'Sex Education' Season 2 Episode 1: Jackson and Fiona find themselves in trouble as the school year starts
In between all the giggles, heartwarming and awkward pubescent moments of the first episode of Sex Education Season 2, there are moments of real tragedy. After losing Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) and still being pushed hard by his mother Sofia (Hannah Waddingham) who tries to live through him, Jackson Marchetti is not "shiny" anymore.
Sure, he is still his school's golden boy with plenty of sexual partners, but Jackson feels the pressure of being No. 1 all the time. But with no one to talk to, Jackson "accidentally" injures himself because he can't handle the stress anymore, especially with his two mothers fighting each day over his punishing schedule.
Jackson has been on the path to glory for so long that he has forgotten how to have the same high school experience (and fun) as his peers, which includes making mistakes. Maeve (Emma Mackey), who was his escape from the grind, made it evident she likes Otis.
This makes Jackson hate Otis Millburn (Asa Butterfield) to the point where even breezy, sunny Eric Effoing (Ncuti Gatwa) notices his cold behavior. Jackson is not the only one with bad parents on the show. There is the too-strict Headmaster Groff (Alistair Petrie) and even Otis's inappropriately frank mother, Dr. Jean Millburn (Gillian Anderson).
But Jackson is the only one who suffers despite being a near-perfect kid who is charming and well-behaved, no matter what the situation. As the frustration builds, he unleashes it on the only target he can - himself.
Fiona, the "chlamydia girl", is the other blameless but pitiable figure. As hysteria takes over the school, a combination of slut-shaming and utterly non-existent knowledge among students about how Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are spread, makes Fiona the convenient scapegoat. Even though she has a clean bill of health, her friends lying about who they have been sleeping with result in her taking the blame for the chlamydia outbreak.
It takes the super-observant Maeve who knows the ins-and-outs of every student's shameful secrets to point out that both girls, who have been blaming Fiona, have been sleeping with the Acapella Guy (who has the STI) but are too ashamed to admit it.
It is obvious that shaming is still a weapon being wielded by the girls of the school and that ends up in an all-out brawl in the school lawns. So it is probably a good thing that Otis and Maeve are re-starting their sex clinic and Dr. Millburn has been tapped by the school board to revamp the sex education curriculum. The students need all the help they can get.
