Maeve dropped everything in America to fly home to be there for her hospitalized mom at the end of Sex Education Season 4 Episode 3, and in “Episode 4” we find out that she’s too late—her mom has died. In a state of shock, she disengages from her brother and friends, hellbent on finishing a crossword puzzle in the hospital waiting room before emerging and dealing with reality.
Aimee and Otis have dropped everything to be there for it, skipping school to spend the day sitting in the parking lot waiting for Maeve. While they wait, Aimee admits to Otis in a roundabout way that she might be developing feelings for Isaac but is nervous to act on it given Maeve’s history with him. Otis advises her to tell her best friend sooner than later, reading into but not forcing the admission out of her.
For the first time all season, Otis puts someone else in front of his own issues (aka his clinic and feud with O) and it’s no surprise that it’s for Maeve; as Eric tells Ruby, “nothing else matters to him when she’s around.” And for now, it feels like the right choice—after a rocky few weeks of their relationship, his physical presence is reassuring to Maeve as she holds his hand close after getting the news.
But his absence at school could be detrimental to his practice. Ruby tries to do damage control by offering to reschedule the long line of appointments outside of his vacant door, but most students aren’t loyal to Otis over O yet and jump ship to O when he’s a no-show. Ruby frantically texts Otis but every message is left on read, and you can tell she’s really hurt by the ghosting once she finds out that it’s because of Maeve. O’s also got a legit gig outside of school co-hosting Jean’s radio show that only adds more belief in her abilities. Still, Ruby is determined to get her revenge and tells O as much, savagely calling her Sarah instead of O to remind her of just how they know one another.
Eric isn’t exactly happy with Otis either. He lets his frustrations about Maeve be known after Otis stands him up for their ride to school and has to find out about his best friend’s girlfriend return to town from Otis’s aunt. But Eric has other things to worry about—on his way to school, he finds a Bible in the middle of the road and is promptly pooped on by a bird when he stops to pick it up. Later, his mother asks him to help out at a soup kitchen and Eric blows her off until he meets a homeless woman in the street. She asks him to show her to the soup kitchen and when another bird poops on his head, she reads it as lucky and tells him that this, the church, is where you belong.
Eric’s confusion with how his two identities—as a proud queer man and a proud religious man—can live in harmony is further exacerbated when his disapproving pastor makes an offhand comment about how the soup kitchen has lost funding. But the comment comes after Eric and Abbi arrive to help wearing their comfortable flamboyant garb that feels natural to them, and somewhat feels pointed towards them, almost as if he is asking Eric to choose between the two options.
As Eric is trying to reconcile his faith with his identity, Adam is just doing his best to put one foot in front of the other. He seems to have found a soft place to land at the horseback riding school; despite not having any skills required for the job, he’s been awarded the apprenticeship and his colleague is taking time to help him learn to ride. He’s also learning to drive with his dad, and the lessons are proving to be a solid way for them to connect.
Mr. Groff opens up about his disastrous date with fellow teacher Gloria in which he couldn’t stay hard during sex, which absolutely grosses Adam out. When Michael tries and fails for a second time with Gloria, he takes to calling Jean’s (and now O’s) radio show to get advice. Jean finally comes alive with the question, explaining that he may just be the type who needs an emotional attachment to enjoy sex. His wife Maureen hears the entire conversation (I guess Jean’s show is popular despite her boss threatening to pull the plug) and arrives at Michael’s door. The two kiss and admit they miss each other, implying a reconciliation.
At the Milburn residence, Jean’s sister Joanna is proving to be just as useless as Jean expected. Instead of rescheduling her date with the bank teller when Jean asks her to watch Joy, she brings the baby to the date and tells her date that she’d like to have kids and settle down one day, just like him. We don’t know Joanna that well yet but it’s pretty apparent that she’s lying to tell the man what he wants to hear, which will only end disastrously.
Meanwhile at school, Beau asks Viv to be his girlfriend and she immediately accepts. There’s something off about him in a “too good to be true” kind of way, as he also displays his emotional maturity when asking Viv if there’s anything going on between her and Jackson. Cal apologizes to Aisha about the attempted kiss at the nightclub and Aisha shrugs it off before revealing that she’s in an ethically non-monogamous relationship, asking Cal out in the process (they say yes). There’s also some budding drama between Aisha and Abbi, whose queen bee attitude seems to be grating on her friends—especially as she seems to create rules that ultimately don’t apply to herself.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.
