The hilariously provocative and informative coming-of-age series Sex Education released its third season in September, topping Netflix’s charts at #1 as audiences binged the highly anticipated production that was delayed for several months. The season gave us everything we wanted and more, diving deeper into the complicated emotional stories that writer Laurie Nunn created to reflect the real life intricacies of human relationships.
In Season 3, Mooredale’s best and brightest fight for sexual positivity, rallying together in a wild and colorful climax before ending with a cliffhanger that left us begging for more from Mooredale. Audiences were quick to ask the burning question: will there be another season? Luckily we didn’t have to wait long for an answer as Season 4 of Sex Education was announced just weeks after the Season 3 premiere in the style of school bulletin posts on Instagram and Twitter. Fans are already filling the comments with predictions for what’s to come, and more specifically, who will end up with who.
The show is a bright and laugh-out-loud funny take on the growing pains and challenges we all face but with special consideration to the things people find hard to talk about. Tackling issues from gender dysphoria and drug-addicted parents to ugly ‘O’ faces and culinary dirty talk, the show makes audiences feel a range of emotions and teaches that above all – communication is sexy. While the show’s main focus is a raunchy comedy centered around Otis Milburn, the teenage son of sex therapist Jean Milburn, and his attempts to make sex education in his school more positive and wholly informative, the stories of the characters are meaningful, bringing forth real-life fears and anxieties of teens and adults alike, who cannot wait for more from the brilliant series.
Has Sex Education Been Renewed for Season 4?
We don’t have a confirmed release date for Sex Education Season 4 yet, but the show has been officially renewed by Netflix.
The second season was released in January 2020, just one year after the first. With the third being delayed until 18 months later, hopes are that filming will stay on course and that the fourth season may be released in autumn of 2022 with an expected total of 8 episodes.
Where Will Season 4 Take Place?
They are Sex School and they are proud of it! Unfortunately, the colorful display at Opening Day, where the students banded together to fight for a proper curriculum, led to the school’s funding being pulled. The students will need to finish out their school year, though where they will complete their high school education remains to be seen.
In Episode 8 of Season 3, alien-obsessed Lily returned to school after being shamed for a steamy short story she had written. Lily’s mother tells Jean that she wishes Lily had someone like her on campus to talk to. Wherever the teens end up finishing their schooling, we hope that Jean or some form of her teachings will be available to the sex-crazed students who were taught abstinence under the authority of Headmistress Haddon.
What Will Season 4 Be About?
In the last season, Jean gives birth to a daughter, Joy, whose DNA results are still up in the air. The shocked look on Jean’s face as she opens the envelope could possibly signal the start of an even more complicated home life for the mixed family who just started to come together after a rocky beginning. One thing is for certain, we need to learn who the real father is in the next season.
Adam and Eric are in their own complicated headspace and we need to know what’s going to come of their love lives. Eric kissed another man while visiting family in Nigeria and now the pair have broken up. While Eric was patient with Adam’s coming out he decided he needed someone who was proud to be with him after experiencing the queer culture in Nigeria where people are risking their lives to be who they are. Eric tells Adam that he’s losing who he is after working so hard to be himself, causing Adam to shut down. While Eric was in Nigeria, Adam befriended Eric’s ex-boyfriend Rahim. They eventually bond together over their pain and may even be flirting a little. Rahim helps Adam find his voice and speak from his heart, something he states he didn’t know he had until it was broken.
Adam works through the daunting task of coming out to his mother while struggling with a non-existent relationship with his father, Mr. Groff, the ex-principal who left Adam behind when his wife Maureen asked for a divorce. In Season 3 we see Michael Groff struggling in his own right. Without a job or a home of his own, he eventually talks to Jean who pushes him to find joy again. Michael realizes he wants to win Maureen back, and after some missed signals and heartfelt late-night conversations, is seen sneaking out of her bed in the final episode. Audiences are curious to see where the couple’s relationship will go and how Michael will break his silence to Adam, who we hope to see living fearlessly and proudly as himself.
It seems that Aimee may have a larger part of the show in Season 4 as her character goes on a journey of self-discovery while she heals from the sexual assault that took place in Season 2. In Season 3, Aimee talks about how she wants to stick up for what she believes in, become stronger and learn who she is outside of her relationships. Season 4 will likely show us her journey in becoming the strong, outspoken young woman she’s destined to be.
In the final episode of Season 3, we see Jackson tell Cal that he isn’t queer and Cal responds by telling him that they cannot be in a relationship with him if he sees them as a girl. Who will our Romeo trust with his heart next? Chinenye Ezeudu who plays the book smart and aspirational Viv, states in an interview that Jackson and Viv “would be endgame.” When asked about the fan-fueled theory that the two belong together she responded, “I’m pushing for them to get together. Because they just suit each other! But Viv has a new love interest in her life, and we’ll see where that goes. I think they’re well-suited for the time being. Who knows in other seasons?”
And the part that we’re all waiting for – will Otis and Maeve finally end up together? The pair have finally confessed their feelings for each other but at the last minute, Maeve changes her mind about her trip to the US and leaves for the study abroad program. Will the next season pick up with Maeve studying in the US and dealing with the challenges of being away from home or coming back as a changed woman with new experiences and a new perspective? Will Otis remain faithful while she is away? While some hope he doesn’t screw up his only chance with Maeve, many fans of the show are rooting for Ruby and Otis 2.0. The two have also discussed continuing the sex clinic that they started in Season 1. After the terrible sex education courses offered in Season 3 we desperately hope to see the clinic reopen before things get any more out of hand.
Will there be any changes to the cast?
A cast has yet to be confirmed but we can expect to see more of the main cast members, including Asa Butterfield as Otis Milburn, Emma Mackey as Maeve Wiley, Gillian Anderson as Jean Milburn, Ncuti Gatwa as Eric Effiong, Connor Swindells as Adam Groff, Alistair Petrie as Michael Groff, Kedar Williams-Stirling as Jackson Marchetti, and Aimée Lou Wood as Aimee Gibbs.
Among the characters we aren’t sure will return in the coming season is Isaac Goodwin, Otis’ rival love interest of Maeve’s, who takes his heart off the table when he learns that Maeve kissed Otis on a school trip. With Maeve moved out of the caravan park where Isaac resides it is unclear if their paths will cross again in the future.
Erin Wiley, Maeve’s mother, is now on the run from the police after she kidnapped her youngest child, Elsie, from her foster home during visitation. Maeve and Aimee tracked Erin down and retrieved Elsie moments before they were to escape onto a ferry. Erin later appears popping her head through a bush at the Mooredale school campus. She signals for Maeve to come meet her outside and makes amends with her eldest daughter, gifting her cash to use on her study abroad trip. She then disappears with no word of where she is headed, so it is unlikely we will see Erin in future seasons, unless it is from behind bars.
Layla is a quiet non-binary character who appears to be the example of a “good nb” when Cal is being reprimanded by headmistress Hope Haddon for being a “slovenly troublemaker.” Layla gets help from Cal in obtaining their first gender-affirming chest binder. Cal tells Layla they are proud of them as they glow in their new binder, resolving the character and not leaving any questions to be answered in an upcoming season. Though we might not see Layla return, we do hope Cal appears in Season 4 to provide more non-binary representation.
Hope Haddon, ex-headmistress of Mooredale High packed her bags after the students rallied against her and the changes that she made in her short time on campus. Teachers and students alike celebrate the sight of her empty office. With faculty favorites Mr. Hendrix and Ms. Sands vying for the job we’re getting our hopes up that we won’t see Ms. Haddon, and her terrible dance moves, again.
Goat, Aimee and her boyfriend Steve’s pet that the couple shared to show their commitment, may be hoofing it now that the couple have broken up. If the pair sort out Goat’s custody she may make a great emotional support animal for sweet Steve and his broken heart.
Emma Mackey, who plays the bold and brilliant Maeve Wiley, shared her mixed feelings about continuing her role as she reaches her mid-twenties, noting in an interview with Hunger that she “can’t be 17 [her] whole life.” Mackey goes on in an interview with Elle about her hopes for Maeve in Season 4. Maeve is often dealing with her troubled family life, a struggling financial situation and confusing teenage relationships. Mackey hopes to see her character live out a dream for herself. Season 3 ends with Maeve readying to leave for a study-abroad program in the US. Mackey wonders “she’s only ever lived in her little tiny bubbles. How is she out of that bubble?”
Asa Butterfield (Otis Melburn) laments similar hopes for Otis and Maeve to Elle,
“I would like to see them…look at the bigger picture,” he said. “To explore themselves and to be more focused either on their relationship with themselves or their platonic relationships with their friends and family.” Asa also stated that while he is up for a fourth season he is ready to say goodbye to the characters after three years.
Casting director Lauren Evans tells Elle,
“Like Laurie said before, Laurie doesn’t want to keep going and put these people through college and university and you know into middle age. But we’ll see.”
Like in Adam’s poem to Eric, we know the day will come when it’s over, but until then we will be lusting after more Sex Education.
