‘A Teacher’ Episode 4 Review: Sex, lies, and a game of grooming begins, how long before Eric's mother finds out?
Spoilers for ‘A Teacher’ Episode 4
A secret affair. Sex in the backseat of the car. A scandalous relationship between a teacher and a student. Hannah Fidell's ‘A Teacher’ gets more complex as Claire Wilson (Kate Mara) and Eric Walker (Nick Robinson) dive deep into the emotions they have for each other. At the end of Episode 3, Eric follows Claire into the dark parking lot and they have sex. Addictive, icky and provocative, the series seems to unravel the dark deeds of a villain... slowly through the course of time.
The fourth episode picks up from there as Eric heads back home. Disheveled, with messy hair and clothes, he enters his house. Waiting for him to be back, his mom Sandy Walker (Rya Kihlstedt) asks about the Homecoming.
"It was fun," he says and rushes to his room. Claire also reaches home. While still in the car, she recollects the events of the night. A strange smile on her face and the fear of what's going to come next makes her heart heavy. From Mara's expressions, it is clear she is enjoying the grooming game that has just begun.
It is interesting to see a woman in a position of power and how she will play out what happens next. At home, her husband Matt Mitchell (Ashley Zukerman) is hanging out with a bunch of friends while strumming the guitar. But Claire doesn't join them, she says she is too tired for the night and goes to her room.
Eric's mysterious disappearance on Homecoming Night pisses off his girlfriend Alison (Camila Perez) and Matt's friends ask him if he has called her. "Should have dropped a message... didn't mean to ghost," Eric says. But his friends are suspicious, particularly Josh Smith (Dylan Schmid) who even tells him, "I know when you are f**king lying." Not revealing who he was really with, Eric says, "I have never felt this way before... She is confusing."
Lost in Claire's thoughts, Eric texts her "I can't stop thinking about you... I like you and I also like f**king you." She deletes his messages. In the class, she asks him if she can talk to him for a second and hints at more such crazy nights.
"So the SATs are in two weeks, we should schedule more tutoring sessions. Tonight?" Eric says, "I can't. I have practice." She asks, "After? We can meet at the same place." Eric then says with a sly smile, "I think I can make that work." At this moment, it is clear Claire is using Eric for her own gains. And her behavior in that scene can be classified as a classic case of grooming.
Once they meet, she sets a few ground rules. Warning him to not "like" her Instagram photos, she says, "Do you know how f**ked I am if anyone finds out?" Clearly, she cares more about her reputation, knowing well, what she is doing isn't right. "You cannot tell anyone about us ever," she tells him. "No photos, change my name on your phone. Stick to Mondays. Nothing on school grounds."
But Eric seems to be falling for her. "You looked really beautiful there. You should know I really like you," he tells Claire. Meanwhile, Claire seems to be getting wild with passion — even with her husband Matt. She lies to him about a "hard day" at work and when he calls her closer, she takes his pants off and gives him a blow job. Claire's intentions don't seem to be clear at this moment. After all, she is the adult in this relationship she's just started with Eric.
Later, Claire and her friend from school, Kathryn Sanders (Marielle Scott) — who is the French teacher — go to a bar when the latter notices a love bite. Teasing her, Kathryn says, "Oh my god you're a bad b***h." Conscious and a little turned on, she wonders if it's that noticeable and heads to the loo. Admiring herself in the mirror, she sends a sleazy picture of her cleavage to Eric. "Holy sh*t," he replies.
Breaking her own ground rules, she calls him and he leaves his young brother Phil Walker (Charlie Zeltzer) to another disinterested babysitter. At that moment, he confesses his feelings for her again: "I want this so much... But I'm just a little confused. But what about your rules? I don't wanna just f**k. I mean I love f**king you. But I like you — a lot. I feel like you're so funny, smart and beautiful. I've never been with someone like you before."
They have sex in the backseat of their car. While there are no repercussions for Claire, Eric gets back home to see his mother standing there waiting for him. He tries to cover up but she sternly warns him, "Don't lie to me. I called Logan. I know you weren't there. Are you doing drugs?" When Eric acts defensively saying he was barely gone for 10 minutes, she says, "And Phil burned himself."
Shocked, he turns around. "What? Is he okay?" Disappointed, his mother says, "What do you care?" But Eric isn't bothered as much. In his room, he looks at the mirror and repeats, "I'm the motherf**king man." Will shirking away from responsibilities land him into a soup? How will his mother react when she finds out he isn't on drugs but is having sex with his teacher?
Directed by Gillian Robespierre and written by Ruby Rae Spiegel, the episode sets up the stage for the two to be exposed and the tornado that will follow.
‘A Teacher’ premiered on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, at 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.