The Teacher final arrived all too soon after a fantastic few days of drama led by Sheridan Smith on Channel 5 this week.
Viewers found out why Brian/Arnold was hellbent on getting revenge on Jenna by persuading pupil Kyle to say he’d had sex with her when she was off her face.
And also whose side Jenna’s so-called friend Pauline was really on – after the revelation that Arnold was her partner Brian at the end of episode 3!
But sadly the denouement left many feeling downright annoyed.
Let’s reflect on what it taught us first, though.
Pauline was innocent – hooray!
So, the first bit of good news in The Teacher final was that Pauline really had no clue that her Brian was actually called Arnold and that he’d been plotting to ruin Jenna’s life.
That sadly meant that poor Pauline, who was so obviously craving the love and companionship of a man, had been used all along.
(And that, as Pauline hadn’t been acting shiftily, her weirdness was just down to the role being badly acted.)
Kyle redeemed himself
But what else did we establish? Kyle had agreed to do Brian/Arnold’s dirty work in exchange for a bit of attention – thankfully there had been no grooming of a sexual nature – and a couple of hundred quid.
The teenager genuinely didn’t believe that things would go so far – that Jenna would plead guilty to having sex with him, and lose everything.
As we discovered Brian/Arnold’s involvement last episode, the focus in the final was on WHY.
It transpired that Arnold had been having an affair with a female pupil while he was a teacher at Hillsden and Jenna had reported him.
He was slung in jail and lost everything. After failing to rebuild his life abroad, he returned to the UK, became Brian and hatched his revenge plot.
Brian’s bloody bombshell
During a confrontation with Brian, who refused to accept he had groomed the girl, Jenna defiantly told him that she wasn’t like him – that she would start to live again.
At that part he smirked as he backed away from her, into the path of a truck that mowed him straight down – his final act of vengeance, to leave that sight in her mind.
Jenna collapsed… and then we saw her later chatting to Kyle, who revealed he’d got a 9 in his English exam. And then… well, that was it!
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The Teacher final – viewers’ verdict
Well, it’s only fair to say that many viewers were left feeling distinctly disappointed.
Some found the ending nonsensical.
I missed the apprentice to watch that shit ending that makes NO SENSE #TheTeacher
— ✌️ (@oceanicestorm) February 3, 2022
Others felt let down that there was not a sufficient explanation about why Brian/Arnold had chosen Kyle.
Wtf was that?! Why did he pick Kyle? Why did Kyle go along with it? #TheTeacher
— Victoria R 😊🌸 (@Vixxy86) February 3, 2022
And then there was the unresolved question of whether Jenna actually cleared her name…
Did she clear her name or not I’m so confused by that ending #theteacher
— Jenny Simm (@jennisimm) February 3, 2022
Read more: Sheridan Smith’s traumatic Holby City role we’d forgotten about
But perhaps that was very intentional… because The Teacher 2 could already be in the pipeline?! There are plenty more viewers begging for that to happen.
In the meantime, you can catch Sheridan Smith next Monday (February 7) in new drama No Return on ITV.
This time, she plays the mother of a teenage boy who is accused of sexually assaulting another lad while they are on holiday in Turkey and their life is torn apart.
You can watch the trailer below.
What did you think of the final of The Teacher? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.