Give English Teacher a Second Season

Brian Jordan Alvarez deserves more than Tik Tok

Some slight spoilers for English Teacher Season 1 below, but honestly, I think they’re pretty mild and it’s not really a plot-forward show. I am going to blow Carmen Christopher’s best joke, though. And for some reason there’s also a small spoiler for Fourth Wing.

Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez, giving off a perfect comedic mix of awkwardness and status

I got my first request!! OMG! I’m like a TV Critic DJ now! I wish TV Critic DJ was a job. I was a music DJ for many, many years, so I think I’m qualified? Anyways, a reader wrote in and requested that I give the new FX comedy English Teacher the ‘ole structure analysis treatment.  I finished it this week, and it’s great! If you read this newsletter, you will probably like it.

English Teacher works because the conflict is great. The main character is a gay teacher in Austin, Texas who is also a staunchly liberal millennial. In the finale, the whole thing is pretty much summed up when he says, “We’re in Austin, but don’t forget, we’re in Texas.” Evan is being pulled on multiple fronts- by his non-homogenous Gen Alpha students who often agree with him but for infuriating reasons, his teacher peers who offer both support and conservative points of view, and the principal who usually agrees with him but is beholden both to the conservative parents and the school board. The breadth of conflict that he gets stuck in is reminiscent of the very best episodes of Parks & Recreation and speaks to our current political moment.

It also works, of course, because it’s tailor-made to the lead, Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez. Evan is a great main character and follows all of my main character rules. He’s really passionate about teaching and extremely principled, which often puts him on a high horse that ultimately causes his downfall. Chef’s kiss of comedy gold. It works the same way Will Ferrel characters work- high status doofuses, except in this case, Evan’s obnoxious high status is coming from a millennial need for justice, and the doofus part is coming from him being a totally awkward nerd. He’s the modern anxiety version of a 90s SNL character.

The supporting cast is fantastic, too. ENRICO COLANTONI!! One of my all-time faves (Elliot from Just Shoot Me, the dad from Veronica Mars), Colantoni plays the put-upon principal to absolute perfection. The actors who play Gwen and Markie are new to me, but also fantastic. Carmen Christopher, of course, plays the unhinged guidance counselor, his insanity well propped up by the rest of the grounded performances. He has my favorite joke of the season: “The only reason I’m a guidance counselor’s cuz when I was in high school my guidance counselor asked what I wanted to do for a living. I couldn’t think of anything so I just said guidance counselor.”

The second episode is a particular high, when Evan is asked by the school’s QSA to get the football players not to dress up as cheerleaders for the powderpuff game. Evan susses out that it’s only offensive to the kids if the football players’ drag is half-assed, so he invites a drag queen to teach the boys how to do it properly. Shit hits the fan, but at the end, the show lands on a great mix of letting everyone know that it’s ok to be a little confused about what’s offensive and what’s not offensive and it doesn’t really matter as long as everyone is having fun and feeling safe. Like I said, it’s a good show for this moment. Or maybe, it’s a little bit too late. But it feels urgent, and that urgency taking place in a school is spot on.

Complaints? I have very few. I don’t like the openings- they’re always Evan rushing to get ready for whatever that particular episode is about. They’re too same-y and the precious real estate is wasted. I don’t think I find Jordan Alvarez’s physicality to be as funny as other people do. I only kind of enjoy his dancing videos, which everyone else seems to find hilarious. The joke writing on the show is great. I’d rather get more jokes than more silly rushing to an 80s song.

I do want to highlight one thing structurally the show does particularly well. I’m going to call it the Yarros Effect.  In Dragon Porn, oops sorry, I mean Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros lays out that the main event of the first year of school is choosing your dragon. You and me and everyone we know thought that this would be the climax of the book. And then boom! It happens before the midpoint! Holy crap does that lady whip through plot points. And yes, the second book gets a little out there, but it’s never boring.

English Teacher cleverly uses the Yarros Effect. There’s a few things that we know are going to happen. A certain romantic entanglement takes way less time to play out than I thought it would. The showdown with a parent that I assumed would be the finale is not even the penultimate episode. And this speeding-through of the obvious beats gets us to a much deeper place, which in this case happens to be a leather daddy bar with fisting porn playing on every tv, right along with Evan’s Principal who his not-boyfriend insanely invited to his birthday party. I was surprised how poignant this was- oh shit. Being gay and being a teacher is a lot more complicated than it might sound on paper. Or maybe it’s exactly as complicated, but by blowing past some of the more obvious beats, the show gives itself room to stew in these more complicated, surprising feelings. I admire English Teacher’s bravery to know its characters are rich enough to keep discovering more for them to do. That’s also the luxury a great premise affords you.

Great show! You should watch! I am a converted Brian Jordan Alvarez fan.