I recently watched the mini-series A Teacher, 2020, which broke my heart!
A teacher-and-student relationship would undoubtedly place first among high schoolers’ most cherished and forbidden dreams. Girls aged fifteen and older draw the most passionate romantic story possible, and boys of the same age – the most intriguing topic for half-joking conversations with friends. In dreams, the relationship ends in a wedding and general jubilation, but in reality, less happy endings are usually found.
I watched this TV show as a woman who goes through a midlife crisis, as a mother who has two sons, and as a person who loves psychology. I want to share my A Teacher series review today and discuss Eric and Claire’s relationships.
A Teacher plot.
Claire Wilson is one of those teachers who instantly win over students of all ages and genders. She is lively, energetic, in love with her subject, and teetering on the edge of erotic familiarity. Such teachers energize children and, as a rule, become a headache for school management. In this case, the concern would be entirely justified.
Behind Claire’s bright, mischievous façade is a sweet but not very beloved husband, dismal attempts to get pregnant, a difficult childhood, and a general feeling that her life lacks spice. The reason for diving headlong into the pool is a sudden friendship with 17-year-old Eric Walker.
After several chance meetings, Claire agrees to become his tutor and quickly becomes close to the student. The outcome of the rapprochement is as expected as it is inevitable. The forbidden romance, which contradicts pedagogical ethics, will end in a catastrophe, which the lovers will live through for several more years—separately and together.
Eric.
Let’s meet Eric. Nick Robinson played this role very well.
Eric is the sporty, kind, and cheerful captain of his football team. Yes, Eric is a little older than his friends psychologically, but I wouldn’t call him “precocious.” The guy also has enough problems: He was raised in a single-parent family and works part-time as a waiter in a city cafe. Eric also has to take care of his brothers (he’s the eldest), and the future burdens him because he doesn’t have money for college.
In the new teacher, he sees not a boring, tedious educator but a woman with whom he can talk and ask for help or advice. She notices he has intelligence and potential, unlike other high school students.
And how much does a 17-year-old guy need to fall in love?
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Claire.
Kate Mara plays a married teacher in her early 30s. The marriage is a bit tense due to the lack of children and the endless planning of them by the hour. Mara has anxious eyes and many reasons to make a mistake in life—her mother died very early, and she was left to take care of her father, who often drank alcohol. Also, all the fuss and carelessness of student life passed her by.
Every episode made me realize that there are specific phases in life that everyone should experience at their age. Childhood is mostly about carefree play and minimal responsibility, and then, in the teenage years, it turns into a phase of goofy, impulsive behavior. These experiences are much better to go through at an average age to avoid regretting what was missed later.
Even in comparison with the teenager Eric, I think she is more immature. The actress played this internal suffering and emptiness perfectly. I could feel her desire to feel alive. A great example is how she stole lipstick. And she tried in vain to find emotional security and inner peace in the men around her.
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Claire and Eric’s relationship.
In the series, the couple quickly jumps into action. Then, the events only gain momentum through intimate adventures and dubious psychopathic subtext. The romance exists in a world where relationships between an adult and a child are a crime. Although the characters sometimes forget about this, the series never does.
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The creators deliberately romanticize the first part of the story, using classic melodrama techniques—beautiful sensual shots, a lyrical soundtrack, and sharp intrigue—which naturally leads to the viewer’s full emotional involvement and empathy for the series’ characters.
That is why the denouement of the story, the final dialogue of the characters, seems like a kind of cold shower, a blow to the head. From Eric’s lips, we hear what we subconsciously understood but refused to accept until the last moment. At first glance, the implicit physical and mental coercion from Claire, Eric’s teacher, entails catastrophic and destructive consequences for his future fate.
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Eric, who has barely crossed the age of consent, is still a teenager by all developmental canons. Claire is an adult woman by nature and by passport, although she did not have a normal childhood. The way Claire childishly leaks their secret once again reveals that she is not a very mature person. However, infantilism is a weak excuse in such a situation.
Particular attention is paid to the fact that society often refuses to take a man seriously as a victim. If we turn the situation 180 degrees and put a man in the teacher’s place and a girl in the student’s place, then we will not need 10 episodes to understand how this story will end.
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The drama is further aggravated by the fact that the cult of toxic masculinity that has been developing for centuries portrays a male teenager as a “handsome guy.” But he might feel more like a victim because of his emotional traits rather than that charming image.
At the same time, Eric is a real legend to his comrades – he «had intimacy with a teacher,” stepped over the traditional pyramid of relationships, and secured access to all the privileges of the male world in absentia. Is this what a kind, sensitive and vulnerable guy wanted? Of course not.
Claire is one of those adults who failed to grow up. She met a boy and shifted the responsibility for her romantic life onto him, which she could not discuss with her husband.
By the way, alternative “correct” patterns appear: the first close contact at a party under alcohol, the student’s party with a stripper, etc. Is this what growing up has to look like?
A Teacher ending explained.
There are many articles and discussions on the Internet about the end of this series. And I want to express my opinion briefly.
I believe that at their meeting in the cafe, Eric is in a period of so-called counterdependence. It is when it is easier to be alone than to build a healthy relationship with a woman. He leads psychological support groups and is not in a permanent relationship with anyone.
It seems to me that the basis of the main character’s trauma was that it was his first love. But someone rudely interfered with it, and everything fell apart. If we imagine that this was the love of peers, but for some reason forbidden, which ended with everyone making it public and the girl being sent to prison – was the trauma of the young man much less?
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Final words.
It’s not a series about “forbidden love.” It’s a series about how everyone needs a good therapist—and there isn’t one. As a result, people strive for relationships in which their internal traumas push them.
Although we know the course of events, I wouldn’t call it predictability but inevitability and logic. The final destination is known in advance, but the road is very beautiful. I recommend watching it.
Share this blog post if you enjoyed it. I would appreciate it!
Ooooh! This is something I would like to watch.
I’ve heard that this was a really interesting watch. I imagine there’s some interesting psychology to explore from both fo the main characters here.
This sounds like something I would find interesting to watch! I’ll have to see it soon, one of these days. Your review was great!
I really have to see this! I love the concept, and Kate Mara is such an amazing actress.
This is a new one to me, I am going to have to find it, though, because it sounds interesting!
That show definitely goes into some deep stuff. It’s always intriguing when a series isn’t afraid to tackle tough topics.