How Sex Education Season 3 Sets Up Season 4 (& The Show Ending)
The Sex Education season 3 finale sets up major changes for Moordale in season 4, and may even signal the coming end of the Netflix show.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Sex Education season 3.
Based on the events of the season 3 finale, Sex Education season 4 could see both the end of Moordale Secondary School and the conclusion of the Netflix show as a whole. Sex Education returned to Netflix in September 2021 with a bit of a time jump, skipping over the summer and getting the kids back to school. Still, it found plenty of room to explore the fallout from season 2's Otis/Maeve/Isaac cliffhanger ending, and make some even bigger changes to the show that will have major ramifications on its future.
In just about every way possible, the status quo is upended in Sex Education season 3. The year kicks off with a new Headteacher in charge at Moordale, which itself brings a raft of changes: uniforms are introduced, individuality is challenged, and there are attempts to scrub it clean of the "Sex School" label. The characters, too, undergo some huge personal journeys: Otis and Maeve come back together only to part once more, Jean and Jakob will try to make a go of it with their new baby, Joy (but her father's identity remains a big question mark), Eric and Adam breakup, Jackson explores the possibility of being in a queer relationship with Cal and discovers more about himself, and more besides.
All of this will factor into Sex Education season 4 which, while not officially green lit by Netflix, seems like a formality given the show's continued popularity. And yet, while it's setting up major storylines to come, could it also be hinting at the show's end? The characters of Sex Education are in their final year of Sixth Form, meaning that they'll soon be departing to whatever comes next in life, be it work, University, or something else. Those final few months would be hard to stretch out over multiple years, meaning it is plausible that Sex Education could end with season 4, unless it decides to continue on beyond school (which is doable, though risks losing what makes it so great because of the period in life it covers), or focusing on a new generation of characters (which generally has mixed results). Making things more complicated in either case is the impending closure of Moordale, which is a bigger change to the show than anything happening with its characters.
At the end of Sex Education season 3, it's announced that Moordale will be sold off to developers, with the students having to find somewhere else to complete their studies. This, then, should form the backbone of season 4; there remains a lingering question of whether or not Moordale can be saved, and surely Otis, Maeve, Vic, Jackson, et al will give it their all to try and stop it from shutting down and try to win some new investment, but it feels like a long shot. Moordale closing down and the students going elsewhere wouldn't necessarily mean the show has to end, but it does make it less likely it could continue on and would help provide a fitting sense of finality to proceedings. The school closing would mean a lot of students trying to find elsewhere to complete their education, and that means Sex Education's cast will probably be split up more in season 4, as not everyone may be able to attend the same college or Sixth Form.
Elsewhere in season 4, then the biggest questions surround, as ever, Otis and Maeve's relationship, whose goodbye is really just a "see you soon." That suggests next year will bring them back together and they can pick-up their romance, which would mean another time jump, or it could show more of them trying to make it work long distance. Such relationships are no easy thing, though, and given Otis and Maeve's romance has never been straightforward, further complications seem likely in season 4. The same can be said for Otis' mother, Jean, whose new baby may not be Jakob's after all, which is another key story for Sex Education season 4 to resolve. With many others, though, there's a newfound sense of freedom. Assuming Sex Education is renewed for season 4, then while it may be the end, it'll also have some new beginnings.