Noor Malhotra
‘A Teacher’ is a gripping drama that revolves around an English teacher, Claire Wilson, who sleeps with her student, Eric Walker. As the show progresses, we learn all about their backgrounds, psyche, and motivations. By episode 7, i.e., the finale, the illicit relationship has been exposed to the authorities. This, in turn, has drastically changed the lives of the protagonists. So let’s discuss the ending, shall we? SPOILERS AHEAD.
A Teacher Episode 7 Recap
Eric is now in college and is rushing for the fraternity Omega Kappa Beta. At a party, the other members ask him personal details about his affair with Claire. This seems to be the norm, because no matter where Eric goes, people bring up his former teacher. Even when he hooks up with a new girl at the party, she broaches the topic. Eric is now is known as the boy that slept with his high school teacher. The next day, over lunch, Cody and Eric have a serious conversation about Claire.
Eric states that Claire may not have even gone to jail in the first place if he hadn’t convinced her to skip town with him that day. Cody feels as if everyone has made a big deal out of the situation, and even Eric voices that he is not a victim. The protagonist then goes home for dinner, and Sandy asks if he has started counseling. She is worried because Claire will be released from jail soon, and Eric may need to talk to someone when that happens.
However, he doesn’t really want to have this conversation and leaves once dinner ends. Eric hits up the same girl he had hooked up with at the frat party, and she apologizes to him for being insensitive before and asking him questions about the affair. She tells him that she wants to take it slow since he is a victim. However, he accosts her and says that she is simply his booty call, nothing else. He then goes on a drive with Cody and the other frat brothers. He climbs onto the hood of the car, but then he falls and sustains a few minor injuries.
A Teacher Episode 7 Ending
The pledges are finally initiated into Omega Kappa Beta, and Cody is going to be Eric’s big brother in the fraternity. Furthermore, as per tradition, Karen (a stripper) is invited to the house. She gives Eric a lap dance and uses his past as material for dirty talk. This triggers him, and he tells her to stop. When Cody approaches him, Eric states that he doesn’t want to partake in such things anymore and leaves.
Back in the dorm, Eric sees a boy named Micah sitting on the floor. His roommate is hooking up with a girl, and so he can’t access his own room. The two make small talk, and Micah suggests doing shrooms to pass the time. Eric agrees, and they go outside. Micah talks about the universe and its largess, but in the end, Eric simply states that he still misses Claire.
The Reason Behind the Drastic Shift in Eric’s Behavior
Eric is quite popular, and it has only been one week since college has started. It’s a new environment altogether, and this could have been his fresh start. But news of him having hooked up with his high school teacher has already made rounds on the campus, and people either look at him as the victim or “the man.” In episode 7, we only see Eric drink and do drugs for the most part. Look, we get it. It’s college, and it’s the only time in your life where you can experiment and broaden your horizons in such a manner.
However, we don’t think that Eric is ingesting all this because of these reasons. Instead, he hasn’t found a way to cope with losing Claire, and so he just bottles all his feelings up.The protagonist is basically chasing an adrenaline rush to feel like he used to with Claire. This is why he gets on the hood of the car even though the frat members are driving fast. Eric is just lucky that he did not sustain grave injuries from the fall.
He is also fairly comfortable with answering questions about the time that he spent with Claire. When people ask Eric about the future is when he gets ballistic. This is why he leaves after Sandy brings up therapy. Plus, he calls the college girl his booty call, but he doesn’t realize that she is genuinely trying to do the right thing. Consequently, we believe that Eric is acting out because he simply doesn’t know what else to do. Even by college standards, this is not normal behavior.
Read More: Where Was A Teacher Filmed?
