Yesterday was one of those days. The first day of the weekend, for which I planned to catch up on my reading. I still have to finish Mortal Engines, so that I can finally go and see the movie. Because yes, I'm one of those people who likes to read the book before seeing it in film. But that's a story for another time.

After opening the Netflix app on my television (big, big mistake), the day turned out in an unexpected way. The reason? The new Netflix Original series Sex Education. As always, things started out quite innocent with one single episode. But at the end of the day, I found myself on the couch, having watched all episodes of the first season.

Goddamnit. And here I thought this wouldn't happen to me again. Not after that single-day session of the second season of Stranger Things. Oh well… The good thing is that I'm now writing a blog post to find out why this happened. So that I can at least learn something from this experience. How can a series be so good that it lets you watch all its episodes between dawn and dusk?

It's the acting, right? That could be. Sex Education features Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield. I must admit that the first name didn't ring a bell for me. Asa Butterfield is a name I do know. In fact, it's one of my favorite actors currently. From The Boy in the Striped Pajamas via Hugo to now Sex Education, this is an actor with a bright future ahead of him. Gillian and Asa, together with the rest of the cast, make sure that Sex Education has a terrific basis to start from.

But that can't be the only thing, right? Good actors alone can only do so much. So what's more? What about the music that supports the images. Many of the songs featured in this series are well-known. But when used at the right moment, they can spark that extra bit of fire. A few classics that you'll come across are Take On Me by a-ha and Love Really Hurts Without You by Billy Ocean. It's so good that I made my own playlist on Spotify, featuring all music from all episodes.

Still, the actors and the music are not the only things that take Sex Education to its climax. There's one thing that makes this series extra special and worthwhile. It's something that goes deeper than the actors and the music. And at the same time, it makes perfect sense when you see it. And this is it.

Authenticity.