'Sex Education' Fans Cringe at Jemima Kirke's 'Sketchy' Dance

Girls star Jemima Kirke joined the cast of Sex Education Season 3 as Headmistress Haddon (but you can call her "Hope"). She made her debut in Episode 1, dancing her way onto the stage of Moordale High's assembly hall to "Land of 1000 Dances" by Wilson Pickett.

Hope then gave an impassioned speech about turning around Moordale's reputation as "Sex School", promising to get the institution and the students' futures "back on track."

The students of Moordale instantly fell in love with her, with Eric (played by Ncuti Gatwa) declaring: "She's so cool, teachers aren't supposed to be cool."

Even hard-to-impress Ruby (Mimi Keene) is "obsessed" with her lipstick and Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) just "loves" her. Teacher's pet Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu) also can't get enough, describing her as "Joan of Arc, but cooler."

One thing for sure is: Kirke's choreography made an impact on audiences at home, with many viewers having a totally different response to Hope's entrance entirely.

One Sex Education fan tweeted: "I knew Hope was bad vibes from that "cool" dance #SexEducation."

Some viewers even drew comparisons with Matilda's Miss Trunchbull. One viewer wrote: "I knew this Hope lady was gonna be a trunchbull when she came in day 1 with that fake "I'm fun" dance routine #SexEducation."

A third fan added: "#SexEducation Hope was feeling sketchy from the dance intro and there she go, doing micro-racism."

Some fans on Reddit even called out the scene as being "unrealistic".

@beanbroth12 wrote: "Literally school kids would straight up laugh at a teacher dancing/trying so hard to be cool... So unrealistic!"

Unfortunately, for the students of Moordale, Hope turns out not to be as "cool" as she seems.

The former Moordale student does not hold back from throwing out the Moordale rule book and changing the status quo. She implements school uniforms and a strict appearance policy alongside a single-file system into the corridors, so students can walk in silence and "reflect".

Hope also introduces an outdated, misogynistic sex education programme which ultimately leads to her demise.

She also fails to listen to the students and recognise their freedom to self-expression. In particular, she disregards the needs of Moordale's non-binary students, forcing them to pick between the girl and boy line ahead.

Non-binary student Cal is quick to challenge Hope's policies, with the help of former head boy Jackson (‎Kedar Williams-Stirling). Hope is also no stranger to micro-racism, believing Adam (Connor Swindells), who is white, to be the head boy over Jackson who is black.

Sex Education fans were quick to notice this and took to Twitter to praise the show for including the scene.

One fan tweeted: "The scene in the first episode of Sex Education when the new headteacher is meeting Jackson & Adam, her immediately assuming Adam was the head boy and the evident change of tone and display of disappointment when Jackson reveals himself is VERY VERY important!"

A second Sex Education fan added: "I already knew Hope was gonna be an issue when she automatically assumed Adam (white) was head boy even though Jackson (black) was sitting right next to him. Like sis... ever heard of asking who is who? #SexEducation"

A third fan wrote: "When Hope immediately assumed Adam was Head Boy instead of Jackson I knew she was going to be terrible #SexEducation"

Thankfully, Hope did not stick around for too long after the students of Moordale protested against her during a press conference, premiering a no-holds-barred video of the Sex Education curriculum they want to see in place.

Sex Education Season 3 is streaming on Netflix now.