‘Sex Education’ Ending Explained: Do Otis and Maeve End Up Together?

After four years and 32 episodes, class is dismissed on Netflix’s young adult comedy Sex Education. The fourth and final season of Laurie Nunn’s beloved series is now available on the streamer and the series, predictably, ended with… a bang.

There’s no shortage of entertaining programs out there, but what made Sex Education stand out was its ability to make you feel. The show’s warm, inclusive nature and immensely talented ensemble combined to create a fun, relatable world with which viewers could deeply empathize. Otis (Asa Butterfield), Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Adam (Connor Swindells), Maeve (Emma Mackey), and Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) felt less like characters and more like classmates.

Sex Education is one of the most earnest series in Netflix history, and its sensational final season only helps to cement the show’s legacy as an all-time streaming great. How exactly did it end? Here’s everything you need to know.

Sex Education Season 4 Ending Explained:

The final episode provides closure for most of the cast as Eric reveals that he wants to be a pastor, Jean (Gillian Anderson) finally tells Dan that he’s Joy’s father (and reconnects with her sister), and Jackson learns the identity of his father (Jerome, a married man with whom his mom had an affair with before she met her wife).

What about the rest of our Moordale favorites? We’re glad you asked!

Adam not only embarks on a new career teaching children to ride horses, but he also finally connects with his dad (Alistair Petrie) and begins a promising romance with his boss, Jem (Bella Maclean). Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) uses her newfound passion for art to help cope with her sexual assault and begins a romantic relationship with Isaac (George Robinson), Viv (Chinenye Ezeud) stands up for herself by finally telling off her mentally abusive ex-boyfriend Beau, and the students of Cavendish host a fundraiser to help Cal (Dua Saleh) pay for their top surgery.

Finally, Ruby’s (Mimi Keene) story concludes when the former queen bee shows grace to O, hopping on stage at the fundraiser and imploring everyone to give her former nemesis a second chance. She’s finally accepted by the popular kids (“the Coven”), and her relationship with Otis ends on a flirty, ambiguous note.

Otis: I hope we can still be friends.
Ruby: I’ve actually got enough friends now, Otis.

Otis/Ruby shippers will point out that, taken literally, Ruby is saying that she’s done being “just friends” with Otis, potentially opening the door for a future romance. Then again, Otis did treat her like shit for the majority of the season, so maybe it was more of a “Go kick rocks, pal. I’m nobody’s second choice!” situation.

Do Otis and Maeve End Up Together?

The short answer? No. In the penultimate episode of the series, Otis and Maeve amicably break up after Maeve decides to return to the States to continue her studies at Wallace University. The two have sex. The next morning, Maeve leaves for America (after spreading her mom’s ashes with Aimee and Isaac).

After returning to Wallace, Maeve receives a phone call from Goodhart Books, who are interested in her novel (Southchester). The series concludes with Otis reading a sincere note Maeve left for him, which ends with Maeve saying that she’ll never “close herself off again.”

“Meeting you cracked my heart open, and now it’s forever changed. And because of that, I will carry a part of you with me wherever I go. I think what I’m trying to say is… thanks for everything… dickhead.”

All four seasons of Sex Education are now streaming on Netflix.