Every episode of FX on Hulu’s A Teacher is preceded by a content material warning I’ve by no means seen earlier than: It warns about “sexual conditions,” but in addition “depictions of grooming which may be disturbing.” And it’s wanted, too, as a result of A Trainer — debuting Tuesday, Nov. 10; I’ve seen all ten episodes — is actually disturbing, depicting a sexual relationship between a highschool instructor and a scholar in unprecedentedly graphic element for a TV sequence. (It’s so nerve-wracking to observe unfold, it’s nearly like a horror film at instances.) But it surely additionally badly fumbles its execution, with a essentially wrongheaded strategy to the central relationship that usually left me yelling, “What are you doing???” on the TV… and never simply on the characters.
Kate Mara (Home of Playing cards, American Horror Story) stars as Claire, a brand new English instructor in a Texas highschool. (The setting brings to thoughts Friday Night time Lights, which left me wishing this sequence had even a tenth of the guts and authenticity that FNL did.) Claire wears low-cut sweaters as she reads Dylan Thomas to her college students, together with Eric (Love, Simon‘s Nick Robinson), a preferred senior and soccer captain. Quickly, she’s tutoring him for the SATs, they’re bonding over a shared love of Frank Ocean… and a spark between them ignites a forbidden flame that results in dire penalties for everybody concerned.
It’s all shot handsomely, with a cool soundtrack — Hannah Fidell writes and directs a number of episodes, primarily based on her 2013 indie movie — however the tone is, if something, too romantic. A Trainer performs too typically like a star-crossed love story as a substitute of what it’s: against the law, an act of abuse and an enormous breach of ethics. (Often, a aspect character will level out how fallacious all of that is, however they’re brushed apart in favor of extra dreamy close-ups.) Robinson is definitely 25, and so Nick appears older than highschool, which blunts among the shock worth… however that additionally performs into the present’s problematic tendency to romanticize their relationship. The very fact is that Nick is underage when his relationship with Claire begins — they rejoice his 18th birthday collectively — and whereas I get that the characters don’t suppose they’re doing something fallacious, that doesn’t imply the present shouldn’t problem them on that.
There’s no actual perception to be discovered right here, both. Fidell appears to be going for a naturalistic vibe, however the dialogue is flat, with no wit or sparkle to it, and the characterization is bland and riddled with clichés. (Eric’s teen buddies are all one-dimensional lunkheads that fail to even register.) Mara and Robinson are wonderful, however they’re by no means given sufficient depth to resonate as characters. Mara is well-cast, no less than — she has haunted eyes that match with Claire’s erratic nature — and Claire is given loads of causes to make a mistake like this. (Her inattentive husband is beginning a band; what might be worse?) However as a result of the scripts are so underwritten, we’re by no means given an opportunity to empathize with and even perceive her selections.
I did watch all ten episodes simply to see what occurs to Claire and Eric, and their bubble ultimately does burst, with later episodes inspecting the painful aftermath months and years later. But it surely all unfolds alongside predictably depressing traces, and confirms that there’s probably not ten episodes’ price of story right here to inform. A Trainer is simply an uncomfortable, irritating viewing expertise, and never within the methods it’s meant to be. An trustworthy, delicate take a look at a relationship like this and the injury it inevitably does may work, nevertheless it must stroll a really wonderful line with a view to succeed, and this try stumbles means off target. In hindsight, these content material warnings at first? They sound extra like a belated apology.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: FX on Hulu’s A Trainer tackles a taboo topic, however does so with skinny writing and a disturbing romanticism that leaves a bitter aftertaste.