Before I say anything else, I am a liberal White gay man in an interracial gay marriage for context. Love it how disclaimers like this are a necessity nowadays. 😑
Good: glad to see a new show about an old trope (teachers in a Highschool environment) written in a more modern format. I do feel this somewhat accurately represents the current teaching experience well, even if it is sensationalized at times. Some of the supporting characters were entertaining and funny, at times.
Bad: the main character, Evan, has little to no redeeming qualities. He’s a self-involved neurotic who acts as if he’s the main character in every story whether it directly relates to him or not. This is neither flattering, nor entertaining. The writing is heavy handed with exposition and very one-dimensional in delivery of narrative. Evan is essentially a vapid, arrogant jackass who uses his colleagues, past partners, and high schoolers to work out his own issues. If I were the principal, I would have never even hired this guy and if I had, I would have regretted it after the character’s behavior in the first episode. I did not walk away feeling like I related to a single character in the show except for maybe the exasperated principal who seems to be the only adult in the room anytime he’s in a scene.
This show has an unmistakenly millennial driven narrative and for those of you wondering why the entertainment industry is suffering, look no further than the complete lack of material relatable to anyone other than millennials over the last 5-6 years. This show is definitely not written with my generation (GenX) in mind, which for anyone in my generation is probably about has shocking as the blue color of the sky. 😑 Good luck with the second season. I won’t be watching.