Sex Education, and the problem with the eternal will-they won't-they

For as long as I've been watching television, will-they won't-they storylines have always been aggressively popular. They transcend storytelling trends, and they will likely remain a key cornerstone of mainstream media. There's just something intensely gratifying about watching two people go through the journey of realizing their love (or lust) for one another and giving in to it. (Not to mention that the scenes of sexual tension are enough to send Youtube fanmix creators on a spree of cutting together longing gazes placed over an Ed Sheeran song.)

Will-they won't-they storylines have an expiration date. There's only so long an audience can stay captivated by two people who refuse to engage in a little healthy communication and lay down the gauntlet: "Hey, I'm into you. You're into me. Let's date." Or get married if you're in the Regency era and named Mr. Darcy.

Cue Sex Education. There are a lot of folks who have called it one of the best teen dramas out there. The writing is smart and intentional. The teenagers act and look like teenagers. (I'll admit that my compass for this is probably misaligned given the sheer volume of Gossip Girl I've seen.) The plot is character-driven, and the show does us the immense favor of having each of the characters serve as a subversion to the basic high-school teen drama stereotypes we've all become so used to seeing. None of them are their stereotype. They may look it on the outside, but under the surface, the showrunners give most of their characters a lot of nuance and layers.

Like anything in this world, the show is not perfect. Sex Education had an incredible first two seasons, but the third is where it began to falter. One of the more egregious sins the third season falls prey to is to its blind devotion to the will-they won't-they romance from the show's arguable leads: Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) and Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey).

It's clear that the show wants these two to end up together. Hell, most of the first season is spent showing Maeve slowly bringing Otis into her life. It sets up their romance in ways that feel earned for each of their characters. Maeve allows herself to be vulnerable and in doing so, realizes that she is actually in love with Otis, not her picture-perfect jock boyfriend Jackson Marchetti (Kedar Williams-Sterling). However, by the time she goes around to tell Otis, she finds that he is kissing someone else. Otis, though he started out as painfully awkward, has finally come to realize that he is capable of desire and being desired.

The second season opens with Otis dating a new girl. Maeve develops a relationship with a neighbor. Otis and his girlfriend break up, but when he leaves a voicemail on Maeve's phone proclaiming his love for her, Maeve's neighbor deletes his voicemail.

Season three begins with Otis having casual sex with the least-predictable person in the school. Ruby Matthews (Mimi Keene) is introduced as a Regina George stand in. She's mean and popular and revered by the girls and boys in school. She dresses to the nines and stalks around the halls in her brightly colored clothing and entourage that hang on her every word. Ruby is embarrassed to be attracted to Otis, so she stipulates that their relationship remain a secret. Sex only.

However, as the season progresses, we get to learn a lot more about Ruby. She actually really likes Otis, but she is terrified that anyone in school might learn about the things that make her human. Though she comes to school immaculately dressed and made up, her family is anything but wealthy. She has a loving relationship with an ill, mainly bed-bound father who needs her help, but she is determined that her friends never find out. So, she refuses to let any of her friends come over to her house or meet her parents.

Then, we watch Otis slowly open her heart and teach her, much like he did with Maeve, that vulnerability is okay. Showing people your true self is actually a beautiful, wonderful thing. It's kind of a joy to watch this unlikely pair learn more about each other and grow with each other. And it's kind of a joy to watch Ruby's little smile when Otis asks her to be his girlfriend. She desperately wants someone to love her for her—and now she finally gets it.

Sadly, in the span of an episode, the writers kill their relationship, relegate Ruby to even less of a side character than she was before, and refocus the attention back on Otis and Maeve. However, instead of these moments between our will-they won't-they couple feeling earned, they feel shoe-horned in and unsatisfying.

The writers were so focused on what they thought was the fan-favorite end-game that they lost sight of what really makes a relationship special—real human connection. And when two characters have spent most of a season ignoring each other, you can't have them make out in the penultimate episode and expect narrative catharsis. It's cheap.

True catharsis would have been Otis and Maeve realizing that perhaps they were just footnotes in each other's lives, and they can find and experience love in so many different ways than just each other. Storylines, even in teen shows, can deviate from what season one claimed was "meant to be." Characters are meant to grow, and they can be given a life of their own. Don't doom them to a single fate. Let them live.

It may not be what people were expecting—maybe it could be better.

(And if the message wasn't clear enough by now, the first two seasons of Sex Education are unbelievably enjoyable television. Do yourself a favor if you haven't already.)