Netflix’s Sex Education has been one of their most-watched programs since its 2019 premiere. The show is exactly what it says it is, but its exploration of serious topics is well balanced with humor. Across its two seasons, the series has firmly established its style, aim, and feel.
With so many vibrant and unique characters, the series delivers comedy in a variety of ways. Whether it’s one of Mr. Hendricks’s lame but hilarious attempts at being relatable, or the awkwardness of Otis meeting one of Jean’s “conquests,” almost every scene in the show is infused with comedy. Here are ten of the funniest quote from Sex Education.
“Was It The Chlamydia Or Jackson That Gave You A Hard-On?”
The second season opens with an outbreak of chlamydia – well, after Otis’s opening montage. A girl named Fiona is accused of being patient zero, but it’s actually a kid named Owen. Everyone still thinks it’s Fiona, so she asks Otis and Eric to help stop the rumors.
They need to find out who is actually the source of the outbreak, and one of their top suspects is Jackson, who isn’t exactly on the best terms with Otis. After they question Jackson, Otis looks down and Eric bursts out laughing, before yelling at the top of his lungs, “Was it the chlamydia or Jackson that gave you a hard-on?”
“Uncalled For And Unnecessary.”
When Owen is finally revealed as the source of the outbreak, Eric drags him over to confess to Otis, who has just broken up a fight between Fiona, Martha, and Gwen. “Go on. Speak from the diaphragm.”
Owen tells Otis the truth, and after overhearing his conversation in the bathroom earlier, advises Otis to tell Ola about his “wank problem; the truth will set you free.” Otis replies that he didn’t ask to be therapized, and Owen says that he didn’t, either. Eric intervenes: “I think that we’ve had quite enough of you today. Owen. Uncalled for and unnecessary.”
“Detty, Detty Pig!”
This is perhaps the quote Eric is best known for, and one of the most iconic from the second season. When Eric and Otis discuss his “wank problem” in the bathroom, they realize someone else is in there with them.
“Who goes there?” Otis whispers, and Owen emerges. He explains that he didn’t want to come out because they were talking about something awkward and embarrassing, then starts to leave, but Eric says, “You should wash your hands, you detty pig!” Eric repeats this line multiple times, like when he learns that Connor masturbates up to seventeen times a day.
“Nice To See You Again. Cause I Saw You This Morning. At School. Not In My Dreams.”
Otis has his first … dream about Maeve in the third episode of season 1. He tells Eric about it in the middle of an assembly in which Mr. Groff is talking about “Ugandan sanitary products,” a topic Maeve helps him navigate.
Eric bursts out with proud exclamations, twice interrupting Groff’s speech. After assembly, Maeve chases Otis up to ask him for a favor. Surprised and awkward, he greets her by accidentally revealing that he did in fact have a dream about her. She’s too distracted to notice, though.
“Wait, You Wanna Be In A Corner?”
Otis changes his mind about running the clinic in the show’s second episode. Maeve calls him and he pretends that his reception drops out. Eric demands to know why he doesn’t want to be popular.
Otis says, “I just wanna be a guy in the corner that no one knows, and they say, ‘Who’s that guy?’ And they go, ‘He’s just a guy in the corner.'” Eric looks confused and asks, “Wait, you wanna be in a corner?” to which Otis nods frantically. Eric calms him down and helps Otis realize that he wants to hang out with Maeve. “Let’s get on with our day,” Eric says, businesslike.
“I Might Have Said Something About Chinchillas Giving Blow Jobs.”
Otis’s first therapy session doesn’t exactly go as planned. Olivia is having some trouble during “fellatio,” as Otis puts it, experiencing “a bout of emesis” (emesis = vomiting). He tries to explain that sexuality isn’t as simple as one might think.
“Well, at a zoo, I once saw a chinchilla fellate itself,” Otis begins, but Olivia storms out of the bathroom and spits at Maeve on her way out. Otis emerges sheepishly and explains what happened.
“On Time Is Late.”
Nobody really knows what this quote means, which is probably why it’s so funny. Only in season 2 does it become clear that Otis has picked up this quote from his dad, Remi.
Otis always finds the worst times to recite this iconic quote, like when he and Eric show up to Aimee’s house party, which results in Eric’s orange pants getting ruined, or when he arrives to pick up Maeve from the abortion clinic.
“Swing Band Are Sh–hip. Yes, We Are.”
Eric is still embarrassed about his Trom-boner situation, but he persistently tries – and fails – to impress Swing Band. When Otis starts the clinic with Maeve, Eric is inspired to find new hobbies. Mr. Hendricks suggests he audition for Swing Band.
Eric tries to explain that Swing Band hates him, then decides to say that they’re sh*t, but Hendricks interrupts him and says they’re hip. He goes on to say, “But one can only try. Trying’s the whole game. No one can stop you trying. Well, they can try, I suppose, ehh! No, no, but seriously I think you should swing by.”
“They Have Space Training In Russia As Well, You Know, Maeve.”
When Maeve’s brother Sean makes a sudden reappearance after being away for four months, she’s not too happy with him, thinking he’s been selling drugs. He lies that he’s been in Houston training to be an astronaut. They get into an argument while he makes her pancakes in an attempt to appease her.
Finally, he says it was a mistake returning and that he’s leaving. Maeve asks where he’s going to go and he jokes that Russia also offers space training. “I mean, it is a shame about the weather – and the human rights issues – but actually, very good rockets.”
“He’s Spoken To Me Exactly 26 Times, Using A Total Of 556 Words.”
Viv agrees to help Jackson with his lines for the school play in exchange for tips on how to get Dex to be her boyfriend. One weekend, Viv comes over to tutor Jackson, but he asks her to tell him about Dex.
“Well, he’s the thirty-fourth fastest Rubik’s Cuber in the world. He likes BBQ flavored Doritos. He bites his bottom lip when he thinks about something really difficult. And he’s spoken to me exactly twenty-six times, using a total of 556 words.” Jackson looks increasingly confused at each sentence.
