Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Sex Education season 3.
Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) chooses to go to American in Sex Education season 3, leaving behind Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) just after the pair had seemingly (and finally) managed to figure things out. Maeve and Otis' on-again, off-again, will they/won't they romance continues in season 3, as they learn the truth about what happened to the voice message and re-discover their feelings for one another. While each initially explores a relationship with someone else - Isaac Goodwin (George Robinson) for Maeve, Ruby Matthews (Mimi Keene) for Otis - they are, perhaps inevitably, drawn back to one another by the end of the season.
Except, of course, there is yet another twist in their romantic tale. A thread running throughout Sex Education season 3 is Maeve applying for a study programme that would take her to the United States for a few months, something she eventually finds the money for thanks to her mother, Erin (Anne-Marie Duff). By the time of the finale, it's less a case of will they/won't they, and more a question of whether or not Maeve will stay in the UK, or depart for America.
The ending of Sex Education season 3 leaves it late for Maeve to fully make up her mind, but in the end she decides that she has to go to America, even if it means leaving Otis behind for now. It's tempting to see it as an easy choice, given the great opportunity Maeve is being afforded, but it's also clear why it might be so difficult: Maeve is choosing not only between America and the person she loves, but also leaving behind family and friends and truly striking out on her own, with no guarantees of what she'll discover. That, though, is part of the point. With her mother out of the picture (for now) and her sister safe in the care of Anna (Indra Ové), then she has a real chance to find who she is and do something purely for herself, something she's not had much opportunity to do in life. Maeve clearly loves Otis, but this would be too good to turn down, and both of them know it.
It also suggests, perhaps, a newfound sense of maturity in Maeve and Otis. The pair's relationship has long been combustible, with their love and passion for one another often quickly turning to anger, jealousy, and resentment. But now that they're back together once more and really able to talk about their feelings in a way they weren't previously, then there's a shift that could also factor into Maeve's decision. As she says, it isn't goodbye but "see you soon," and there's a sense that, as she leaves, it's in the knowledge that she and Otis will be ok when she returns. She absolutely has to go to America because it's the chance to secure a much brighter future for herself and to gain incredible life experience in the process, but it's also seemingly true that Maeve and Otis have reached a level of security where that can happen.
That isn't to say Otis and Maeve will definitely stay or get back together - long distance relationships can be extremely difficult, especially at such a young age, and there's no telling how they might change or who they might meet in the months they're apart. That itself may be fine, though, because at least now, for the first time, both Otis and Maeve truly know how they feel about the other, and that those feelings are reciprocated. Otis comes to learn that he wants to pursue a career in therapy, and Sex Education season 3's ending puts Maeve on the path to discovering what she really wants as well, and it's by bringing her and Otis back together, and then forcing them apart once more, that they're able to reach that stage.
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September 20, 2021 at 11:28PM
