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'A Teacher' Episode 5 Preview: Eric's jealousy makes him volatile and that might expose affair with Claire

His rage bursting the seams might just be what exposes them to people instead of their callousness

Hannah Fidell’s erotic drama ‘A Teacher’ tells the story of a grown woman’s relationship with a young boy, her student in high school. And with every episode, something deeply disturbing is presented. It’s subtle, but it is a wilful critique of the predatory relationship. In Episode 5, we shall possibly see another problem play out.

In Episode 4, after their fateful night during the homecoming dance — Eric (Nick Robinson) and Claire (Kate Mara) had sex in the backseat of Claire’s car — this scandalous relationship between a teacher and a student begins to take shape. As she sets the tone and ground rules for their relationship and then breaks them at will — she had initially said they shouldn’t communicate on any social media and then proceeds to send Eric salacious photos on Snapchat — it is abundantly clear that Claire has the upper hand in the relationship.

Even though the age of consent in Texas is 17 (Eric’s age), there is little doubt that she is putting him in a dangerous position. Now, we have discussed in the past the possible ways their relationship could be exposed to those around them. But given that it is a 10-episode series, the likeliness of them getting caught in Episode 5 is as slim as it gets. But there is every possibility that things are already beginning to brew in a manner where everything can explode (in the future).

As per the plot summary of Episode 5, "Claire and Eric go away on a secret trip to celebrate his 18th birthday." But what the summary doesn’t tell — and what we see in the promo for the episode — is what is meaningful.

In the episode promo, we see the two embark upon a secret trip to celebrate the teenager’s birthday. But while we glimpse happy shots of them staring at a rural Texas horizon, or taking a nice soak in a hot tub, things soon turn ugly. At some point during their trip, Eric gets mad at Claire. He says, “Tomorrow you will go back to him, and this will have never happened,” obviously referring to her husband Matt (Ashley Zukerman). And even as Claire protests that this assertion wasn’t true, Eric asks the dangerous question: “What is this to you?”

Indeed, how exactly does Claire define this relationship? Sure, it started out sexually. And even as Claire was in charge, making and breaking rules, at some point, Eric did express his desire to have something meaningful, something more than them just f***ing. And in that sense, taking a trip together would only imply that Claire is on some level willing to comply with this demand. 

But Claire is also a married woman. While she may not be happy in that relationship, the dynamics are bound to be confusing to Eric, who is nothing more than a young boy. He can’t comprehend the vast complexities of married life. He can’t understand the reasons why Claire chooses to remain with her husband despite having an affair, despite being unhappy. So, it is natural that his confusion alchemically turns into rage and fear.

He wants to know what Claire thinks of the relationship, without understanding fully well that if Claire were to actually contemplate what she was doing, she would probably end it. And if that happens, things would get doubly ugly — and his rage bursting the seams at that point might just be what exposes them to people instead of their callousness.

‘A Teacher’ airs on Tuesdays at 3 am ET on FX on Hulu.