| “ | I'm a sex and relationship therapist, I'm sure I'd know if I was...suffering from a broken heart. | ” |
| — Jean to her GP[src] |
Dr. Jean Milburn (née Franklin) is one of the main characters in Sex Education. She is portrayed by Gillian Anderson. She is a sex therapist and the loving, but overprotective mother of Otis and Joy.
In season 1, she is a well-known sex therapist, writer and Otis's mother. She is divorced and regularly has one-night stands but is non-committal, until she meets Jakob, a Swedish plumber who does some work at her home. Eventually she falls for him, having not felt such emotions for years, keeping on dating him in season 2, when their secret affair is discovered by Otis and Jakob's daughter, Ola, who are also dating. After being official, Jakob starts spending more and more time at Jean's house, which, with time starts annoying her, as she became too independent for being in a relationship. This leads to their breakup, which, however, turns out to be extremely painful for Jean. Meanwhile, Jean also finds out that she's pregnant and is struggling with telling Jakob about it.
This continues until season 3, when Jean finally tells Jakob about her pregnancy and the two decide to fix their relationship. Jakob and Ola move into the Milburn house, as Jakob wants to be closer to Jean and the baby. Eventually, Jean goes into labor way too early and some complications occur after the baby is born, which, however, ends happily. After that, Jean gets the results of the paternity test, which confirm that Jakob is not the biological father of her daughter.
In season 4, Jean suffers from postnatal depression, as she couldn't handle being a single mother once again. That's why Otis asks Jean's sister, Joanna, to come live with them for a bit so she could help Jean with everything. Jean also gets a job at the local radio station, becoming the host of one of their auditions. In the series finale, Otis praises Jean, telling her he's proud of her. Jean also reconciles with Joanna and decides to tell Dan that he's the biological father of Joy.
Early Life[]
The situation in Jean's family house was rather complicated. Her mother presumably divorced her father and started dating a man called Pierre, who had a weakness for young girls. Hence Jean had to protect her younger sister from him, not wanting her to get hurt. After moving out from her family house, Jean went to university. Some time later, she met Remi, with whom she did two years of post-graduate studies together, during which Remi asked Jean out 14 times.[3] The two ended up getting married and had Otis. When Otis was a child, he caught Remi cheating on Jean with another woman and revealed it to Jean. The two separated, and Remi moved to America where he began a relationship with Delilah.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
Jean is Otis' mother and a sex therapist. She tries to give Otis advice as he starts to get older and get hormones. She has frequent casual sex throughout the season. She regularly searches through Otis' room when he isn't at home, even going as far as to write a book about Otis' sexual life.
Season 2[]
In the second season, Jean gets feelings for Jakob and they start a real relationship. She also gets hired by Moordale Secondary School to help with the sex education program, much to Otis' dismay.
At the end of the season, she finds out she is pregnant and perimenopausal.
Season 3[]
In Season 3, Jean is pregnant and is struggling to tell her former partner, Jakob Nyman. Eventually she does and they decide to live together to raise the new baby, along with their kids Ola and Otis. However, they realize they have very different approaches to life. Due to deep-seated trust issues, Jakob eventually expresses doubt the baby is even his and asks for a paternity test.
Jean goes into labor 8 weeks early and suffers a hemorrhage. Her family is terrified they will lose her, but she pulls through and has a healthy baby girl.
Season 4[]
Jean starts suffering from postnatal depression and everything starts being overwhelming for her. Despite this, Jean decides not to sit at home all the time and decides to get a job, becoming the radio host. Seeing his mother not getting by with anything, Otis decides to call Joanna to ask her to come and help them a bit. She agrees, but eventually it turns out that Joanna had huge debts and had no other place to live in, which makes Jean mad at her.
After all, Jean decides to help Joanna out and pays off all her debts. In the series finale, Jean also tells Dan that he's the father of Joy.
Relationships[]
Romances[]
Jakob Nyman (ex-boyfriend)[]
- Main article: Jean and Jakob
Jakob is Jean's plumber and boyfriend. They first met when Jean hired Jakob to fix her kitchen sink. They later developed a romantic relationship, much to the dismay of their children, who were dating.
The two broke up when Jean revealed that she had kissed her ex-husband, Remi Milburn. After Jean revealed that she was pregnant with Jakob's child, they rekindled their relationship. Jakob and his daughter, Ola, moved into the Milburn House. After Jakob found out Jean used to sleep with younger men he started doubting if he was even the father of Jean's baby. Despite this, when Jean went into labor, Jakob was beside her and was supporting her. Shortly after that, the paternity test results were in, confirming that Jakob was not the biological father of Joy. This caused Jakob to leave Jean.
Dan (hook-up)[]
Dan is the man Jean was hooking up with, who later becomes the father of her daughter. Otis, Jean's son, teased Dan about having an Oedipus Complex. On two occasions, Dan accidentally referred to Jean as his mum.
After some time, Dan and Jean met again in front of the hospital, where Jean was leaving and Dan was entering. The two had a little chat, during which Dan freaked out after noticing that Jean's pregnant, thinking that he's the father of her baby. Fortunately for him, Jean and Jakob assure him that the baby is not his after what Jean and Jakob are returning to their car and Dan's entering the hospital.
In the series finale, Jean invites Dan over and decides to muster her courage and to tell Dan that he is the father of her daughter.
Harry (one-night stand)[]
Harry was one of Jean's sexual partners. After they hooked-up, Harry was hoping that they would become a couple. Eventually, Jean made him realize that she doesn't want to date him and what happened between them was a one-time thing.
Remi Milburn (ex-husband)[]
- Main article: Jean and Remi
Remi is Jean's ex-husband. The two have a son, Otis, together. Remi has a sex addiction, and after Jean learned of Remi's infidelity, the two divorced. Remi moved to America where he had a relationship with Delilah, but ended up cheating on her too.
Family[]
Otis Milburn (son)[]
Otis is Jean's socially awkward teenage son. While it is clear that she wants the absolute best for her son, she often embarrasses him with her propensity to psychoanalyze, not only her son but everyone she meets. Towards the end of season 1, Jean begins dating Jakob, Ola's father, complicating the relationship between Otis and Ola.
Otis frequently feels that his mother is too nosy and was angry when he found out that Jean was writing a book about his sexual development. On another occasion, Jean entered Otis' room after he asked her not to, and then told the clients in her kegel workshop about Otis' first emission.
Otis was the one who discovered his father's infidelity, and revealed it to his mother. This memory is a source of stress and gave him a panic attack the first time he attempted to lose his virginity.
Despite many fights, Otis really loves his mother, as can be seen in season 3 finale, when he worries sick about her after she had a baby. After Jean turns out to be all right, Otis tells her that he loved her, saying that he still needed her, despite acting like a grown-up. After Jakob and Ola moved out of the Milburn house, Otis was helping Jean with taking care of Joy and all the house chores. He wasn't approve of Jean getting a new job, as it was only 8 weeks after Joy was born, and called Jean's sister, Joanna, to come and help them. Later, thanks to Jean's supportive words, Maeve decided to go back to America to chase her dreams, which was disapproved by Otis, who got mad at her for that. Eventually he forgave her, as he realized it all had to be that way, and told her he was proud of her.
Joy Milburn (daughter)[]
Joy is Jean's daughter. After Jean had Joy, she had some health complications, but eventually, Jean pulls through and survives. In episode 3.8, Jean opens the DNA test results and is shocked, which implies that Jakob is not the biological father of Joy. After giving birth to Joy, Jean starts suffering from postnatal depression. 8 weeks after her birth, Jean got a job as a radio host, but didn't think it over, as she had to take Joy with her to work when she didn't have anyone to take care of her at the time. Despite this, Jean loves Joy very much and in the series finale is finally enjoying spending time with her daughter.
Caroline Franklin (mother)[]
Caroline was Jean's mother who passed away a couple of years prior to the series storyline. Caroline wasn't really interested in Jean's life and the two had a difficult relatioship, but despite all this Jean really loved her and felt a bit disjointed after her death.
Joanna Franklin (younger sister; former enemy)[]
Jean and Joanna had quite tense relationship. Joanna often called Jean ''turtle'', knowing it was very annoying for her. Despite this, when the two were teenagers, Jean was protecting Joanna from Pierre, their stepfather, who had a tendency to touch Joanna in her private parts. After moving out of their family house, Jean and Joanna lost touch and weren't huge parts of each other's lives.
The two reunited after Otis called Joanna to ask her to come and help Jean with taking care of the baby, as she wasn't getting by with it. Joanna moved in with them for some time, which let the sisters to spend lots of time together. Meanwhile it also turned out that Joanna had huge debts and she had no other place to go, so she decided to stay with Jean. After all, Jean decided to pay off the debts for her sister and eventually reconciled with her, talking things out.
Pierre (step-father)[]
Pierre was Jean's step-father, whom she hated. Because of him, her mother stopped caring about her and her sister. Jean also had to protect Joanna from him, as he liked touching her in her private parts.
Friends[]
Maureen Groff (best friend)[]
Maureen is Jean's close friend. The two met when Maureen accidentally entered Jean's office at Moordale Secondary and they started talking. During their meetings, Maureen was telling Jean about her marriage with Michael, complaining about him to her. By the time, Maureen's signed up for Jean's vagina workshops.
The first time Jean and Maureen met not for a therapy session was when Otis was having a party at the Milburn house. Then, Jean and Maureen went to a bar, getting drunk there and later went dancing. Both of them enjoyed each other's companies, as neither of them had many friends.
Maureen was also supporting Jean after she found out she was pregnant and when she was struggling with telling Jakob about it. Meanwhile, Jean started attending yoga classes for pregnant women, to which she was accompanied by Maureen.
Maureen also accompanied Jean when she was invited to Good Morning Moordale for an interview and later, when she went into labor. Then, Maureen, out of Jakob's ask, came to the Milburn house and packed some of the most important things for Jean and took them to the hospital. After Maureen arrives to the hospital, Jakob thanks her and Maureen tells him to let her know if there was something more she could do for them.
After Jean gave birth to Joy, Maureen was often helping Jean with taking care of her, as Jean was often dropping Joy off at Maureen's.
Michael Groff (friend; former enemy)[]
Michael disliked Jean since the first moment she started working at Moordale Secondary, where Michael was a headteacher. He wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible, which he accomplished after he stole her notebook with her private notes about her clients, and revealed them to the public.
Some time later, when Michael started noticing how bad his behavior was, he decided to return Jean her notebook and came to the Milburn house. There, Jean let him in and the two started talking. Michael started telling Jean the story of his parents and a strict father, which was the main reason he became a bad person. Michael thanks Jean for the therapy session and leaves.
Maeve Wiley (friend)[]
Jean first heard about Otis and Maeve's situation from Aimee in episode 3.6, when she explained why she thought they were a great match for each other. After Jean gave birth to Joy, Otis tells her that there was somebody called Maeve that was very important to him.
Jean and Maeve finally met in episode 4.5, when Jean picked Otis up from Moordale Secondary after he and Maeve were caught there by the guards. Some time later, Jean invited Maeve over for a dinner to get to know her better. The two had a chat, during which Maeve opened up in front of Jean, who eventually encouraged her not to let one teacher dedicate her future and to go back to America. Maeve really appreciated this and did what Jean advised her to do.
Aimee Gibbs (friend; client)[]
Jean was Aimee's therapist, who was helping her to be the old her again after the assault. Thanks to Jean, Aimee started being more confident about herself and learned what feminism was. Mainly thanks to the therapy sessions with Jean, Aimee was fully able to overcome the trauma.
Personality[]
Jean is caring and loving. Because Otis doesn't talk to her as much, she tends to pry into his personal and sexual life.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total | |
| One | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Two | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Three | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Four | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 8 | |
| Total | 32 | |||||||||
| Books | ||||||||||
| Sex Education: The Road Trip | Sex Education: A Guide to Life | |||||||||
| M | M | |||||||||
| ✔ = Appeared | M = Mentioned | |||||||||
| - = Did not appear | P = Pictured | |||||||||
Memorable Quotes[]
| “ | Of course you're normal. You're sixteen. You're not supposed to know the answers to anything | ” |
| — Jean to Otis[src] |
| “ | Sex doesn't make us whole. And so, how could you ever be broken? | ” |
| — Jean to Florence[src] |
| “ | Oh, I'm so sorry. I was never this gassy with Otis. | ” |
| — Jean to Ruby[src] |
| “ | I thought this was the right thing to do...for me, for the baby. I didn't want to raise another child alone and now I'm feeling like I'm losing control. And...I think I've made a really bad decision. | ” |
| — Jean to Maureen about getting back together with Jakob[src] |
Trivia[]
- Jean lives on 43 Ashford Street in Moordale.
- She may have kept Remi's last name so that she could always be related to Otis as there is no law in the UK that requires a woman to change back to her maiden name once divorced.
- Jean is the author of three books: Pillow Talk (written with her ex-husband Remi), State of Vulva and Uneducated Nation: A Sex Education Manifesto for Our Youth.[4]
- Jean is the second main character to be pregnant on the show.
Gallery[]
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Sex Education Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Jean Milburn. |
Promotional Images[]
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.jpg "Sex Education Season 2 Promo Photos (3).jpg (3.34 MB)")
Episodic[]
References[]
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