilege. Must be punished.
Jean: does not even find the nerve to throw her sister out of the house when she literally and deliberately farts into her face. Joanna has done literally nothing to deserve help, on the contrary, she exploits everybody and or gets on their nerves, but oh yeah, she was “abused”. When we see her in flashback, she is proudly encouraging the advances of the man, feeling superior to her sister; now she has decided that it was an assault.
Eric: his church helped him find to self-love, and Adam was his first lover. In both cases, he turns his back on them because being gay matters more to him. Which is why „God“ in person tells him he has a special calling. A calling to what, helping other people to be as selfish as he is? At a party, he takes substances. What a glowing example for other young people to like and imitate.
Michael: at least he is back together with his wife, but he is still being portrayed as a loser.
Lily: disappeared without a trace. We never learn whether she overcame her vaginismus.
O: Now she is the one with the only sex clinic, although she is intruding and haughty. Otis, the good listener, is made redundant. She made Ruby's life hell for years, but it's enough that she says "Sorry" in the open to be regarded as particularly virtuous.
Aimee: apparently she overcame her trauma, but now she has an affair with Isaac, who can literally not harm her, being in a wheelchair.
Cal: the entire school looked for her, Otis literally jumped into a garbage bin looking for clues, in the end everybody collects money for her. But God forbid that she thanks anyone. She does not even come to the crowdfunding. She has so managed to make the entire school about her that she doesn’t even need to show up any more.
Cavendish school: is summed up with the scene where a student takes the slide, cannons into his teacher throwing him to the floor and then simply walks away. God forbid anyone is taught things like manners and respect! The only people who must be treated with velvet gloves are the gender diverse ones. Woe if you dare to be “normal”.
Oh, and by the way, young people who are not even in their twenties apparently urgently need operations to have parts of their bodies chopped off or sewn on at will, because otherwise they can’t truly feel as “themselves”.
This whole school is sick. And this show should have been called “Sex Diseducation” or “Look Before You Leap”. The basic idea was good, but I was rarely more disappointed.
This season was horrendously woke, just awful, the only good story lines were the Adam and Ruby ones, the rest was just bs.