‘Sex Education’ Season 4 Episode 2 Recap: Bum Rush The Show

Two episodes into the final season of Sex Education, the “it” couple at Cavendish, a trans couple named Abbi and Roman, have hit a rough patch and the entire school shakes in the fallout. Ruby is desperate to make a name for herself at the new school and sees their potential breakup as a way in via Otis’s therapy services (and she seems to recognize O from her past, though O denies this, adding fuel to her fire). She corners him to tell him the plan—convince Abbi and Roman to seek your services and the rest of the school will follow—and Otis reluctantly takes her advice. 

He corners Roman at the gym and Roman is surprisingly forthright about the issues in his relationship: he and Abbi haven’t been intimate lately, and after being rebuffed for sex recently, he discovered her masturbating, which made him feel inadequate. Otis once again proves that he’s good at this whole sex therapy thing and explains that self-stimulation is healthy, prompting Roman to open up about how Abbi’s family hasn’t accepted her transition and she’s been living at Roman’s for a while. Otis senses an opening and suggests that he and Abbi come in for a session, and next thing you know, they’re walking out of Otis’s office hand in hand. 

GIF 33:51 – Abbi and Roman leave holding hands

With the school hanging on Abbi and Roman’s every move, Otis’s success prompts a line outside of his door, stealing every client from O’s roster. But O won’t go down without a fight; she approaches Otis with an offer to join forces at school. He obviously declines and they decide to put it to a vote, and O goes hard with a musical number to convince the student body to choose her. Ruby, who feels partly responsible for Otis being in the conversation at all, asks Otis if she can be his manager and he finally agrees after seeing what exactly he’s going up against.

In the second episode of the season, Jackson finally gets something to do… and it’s butt stuff! He’s casually hooking up with a girl who takes some liberty with their bedroom behavior and casually sticks a finger up there. Jackson is entirely turned on by this and finishes quickly, but is left wondering whether his enjoyment of this means he might be queer. When they hook up again later, she also tells him that she felt a lump in one of his balls and he should maybe get that checked out. Jackson is the second person to enlist Otis’s services in “Episode 2” and Otis reassures him that many straight men like their prostates touched and that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything about his sexuality…but he should definitely go to the doctor about the lump.

Jackson’s confusion also prompts his insecurities about falling for people who can’t commit—like Cal, whom he tells he can’t be friends with yet, and Maeve whom he accuses of always looking for something better—and the latter reignites Otis’s jealousy about her classmate Tyrone. He makes that concern known on a phone call and Maeve isn’t having it. She’s turned off by Otis’s jealousy, informs him that Tyrone also happens to be gay, and suggests that they take some space. 

GIF 47:03 – Maeve and Otis fight on the phone

Maeve’s irritation with Otis is entirely valid and things aren’t much better in her schoolwork. Professor Molloy is charmed by Tyrone’s first chapter of his novel but not as enamored with Maeve’s historical fiction piece about the Bronte sisters. He challenges her to push deeper and she rewrites an entirely new chapter that Tyrone supportively says is incredible, but when she takes it to his office, he’s distracted by a recent New Yorker rejection. Once again he prompts Maeve to share her true feelings about his writing, and she pinpoints that his earlier writing was less self-conscious. Sex Education is teeing up Maeve as his future intern, and she even tells Otis that she thinks she has a good chance at being chosen, which further jeopardizes their relationship as it would require her to stay in the U.S. 

There’s a lot of change in Otis’s life outside of Maeve’s departure—most notably the arrival of his baby sister Joy. Otis has always acted mature for his age and in the final season, it feels like he’s been mothering his own parent as she deals with postpartum stresses. Jean’s sister Joanna shows up to help after Otis called her at the end of the premiere, and Jean is noticeably annoyed at her presence. There’s clearly a history between the two that will be revealed, but more than anything Jean doesn’t want to admit that she needs help and she somewhat selfishly expects to lean on Otis as a stand-in parent. Between what is shaping up to be a disastrous new radio show and her overwhelmed at home, Jean is likely hitting her breaking point soon. 

Otis’s distractions—between his obsession with the clinic, his issues with Maeve, and his responsibilities at home—are standing in the way of being fully present in his friendship with Eric, who is struggling with his church not being a place where he can openly be himself. Eric tries to open up to Otis about this, but he’s interrupted by O at the clinic. He’s a good sport, jumping into action for his bestie, but it’s only a matter of time before he has to voice his feelings to Otis. In the meantime, Eric is turning to Abbi, another member of the queer community who has maintained a relationship to Christianity despite not always being accepted within the church. 

Eric’s ex Adam is also struggling. He’s uninterested in a relationship with his father, but at the behest of his mom he agrees to a family dinner. But when Mr. Groff begins making statements about his future, Adam shuts down again. His dad softens after his mom Gloria scolds him saying Adam is always scared of disappointing his dad, and the two decide to spend time together via a driving lesson. Adam’s new job requires someone who not only knows how to drive but also someone who can teach horseback riding, and Adam currently has neither skill. But driving is something he can learn quickly and he sweetly begs for the apprenticeship and reconfirms the driving lesson later, which will certainly be the vehicle (no pun intended) for their reconciliation.

There are so many interesting characters in Sex Education that don’t always get their due in every episode—like Aimee, who is trying to be friends with Isaac after a rough start, and Viv who is striking up a new friendship with a classmate who doesn’t seem sexually interested—and hopefully this season will have enough real estate to give each of them a satisfying conclusion.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.