01x10 - Episode 10

Episode transcripts for the TV show "A Teacher". Aired November - December 2020.*
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10 Episode limited series that explores the complexities and consequences of a predatory relationship between Claire & Eric.
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01x10 - Episode 10

Post by bunniefuu »

Damn.

It's getting cold.

Yep.

That was an intense group of kids.

Dude, it's always an intense group of kids.

[CHUCKLES] Yeah.

Abby thinks I'm some glorified babysitter of f*cked up kids.

Yeah, well, maybe Abby should come lead a group.

Then she can talk.

- Exactly.
- Yeah.

So how long of a drive is it back to your mom's house?

Uh, I was gonna try to do it in two days.

I don't know.

Maybe it's dumb to go...

SHAWN: To go to your high school reunion?

- Yeah.
- Man, let me tell you something.

I went to mine last year...

Dude, it's hella fun.

Yeah.

You're right.

SHAWN: [YAWNS]

Oh, man.

I'm b*at.

- I'm gonna turn in.
- All right.

Night.

SHAWN: Night, man.

[POIGNANT MUSIC]

♪♪

[GIRLS GIGGLING, OBJECT BANGS]

[FOOTSTEPS THUDDING]

- CLAIRE: No running, girls.
- LIZZY: Juice, please.

CLAIRE: Ah, sweetie, I'm just in the middle of this.

- JEFFREY: I got it.
- Hey, did you confirm dinner next week with the O'Neils?

- Yep.
- Great.

Here you go, honey.

[SOFTLY] Here you go. Okay.

Do either of you have to go to the bathroom before we go?

No?

Hey, did you hear from the club about the swim lessons?

Yes, I convinced them to put Sarah in the intermediate class.

So it'll be every day after school, and then we'll do ballet on weekends.

Wow, you girls are gonna be busy this winter.

- CLAIRE: Super busy.
- Out you go.

CLAIRE: Let's go.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

That is crazy.

JEFFREY: All right.

I'll get you. All right.

JEFFREY: Okay, grab your bags.

Here you go.

CLAIRE: You got yours?

- LIZZY: Yeah.
- Yeah?

SARAH: So excited!

- I got it.
- GIRLS: Happy birthday!

WYATT: My girls. Come, come, come.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

You know what? I heard there's some fresh-baked cookies in the kitchen.

- LIZZY: Cookies?
- Yeah.

- Come on!
- JEFFREY: Oh, boy.

CLAIRE: Happy birthday, Dad!

- WYATT: Thanks, darling.
- Hi.

Come on and sit down.
Take the big chair.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪♪

[WHISTLING]

[CLEARS THROAT]

CLAIRE: What kind of cake would Grandpa like?

- LIZZY: Chocolate!
- CLAIRE: Mmm.

Okay, you wanna grab the rice?

LIZZY: Uh-huh.

CLAIRE: Good helper. Thank you.

[UNEASY MUSIC]

Oh, wow.

Eric, hi.

- Hi.
- CLAIRE: Um...

♪♪

How are you?

I'm okay.

[CASH REGISTERS BEEPING]

♪♪

Uh... I should probably get going.

We should...

♪♪

LIZZY: Who is that man?

Um, he's... just a...he's a old friend.

♪♪

[KEYS JINGLING]

♪♪

f*ck!

[SOLEMN MUSIC]

♪♪

SARAH: Mom, my arm's getting tired.

Could you do it?

- Mom?
- Yeah. Sure, sweetie.

Why don't you go check on your sister, okay?

Okay.

♪♪

[DOG BARKING DISTANTLY]

♪♪

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

Oh, hey, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to pick up that stuff you needed from the grocery store.
I'll go back tonight.

No, no, no, don't be ridiculous.

- I'll go later tonight.
- ERIC: All right.

- DEVIN: Bro!
- Hey.

Devin.

Dude!

Holy sh*t. You've filled out.

Ah, just a little bit. I don't know.

You're looking... looking good, man.

DEVIN: [LAUGHING] Okay.

Where's Phil?

- PHIL: I'm here.
- ERIC: Hey.

Dude.

Dude, you've grown another, like, five inches since I last saw you.

SANDY: I think they're both taller than you are now.

It's not cool, guys. [LAUGHTER]

Let me see, uh... let me see what you did with the place.

- I wanna see the room.
- Oh, this isn't gonna be good.

SANDY: Hey.

ERIC: What's up?

You okay?

Yeah. Yeah, totally.

I'm just, you know, tired from the drive.

It's good to be home.

- NATE: Knock, knock.
- LISA: Hey.

- WYATT: [LAUGHS] Hello, hello!
- NATE: Good to see you.

- Here, got those for ya.
- Hey.

NATE: Hey.

CLAIRE: Good. Nice to see you.

- It's been a long time.
- Yeah, too long.

JEFFREY: You guys are done with these.

So do you wanna do blue lips?

[DOG BARKING DISTANTLY]

WYATT: You doing okay?

Mm-hmm.

Thanks for organizing this whole thing.

It was a team effort.

.

How does it feel?

I feel mighty happy to have my family all together like this.

Claire... I'm proud of you.

[SPACEY ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

♪♪

[MUFFLED INDISTINCT CHATTER]

SINGERS: ♪ Da, da, da, da, da ♪

KENDRICK:
♪ Alls my life I has to fight ♪

♪ Alls my life I ♪

♪ Hard times like, "Yeah" ♪

- ♪ Bad trips like, "Yeah" ♪
- [EXHALES DEEPLY]

KENDRICK: ♪ Nazareth, I'm [...] up, homey ♪

♪ You [...] up, but if God got us ♪

♪ Then we gon' be all right ♪

PHARRELL: ♪ We gon' be all right ♪

♪ We gon' be all right ♪

♪ We gon' be all right, do you hear me? ♪

♪ Do you feel me? We gon' be all right ♪

♪ We gon' be all right ♪

♪ Huh? We gon' be all right ♪

♪ We gon' be all right, do you hear me? ♪

♪ Do you feel me? We gon' be all right ♪

KENDRICK: ♪ Uh, and when I wake up, I recognize ♪

♪ You're looking at me for the pay cut ♪

♪ But homicide be looking at you ♪

♪ From the face down, what MAC- even boom ♪

JOSH: Whoa.

Is that Eric?

- Yo.
- JOSH: What's up?

- What's up, man?
- The prodigal son returns.

[GROANS]

ERIC: Good to see ya.

- JOSH: [LAUGHS]
- What's up, man?

What's it been, like five f*cking years?

ERIC: Dude, it's good to see ya.

It's good to see you too, guys... damn.

- Hey, baby.
- NICOLE: Hey.

Hey, I'm Nicole.

Hey. Eric.

Dude, we had a kid last year.

Dude, I know. I saw on the 'gram.

- Major congrats.
- JOSH: Yeah, truly...

Yeah, let me show you some pictures.

- ERIC: Yeah.
- I got to.

- Here it is.
- Oh, God.

Good thing she takes after Nicole.

She's beautiful. [LAUGHTER]

I can't wait to tell your kids stories about you from high school.

- LOGAN: No, never... never.
- Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

No, no, no. You should come by, this weekend.

- ERIC: Yeah, I will. For sure.
- Yeah, I mean it.

How are you, man? You good?

Yeah. Yeah, man, I'm doing all right.

So what's the deal?
How long are you in town for?

Um, just a couple of days.

- That's it?
- Yeah, man, it's a quick trip.

- JOSH: Okay.
- ERIC: Whoa, there she is.

[LAUGHS] My favorite trio.

- LOGAN: Hi.
- ALISON: How are you?

- LOGAN: Good to see you.
- It's been so long.

ALISON: Good to see you.

- Hi.
- ALISON: Hi!

[LAUGHS]

- Hi.
- NICOLE: Hi.

Alison. Nice to meet you.

Nicole. Nice to meet you too.

All right, we gotta roll.
It's pump time, baby.

- Don't say that.
- Sorry.

Seriously, come by.

Uh, yeah. Yeah, I will.

- Bye, guys.
- ALISON: Bye, guys.

JOSH: I should probably head out too.

You should have came earlier.

You, uh... you're right. I messed up.

No, no, honestly, it's all good.

It's... it's good to see you.

You too, man.

JOSH: Come on, get in here.

[SOFTLY] Dude, I hear she's single.

Okay.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

You know, I heard he made millions off Bitcoin, like, five years ago.

- ERIC: I heard that.
- Yeah.

It wouldn't surprise me.

[LAUGHS]

How does... how's everything with you?

- I'm good.
- ALISON: Yeah?

Yeah, I started leading these, um therapeutic wilderness trips.

ALISON: Yeah, I heard about that.

Oh, you've been keeping tabs on me.

- Well, maybe.
- [BOTH LAUGH]

Do you want vodka or whiskey?

- Either's fine.
- ALISON: All right.

It feels really weird being back here in Austin, having to stay at a hotel room instead of my parents' home.

How are they?

Exactly the same.

Is everything okay?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... sorry.

I just, um...


I... I didn't think this was gonna happen again.

Yeah. [LAUGHS]

I think I'm just... in my head.

ALISON: That's fine.

Here.

ERIC: [CLEARS THROAT]

Hey, I'm sorry about what happened senior year.

- Oh, Jesus Christ.
- Oh, come on.

- What?
- I'm just... I'm being serious.

Yeah, but that was, like, a whole lifetime ago.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

[LAUGHS]

[SNIFFLES]

[LAUGHING SOFTLY]

You're a good guy, Walker.

You are.

Did I mention I have an insanely early flight in the morning?

- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.

- Do you want me to leave?
- No.

I want the opposite.

I was just apologizing just in case I wake you up.

Come here. [LAUGHS]

[INSECTS CHIRPING]

[MELANCHOLY MUSIC]

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

♪♪

JEFFREY: Claire?

I'm just getting some water.

[GLASS CLINKS]

♪♪

[GLASS THUDS]

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

♪♪

[CELL PHONE CLICKS]

♪♪

[CELL PHONE DINGS]


[CELL PHONE CLICKS]


[CELL PHONE CLICKS]

♪♪

[DISHES CLINKING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Hi.

ERIC: Hi.

Did you find parking okay?

Uh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, good. I... I've had trouble parking around here before. So...

ERIC: I found a spot around the corner.

SERVER: Something to drink?

Uh, water, please. Tap is fine.

You sure you don't want anything else?

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

So you're married now?

You have a kid.

Well, two, actually.

You guys live in Houston?

I, uh... I Googled you. [SNORTS SOFTLY]

I've Googled you too.

Why did you text me?

I... I have been...

I've... I've been wanting to for years.

I feel like such a coward.

I can't tell you how many times

I have thought about reaching out to apologize, and I know that I should have.

But I just...

I wanted us both to be able to move on.

And I was so happy that you were able to go to UT and move forward with your life.

Thank you.

I just didn't wanna pull you back.

I didn't move forward with my life.

Our relationship f*cking destroyed me.

[SOFTLY] I'm so sorry.

My marriage wasn't working, and...

And so I blew it up because it... it was the only way I knew how to end it.

That's not an excuse.

You were the victim of that, and I shouldn't have let it happen.

I violated my... my role as an educator, and I...

I should have never betrayed those boundaries.

I should have...

I should have stopped you.

I shouldn't have let you kiss me.
I should have...

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

I should have just turned you down.

Is... is that what you think happened?

You came into the classroom and kissed me, but I should have ended it.

You agreed to tutor me.

You took me to UT.

You insisted that I call you "Claire."

You took me away from that dance, and you told me to get in the back seat of the car.

I never wanted you to do anything you didn't wanna do.

ERIC: You're in denial.

Do you know how long it took me to figure out that I wasn't responsible... that... that you were the one creating those moments?

Do you know how long I hated myself because I thought that I hurt you.

I lost years, Claire.

I saw my brother the other day.

He's now.

Same age I was.

He looks so f*cking young.

I was just a kid, Claire.

I know. I know.

[INHALES SHARPLY]

And now being a mother, knowing I did that, I...

I cannot understand it myself.

It's taken me so long to figure out how to live with that.

Every day, I... think about what I should have done differently.

- I just want you to be okay.
- Oh, my God.

You're kidding, right?

You called me here today because you're sick of feeling guilty.

I've seen you.

You know, I've seen your photos, your perfect family and your big house.

My life is not perfect.

Yeah, sure, I got lucky.

I... I found a husband who, for reasons

I will never understand, doesn't judge me the way other people do, but, like...

I can't get a job.

I can't go to PTA meetings.

The way other parents look at me...

It is a... a Google search away.

I am one click away from ruin.

It's hell.

[SNIFFS]

You're still making this about you.

No, wait. Eric, please.

I will never be just one click away from this, Claire.

I have to live with this forever.

So do you.

[MOSES SUMNEY'S "INDULGE ME"]

♪♪
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