What started as a witty indictment of the failed sexual education system in schools across the U.K (and other western countries) quickly boomed into one of Netflix’s highest rated and most popular series. Through the lens of various teenagers at the worryingly realistic Moordale secondary school, Sex Education gave audiences a gateway into the sexual struggles of the teenage generation, with the series unafraid to tackle tough subjects like sexual assault, abortion, gender identity, and asexuality with incredible dignity and respect.

Sex Education recently came to a close after its fourth season that resulted in satisfying and optimistic – with a small dose of the bittersweet – endings for the core group of characters and those introduced in Season 4. However, while Season 4 of Sex Education still stands head and shoulders above the large majority of Netflix’s original series, a lot of fans agree that the last season is perhaps the weakest in the series, with the overall atmosphere feeling off compared to previous seasons, without quite being able to put a finger on the cause.

Stylistically, Season 4 of Sex Education is just as visually engaging and beautiful as its predecessors, with the set design leaning further into the vibrant colour palettes the show has become known for. The series also features the same vintage mise-en-scene that conflicts with the modern technology found in the series, leaving the mystery of when the series is set wide open. The main reason for the change in atmosphere for Season 4 can be found in the show’s writing.

In the first three seasons of Sex Education, even the smallest of characters were fleshed out with motivations, interests, likes and dislikes, and reactionary feelings, which helped to populate the show with engaging, three-dimensional characters, who just happened to have sexual issues as a result of an incompetent and neglectful education system. Season 4 loses sight of this and develops most of its characters – both new and returning – through their sexual struggles, leaving them feeling like flat caricatures of their former selves defined solely by their issues.

This is most evident in the case of Abbi and Roman, two new characters, who receive a large portion of screentime in Season 4. Abbi and Roman, the most popular couple in the school, struggle with a drastic decline in their sex life. Sadly, this is about as much as viewers come to learn about them as a couple. While their conflict is brought to a satisfying and humorous conclusion in the show’s finale, it is hard not to see their characters as a wasted opportunity, both as a means to deeply explore Trans rights and inclusivity, and just as additional characters in this excellent series. Viewers are shown and told very little about either of their interests or struggles outside of school and their relationship with each other, which leaves them feeling shallow compared to the majority of the long-time characters.

However, this problem also finds itself creeping into the story arcs for returning characters in Season 4, most notably Cal who finds themself struggling with their gender dysphoria in Season 4 and faces the reality of the NHS and the cost of private healthcare when it comes to going through with Top surgery. Admittedly, Cal’s story feels slightly wider in scope, with the show addressing their torn relationship with their mother, who is trying to better understand their child’s identity and be accepting after initially reacting negatively to Cal’s coming out. However, Cal’s character arc in Season 4 can be entirely categorised by their conflict, resulting in them reappearing as a flat representation of the excitable American audiences were introduced to in the previous season.

Sadly, in one instance, Sex Education commits the most heinous of character writing crimes in it’s fourth season – going back on character development to force drama. What’s even sadder is that this happens to one of the series’ leads, Otis. Otis has always had some slightly irritating qualities, however, his passion for helping his fellow students and his friendship with Eric still kept him firmly in the ‘likeable characters’ category. However, Season 4 transforms Otis, turning him into an almost entirely selfish character who, ironically for a therapist, doesn’t actually listen to any of his friends and puts his relationships with Eric and Ruby into contention with his uncharacteristic obsession with militaristically outing O as the school’s resident sex therapist. The finale episode somewhat justifies this, crossing over the stress induced from his mother’s trauma after her marriage ended with her ignoring him and his new baby sister for her new radio job, it still felt uncomfortable for many to see the series’ bedrock character revert to a selfish, almost problematic, villain.

Luckily not every character is given the same treatment in Sex Education‘s final season. Aimee, who immediately became a fan-favourite since the show’s pilot episode receives the most three-dimensional development in the fourth season. Still coming to terms with the sexual assault which left her traumatised, Aimee finds solace and comfort in art – more specifically photography – and uses it as a therapeutic medium to explore and overcome her trauma. Simultaneously, a guilty romance begins to form between her and Isaac, which Aimee struggles to pursue out of respect for her friendship with Maeve. Additionally, Aimee acts as the foundational support for Maeve who struggles with the unexpected passing of her mother, which throws her studies in America into disarray. Aimee’s multi-faceted arc in Season 4 leaves her standing out as the most realised character in the finale, and the show even leaves room for call backs to the character’s previous interests like baking and gnomes.

The one-dimensional representations of most of the characters in Season 4 leaves the finale feeling rushed and jarring for many audiences, which is made even worse when compared to the quality of the previous seasons which thrived due to the show’s character driven storytelling. While it is frustrating that one of Netflix’s best shows didn’t finish as strongly as many had hoped, Season 4 is still a hilarious, and generally satisfying conclusion to one of the most original teen dramas of recent years.