Asexual Sighting: Sarah Owens a.k.a. O (Sex Education)

*O-related spoilers.*

In season 2 of Sex Education, the show introduces an asexual character named Florence. She’s only in a few episodes, and the one story where she’s featured is about her learning about asexuality and coming to realize that she’s ace. I don’t say any of that to sell Florence short—I think the show does a pretty lovely job with her spotlight episode. But she is a minor character in the grand scheme of things.

In season 4, though, we meet another asexual character, O. She gets a lot more focus, a lot more characterization, and multiple stories that aren’t just about her sexuality. It’s great to see the show introduce a second ace character and feature them more heavily, and really, it’s kind of neat that O has nothing to do with Florence. I think this might be the first show I’ve seen with more than one unrelated ace character—for instance, on BoJack Horseman, they bring in first Yolanda and later Maude as potential girlfriends for Todd. I like that O isn’t created specifically as an asexual friend/confidante for Florence, and that they don’t come as a matched set. (Of course, Florence is no longer on the show by season 4.)

Anyway, long-winded introductions aside, let’s talk about O! When we first meet her, it’s as a rival for Otis. After Moordale loses its funding and closes down, Otis, along with a number of his classmates, head to Cavendish for their final year of sixth form. Otis is eager to start a new sex therapy clinic there, but he’s taken aback when he learns that Cavendish already has a student counselor to help classmates with their relationship and sex problems. O has an inviting office, an organized appointment schedule managed electronically, and snacks on hand for her clients. She has an online presence where she gives tutorials for teens about different sex-related topics.

In short, Otis sees her as an immediate threat. He at first assumes she’s just drawing students in with her amenities, but it quickly becomes clear that she knows her stuff just as well as he does. As Otis and O realize the school isn’t big enough for two student counselors, they embark on a contentious election campaign to decide which one of them can stay on. It’s at their pre-election debate that Otis, with Ruby’s help, reveals some dirt they dug up on O, the revelation that she’s ghosted multiple students in previous relationships.

That’s how it comes out that O is asexual. She explains, “I really enjoyed the friendships of the people I ghosted, I really did. But when it started to move into something more intimate, I just—I felt really overwhelmed and uncomfortable.” O is a slick character, one who curates her image and reputation very carefully, and she spends much of the season easily beating the awkward, socially clumsy Otis in the court of public opinion. This might be the biggest example of the season—O comes out of the debate as the brave young woman who stood up and told the student body who she really is, while Otis is the jerk who outed her (unintentionally, as he knew about the ghosting but not her sexuality.)

I like that O is conniving and kind of two-faced, that she puts on a very polished face to the world and uses that to get one over on other people. It doesn’t make her a “likable” character, but it makes her a compelling one, and I like how we see that her experience with her aceness is informed by those aspects of her. O finally tells Otis the full story when the two of them get stuck in a lift together. She admits, “I’d already started feeling like something wasn’t normal. The other girls were talking about boys and kisses and crushes and…. There was so much pressure to behave a particular way.” In fact, it’s her asexuality, coupled with her desperate desire to fit in, that led her down the path of becoming a sex therapist in the first place. She became driven to learn as much as she could about sex/relationships, in an attempt to “pretend to be like everyone else,” and once she realized how useful her knowledge could be to other teens, she started her online channel and in-person clinic.

However, while sex therapy gains O respect online and at school, and students eagerly sign up for sessions with her so they can get help, her success winds up trapping her in a position where she feels like she can’t come out. “I mean, who wants to have sex advice from someone who doesn’t have sex?” she remarks. O is very proficient at creating the image she wants people to have of her, even if it means stepping on others to do so, but the end result is a lonely one.

Again, she’s a really interesting character. She has her sympathetic side, but that doesn’t negate the harmful things she does to other characters, and I like watching someone who’s so focused on ger own goals wind up shortchanging herself in another crucial way. Further points to the show for including some smaller details about the asexual community. O uses the actual word “ace,” which doesn’t get a lot of play on TV, and I love the fact that she wears a black ring, a popular symbol in the ace community. It’s the little things that make a difference!

Oh, and I mentioned this in my Other Doctor Lives reviews, but O is played by Thaddea Graham, who I loved as Bel during the Flux storyline of Doctor Who. Score!