It’s the question that kept Netflix subscribers glued to their screens for four seasons: do Otis and Maeve end up together? Honestly, if you were looking for a fairytale ending where the guy gets the girl and they ride off into the sunset of Moordale, you probably walked away from the series finale feeling a little bruised. The short answer is no. They don't. But the long answer? That’s where the real "Sex Education" happens.
Laurie Nunn, the show’s creator, didn't give us the "happily ever after" we craved. Instead, she gave us something that felt annoyingly, painfully real.
The Final Goodbye at the Bus Stop
By the time Season 4 wraps up, Maeve Wiley is heading back to America. She’s pursuing her dreams at Wallace University, and Otis Milburn is staying behind in the UK. There’s no last-minute airport run. No one screams "stop the plane!" It’s just two teenagers who love each other realizing that their timing is absolute garbage.
It’s a gut punch.
Watching Otis stand there while Maeve leaves is one of those moments that makes you want to throw your remote at the TV. You’ve spent years—literally years—watching them miss each other. First, it was the voicemail. Then it was Isaac deleting the voicemail. Then it was Ruby. Then it was the America trip. It felt like the universe was actively rooting against them. And in the end, the universe won.
Why They Couldn’t Make It Work
Let’s be real for a second. Long-distance relationships are hard for adults with stable incomes and cars. For two nineteen-year-olds with massive emotional baggage and separate continents between them? It was a death sentence from the start.
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Maeve finally had a chance to escape the cycle of poverty and trauma that defined her life in the caravan park. If she stayed for Otis, she’d eventually resent him. If he followed her, he’d be a lost boy in a country where he didn’t belong. The show argues that loving someone doesn't always mean staying with them. Sometimes, loving someone means letting them go so they can become the person they’re supposed to be.
Otis is still figuring out who he is without being "the sex clinic guy." Maeve is finding her voice as a writer.
The Letter That Broke Everyone
The finale features a letter from Maeve to Otis that basically serves as the emotional eulogy for their relationship. She thanks him for "opening her up." It’s a acknowledgement that even though they aren't "together" in the traditional sense, they changed the trajectory of each other’s lives.
Otis taught Maeve that she was worth loving. Maeve taught Otis how to actually feel things instead of just analyzing them from a distance.
Addressing the Fan Backlash
A lot of people hated this. If you check Reddit or X (formerly Twitter), the consensus among a huge portion of the fanbase is that the ending felt like a betrayal. Why build up the "will-they-won’t-they" for 32 episodes just to say "nah, they won't"?
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But look at the themes of the show. Sex Education was never really a rom-com. It was a coming-of-age story disguised as a show about sex. Most people do not marry their high school sweethearts. In fact, most high school romances end in a messy, tear-filled conversation exactly like the one Otis and Maeve had. By refusing to give them a tidy ending, the writers stayed true to the messy reality of growing up.
The Ruby Factor
We have to talk about Ruby Matthews. For a lot of viewers, the question wasn't even do Otis and Maeve end up together—it was "Why isn't he with Ruby?"
Season 3 gave us a version of Otis that actually worked. He was confident. He was fun. He was with Ruby. When he threw that away to chase the ghost of a relationship with Maeve, it felt like a regression to some. The fact that he ends the series single—not with Maeve and not with Ruby—is the show’s way of saying that Otis needs to be alone for a while. He’s spent so much time trying to fix other people’s relationships that he never learned how to just be Otis.
Real-World Takeaways from the Moordale Finale
If you're still reeling from the ending, there are a few ways to process what actually happened between these two characters.
- Growth isn't linear. Otis and Maeve both ended the show as better versions of themselves than they were in episode one. That’s a win, even if they aren't holding hands.
- First loves are transformative, not always permanent. Think back to your own first big heartbreak. It felt like the end of the world, right? But it probably shaped your future relationships in ways you didn't realize at the time.
- The "Clinic" was the real relationship. The bond they formed while helping other students was the foundation of their growth. Once the clinic was gone, the "business" aspect of their connection vanished, leaving only the raw, difficult reality of two very different people trying to mesh.
What Happens Next? (The Unofficial Future)
The show is over. There is no Season 5. But we can look at the clues provided. Maeve is in the US, likely to become a successful author. Otis is at home, finally connecting with his mom and his new baby sister.
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They might meet again in ten years. Maybe in a London coffee shop or a New York bookstore. But for now, their story is finished. It’s a closed chapter.
To truly move on from the Otis and Maeve saga, stop looking for deleted scenes or "hopeful" theories. Instead, rewatch the first season. Notice how much they’ve grown. The tragedy isn't that they broke up; the tragedy would have been if they stayed together and held each other back from their potential.
If you're looking for more closure, dive into the interviews with Emma Mackey and Asa Butterfield. Both actors have been pretty vocal about the fact that their characters' journeys had reached a natural conclusion. Mackey, in particular, seemed ready to leave Maeve behind, noting that playing a teenager into your mid-twenties becomes a bit of a stretch.
The best next step is to accept the bittersweet reality: they were the right people for each other at the exact right time, but that time has passed. Go watch the finale again, but this time, focus on Otis’s face when he looks out the window in the final shot. He’s sad, sure. But he’s also okay. And Maeve is more than okay—she’s flying.
Next Steps for Fans: 1. Watch "The Bear" or "Normal People" if you want more stories about complicated, messy people who love each other but can't quite make it work.
2. Follow Aimee Lou Wood’s career. Her character, Aimee, had arguably the best ending of anyone in the show, proving that the most important relationship you can have is the one with yourself.
3. Journal about your own "Maeve" or "Otis." Sometimes seeing your own past reflected in fiction is the best way to finally get some closure on that one person you thought was "the one" who got away.