The reaction to Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Ruby's (Mimi Keene) pairing in Sex Education season 3 highlights the Netflix show's biggest mistake.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Sex Education season 3.
The reaction to Sex Education season 3's pairing of Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Ruby (Mimi Keene) highlights the show's biggest storytelling mistake. Moordale Secondary's latest term brought major changes to the institution as part of new Headmistress Hope Haddon's (Jemima Kirke) attempt at rehabilitating the school's image. But while the narrative centered on this overall, it was balanced by individual arcs of the students attending it which were arguably more compelling.
As with previous seasons, there's a major focus on the personal relationships of those attending Moordale Secondary — be it romantic or platonic. Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) started openly dating Adam, who, in turn, developed an unlikely friendship with Rahim (Sami Outalbali). Meanwhile, Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) became good friends with newbie Cal (Dua Saleh), while his relationship with Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu) suffered. However, arguably the most unexpected pairing in Sex Education season 3 was Otis and Ruby, who were hooking up. The couple's dalliance apparently began during the summer break and continued into the new term. They meant to keep it a secret, but when they were eventually outed, they attempted to publicly date.
Things were going fine with them, so much so that Ruby even confessed about being in love with him after a particularly romantic day. Unfortunately, her feelings weren't reciprocated as Otis, expectedly, was still hung up on Maeve (Emma Mackey). Ultimately, Sex Education season 3 delivered on the promise that Otis and Maeve will be together, but instead of a happy consensus, there's a pushback from a faction of viewers who prefer him to be with Ruby. They argue that despite being together only for a brief while, Otis and Ruby are great together as they both became better people during their affair. There's also an argument that the chemistry between Butterfield and Keene is stronger, hence why many quickly supported them. The positive reception to this seemingly oddball couple proves that Sex Education messed things up with regard to developing Otis and Maeve's relationship. The fact that viewers are rooting for him to be with someone else is an indication that they have lost interest in what was supposed the show's main pairing.
From the get-go, it's clear that the show was building towards Otis and Maeve eventually being together. But, Sex Education may have stretched out their will-they/won't-they dynamic for far too long to the point that viewers got tired of it. Admittedly, the romantic trope has been very successful in the past, with shows like Cheers and Friends, as well as, rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally utilizing it effectively. However, amidst a string of fresh and more interesting relationships, one can't help but feel bored with Otis and Maeve's arc since it's been done multiple times before. It didn't help that they keep on missing each other because of non-compelling reasons. For example, it took them several episodes to resolve the hated Sex Education season 2 finale cliffhanger when it should've been easily ironed out right away. Overall, it just seemed like Otis and Maeve's relationship was always bound to be complicated. So, it was refreshing to see Otis having a fairly normal teen romance with Ruby.
At the end of Sex Education season 3, Maeve and Otis parted ways again, although this time, with the promise that they'll revisit their romance once she comes back from her study abroad stint. The latest finale is so much better than where the previous years left the couple, but still not nearly as satisfying as fans would want it to be. Considering their history, it's not outside the realm of possibility that another curveball is thrown their way that would prevent them from simply reconnecting when Maeve returns.
