As the 2nd episode begins, it is October and we join a party for a bunch of young high school students. Eric Walker (Nick Robinson) attends the party and records the fun on his cellphone. He heads upstairs and has fun with a high school girl while Josh Smith (Dylan Schmid) smokes weed with a girl downstairs. Logan Davis (Shane Harper) and his girl enter the room and catch Eric with Alison (Camila Perez). On their way out, Alison tells Mary Smith (Ciara Bravo) that she could do so much better. Mary tells Logan this is crazy because he is her brother’s best friend but Logan isn’t going to let that stop him. Seconds later, the cops arrive outside and Eric and Alison rush to get dressed. Eric joins Logan downstairs and admits this is screwed up.

Loan says his mother is going to kill him but his brother got three citations during his senior year so this is nothing. Eric is pulled to the side by an officer who asks for his license. He is forced to take a breathalyzer and it comes that Eric is very drunk. The officer wants to call his mom and dad but Eric says his mom works at night so he can’t call her. His dad isn’t in the picture. He warns the officer that he isn’t like the other kids and will be completely screwed if he gets a citation. The officer doesn’t care though and says Eric should’ve thought about that. Eric notices that the officer’s name tag says Wilson and that reminds him what Claire Wilson (Kate Mara) said about her brother Nate (Adam David Thompson).

Eric asks him about Claire but Nate says he shouldn’t make this difficult. He asks Nate if he could call Claire and ask her to pick him up since she tutors him sometimes. Eric continues pleading with the officer until he relents and Claire receives the call. She pleads with her brother to let it slide and says she’ll come and get Eric. Matt Mitchell (Ashley Zukerman) finds that a bit strange but he doesn’t stop Claire. Alison hangs out with Eric outside while they wait for Claire. He apologizes to Alison for leaving her up there and she says she jumped from the window and landed on her backside. She still got caught though. She can’t understand why Eric didn’t get a citation before her dad arrives and she leaves. Claire arrives before Nate asks her if she is doing good.

Nate tells Eric he is lucky to have such a cool teacher. When Nate leaves, Claire tells Eric that he did something really stupid tonight and he is smarter than this. He says he knows. As they drive along, they agree to never tell anyone about Nate and Claire getting Eric out of a citation since Nate could lose his job. Then, Claire tells Eric he doesn’t have to call her Ms. Wilson when they’re not in school. Eric is dropped off at home a few moments later. When he wakes up in the morning, he plays with himself while watching videos on the computer before doing push-ups. He fixes his hair and is surprised when Claire arrives outside. He invites her in and she is quickly introduced to Eric’s siblings.

Claire explains she thought they could do something different and break from their conventional routine. She says they shouldn’t do the SAT prep today. Eric asks the boys if they would like a soda before telling them to get their backpacks. Claire decides to take Eric to the UT so he can tour the campus. Once they arrive, Claire begins asking Eric what he would like to do with his life. He says he wants to do whatever he can to help people and Claire says that is why she became a teacher. Eric stops and says he needs to get something off his chest. He apologizes for the other night and says he should’ve never asked Nate to call her. He says he feels like he can trust her.

Cody Davis (Cameron Moulene) spots Eric from his truck and calls him over. During their conversation, Cody invites Eric to his keg party and Claire thinks they should swing by. They join Cody’s eggs and kegs party. Claire asks for an orange juice and Eric wants the same. They sit down before asks Eric if he wants to know a secret. She says this was her first frat party. She had to take care of her dad because he was an alcoholic. She never went to the parties. As for Eric, he never met his father. His mom got pregnant and he was out after that. Claire tells Eric not to miss this part of his life since he’ll have plenty of time to be an adult.

He removes a piece of green chile from her hair and that gets awkward so Claire says they should properly leave. When the fun ends, Eric sends Claire a text message telling her that the day was fun. She deletes his messages while Eric tries to check her social media but finds that it is marked private. Claire goes inside and finds Matt setting up equipment for his band. He tells her about Rob at the hospital and his friend the anesthesiologist. Claire wants to know how much he spent but Matt explains none of this stuff will lose value. Claire doesn’t care and gets angry that he bought all of this stuff without talking to her about it first. She can’t believe he is trying to start a band but he says music has always been a big part of his life.

They argue about the money and Matt can’t understand why Claire won’t support him. Meanwhile, Sandy Walker (Rya Kihlstedt) asks her son about his English teacher. He tells her about Claire showing him about the campus and he admits he can see himself going to that university. Then, he says it is good to have someone to talk to about colleges, the application process, SATs, and all of that stuff. That night, Claire grabs her phone and approves Eric’s friend request while Matt sleeps next to her. The following day, Eric meets with Josh and Logan at the high school. Logan’s mother is still angry with her son. When she leaves, he tells his friends he is in the clear. Then, they begin talking about Eric and his magical ability to pass a breathalyzer after six vodka shots.

He claims hydration is the key. Eric checks his phone and sees that he can access all of Claire’s pictures now. That puts a smile on his face and Logan asks him what is going on. Eric plays it off and pretends it is nothing though. Later, he checks her social media again and sees a post about having fun at the UT. He looks down the hall and sees her in the distance. He approaches and interrupts Claire’s conversation with Kathryn (Marielle Scott). Claire agrees to talk to him for a second and they step inside her classroom. When asked, Claire confirms she got his text. Then, he tells her he liked being out in the world with her and she is glad. He gets very close to her and goes for a kiss before she stops him. She tells him he needs to leave but he can’t understand her reaction.

 

A Teacher Review

The storyline for A Teacher is very similar to the case of Erin and Eric McLean. It reminds me of it a lot since the teacher came to the student’s rescue when he got caught drinking and whatnot. I suspect there will be more similarities as the story goes on. As for the television show, I am a bit torn. I appreciate them trying to cover a unique story and trying to explain how something like this can happen.

Also, the acting from the two main characters is pretty good but it is hit and miss outside of that. I really don’t remember any of this stuff going on when I was in high school and I wasn’t a prude at all. I don’t find it realistic so the parties and drinking make me cringe. I wish the side characters would take a back seat and I wouldn’t mind if Logan got sent to juvie so we never had to see him again but I don’t think that is going to happen since he looks like he is 32.

I get douche chills every time he is shown on screen. Since Logan plays a minor role in the series, the character hasn’t completely ruined it for me just yet. I am not a big fan of the soundtrack choices either because it makes it seem like they’re sensationalizing the character’s immoral behaviors. Despite my personal biases, I am going to keep watching A Teacher.

I think it can transform into a powerful drama as long as it takes itself seriously and continues with the character and relationship development between Eric and Claire. I hope they take us from point A to point B so we can see how someone without pedophilic tendencies can let themselves experiment with the forbidden. If they do this successfully and punish the character correctly, I think A Teacher can be an emotionally satisfying roller coaster.

It is either going to be hit or miss and loved or hated. I could see why people would be losing interest already but I haven’t yet despite having some issues with the show. The episode was decent thanks to the relationship building. It scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of A Teacher can be found on Reel Mockery right now!