At the beginning of the 3rd episode, Claire (Kate Mara) pleases Eric (Nick Robinson) in her classroom before Eric turns around and sees the other students looking at him. He wakes up at home contemplates his dream. Claire and Matt (Ashley Zukerman) go to the doctor and learn about their options for having a baby. Claire tells the doctor that they’ll discuss it and let her know. On the way out, Claire reminds Matt the doctor said her uterus is rapidly deteriorating but he claims the doctor didn’t say rapidly. She complains she is late for school so they agree to talk about it later. Eric stays late after class so he can talk to Claire about their kiss. She quickly interrupts and tells him yesterday was not okay.

She understands her life would be ruined if anyone found out what happened yesterday but Eric says he hasn’t told anyone and isn’t going to. Eric doesn’t want a new tutor so he promises that it will not happen again. Claire doesn’t think it would be a good idea to continue tutoring him but he tells her he cannot afford the classes everyone else is taking. She says she’ll agree as long as he promises not to do it again and he does. They agree to meet on Saturday before Eric thanks her. Later, Eric hangs out with Logan Davis (Shane Harper) and finds out that Josh Smith (Dylan Schmid) is ticked off because he is taking his sister Mary to homecoming.

As for Eric, he isn’t sure who he will be taking and he might not go at all. Logan thinks he should go though. Josh joins in and recommends that Eric take Alison (Camila Perez) because they’re going to get back together eventually anyway. Meanwhile, Claire chats with Kathryn (Marielle Scott). During their conversation, Claire notices Eric talking to Alison in the distance. She listens as Eric tries to convince Alison to go to homecoming with him. She says yes before his friends arrive and ask if they’re talking about politics. That night, Matt comes home with food and wine. Matt asks her if she has thought about what the doctor said this morning but Claire doesn’t want to talk about it.

He tells her that he would really like to start a family with her. He is confident they’ll be able to make it work when she is ready. The next day, Eric spends time with Logan and Cody Davis (Cameron Moulene) before receiving a message from Claire asking him if he is coming to tutoring. Cody asks Eric how it went with the chick he was parading around with on campus and that excites Logan who wants to know more. Eric claims he met the girl at work and her name is Stephanie. Eric lies to them about Stephanie before Cody toasts the imaginary girl. Then, Claire sends him another test asking where he is at. His friends notice so he tells them he is playing hard to get.

Claire gets tired of waiting at the diner. Next, we jump forward to the homecoming party. Mary and Logan drink shots before Alison and Eric join them. Logan confirms they’re coming to the after party because he has rented 3 rooms at the Days Inn. Eric tells them they should get going in 30 minutes. Logan tells him he should loosen up but Eric says the same. We jump forward to the party and Claire works with Kathryn. Claire is upset and can’t understand why a student couldn’t handle it. Kathryn pulls out alcohol and they share some. Claire begins talking about how being a teacher is a thankless job. Alison and Eric dance before Eric apologizes for taking so long to ask her to the dance.

Claire pays particularly close attention to them as they dance. She goes to the bathroom and thinks about it while Eric visits the bathroom too. When he leaves, Claire stops him in the hallway. She complains that Eric begged her to tutor him before refusing to show up. Eric confesses that he can’t stop thinking about her and having dreams about her. He admits he is too attracted to her and he is worried he won’t be able to control himself. She tells him to just go. Throughout the remainder of the party, they make eye contact with one another several times. Moments later, Claire leads Eric outside to her vehicle. They get in and drive away from the party.

They spot in a secluded spot before Claire tells him they don’t have to do this if he doesn’t want to but Eric says he wants to. She tells him to get into the backseat. He gets into the backseat and she follows him. Before long, Claire is on top of Eric and they’re having sex.

 

A Teacher Review

Despite a few hiccups here and there, I’ve moderately enjoyed A Teacher. It isn’t perfect or anywhere it but I appreciate the show trying to tackle this subject. I am a bit concerned that they’re going to glance over the teacher’s action and what drove her decision though. We’ve been given a few pointers but they really haven’t done a good job of exploring Claire’s motives.

I also noticed that Eric bragged to his friends this episode and I would assume they’re trying to push the blame onto that character. In many of these situations, I’d say this is accurate and it is a 2-way street with two people deciding to bend the rules. It’ll be interesting to see how severe the punishment is and that is what will keep me around until the finale episode.

Although not perfect, A Teacher is at least intriguing. This episode was decent and helped push the story forward a lot. It scores a 7 out of 10. Previous recaps of A Teacher can be found on Reel Mockery.