Crushes fade, sexuality is fluid, and facial hair changes, but one thing will always stay constant on high school dramedy Sex Education: Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa) and Otis Milburn’s (Asa Butterfield) undying friendship. 

As the yin to the other’s yang, Otis and Eric are TV’s favorite duo. Where Otis lives with his single, sex-therapist mom, Eric is part of a big Nigerian family. Where Otis prefers to wear the same dorky red-white-and-blue windbreaker every day, Eric serves power-clashing look after look. Where Otis is sexually repressed, Eric is exuberantly flamboyant. The boys comprising the bromance at the heart of the series embody what Sex Education does best: complicating stereotypes to unearth deeply human truths about high school, intimacy, relationships, family, and beyond.

From their annual drag viewing of Hedwig and the Angry Inch to an unfortunate band instrument-related nickname, Eric and Otis have remained by each other’s sides for the highs and lows of the raunchy yet sweet Sex Education. And after all of the uncertainty at the end of Season 3, the two characters will definitely be needing a friend in the upcoming installment. 

Last time we saw our favorite heartfelt, horny students, Moordale Secondary School was closing because of the bad press it received as “the sex school.” Otis’s will-they-won’t-they love interest Maeve (Emma Mackey) was en route to study in the U.S., Eric broke up with boyfriend Adam Groff (Connor Swindells) because “he was ready to fly, and [Adam’s] just learning to walk,” and Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson) had an alarmed reaction to her newborn’s paternity test. 

The new episodes offer plenty of memorable moments, plus exciting new additions to the already stacked, award-winning cast: Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek), Jodie Turner-Smith (White Noise), and Thaddea Graham (Doctor Who) are a few of the familiar faces confirmed for Season 4 of Sex Education.