Hulu’s original series, “A Teacher,” has struck up quite the conversation about student-teacher relationships. This drama miniseries, inspired by the movie “A Teacher,” is based upon a teacher who engages in a sexual relationship with one of her students. As the teacher and the student see no wrong, the show does a great job of showing how this interaction can ruin multiple people’s lives and involves things such as underage drinking, partying and drug use.

English teacher Claire Wilson (Kate Mara) is experiencing hard times in her relationship with her husband, and this leads up to her affair with one of her students, Eric Walker (Nick Robinson). Wilson starts off tutoring Walker, but eventually, he pursues her. She initially denied him, but ultimately she agreed in the exchange. As the show continues they develop a more loving connection. This all comes tumbling down when she admits to one of her colleagues that she is indeed engaging in sexual actions with her student. After that, she admits it to her husband and turns herself over to the police. 

I was glad that the show did give some background on Wilson’s childhood, explaining her broken relationship with her dad and her mom not being present. Nearing the end of the season, we see Walker struggling due to the inappropriate interaction. As Wilson can meet someone else and have a family, Walker is still left to pick up the pieces and work through his emotional damage. 

In the last episode, Wilson and Walker meet up years later to ‘catch up’ with each other, but this conversation takes a turn when Walker realizes that he was the victim and that he was just a child. 

‘A Teacher’ is one of the few portrayals that display the true consequences of one’s actions. The deep descriptions of child grooming are something that should be talked about more, and how many children live with the fear of new relationships and mistrust, due to the advantages people have taken from them. They put many disclaimers and helpful resources, such as websites and hotlines, at the beginning and end of each episode for individuals who are in similar situations. This show does not glorify the illegal actions, when many shows canonize such actions, but this series shares the message that this happens more than we think.