Warning! Spoilers ahead for Sex Education season 3.

Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Maeve's (Emma Mackey) break-up problems once again continue for far too long in Sex Education season 3. Netflix's coming-of-age series is back with fresh episodes after more than a year and a half. Amidst the many things happening in Moordale Secondary this season, the primary focus coming into the new year is the resolution to Sex Education season 2 finale frustrating cliffhanger ending.

Initially getting together to run an underground sex therapy business at school, Otis and Maeve developed an unlikely friendship that eventually led to a mutual attraction. While it's fairly clear early on that they're Sex Education's main couple, their relationship has gone through many twists and turns that has hindered them from being together. The pair spent much of season 2 apart, as Otis started a relationship with Ola (Patricia Allison) in an effort to move on. But in the end, and after Maeve admitted that she too had been harboring feelings for him, Otis finally decided to make the jump, sending her a romantic voicemail confession. Unfortunately, before Maeve could even listen to it, her neighbor, Isaac (George Robinson) deleted it.

Related: How Sex Education Season 3 Sets Up Season 4 (& The Show Ending)

This was understandably frustrating for many viewers who had waited two seasons for the pair to finally get together, and unfortunately, Sex Education season 3 only made things worse. A simple conversation should have cleared up the misunderstanding in the first episode. Otis could have simply asked Maeve for her response, and from there figure out Isaac's betrayal. Instead of going the straight route, however, the show stretched once again stretched out the storyline, keeping it from moving forward in a significant way by keeping the pair's interactions short and mostly irrelevant to their relationship status. Instead, it relied on the tired trope of miscommunication leading to erroneous assumptions: Otis opted to presume that the reason he never got a response was that his feelings weren't reciprocated, despite the fact that Maeve came clean about her attraction to him not long ago. As for Maeve, even when Isaac eventually confessed about what he did in Sex Education season 3, Maeve took her sweet time asking Otis about it. Had it not been for their unintentional mishap in France, they may never have patched things up.

An image of Otis and Maeve looking at each other in Sex Education

Sex Education season 3 straightened things out, but only cut things short yet again. Otis and Maeve finally got together; their kiss under the rain was probably one of the most romantic things in the show thus far. But their affair ended before it really began when Maeve decided to take the opportunity to study in the United States thanks to her mom suddenly having the means to pay for it. Truthfully, it makes sense for her narrative; it's too big of an opportunity for her to turn down simply because of her budding new relationship with Otis. That said, it's another frustrating walk back made worse by all the wasted time. Had the show quickly addressed the voice mail snafu, Otis and Maeve's relationship arc could've moved on and developed sooner.

Sex Education season 3 leaves Otis and Maeve's relationship status in limbo once again. This time, at least, it's clear where they both stand on the matter. Ultimately, however, it's still been an incredibly frustrating narrative arc for audiences so far; eventually, a story has to pay off a setup. There's a balance in building up to something meaningful and dragging things out too long, and Sex Education has erred on the side of the latter too often. Hopefully, when the show returns for season 4, the pair are reunited and, finally, in a healthy romantic relationship for a satisfying payoff after an unnecessarily complicated past.

More: Sex Education Season 3 Ending Explained: Do Otis & Maeve Get Back Together?