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‘A Teacher’: Claire begins an affair with her student Eric, but what happens when her husband Matt finds out?

In a one-minute trailer, after Claire gets a call saying, “We know the whole story,” she expresses her emotions and says, “I wanted to feel free...”

Every affair is a fairy tale or a tragedy. Exploring the complexities of a predatory relationship, ‘A Teacher’ follows the stories of Claire Wilson (Kate Mara), a young teacher at a suburban Texas high school and her student, Eric Walker (Nick Robinson).

Beautiful and quietly enigmatic, Claire is the newest teacher at Westerbrook High School. Dissatisfied in her marriage to her college sweetheart Matt Mitchell (Ashley Zukerman), distant from her brother Nate Wilson (Adam David Thompson) and desperate for connection, she quickly befriends fellow teacher, Kathryn Sanders (Marielle Scott). Claire’s life changes when Eric, a charming all-American senior in her English class, asks for help preparing for his SAT test.

Popular and outgoing, Eric is the captain of the soccer team and nearly inseparable from his best friends, Logan Davis (Shane Harper) and Josh Smith (Dylan Schmid). Everything seems perfect on the surface, but Eric is forced to juggle the pressures of school, applying for college and a part-time job, all while helping take care of his two younger brothers so his mother Sandy (Rya Ingrid Kihlstedt) can support the family. As Claire and Eric begin to spend more time together, boundaries are crosse and a subtle game of grooming begins. The permanent damage left in the wake of Claire’s choices becomes impossible for them, their friends and family, to ignore.

Written and created by Hannah Fidell, the series edges on the lines of a scandalous relationship that may destroy the two central characters and their close ones once it comes into the public eye. Now, the biggest question lies: How will Claire hide the trail of her extramarital affair and will her husband Matt find out about it? 

The summary of the first episode reads, “Claire starts her first-day teaching at a new school and meets her students, including Eric, a senior in her AP English class.” The second one follows: “Eric gets caught for underage drinking and a new friend helps bail him out. Claire takes Eric on a field trip to a nearby college.” The synopsis of the third episode goes: “Tensions arise as Claire and Matt explore pregnancy options. Claire chaperones the homecoming dance and Eric comes clean about his true feelings.”

It's clear that the two will start their affair in the first three episodes... but her husband might not know yet. What will happen when he gets to know? How will she react when she confronts him? In a one-minute trailer, when Claire gets a call saying, “We know the whole story,” she expresses her emotions and says, “I wanted to feel free... I wanted to do what I wanted for the first time in my life.” But others don't feel the same. “He's just a student...” one says and another exclaims, “That's like a monumental abuse of power.”

Executive produced by Fidell, Mara, Michael Costigan, Jason Bateman, Louise Shore and Danny Brocklehurst, the limited series is produced by FX Productions. Shedding light on the complicated threads in the series, the network posted, “At its heart, #ATeacher is a male survivor's story. It's about his journey to realize and process what happened to him, and the double standards he faced and even let himself believe. We hope this creates more understanding and awareness.”

Nonetheless, many social media users are already skeptical about the series. One Twitter user pondered, “I briefly wondered if #ATeacher was about a teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to hybrid learning. It’s just about sex.” Another wrote, “Sorry not sorry but does #ATeacher look problematic as f**k to anyone else...?????” A third chimed in, “#ATeacher is some dumbass bullshit the world does not need more 'teacher has sexy affair with a 16-year-old student played by a sexy 25-year-old' so we don't have to address the fact that 16-year-olds look like children which wow would actually make this whole thing really creepy huh?”

Although the series is already being hailed for its storyline, those doubts are not without reason. The teacher-student sexual relationship has been seen several times on screen — and not in a positive light. But, before making up your mind, give a chance to the show that might present a fresh perspective with old wine in a new bottle.

‘A Teacher’ premieres on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 from 3 am ET on FX on Hulu with three back-to-back episodes. More episodes in the 10-episodic series will follow every week starting from Tuesday, November 17, 2020.