By Sarah Osman

English Teacher is a wearier, snarkier version of Abbott Elementary

Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez in English Teacher. Photo: Richard Ducree/FX

As a former high school English teacher who taught in Title I schools, I guessed that FX’s new show English Teacher was tailor-made for me. And to some extent,  I was right — I did relate to this wearier, snarkier version of Abbott Elementary. The series doesn’t exactly mirror my own experiences, but it is accurate enough: a spot-on look at life for educators in America (and a reminder of why I no longer work full-time as an English teacher).

Creator Brian Jordan Alvarez stars as Evan, a somewhat idealistic high school teacher working in suburban Austin. He’s trying his best to maneuver the political minefield while still serving his students (essentially, he’s a stand-in for every decent high school English teacher in America). In the first episode, a parent files a complaint against Evan for kissing his boyfriend in front of her son, who she believes was turned gay because of the kiss. Ironically, the “unwoke” gym teacher, Markie (Sean Patton) manages to convince the parent to rescind the complaint — by blackmailing the parent. Throughout the series, Evan finds himself at the center of these kinds of hot button spats, which include drag queens, gun control, and grades.

Parts of English Teacher reminded me of experiences I had during my own teaching career, such as Evan’s relationship with his chirpy teacher bestie Gwen (Stephanie Koeing), his stocks-obsessed coworker Rick (Carmen Christopher), and bewildering conversations with students (one pupil remarks during an argument about drag: “what does any of this have to do with book club?”) Other segments didn’t resonate with me, such as one in which parents protested lewd content in The Great Gatsby and controversy about the high school’s gun club. This is probably because of my location, culturewise: I taught in urban Los Angeles, where nearly every student (and their parents) leaned toward the liberal. Like Abbott Elementary, English Teacher is a poignant look at America’s education system that viewers need to see, given the ferocity of political divisions.

English Teacher is like most lesson plans. For the most part, they work, but there are times when it needs to be reworked. That’s a pretty normal process for most first-time teachers — and for first-season shows. Evan’s love interest, Harry (Langston Kerman) isn’t as well developed a character as he should be. Some of the students are no more than lazy Gen Z stereotypes. The more developed a character is — even the supporting roles — the stronger the show, and its dark humor, will be. At the moment, some of the secondary characters are well-drawn, especially Principal Moretti (Enrico Colantoni): the actor delivers all his lines with a dry cynicism that perfectly encapsulates the figure he plays — the administrator who’s seen it all. The interactions between Colantoni and Alvarez’s are the highlights of the season. Colantoni’s cynicism is the perfect foil to Alvarez’s idealism. Alvarez’s encounters with random side characters are also unfailingly amusing, especially a segment with a befuddled waiter who admits to having Covid.

The fact that the students’ constantly take offense at everything around them strikes me as true. It’s less believable that the parents and school administration are so peaceable. That departure from reality, as well as weak characterizations, are minor problems that can be fixed — hopefully over the course of a full broadcast season as opposed to the current eight episodes — when English Teacher graduates to its sophomore season.

Sarah Mina Osman is based in Los Angeles. In addition to the Arts Fuse, her writing can be found in Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Matador Network, HelloGiggles, Business Insider, and WatchMojo. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is working on her first novel. She has a deep appreciation for sloths and tacos. You can keep up with her on Instagram @SarahMinaOsman.