#maeve wiley analysis

[scisetforever]

episode 6 of sex education has just fucked me up soooo badly - specifically the whole funeral sequence.

it’s so refreshing to see addicts as complex misunderstood characters who are also generous rather than straight up villains. i felt so bad for sean cuz i get how loved ones with addiction can seriously affect people, and it’s good that the creators put a character like him in the show to communicate that. i really liked how erin was portrayed in the show: complex but kind and caring and also horrible at times, but never a horrible person, and maeve understood that, and it’s clearer in the speech that she gave. the episode amazingly visualised the complexity of addiction and i fucking love the creators for portraying maeve, sean and erin as they did.

(couldn’t find a recent gif of maeve but she’s so amazing. i get why she loves complex female characters)

[boulboultalks]

Watched sex education season 4 and honestly i don't get the hate around it. The two main complaints are:Otis and maeve and the new characters being boring.

The thing though is that otis and maeve would NEVER work since the american writing group plot was established. If maeve never went back to america just because of otis it would leave us with maeve giving up her only opportunity to chase her dreams for a man(something completely out of character for maeve) . No one would like that. From the other hand if that plot was never established then there would be no reason for season 4 to even exist since their love story would have been completed in season 3(Except if they just threw obstacles through all of s4 which would have been forced and annoying). That season was essential though for many of the other characters stories which we needed to see. So i can't understand what the viewers really wanted.

About the new characters being boring, yes i can't disagree with that. They were kind of boring but cute nonetheless. But i believe the writers INTENDED to make them boring. If they had brought up a new set of amazing, interesting characters with great stories the focus would have been shifted to them. How were they gonna finish the stories and plots that they had already started for the pre-existing characters if they took from their screen times for new charas. Also the show beyond everything is sex EDUCATION. The new cast was used as a way to tickle new topics which they did really well. Then of course they couldn't have not been added since a new school would obviously have new students. So I see the viewer's point of them being boring but there are reasons for that and really they weren't THAT bad.

In general I can't say season 4 was exactly A MASTERPIECE. I have some complaints as well(otis and eric's friendship) but i appreciate what they gave us and honestly i think it was a decent season. Definitely fun to watch.

[cononeillbreastingboobily]

I like Maeve and Otis as two separate characters just like anybody else, but oh god, I really don't think they are destined to be together romantically.

Back in season 1 they are getting closer, you can tell that they are starting to develop strong feelings for each other. In part, they are connected through a common goal - running the sex clinic.

The misadventures they get through during the first season do work to get them closer, but then Maeve gets expelled, the clinic as we know it ends it's run, and it's only downhill from here for their relationship.

Since then we get many missed connections, and the worst part is that season 3 wants us to believe that their relationship is still as strong as it was in season 1.

Bestie... no.

In seasons 2 and 3 we see Otis get with two different girls, only to get back to Maeve every time. The fact that it's a disservice to both Ola and Ruby is a whole separate issue.

But the thing is... how many times will you put these two characters in two different places, and still try to make it make sense for them to get back in each other's orbits?

If I were to use a metaphor to explain their relationship, I'd say that Maeve and Otis are like two branches of the same tree. At the beginning they are closer as they have just started growing, but as the story goes on, you can see that they are growing in two separate directions.

Maeve has been at a huge disadvantage throughout the entire run of the show - unlike anyone else from the young part of the cast that we know of, she lives on her own, without a family to consistently support her, struggling to make ends meet.

And while I am inclined to believe that at some point the thing with the clinic stopped being just about the money for her - it's still clear that it is something she consistently needs.

And she's ambitious, too. I fully believe that she's been more or less slowly outgrowing Otis all this time. And once she comes back from America, I think she will have outgrown him completely.

Don't get me wrong - I do believe they can be there for each other as friends. In fact, I think that would be lovely.

But I don't believe they make any sense romantically anymore.

It's really funny watching season 3 actually, because both in the first and the last episode of the season we are given two lines, that to me feel not like the characters saying them to each other, but like the writers of the show saying them to us - the audience.

First, in episode 1 of the season, Kyle says "You two are really good at giving sex advice!"

And it's funny, because it feels like the writers shouting "See?! They're soulmates, did you forget that? Come on, the connection is as strong as ever, don't tell me you can't see that!".

And the thing is - they spent the entirety of season 2 nowhere near as close as they were in the previous season. So of course their relationship wouldn't be as close or as strong as before.

In season 3 both of them are put together with people with whom they have a refreshing, interesting dynamic - Maeve with Isaac, Otis with Ruby.

And I just think... it really is okay for two people not to end up together.

They have been drifting apart already, then their new relationships pulled them even further apart. And that's okay.

But then they kissed and... I don't know.

While in the previous season I might've been excited about it, when I did see it unfold when it did, I couldn't help but groan.

They were in such vastly different places in life, and suddenly putting them back together just... feels off. I really feel that you can only do it so many times, and I think that their relationship is at it's limit.

But then, oh boy.

In the last episode, right.

Otis is at the hospital with his mum and he says that Maeve is his person.

Again the thing with the writers stepping in to try and convince us that they're soulmates.

It really doesn't feel like she is, buddy.

Many people have pointed out in the past, that when Otis and Maeve are close, they are at their worst. And I agree. Otis becomes snappy, Maeve gets confused. And we both know that these people are capable of being so much better.

Like I said, I think that Maeve is well on her way to outgrowing Otis completely. I really hope to see just that happen in season 4.

Not to mention... for a show that strives to be subversive in so many different ways... Maeve is a play on a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Her and Otis together are literally Ramona Flowers and Scott Pilgrim, with him hopelessly in lesbians with her.

Both of them deserve to be with people with whom they share genuine romantic connections. They deserve better than being constantly pulled closer to someone who clearly doesn't make them better when they are trying to romance each other.

[catty-words]

maeve + touching otis casually, flirtily, often

[rainespells]

Just finished sex education s3

I cried when

- eric’s grandmother told him she’s happy for him and used they/them pronouns for his partner

- aimee and maeve agreed to be each other’s mums

- adam told maureen not to tell his dad about the dog competition + hearing his poem, god

- otis apologized to jean at her bedside for the horrible things he said

[asexual-fandom-queen]

On Maeve and Isaac

So, having power-watched Season 2 of Sex Education last night, I find myself incapable of not sharing something, narratively, that bothers me about Isaac and the Otis-Maeve-Isaac love triangle, if you wanna call it that. 

The choice to portray Isaac as manipulative, controlling, and duplicitous feels... kinda lazy? 

Like, okay, if you’re examining that story arc, and you ask the question “what function does Isaac’s secret betrayal by deleting Otis’ voicemail serve?” the answer is simple: to show that Isaac is the wrong choice, or in other words, to prove that Otis is the right choice. 

Which is... lazy

Otis royally fucks up when he humiliates and verbally tears down Maeve at his house party. Yes, even if he’s drunk. And the purpose that scene is to give Otis that moment of realization, and to set him on his path of self-betterment, and to really start addressing his fear of becoming an asshole like his father. 

So, if Otis is to earn back Maeve’s trust, respect, and affection, Otis should have to be the one to put in the work. The choice of which partner Maeve should be with shouldn’t be decided by who’s less terrible. 

The onus is on Otis to prove that he’s the better man, not on Isaac to prove he’s the worse one. 

Also, I think that Isaac trying to “trap” Maeve with him plays into a lot of really nasty stereotypes about partners with disabilities. The choice to have Isaac be self-interested, to be someone who prioritizes his own wants and needs, who spies on and is possessive of Maeve, versus being someone who is compassionate, and concerned for Maeve’s feelings, and her wellbeing, and looks out for her, wants to share her burden, for a show that does nuance and representation really well in other regards, really misses the mark, at least for me. 

TLDR: There’s no arguing that Isaac’s actions in canon are wrong, but the narrative choice to have him do those things are wrong first. 

(also, if the first scene out the gate season 3 isn’t “hey maeve, no pressure, i just wondered if maybe you had anything to say to me re: my message” “lol what message?” then the miscommunication plot is really gonna start pushing credibility i mean h o n e s t l y . . .) 

[do-you-want-a-smoothie]

Analysis/Opinions on Maeve Wiley

Rebellious. Unbothered. At the beginning of the series, Maeve Wiley is presented as your traditional, high school outcast. But behind closed doors, all stereotypes are broken as we see her talents for writing and love for literature despite her personal issues. Through her interactions with characters such as Aimee, Otis, and Jackson, we get a deeper look on Maeve.

Through season 1 and 2, we learn to love her from her witty remarks and basically… just Maeve being Maeve and not caring what people think about her. She is a rebel, for a good cause. She stands true to her beliefs and knows her rights. Maeve isn’t a perfect character. Considering her environment and past, it’s difficult to be a better person. Nonetheless, she does which can be seen through her relationship with Aimee.

Despite the dystopian-utopian crossover(more of a dystopian though) of our present society, bigoted traditions of the past linger. As I have mentioned earlier, Maeve didn’t care regardless of what people said about her. Neither should we. As we viewers see issues such as poverty and sexism, as shown before, we learn from Maeve the value of resilience.As we wait for season 3, once again will we’ll see how Maeve will face new problems whether it’s regarding her family or her love life.