Television Sex Education

[roseguy64]

Just finished Season 4 and the beginning was a bit meh but by the end holy feck it was good. Gillian Anderson and Emma Mackey are brilliant. Honestly if Emma Mackey doesn’t go on to become some award winning actress then feck.

Its very different from how it started but it’s so well written and honestly there are some lines in it that are just wow. Highly recommend

Yeah I know what you mean. Final episode left for me to watch now

 

[wr8_utd]

Three episodes into the new season and I'm trying to slow my pace so this doesn't get over too quickly. It's been very good!

 

[11101]

Half way through it. Good as usual but the new school is stupid.

 

[Redplane]

Still have to watch s3 first. Did folks like that season enough to where it ll likely make me want to continue into S4 after?

 

[chris123]

Just finished Season 4 and the beginning was a bit meh but by the end holy feck it was good. Gillian Anderson and Emma Mackey are brilliant. Honestly if Emma Mackey doesn’t go on to become some award winning actress then feck.

Its very different from how it started but it’s so well written and honestly there are some lines in it that are just wow. Highly recommend

Considering she has been in Barbie and was in the final two to be Lois Lane in the next Superman movie, I'm guessing Hollywood has already figured out that she's going to be a star. Just needs to pick the right role, next.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Still have to watch s3 first. Did folks like that season enough to where it ll likely make me want to continue into S4 after?

Season 3 is good, it I would say is more focused on the adults but there are brilliant moments in it and where it maybe wasn’t as good as the first season it was still pretty good.

 

[roseguy64]

Yeah I know what you mean. Final episode left for me to watch now

Finished it last night. Satisfying ending. Could have been better but no real complaints. I liked the resolutions on first watch.

 

[DJ_21]

On the 3rd episode of the new season. Forgot parts of what happened in the previous ones. I usually re watch aswell when a new ones coming out

 

[Amar__]

Too many cocks in these new shows. We are watching Euphoria and this, and every episode is full of cock pics.

 

[stw2022]

Two episodes in and it just seems really lazily written this season. Full of shallow characters going through the motions.

 

[Ish]

One of my favorite series and was really looking forward to season 4 but I was left fairly disappointed by that. Finished it yesterday. Still fairly decent but felt quite different to seasons 01-03.

 

[Siorac]

I think they bit off a bit more than they could chew in the end. The show wanted to talk about... everything, from abuse to transgenderism, from sexual assault to lack of accessibility options for the disabled, from religion and its role in modern society to performance anxiety in men.

These are all important topics but none of them received sufficient focus to feel anything other than rushed and oversimplified - or in the worst cases, preachy. And the hurry to get the message out meant that characters were too often reduced to nothing but "delivery devices" as opposed to being actual characters in their own right. And the humour of the first couple of seasons was sort of gone, resurfacing only every once in a while.

It still had some excellent episodes and enjoyable arcs but it should have been a bit more focused I think.

 

[Ish]

I think they bit off a bit more than they could chew in the end. The show wanted to talk about... everything, from abuse to transgenderism, from sexual assault to lack of accessibility options for the disabled, from religion and its role in modern society to performance anxiety in men.

These are all important topics but none of them received sufficient focus to feel anything other than rushed and oversimplified - or in the worst cases, preachy. And the hurry to get the message out meant that characters were too often reduced to nothing but "delivery devices" as opposed to being actual characters in their own right. And the humour of the first couple of seasons was sort of gone, resurfacing only every once in a while.

It still had some excellent episodes and enjoyable arcs but it should have been a bit more focused I think.

Yeah good summary.

 

[wr8_utd]

I think they bit off a bit more than they could chew in the end. The show wanted to talk about... everything, from abuse to transgenderism, from sexual assault to lack of accessibility options for the disabled, from religion and its role in modern society to performance anxiety in men.

These are all important topics but none of them received sufficient focus to feel anything other than rushed and oversimplified - or in the worst cases, preachy. And the hurry to get the message out meant that characters were too often reduced to nothing but "delivery devices" as opposed to being actual characters in their own right. And the humour of the first couple of seasons was sort of gone, resurfacing only every once in a while.

It still had some excellent episodes and enjoyable arcs but it should have been a bit more focused I think.

I completely agree. I'm around 6 episodes in and this is my biggest issue right now. They've just decided to talk about every issue under the sun and you feel like they're not doing complete justice to any of it.

 

[Wibble]

Only one episode in. Biggest issues for me is that so many characters seems to have just disappeared without any/much explanation. That and the main characters seem far to old for school now.

 

[crappycraperson]

Only one episode in. Biggest issues for me is that so many characters seems to have just disappeared without any/much explanation. That and the main characters seem far to old for school now.

Yeah, they should have just wrapped it up last season. S2 really did this show in since they stalled most of the storylines that season.

 

[Amar__]

We are on the fourth episode, and yeah, it's nowhere near good as it used to be. Nothing is happening. There is a queer party, and Adam is learning how to drive, yeeee!!

Also Eric, from very interesting character he has become really really loud, and obnoxious.

 

[11101]

Finished it now. Bit of a shame it ended that way, preaching about every issue under the sun but not really bothering with the story or the characters.

 

[Gavinb33]

I've tried watching this series and felt its lost a lot of the charm of the earlier ones

 

[Heardy]

Shite last season and overall ending. Lost itself and what made it appealing.

Got too caught up in adding a load of new characters in its quest for inclusiveness but this was to the total detriment / abandonment of the principal characters and their development.

 

[Freak]

This has been the weakest season of the show. They were shoving different issues down our throats without much character building.

 

[Semper Fudge]

Terrible final season, I don't think I've seen anyone who actually likes it.

 

[Jacko21]

To me, it feels as though part of the problem was that key cast members outgrew the show pretty quickly. And so S4 felt more like an obligation - to wrap up the story for the audience.

Couple that with a two year hiatus and a bunch of new writers and you have a show that is distinctly different from what made it so popular.

 

[Scandi Red]

I don't think the final season was as bad as many of you. I even found the last two episodes genuinely heart-warming and got misty-eyed a few times. For me the drop in quality wasn't very noticeable. Keep in mind that I never really loved the series though. I always thought that it was just good. Somewhere between fun, mindless entertainment and genuinely top notch TV.

I agree with the people who think that there were too many plot points/issues that need resolving.

Spoiler: Plot points

Otis alone has 5 (!) plot points/issues that need resolving. Maeve pretty much has the same amount, with only one of them overlapping with Otis. Otis' mom has 3-4 issues. Eric has 2. Aimee has 2. And then there is a whole list of other characters: Ruby, Adam, Adam's dad, Jackson, Viv, Cal, Isaac and I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few even now. And that's not even mentioning all the new characters (O in particular).

This is typically how these shows end up though. You have a nicely contained story and premise but then you end up creating too many fun and interesting side-characters who then demand a story of their own. It's very hard to pull this off, so I'm satisfied with the ending overall.

 

[Amar__]

That was absolutely terrible season which was quite enjoyable show for first three seasons. Shame they ruined it, last season was almost unwatchable.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

I think they bit off a bit more than they could chew in the end. The show wanted to talk about... everything, from abuse to transgenderism, from sexual assault to lack of accessibility options for the disabled, from religion and its role in modern society to performance anxiety in men.

These are all important topics but none of them received sufficient focus to feel anything other than rushed and oversimplified - or in the worst cases, preachy. And the hurry to get the message out meant that characters were too often reduced to nothing but "delivery devices" as opposed to being actual characters in their own right. And the humour of the first couple of seasons was sort of gone, resurfacing only every once in a while.

It still had some excellent episodes and enjoyable arcs but it should have been a bit more focused I think.

I'd find it hard to disagree with your post, I think it's all pretty accurate... but I still enjoyed it. I definitely agree it was the weakest season, I don't think it was unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination but I agree with the "bit off more than they could chew" angle - they wanted to do A LOT, and most of the issues discussed in these 8 episodes could have easily been fleshed out over a couple of seasons. I totally get the rationale from the writers, I know the show has been important for certain communities, and they had an established platform and probably felt like it was their last chance to use it to get certain things across... but the message delivery, in drama, only works efficiently when it flows organically through storytelling, and not when the audience feels like the storytelling is being tailored for the message delivery.

It still worked ok for me because I was pretty invested in the characters by this point, and I enjoy seeing some of the new characters that aren't usually represented in the mainstream culture get such representation. My highs:
- Eric was a wonderful character over the seasons, and I don't feel his inner battle with religion was particularly rushed, it was one of the few that felt really fleshed out over the season; his conclusion is quite cute
- Otis and Maeve and their bittersweet conclusion
- always been a big fan of Rubi and felt she got time to shine
- Adam has to be one of the saddest characters in a TV show in a long time, and while his arc was a bit too meandering over the course of the season, I liked the resolution, his finally accepting and being open about who he is, and his reconciliation with his father (if I'd been told early on in season 1 I'd cry a bit for a hug between those 2, I would have been quite surprised)
- Cal and Jackson in general, I really liked their characters and the actors - never really took to Viv, and her story arc about the abusive relationship really required more fleshing out, that felt criminally rushed
- the music being as good as ever

The less good:
- Jean and her sister's storyline(s) felt a bit tagged on and rushed
- really didn't like O's character or that storyline
- the fact that so many issues really deserved more screen time but just got pushed through out of necessity, which gave a grotesque/caricatural feeling to some of them (Maeve's relationship with her professor, the accessibility story, Aimee's resolution...)

I however felt that its saving grace was that the message of kindness being the most important thing (for yourself and for others), which has been prevalent across the seasons, still remained at the core of the show. It has a lot of heart, probably so much in this season that it's about a storyline away from having a coronary, but it's more than can be said about a lot of shows.

 

[roseguy64]

I'd find it hard to disagree with your post, I think it's all pretty accurate... but I still enjoyed it. I definitely agree it was the weakest season, I don't think it was unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination but I agree with the "bit off more than they could chew" angle - they wanted to do A LOT, and most of the issues discussed in these 8 episodes could have easily been fleshed out over a couple of seasons. I totally get the rationale from the writers, I know the show has been important for certain communities, and they had an established platform and probably felt like it was their last chance to use it to get certain things across... but the message delivery, in drama, only works efficiently when it flows organically through storytelling, and not when the audience feels like the storytelling is being tailored for the message delivery.

It still worked ok for me because I was pretty invested in the characters by this point, and I enjoy seeing some of the new characters that aren't usually represented in the mainstream culture get such representation. My highs:
- Eric was a wonderful character over the seasons, and I don't feel his inner battle with religion was particularly rushed, it was one of the few that felt really fleshed out over the season; his conclusion is quite cute
- Otis and Maeve and their bittersweet conclusion
- always been a big fan of Rubi and felt she got time to shine
- Adam has to be one of the saddest characters in a TV show in a long time, and while his arc was a bit too meandering over the course of the season, I liked the resolution, his finally accepting and being open about who he is, and his reconciliation with his father (if I'd been told early on in season 1 I'd cry a bit for a hug between those 2, I would have been quite surprised)
- Cal and Jackson in general, I really liked their characters and the actors - never really took to Viv, and her story arc about the abusive relationship really required more fleshing out, that felt criminally rushed
- the music being as good as ever

The less good:
- Jean and her sister's storyline(s) felt a bit tagged on and rushed
- really didn't like O's character or that storyline
- the fact that so many issues really deserved more screen time but just got pushed through out of necessity, which gave a grotesque/caricatural feeling to some of them (Maeve's relationship with her professor, the accessibility story, Aimee's resolution...)

I however felt that its saving grace was that the message of kindness being the most important thing (for yourself and for others), which has been prevalent across the seasons, still remained at the core of the show. It has a lot of heart, probably so much in this season that it's about a storyline away from having a coronary, but it's more than can be said about a lot of shows.

Think Jean and her sister might have worked better if she'd shown up for an episode or two prior to this season.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Think Jean and her sister might have worked better if she'd shown up for an episode or two prior to this season.

That sounds right, it was all a bit artificial.

 

[Charlie Foley]

On episode 4 of the last season right now.

Ruby, Adam, and Aimee are the most interesting characters in this season for me. Characters better than their storylines. A lot of this season seem ham fisted, and they just dumped a whole bunch of new characters in.

a big issue so far is that they are trying to include every “issue” they can. Doesn’t give any of them the appropriate room to breathe or grow and just feels like boxes are being ticked. They explored issues more effectively in earlier seasons without cramming everything in

 

[roseguy64]

I saw somewhere that the writers didn't know that this would be the final season until late in the process which goes to explain some of the choices made.

 

[Massive Spanner]

It’s so poor. Struggling to finish it. The new characters are awful and have replaced far better characters. The new school is daft too. It’s almost a different show.

 

[Amar__]

It's absolutely terrible. It's show with worst drop in quality for me over just few episodes/one season.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

On episode 4 of the last season right now.

Ruby, Adam, and Aimee are the most interesting characters in this season for me. Characters better than their storylines. A lot of this season seem ham fisted, and they just dumped a whole bunch of new characters in.

a big issue so far is that they are trying to include every “issue” they can. Doesn’t give any of them the appropriate room to breathe or grow and just feels like boxes are being ticked. They explored issues more effectively in earlier seasons without cramming everything in

Doesn't get better. It's still somewhat charming, but it's nowhere near as good as the previous seasons.

 

[Charlie Foley]

Doesn't get better. It's still somewhat charming, but it's nowhere near as good as the previous seasons.

This is shite. Just finishing it to get it done at this point

 

[Wibble]

Doesn't get better. It's still somewhat charming, but it's nowhere near as good as the previous seasons.

I agree.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Finished S4 last night and pretty glad to have done so. Massive drop off from the earlier seasons and that new school they replaced Moordale with was crap in comparison.

Overall, very good opening two seasons but a poor final one.

 

[Rado_N]

Joffrey from GoT has had a career slump to wind up playing the smack head mate of Maeves brother.

This season has been a bit shit.