Episode 1 begins with Dani Oxley (Kara Tointon) and Bel Clarke (Lila Coleman) readying their students for what promises to be an action-packed week of sailing and mountain climbing. Bel is nowhere as near as enthused as Dani and another brief conversation with Robert Caulfield (John Nayagam) will contribute a large portion of her uneasiness to the still absent Zac Webster (Cal O’Driscoll) and Sienna Ryan (Joni Morris).
Leaving Bel to perform another attendance check, Dani will step away for a quick word with the approaching Tim Oxley (Emmett J. Scanlan). Their conversation appears just as icy as it is brief but serves the purpose of ensuring that he’s prepared for a week of father and son, Stan Oxley (Callum Jess). The arrival of Jimmy (Will Mellor) and Matt Spenser (Forrest Bothwell) will ease tensions but it’s merely seconds later when Dani finds herself in the art room, rushing Sienna. Sienna appears no more enthused than Bel about the trip but is willing to play along.
Nina Webster (Niamh McCann) is saying her final goodbyes to Zac just as Dani and Sienna return to the bus. Nina will pull aside and ask about a riff between Matt and Zac. Although Dani can’t shine more light on the issue, she promises to secretly look into it.
After a brief introduction to their wilderness guide, Shane, the day turns to night and some of the students will find themselves sitting around the campfire while others will prefer the confines of the cabins. Jimmy can’t shine any further light on the Matt and Zac riff, but Matt is clearly revealed to be the aggressor. Later that night, Dani and Jimmy will enjoy a nightcap and a kiss. She will stop things before they get past the kissing stage.
Jimmy will apologize to Dani over breakfast for being so aggressive the night before but at the same time, extends an invitation for a repeat encounter. She tells him that she can’t betray Tim and focuses instead on splitting the students up for a team-building exercise. This will ultimately lead to her discovering that Matt and Zac are missing. She will find them right as their confrontation over Sienna is about to turn physical.
Despite Dani quickly ending the Zac and Matt feud for the moment she will have to step in again during the team-building exercise. Matt’s cheating to win doesn’t sit well with Zac and his incessant teasing only makes matters worse. While all this has been taking place, Dani has been receiving texts from Jimmy to join him at the boathouse. She will eventually leave Matt in charge and step away.
Jimmy and Dani’s encounter quickly escalates and by the time she returns, her students are vaping and throwing rocks. After confiscating the devices, she notices that Zac is missing and no one seems to know where he has gone. Dani will order the students to return to the center while she looks for Zac. By the time Dani returns to the center herself, she’s nearly frantic, and getting the others involved doesn’t seem to help matters. She and Jimmy will eventually return to the kayaks where they not only notice one is missing but they will find Zac’s hat. This leads them to the water where Zac has apparently drowned.
Dani is pretty emotional at the beginning but becomes nearly catatonic, leaving Bel and Jimmy to explain things to the students. Matt takes the news especially hard. As more time passes, Dani contemplates calling Nina but Jimmy advises her to leave it to the cops. She takes his advice and will later be questioned by DI Sowerby (Karen Henthorn). Dani manages to maintain her composure and never mentions being with Jimmy. It doesn’t appear that Sowerby suspects anything.
As time passes, there are some memorials, counseling sessions, and police inquiries, but everything appears to be returning to normal. Dani has a bit of a setback when she’s called in for a meeting with the school board and doesn’t mention being with Jimmy when Zac drowned. Matters will only get worse when Jimmy later suggests they tell the turn. She appears to convince him to keep quiet for the moment. Dani begins to feel even guiltier after a brief encounter with Nina, who practically thanks her for being there for Zac in the end.
The episode will get will footage of Dani and Jimmy’s intimate encounter at the boathouse the day Zac died.
The Teacher Review
I do see some promise in the series, although I was not at all impressed with the premier. It wasn’t a horrible episode and there is obviously some potential, but things kind of felt bland. The truth about Jimmy and Dani’s affair coming out is extremely intriguing.
Perhaps, I was expecting something far different but I’m glad the story was somewhat different. At least as different as you can get with an already overused topic like this one. I’d give the episode a 5 out of 10.
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