Review: English Teacher

English Teacher is a sincere character-driven comedy that brilliantly satirises the absurdities of modern life.

Starring, produced, and written by Brian Jordan Alvarez, English Teacher follows Evan Marquez (Alvarez) as an English teacher in Austin, Texas, who often finds himself at the intersection of the personal, professional and political aspects of working at a high school.

The pilot centres around a parent dispute that’s filed against Alvarez’s character for kissing his boyfriend in front of the students. The choice to set the show in a school environment is a clever one. Young people have always been the fore of culture, which makes it the perfect setting for a comedy that wants to satirise the identity politics of modern life. It seems like the rules of cultural norms are changing every day, where even the best-intentioned of us can’t keep up. Alvarez brilliantly leverages this to create hilarious ping-ping dialogue, and genuinely compelling thematic discussion, between students and teachers that are constantly out of their depth.

Brian Jordan Alavarez’s character speaks to students in a scene from English Teacher.

Over the course of the episode, we’re provided genuine character building for the cast. We learn why Evan cares about being a teacher, setting up the central tension of the show — why exist in a workplace that often stresses and vilifies you? More than that, the episode opens us up to the motivations and views of the supporting cast of characters. In a show that brilliantly satirises the fast and unpredictable social rules of modern life, each character represents a different approach to these challenges. Evan is principles, standing for what he believes in. His ex-boyfriend Malcolm (Jordan Firstma) however seems more selfishly pragmatic about things, opting for a job in tech that lets him ignore the politics of being a teacher. While Sean Patton’s character Mark, is a particular standout. Mark is presented as a typical gym-teacher with a love for sports, perhaps leading us to expect more conservative values from him. His character subverts expectations and perhaps even teaches Evan about the harsh trade-offs needed to navigate such confounding situations.

Stephanie Koenig and Brian Jordan Alvarez in a scene from English Teacher

The pacing of the show levels us between sincere moments, with sudden jolts of levity. It feels like Evan is the audience-stand-in for a regular person just trying to deal with the absurdity of modern life. Alvarez plays a good foil to the supporting cast, as he tries to remain level-headed while everyone else hurls hilarious non sequiturs at him. For those who’ve followed Alvarez’s career over the years, it’s a delight to see frequent collaborator Stephanie Koenig as fellow teacher Gwen Sanders. She has the sort of instant chemistry with him that only years of genuine friendship and comedy collaboration can get you. Many of her lines, as well as the rest of the cast’s are sharp and laugh-out-loud funny.

In particular, it’s one of the only recent comedies that feels like it has it’s finger right at the pulse of current culture. And yet, it doesn’t feel tiresome, or like it’s desperately trying to stay relevant. Instead, it cleverly wields this to sort of show the exhaustion it takes to keep up with what is happening. Moments like the one where Alvarez’s character mentions Tumblr, only to be shut down by students who say it died years ago as he stumbles through a futile explain of non-binary to students who already know what it means, are written with razor-sharp dialogue, and an effortlessly smooth pace. English Teachers meets you at where the cultural moment is, and then acknowledges how it feels to live in that.

Recently, shows like Abbott Elementary and Brooklyn Nine-Nine have continued the trend of workplace sitcoms that inject sincerity and drama into their stories. While English Teacher offers a more grounded dramedy with laughs that hit deeper and stories that feels especially contextually relevant. It’s clearly a prestige comedy which—much like VEEP, Curb Your Enthusiasm and even The Bear—delivers strong laughs with a more serious edge in its themes and dialogue.

Brian Jordan Alvarez in English Teacher

As someone who has followed Alvarez’ previous works, it’s wonderful to see it develop into this show. The sort of zany offbeat humour that Alavrez has perfected online has a very particular flavour. His brand of comedy sits somewhere between the hipster-culture satire of Portlandia, and absurdist comedy heavily informed by modern internet culture. If you remember the viral song that preached “Sitting is the opposite of standing” that is just a tiny slice of the rich history of his comedy sketch videos.

Alvarez’s sharp wit allows him to distill exactly what everyone is feeling in the most hilarious way. It’s this talent that has allowed him to cultivate a dedicated fanbase online through sketch comedy videos, online mini-series, and short videos where he performs a selection of impersonations and characters. English Teacher proves that his talents can comfortably helm a TV Series with relevant themes and sharp comedy.

English Teacher airs on FX, and is streaming now on Hulu, or on Disney+ in select international markets.

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