'Sex Education' Season 2 Episode 5 sees Otis and Eric make decisions, one for better and another for worse
In episode 4, we left Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa) and Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) pondering over their romantic relationships. Eric was asked by Rahim if he wanted to be his boyfriend, but with Adam Groff (Connor Swindells) back in town, Eric is unsure of what his feelings for Rahim really are.
Otis likes Ola (Patricia Allison) but is not in love with her. After Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) confessed to him about liking him back, his unresolved feelings for her have resurfaced and Ola sees this clearly enough to give him an ultimatum. He now has to choose between Ola or Maeve.
In episode 5, both Otis and Eric initially escape from their dilemmas by going on a hiking trip with Otis' father Remi Milburn (James Purefoy). From the beginning, Otis is suspicious of his father's prowess at hiking and wonders if they are doing right by following his lead and soon enough his suspicions are confirmed when the three of them get lost in a forest with an oncoming storm.
Otis sees his father have a mental break down after he fails to set up the tent, and fights it "as if it was a person." If this were not enough, Eric finally confesses to Otis about his night strolls with Adam.
He is excited about how romantic it is with Adam, and in comparison, Rahim's proposal to be his boyfriend seems pale. But Otis doesn't share Eric's excitement. In fact, he tries to make Eric see why it is problematic for Eric to have romantic feelings for someone who had bullied him for so long.
He tries to explain to Eric that Rahim is much different and probably a better choice because he chooses to acknowledge Eric publicly, unlike Adam who chooses the cover of the night to spend time Eric.
In turn, Eric points out to Otis that he is ignoring his real feelings while trying not to hurt his girlfriend. Eric also tells Otis that he doesn't understand what romance is because he is not in love with his girlfriend but with someone else.
The burst out between them is another call back to the season 1 argument the two had about each other. This argument gives both of them a better perspective on dealing with their dilemmas.
Otis also ends up hearing his father's fight with his wife Delilah. He is told that Delilah is leaving Remi for someone else. He tries to console his father, but turns out, it is not Delilah who is leaving Remi for someone else, but Remi who cheated on Delilah.
Remi had also cheated on Otis' mother, Jean, and Otis had witnessed all of that happen. This had a huge impact on Otis' sex life because for the longest time he thought of sex as a disturbing act and even ended up having a panic attack while trying to lose his virginity because of peer pressure.
His father's truth pushes Otis to see a parallel between his situation with Maeve and Ola, which is why he decides to stay loyal and cut off contact with Maeve entirely with a text message. Eric also has a moment of epiphany when he sees Adam walking his dog while he is on his way back home and waves at him, only to be ignored.
Eric realizes the importance of acknowledgment and decides to accept Rahim's proposal. While the two of them have decided what they thought was best for them, their decisions' influence on Maeve and Adam is going to be huge and how it changes things is something we have to watch out for.
The theme of the episode itself is "Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes". A quote that is used at Erin's AA meetings. For instance, Maeve's relationship with her mother Erin takes a turn for the better when she sees Erin try hard to change her life.
Erin is an addict and has been clean for 13 months now and Maeve sees this as a possible change, unlike the other times. However, Otis' father Remi is a compulsive cheater. He hasn't changed at all, and Delilah's call with Jean, while Remi is away hiking, shows how nothing has changed.
Even Eric and Otis' decisions about their respective relationships are taken to ensure that things change for the better. This is not true for Otis, because as soon as he is back from his trip, just as he confesses to Ola that he loves her, Ola tells him that she doesn't.
She has been having "sex dreams" with Lily Iglehart (Tanya Reynolds) and wants to pursue it. Otis' confession was also a forced declaration to prove that he was nothing like his father. So he has now lost a chance with Maeve and has broken up with Ola.
'Sex Education' Season 2 can be streamed on Netflix from January 17.