What happens in the Sex Education season 4 ending? After four years, an alien musical, a closed-down school, and a lot of sex, we’re spending one last term with Otis (Asa Butterfield), Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Maeve (Emma Mackey), and the rest of the Moordale gang.
After Maeve jets off to live her best life in America, the final installment of the comedy series sees the ex-Moordale students must reckon with their biggest challenge yet: Cavendish College. It’s forward-thinking, sustainable, and even has its own sex therapy clinic — but fitting into the ultra-trendy college poses more challenges than the Moordale lot necessarily expects.
With a bright ensemble cast, the final series of Sex Education season 4, which is considered one of the best TV series of all time, has a lot of loose ends to tie up. So, here’s what to know about the Sex Education season 4 ending explained.
Let’s start with Maeve. After her mother’s tragic death, she returned to Moordale and embarked on a proper relationship with Otis. She gave up on her American dream after her professor, Thomas Molloy (Dan Levy), told her she wasn’t cut out to be a writer. But surprisingly, a heart-to-heart with Jean (Gillian Anderson) prompted her to return to America and led to her and Otis reluctantly breaking up.
Still, her return to the States proved to be the right decision, as she finally stood up to Molloy and received a phone call from a publisher who had read Southchester — a few chapters of a novel draft Molloy had previously rubbished. They ask to see more of her work, and Maeve’s future is looking bright.
Over at Cavendish, after dysphoria pushes them over the edge, Cal (Dua Saleh) goes missing and considers ending their own life. The whole college rallies to search for them, and they’re later found and comforted by Eric and Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling). Ultimately, the students decide to donate the proceeds from the college’s annual fundraiser night to pay for Cal’s top surgery.
Jackson also finally offers Cal the olive branch of friendship after avoiding them all this time, and amid his recent health scare, finally finds out who his sperm donor is: a married man his mother previously had an affair with. While his biological father rejects him, Jackson gets the answers he needs, and his friendship with Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu) is stronger than ever after she finally breaks free from abusive boyfriend Beau for good.
Jean’s sister, Joanna (Lisa McGrillis), initially vows to leave Moordale but opens up to Jean about the abuse she experienced as a teenager on her radio show. After an emotional discussion, Joanna decides to return home to the Milburn household, and baby Joy finally meets their dad — motorbike lover and banker Dan, whom Jean had a one-night-stand with.
Adam (Connor Swindells) and Michael (Alistair Petrie) reconcile after four seasons of being at loggerheads, with his father proving once and for all that he has changed. It’s also hinted that Michael and Maureen (Samantha Spiro) reunite after Adam encourages them all to watch TV together. Adam also sets up a date with his boss at his horse-riding apprenticeship after coming out as bisexual to her.
With Maeve’s blessing, Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) and Isaac (George Robinson) also decide to pursue a romance, and Aimee finally discovers what story she wants to tell with her photos: the story of her assault and healing journey.
Predictably, after Otis and O (Thaddea Graham) are both ‘canceled,’ Connor wins the student council elections and the right to have the only sex therapy clinic on campus. However, he doesn’t want the job, meaning that Otis wins as runner-up by default. This devolves into a ‘Spartacus’-type situation where Otis then declares that O is better suited for the job. However, because O was canceled after Ruby leaked a video of O bullying her as a child, the student body was initially hostile about this.
Yet, they change their mind after Ruby takes to the stage and urges them to give O a second chance. By showing this rare moment of kindness and vulnerability, Ruby is finally accepted into the Coven, Cavendish’s popular group. Otis offers her friendship and apologizes for leading her on all season, but Ruby declares that she has enough friends now and rejects him (queen).
Still, Otis has a friend in O who asks him to run her clinic with her, and after drifting apart all season, Eric and Otis finally reconcile. After struggling with his faith all season, Eric affirms to Otis that he wants to become a pastor, while his old church, which initially rejected him after he came out during his baptism, approaches Eric at the fundraiser and asks him if he’d help them with discussions to make the church more open-minded.
So, Sex Education as a whole kind of ends as it begins, with Eric and Otis just hanging out together after the fundraiser, and Otis later comes across a letter Maeve wrote to him before leaving. In the letter, as both Otis and Maeve reflect and look out the window of their respective homes, Maeve thanks Otis for encouraging her to become more open with people and for changing her life for the better.
So, that’s how one of the best Netflix series of all time decided to wrap things up. To see our thoughts on the ending, check out our Sex Education season 4 review. But don’t panic, that’s not the only thing new on Netflix right now. If you need some ideas on what to watch next, you might want to start with our guides to the best Netflix movies, best Netflix horror movies, or best Netflix documentaries. Or, look for something a little more niche by utilizing these secret Netflix codes.