‘Sex Education’ Season 4 Episode 3 Recap: Trying To Be A Better Man

It’s only expected that a beloved show would shake up some of the central relationships in its final season, and Sex Education isn’t wasting time in laying the foundation of those complications. In the second episode, the groundwork for what seemed like distance between best friends Otis and Eric was laid, and the Sex Education Season 4 Episode 3 only adds fuel to that theory. 

Eric is excited about his first proper gay night out on the town and Otis is his willing and supportive companion. Otis, donned in a sheer purple top with ruffle work for the occasion, promises to come over to Eric’s house to help him choose an outfit, but stops at Ruby’s place on the way over to strategize about what else but his therapy practice. Eric is patient about the wait at first but when Abbi, Roman and Aisha invite him over to get ready with them, he takes the opportunity to bond with his new classmates. Before this, Eric hasn’t had a real chance to bond with queer people his age and he revels in the opportunity to feel like part of the community, and he even admits to his new friends that even though they’re each other’s “person,” sometimes he feels like Otis doesn’t really get him.

So when Otis finally calls a while later, Eric isn’t exactly begging his straight friend to accompany him to the gay night. And to Otis’s credit, he can sense that Eric doesn’t really want him there, either and straight up asks him if he’d prefer he stay back. After some waffling, Otis concedes and tells Eric to have a nice time, though you can tell he feels a little sad about being uninvited. 

Eric doesn’t feel bad for too long though. At the club night he takes what seems to be molly for the first time and hooks up with a fellow member of his church.  They talk a little bit about their religious identities conflicting with their queer identities, but his hook-up buddy isn’t interested in leaving the church anytime soon; it’s his community and he doesn’t want to leave it behind. Eric ponders the idea and doesn’t really make his feelings on the topic known—for now, he’s living life out loud and is happier for it, though his hangover the next morning is brutal. Feeling the comedown from the drugs, he opts to skip church even with that conversation from the night before fresh on his mind.

Cal also decides to attend the club night, though they’re worried about not having anyone to hang out with. Aisha sees them standing alone and invites Cal to join the group, even dancing with them in what could easily be perceived as flirty. Cal senses that too and begins to make a move, but is quickly blocked by Aisha’s never-before-seen partner. The sexual tension is brewing, though, and this won’t be the last time we see sparks fly with these two. Cal also discusses top surgery with Roman who went the private route to get his procedure done. I’m worried that Cal will do something extreme given the long wait list for surgeries, but hopefully having these new trans friends in their corner will give them people to lean on.

While Eric and the Cavendish crew are having a wild night out, Otis is bonding with Ruby again. An opening flashback reveals that Ruby and O were briefly friends in primary school when O helped Ruby after she wet the bed at camp, but she quickly turned on her when she told her secret to the bullies. That’s Ruby’s real motive in helping Otis take down O’s clinic, and Otis clocks this but accepts her help anyway. With the help of her ailing father, they make a campaign video that plays to his strengths: being vulnerable and honest. 

Throughout their hangout, Otis makes it clear that he’s with Maeve now and can’t have anything romantic with Ruby. And for the most part, they both respect that boundary (minus the fact that they fell asleep at her place with his arm around her) and bond over feeling left behind by the people in their lives—for Otis, it’s both Maeve and Eric, while Ruby has been distant from her Moordale circle. 

As it turns out, Maeve’s distance from both Otis and her home in the UK will be ending soon. What started with high highs at her English program in the States have devolved after she found out she not only didn’t receive the coveted internship with Professor Molloy, but he also crudely tells her that he doesn’t believe she’s cut out to be a writer. Frustrated, she throws away her latest pages that were inspired by her upbringing with an addict mom right as Ellen (the classmate who won the internship) tells her that her brother is on the phone. 

Ellen eyes the crumpled pages in the trash but we don’t see if she snags them—and the next thing we know, Maeve is in a car on the way to the airport telling Otis that her mom is in the hospital and she’s on her way home, defeated. If that’s the end of Dan Levy in this season, it’s a shame because he’s always a fun presence but also didn’t get a ton to do other than lament the state of contemporary writing and be an antagonistic force towards Maeve. 

Adam gets his first driving lesson from his father, which goes disastrously. Mr. Groff is teaching him to drive stickshift and comically doesn’t teach him how to brake, causing Adam to ram the car into a stop sign. (This lesson brought back memories of my father who also spent a full year teaching me to drive stick, and it is a very frustrating time for everyone involved.) 

Mr. Groff is trying to be a better man, literally — he is taking a class called “Trying to be a Better Man”—which means apologizing for his temper, but that only weirds Adam out. Still, it results in them finally opening up to one another by asking his son about his ex-boyfriend, telling him that he too once thought he was gay when he was younger, and revealing that a fellow teacher asked him out. Adam doesn’t say much but does reassure his father that he’s coping with the “loss” of Eric and is doing much better now. Oh yeah, he’s also bisexual.

“Episode 3” also touched on some other threads from previous episodes. Jackson goes to the doctor to get the lump checked out, but isn’t sure what to say when he’s asked about his family history since he was conceived via a sperm donor. This will likely set him off on a journey to find his biological father and the rest of the season will contend with the complications that might come with that. Aimee and Isaac continue to get closer as he teaches her more about art and painting, making this feel like an inevitable romantic story. Jean goes to a baby group and trauma dumps about her tough childbirth experience, while her sister Joanna was denied a bank loan (but didn’t leave with nothing—the teller asked her out on a date). And Viv finally hangs out with her new crush Beau and all of the concerns about his interest (or lack thereof) were unfounded: he tells her she’s his dream girl and they make out! Ah, young love.

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.