This show snuck up on me.
With the first three episodes of FX’s English Teacher, it felt like we were going to be hitting all the school sitcom tropes: the teacher standing up for the kids against the principal, having a crush on a fellow teacher in a classic “will they, won’t they?” But as I continued watching, a lot of those plot ideas became less pronounced or were done just differently enough to not feel cliched. Brian Jordan Alvarez’s Evan, the English teacher, has the right balance of wanting to be a good teacher and doing what is “right” while not being a fully serious character. He rallies against a gun club on the school grounds but then when he has to take gun training and gets a bullseye, he gets into it and fires like crazy. When a student comes out to him because he is gay and wants him to help him because he knows Evan is also gay, Evan dismisses him by saying that this isn’t the nineties–“Go talk to one of the gay kids…but make certain it is a real one and not one doing it for street cred.” It’s these surprising moments that are so perfectly subverted that made this show a highlight of my week.
These characters feel like work friends who know each other’s quirks and are just dealing with them. Markie (Sean Patton), the gym teacher who seems to be the masculine, weird guy Evan tolerates, actually knows the students well and is able to subvert the social order to help out. When he realizes that an old teammate is gay, Markie is surprised but then immediately goes back to being an athletic buddy to him without missing a beat. He is fascinated that a group of gay men are attracted to him because he is a bear, and enjoys the attention so he doesn’t come clean right away that he is straight.
Gwen (Stephanie Koenig), Evan’s best friend in and out of school, is great with them being supportive of each other and with also bantering insults about kids, parents, and other faculty members. Both can so easily get distracted in their own drama; I mean she isn’t high on the hottest teachers list! She also has what appears to be a nice boyfriend that is digging a pool by hand to distract from not having a job. It is weird and yet the way she talks about him makes it seem normal and makes for a curious recurring joke that she sells every time.
Principal Grant Moretti (Enrico Colantoni) is not a tyrant but rather a man so stressed and under pressure from parents and superiors that he just wants to make life as easy as he can, which he usually fails at. Asked if the parents are in charge or the teachers he screams, “Them, them, them!” He supports his teachers and is not an enemy but he is very aware that he has little power.
The cast being teachers is a way for this creative team to address major issues happening in the world. Besides the gun violence, we have political correctness, drag culture, overzealous parents, and a lot of student drama. All of it is done in ways that you never quite expect, with some parents and students reaching almost Parks and Recreation level of ridiculousness. All of these issues told from these different perspectives makes for some great comedy.
One thing that is universal for sitcoms is relationship drama and even here this show plays with the formula. Evan’s love interest at work, Harry (Langston Kerman), is not a big part of the episodes and the crush is mostly not talked about. Evan is usually dealing with his ex-friend with benefits Malcolm (Jordan Firstman), who Evan had a lot more chemistry with. Whenever Evan would talk about why they weren’t a couple I wanted to scream at Evan that it was because of all his bullshit. Malcolm challenged Evan a lot on his insecurities and supported him in his own way (even if it involved tricking him to do things he didn’t want to). The show never telegraphs where it is going with this idea and where they end the season was satisfying, but I could see it undone the minute we start the second season. Another romantic subplot is Markie having a crush on Gwen, and, for once, I do not think a relationship is guaranteed just because it is what we expect. Gwen could stick with her boyfriend, date Markie, or dump them all, and all would feel natural with the way the show has set it up. If it is funny and true to the characters that is what this show will do, and that makes it special.
In terms of its Emmy chances, this has been the most critically acclaimed new comedy this year as well as going well enough viewer-wise even if it didn’t capture the zeitgeist like The Bear. Its closest new show competition is Nobody Wants This, and that could also get in but right now there appears to be enough open slots to get into Comedy Series. Brian Jordan Alvarez should have no problem getting into lead actor at the Emmys, especially with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Reservation Dogs from last year ending. Besides series and lead actor, writing seems likely, especially with Brian Jordan Alvarez being the creator and one of the main writers. The Academy loves to reward a show when the creator is that involved in their show.
A supporting actress nomination for Stephanie Koenig is possible but, with so many returning shows that have filled up this category in the past (Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, Abbott Elementary, Hacks), it will be tough even if she is deserving. Supporting Actor is impossible, even if there weren’t all these returning shows. The cast beyond Brian Jordan Alvarez and Stephanie Koenig are all supporting actors and I do not think there is any easy default choice on who is the standout. For me it is Jordan Firstman and he wasn’t even a regular this season.
When I watched the finale I realized how much I wanted to see more of these characters. I never knew what was going to happen and, while the show isn’t a laugh every minute, it still would make me smirk with glee and when the big comedic moments happened they were very satisfying. This show is doing something new and is funny. I cannot think of anything more deserving of Emmy love.
English Teacher airs on FX and streams on Hulu.
