S01.E09: Episode 9

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

Claire and Eric separately hit their breaking points.

Airs December 22nd.

[Empress1]

I felt sorry for Matt. That line “I’m so mad, I’m just so mad at you” was raw. He didn’t deserve what Claire did.

Loved the “Tami & Coach Taylor” shout out, but wow was that bachelorette party annoying, and the single one needs better friends. (I bet $5 the one who’s getting married never speaks to her again after the wedding.)

Claire’s talk with her father reminded me of a friend I used to have whose father is in recovery. He got sober for good (I assume, we haven’t spoken in years) when she was 8. He has a son from his first marriage who doesn’t speak to him and wasn’t interested in meeting my friend/his half sister and she wondered why, and I said her father was a completely different person to her than to him. 

[chuckity]

God, I just wish these episodes were longer.  

I think there is so much deeper these interactions can go.  

[mamadrama]

8 minutes ago, chuckity said:

God, I just wish these episodes were longer.  

I think there is so much deeper these interactions can go.  

The length of these episodes is what's ruining the series for me. Just when they start getting interesting...

I liked the single bachelorette. 

[Madding crowd]

I read a review of this series by a film critic and he said it seems more like an afternoon special rather than a nuanced piece with fleshed out characters. The episodes are too short and it does seem more like "this is all the bad stuff that will happen to you" rather than letting us get to know the characters. It seems obvious that Claire has some sort of mental illness, but I'm thinking we won't really get an exploration of that just Claire making more bad choices. And while I do think Eric could use therapy, I'm just not buying that an 18 year old having a brief relationship with an older woman would mess him up so bad-again they need to show us what type of feelings and though Eric has as well as any issued he has had in the past. I will finish the series but wish they would have given these very talented actors something to work with. 

[DangerousMinds]

Claire’s tinder date was truly disturbing.

[DrSpaceman73]

3 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Claire’s tinder date was truly disturbing.

He seemed like a real creep but the fact even he reached a point where he told her he had to stop is a stunning realization of how far she has sunk

I felt bad for her husband but I got the impression their marriage had seriius problems even before she had her affair. 

Spent half the show trying to figure out that was dominique from Mr robot.  

Also finally glad they mentioned him being underage and drinking in bars because it was bugging the shit out if me how he and his friends could do that so easily.  The frat is one thing but this episode two different bars. 

[DangerousMinds]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

He seemed like a real creep but the fact even he reached a point where he told her he had to stop is a stunning realization of how far she has sunk

I felt bad for her husband but I got the impression their marriage had seriius problems even before she had her affair. 

Spent half the show trying to figure out that was dominique from Mr robot.  

Also finally glad they mentioned him being underage and drinking in bars because it was bugging the shit out if me how he and his friends could do that so easily.  The frat is one thing but this episode two different bars. 

I meant that their first date was creepy, but yeah the second was also disturbing!

[CrystalBlue]

Well, that was interesting.  Another too-short episode, but interesting nonetheless.  I am thinking Claire isn't a sexual predator of inappropriate relationships per se, but an unhappy woman pretty much unhappy with how her marriage had been turning out, and looking for love in all the wrong places.  She accepted the advances of her underage student because that's where she spends her days when she isn't home with man-boy Matt who wants to revive his nonexistent "rock star" days and fool around with expensive musical equipment as a hobby.  Claire has no doubt been scarred by the disappointing relationship and disturbing upbringing by her alcoholic father.  That's what I was thinking after thinking about this story, and then this episode comes along!  Tinder Date was a weirdo and then Claire was up for this S&M stuff.  Claire needs help!  (I was thinking Tinder Date already knew who she was before the date because he didn't ask about the ankle bracelet; just went for the dirty slut stuff.)

It's sad that Eric lost his scholarship, but it makes sense in a way.  The school did assign some of the blame of the crime of having an affair with his teacher to him.  Seventeen year olds and even younger can be tried as adults, so at least they didn't treat him like he was completely sweet and innocent, the same as a real child would be.  No scholarship means tighter finances for paying for college, so going home to mom for free rent and board; good move Eric!  I, like Madding crowd, am not completely buying the notion that Eric would be so messed up from the trauma of what happened with him banging his teacher; it's the consequences of getting caught that's disturbing him.  Although he really was acting like a love sick puppy before, and texted Claire begging to see her again after she got out of jail.  We know it's not real love though.  I don't know if "broken hearts" needs psychiatric intervention and treatment though.  Welcome to the real world, Eric.

I liked Yoga Bachelorette too.  Eric must have fake ID because bars are pretty strict about hanging on to their liquor licenses, I would think, in Austin, which is a bigger, more sophisticated city.

Edited December 23, 2020 by CrystalBlue
Additional thoughts.

[circumvent]

I think the short episodes are not doing any favors to the story. We end up with a lot of assumptions and no insight on what happened. We see Claire going through hard times, she is lost, she regrets having the affair and she wants to punish herself. I can buy it. I never really saw her as a predator, I saw her as someone who made a very bad decision but she is not someone who is constantly going after school-aged boys. Eric, on the other hand, is not very clear to me. The way the story was played, he was never abused. He was celebrated for it. As far as I can remember, Claire never forced him, or had to groom him to the extent that I would consider abuse. Yes, in the eyes of the law it was abuse of power but Eric knew what he was doing. All of a sudden he is traumatized? I don't buy it, not based on what we were told. Unless he is just heartsick because he thinks he really loves Claire. But that is also speculation since there is not enough information. 

Or maybe I am not paying enough attention to the show.

[Blakeston]

6 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

It's sad that Eric lost his scholarship, but it makes sense in a way.  The school did assign some of the blame of the crime of having an affair with his teacher to him.  Seventeen year olds and even younger can be tried as adults, so at least they didn't treat him like he was completely sweet and innocent, the same as a real child would be.

It sounded like Eric had recently lost the scholarship, because of poor grades. (The letter was lying on his desk, and it said that he was on academic probation.)

I don't have any problem believing that he was badly messed up by what Claire did to him. It wasn't just about him having sex with an adult when he was 17 - it was that Claire acted like what they had was true love. 

He believed that he had found true love, and then suddenly his lover was gone. And her life was ruined, and he was convinced it was his fault, because he initiated the sex. And then his image became "the stud who screwed his teacher and then turned her into the cops like a stone cold savage" (or whatever his frat brother said). That will do a number on you.

As for Claire, I think the best explanation for her behavior is that she's an addict like her father, except her addiction is to transgression. And her "forbidden romance" with Eric was her primary transgression of choice. The way she ran off with him to the motel after she was caught was the kind of thing an addict would do. (It reminded me of the show Intervention, when after being confronted the addict would often run off and immediately get high, because they desperately wanted another fix before going to rehab.)

Entitlement was also a big part of it for her. She felt entitled to a fling with a teenager, because she never had that when she was younger. Matt seemed like a good husband, but it sounds like she only married him because he offered stability, and an escape from her father. I don't think the issue was that Matt was failing her, but rather that she never loved him in the first place.

[peachmangosteen]

I completely agree with all of that, @Blakeston.

[circumvent]

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I don't have any problem believing that he was badly messed up by what Claire did to him. It wasn't just about him having sex with an adult when he was 17 - it was that Claire acted like what they had was true love. 

He believed that he had found true love, and then suddenly his lover was gone. And her life was ruined, and he was convinced it was his fault, because he initiated the sex. And then his image became "the stud who screwed his teacher and then turned her into the cops like a stone cold savage" (or whatever his frat brother said). That will do a number on you.

I don't have a problem believing that this can happen to a young person but I do have a problem believing it in this show, since that's not the background we have. It was't played that way. We only know that he felt the rejection after Claire was released, so he is not messed up by the the affair, he is messed up by the rejection - at least by the logic of the story the writers are telling. I want to know if he felt like they were in love while she is in prison. I want to know if he tried to contact her. Did he write to her? Because that would show that yes, she played with his feelings and now he feels like he lost everything. But we don't know what happened, so I am not buying. As far as I remember, we don't even know how much experience he had with girlfriends and sex before Claire (did i miss that too?). He seems to be very responsible and mature when dealing with his family but was it established that he was somewhat innocent with regards to women?

[dmc]

I didn’t think the show could make me feel sad for a predator but here I am.  She’s made a real mess out of her life.  Anyone who’s ever been in the middle of a mess knows how hard it is to dig yourself out.  
 

I partly feel bad for Matt mainly because it was pretty clear that she was miserable married to him even before the affair (crime) began.  He reminds me of a lot of guys who get married and are still half kids.  Gaming, in a band and hanging with their boys.  
 

Eric has most of my sympathy.  Anytime someone does something to you that’s completely wrong you end up paying for it for the rest of your life. Your life is a completely different place after they leave it. It’s not fair to him or any victims. 

[Empress1]

2 minutes ago, circumvent said:

As far as I remember, we don't even know how much experience he had with girlfriends and sex before Claire (did i miss that too?).

He had at least one high school girlfriend on the show and he was having sex with her. Claire even asked him about it when they went on their weekend away for his birthday. "How long were you together? Did you say 'I love you?'"

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Matt seemed like a good husband, but it sounds like she only married him because he offered stability, and an escape from her father. I don't think the issue was that Matt was failing her, but rather that she never loved him in the first place.

I definitely don't think her affair had anything to do with Matt as a person. Like her brother said, her life may have been boring but lots of people would kill for that kind of boring. If Matt wanted to play music as a hobby, so what? I felt sorry for him - he seemed to really love her and she blew up his life.

[DrSpaceman73]

I dont feel as bad for Matt as others.  

It wasn't just they had a boring marriage. It was more like a marriage for him where he wanted her waiting around until he had time for her and fit into his schedule. 

Not blaming him for the affair but he seemed far from the perfect husband. 

But as others have said much if that is speculation because the show didn't really explore that in depth.  

[dmc]

38 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I dont feel as bad for Matt as others.  

It wasn't just they had a boring marriage. It was more like a marriage for him where he wanted her waiting around until he had time for her and fit into his schedule. 

Not blaming him for the affair but he seemed far from the perfect husband. 

But as others have said much if that is speculation because the show didn't really explore that in depth.  

I feel the same about Matt.  I too want to reiterate, her actions are not  in any way his fault.  Even if she just had an affair versus a crime, it still wouldn't be his fault.  She would still be accountable.  But their marriage was a mess.  It actually reminds me of a marriage of someone I know. When you are married, your first responsibility is to your marriage.  It's pretty clear that she felt an after thought.  They are both doing their own thing a lot of the time and not communicating.  Now that she has been arrested and lost her career, its easy for him to be like "you broke up our marriage."  But it was actually crashing and burning previously.  

[Blakeston]

I don't think Matt was failing her as a husband. He was far from perfect, but his sins (like buying band equipment without telling her, and missing dinner in the first episode) seem pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

I think she cheated because the ho-hum day-to-day life of a 10-year marriage was boring to her. She never had any passion for him in the first place, so it's not surprising that she was bored.

I don't think the main significance of Matt joining the band was that he was being irresponsible or ignoring her. I think the significance was that she saw him trying to reclaim his youth, and decided she wanted the same thing for herself. She just chose to do it in a much more destructive way.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Blakeston

[dmc]

14 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

I don't think Matt was failing her as a husband. He was far from perfect, but his sins (like buying band equipment without telling her, and missing dinner in the first episode) seem pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

I think she cheated because the ho-hum day-to-day life of a 10-year marriage was boring to her. She never had any passion for him in the first place, so it's not surprising that she was bored.

I don't think the main significance of Matt joining the band was that he was being irresponsible or ignoring her. I think the significance was that she saw him trying to reclaim his youth, and decided she wanted the same thing for herself. She just chose to do it in a much more destructive way.

Minor things adds up though. Most people don’t get divorced for major reasons.  And most people don’t make expensive purchases without talking to the person they’re married to or at least running it by them. 

However, I think it’s important not to connect what she did to the state of their marriage previously.  Before she started having an affair their marriage looked to me like it was on the way down.  I don’t know why she did what she did.  I suspect she doesn’t completely know. But I fully believe even if she hadn’t done it, their marriage wouldn’t not have lasted.  It was very clear to me she was very unhappy.  

So the scene where he’s basically like I’m really upset with you, it’s not like he doesn’t have a right to be.  But their marriage was troubled before.   He’s putting all the focus on her like they were great and then she did this.  But in my opinion, they were not.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by dmc

[Jax7917]

I think we would need more of a back story on both Eric and Clare to get into the “ why “ of it , but it seemed to me that Clare was bored with her husband and living a “ boring “ life with the day to day routine . Listen , I feel that way sometimes and have been married a few years , have a child and routine gets boring , it does . I’d like a thrill once in a while but that’s where boundaries come in . Yeah , I sometimes think about my past and dating history and the more exciting times in my life . But having desires and learning not to act on them are two different things . If she truly was unhappy in her marriage , she could have left him and found a more exciting relationship that was appropriate.  She didn’t rely on him for money . She had a respectable , good career as a teacher but ruined it because having an affair with a student was exciting in the moment . I felt sorry for Eric and the husband , but not her. Eric really thought they were in love , and at the end of the day he was a good kid . Young and innocent and he didn’t see her as his teacher . He saw her as someone who was finally listening to him and someone he could talk to  ( that’s part of the innocence .) But Clare seems like a selfish human being . They even showed that with her stealing lipstick for no reason at all . She just seems immature and  like she doesn’t want to grow up , but that’s reality and I just don’t feel bad for her character at all , even in this episode when she broke down . 

[dmc]

36 minutes ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I think we would need more of a back story on both Eric and Clare to get into the “ why “ of it , but it seemed to me that Clare was bored with her husband and living a “ boring “ life with the day to day routine . Listen , I feel that way sometimes and have been married a few years , have a child and routine gets boring , it does . I’d like a thrill once in a while but that’s where boundaries come in . Yeah , I sometimes think about my past and dating history and the more exciting times in my life . But having desires and learning not to act on them are two different things . If she truly was unhappy in her marriage , she could have left him and found a more exciting relationship that was appropriate.  She didn’t rely on him for money . She had a respectable , good career as a teacher but ruined it because having an affair with a student was exciting in the moment . I felt sorry for Eric and the husband , but not her. Eric really thought they were in love , and at the end of the day he was a good kid . Young and innocent and he didn’t see her as his teacher . He saw her as someone who was finally listening to him and someone he could talk to  ( that’s part of the innocence .) But Clare seems like a selfish human being . They even showed that with her stealing lipstick for no reason at all . She just seems immature and  like she doesn’t want to grow up , but that’s reality and I just don’t feel bad for her character at all , even in this episode when she broke down . 

Agree to more backstory. This show is skimpy on details and I agree Claire is selfish.  Ultimately she used Eric and he thought of it as love.  But also her asking her brother to help Eric was just insanely selfish too.  Part of me feels she did it, to further get Eric to trust her.  Yes he called her but she wanted him to grateful thus more open to her advances.  

[circumvent]

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I definitely don't think her affair had anything to do with Matt as a person

I think it was the first episode when I believed Matt was having an affair. She wanted to have sex, he was tired or something. It was a hint that the marriage wasn't going so great, in my understanding.

I think it was a waste, not giving Matt more in the show. The actor is really good.

[DrSpaceman73]

Watching again over the early episodes maybe Matt wasn't as bad as I stated.  

Still......middle aged man wants to start a band turns me off.  

 

[BlackberryJam]

If the genders were reversed and this was a female college freshman flailing and failing, it would be easier to see how this was damage caused from an inappropriate sexual relationship.

Claire manipulated Eric with sex, making him think it was love, made him think he was an adult, gave him all sorts of feelings and responsibilities and introduced him to all of this long before he was emotionally ready. It doesn’t matter who initiated the sex in this relationship. She was preparing him, grooming him, enticing him and preying on him, whether it was conscious or unconscious. 

I actually like the short episodes and rapid time jumps. I don’t want or need everything spelled out for me. This isn’t that type of show and it isn’t what I want from this. 

The single woman at the bar was Grace Gummer, right? Daughter of Meryl?

[DrSpaceman73]

I don't know who meryl is but yes that was grace gummer at the bar.  I just know her from me robot. 

Meryl streep.......I had no idea she was her daughter.  

Edited December 24, 2020 by DrSpaceman73

[Empress1]

7 hours ago, dmc said:

He’s putting all the focus on her like they were great and then she did this.  But in my opinion, they were not.  

They might have been in his opinion, though. Like, other than her expressing disapproval about him spending the money on the music equipment, did she tell him "I am unhappy in this marriage?" She was blowing him in the kitchen and trying to conceive with him; did he know she was that unhappy? He could have thought the music thing was just something she got mad about and then got over, you know?

When I was on dating apps, I would regularly come across men (I only date men so those are the only profiles I saw, but I'd bet women do this too) who straight up said in their profiles "I'm married and bored. I don't want a divorce but I want some excitement," "excitement" being dates/sex/whatever with the women they meet on these apps. (Keep in mind, I was only on apps that billed themselves as for single people looking to date other single people.) And before I swiped left (swiping left means I rejected them, for those who don't know dating app parlance) on them I would always think, "I bet their wives think everything is fine." I would guess Matt is in the same boat - "our marriage wasn't perfect, she got mad at me about the music equipment, but I didn't know she was that unhappy."

5 hours ago, circumvent said:

I think it was the first episode when I believed Matt was having an affair. She wanted to have sex, he was tired or something. It was a hint that the marriage wasn't going so great, in my understanding.

I never got that impression, and given how upset he is at Claire's affair and how he initially wanted to work it out (I think he said something like "you messed up but we shouldn't throw away ten years"), I think it's safe to say he wasn't. I don't think their marriage was perfect, but he seemed like a pretty decent man to me. If Claire really objected to the music stuff, it was on her to say so - she's an adult, she was with the man for a decade, she should have been able to communicate with him how unhappy she was (if she was even that unhappy). Like, a more mature person could have recognized that she was maybe more flattered by Eric's attention than she should be, NOT ACTED ON IT, SHUT IT DOWN, and told her husband "I was tempted by someone - nothing happened, don't worry, but I think it's a sign that I'm unhappy," and opened up a conversation about what she needed from him and their marriage. (She's going to be bored sometimes no matter what. A lot of adult life is boring. Paying bills is boring as shit. Still got to do it.) 

At the end of the day, people cheat because they want to. You can't force someone to cheat who doesn't want to cheat, and Claire had even more power than the average person who chooses to have an affair - it really was up to her, as the authority figure, to put a stop to this before it started, and she didn't, because she didn't want to.

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

The single woman at the bar was Grace Gummer, right? Daughter of Meryl?

I wondered but I wasn't sure either. Grace Gummer has a very distinctive face but she looked young to me.

51 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Meryl streep.......I had no idea she was her daughter. 

Oh, I think she looks like Meryl - she has her mother's nose.

[blanchedeveraux]

6 hours ago, circumvent said:

I think it was the first episode when I believed Matt was having an affair. She wanted to have sex, he was tired or something. It was a hint that the marriage wasn't going so great, in my understanding.

I think it was a waste, not giving Matt more in the show. The actor is really good.

Lol I've been married for 11 years and if I was accused of having an affair every time I was too tired for sex, I'd be sleeping around a LOT. Sometimes you're just tired!

As for Claire, I think she regrets not letting loose in her younger days and used Eric to recapture the youth experience she never had. A lot of people go through a rebellious phase as a teenager; she, unfortunately, went through hers as an adult. Not an excuse for what she did, but I think that's where her head was at. 

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Watching again over the early episodes maybe Matt wasn't as bad as I stated.  

Still......middle aged man wants to start a band turns me off.  

 

Eh, I have a lot of male friends who still have bands or play music in their down time, just because they have fun and love to do it. Doesn’t mean they’re immature or trying to relive their youth. They just love doing it.

6 hours ago, circumvent said:

I think it was the first episode when I believed Matt was having an affair. She wanted to have sex, he was tired or something. It was a hint that the marriage wasn't going so great, in my understanding.

I think it was a waste, not giving Matt more in the show. The actor is really good.

I think in that episode, Matt had just gotten home late at night after traveling for hours and was just exhausted. I would have told my partner we should wait until the morning, too, most likely.

[Empress1]

28 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Eh, I have a lot of male friends who still have bands or play music in their down time, just because they have fun and love to do it. Doesn’t mean they’re immature or trying to relive their youth. They just love doing it.

An ex of mine tried to make it as a professional musician in his 20s, didn’t, turned his day job into a career, and still plays & takes lessons. He’s a C-level exec and music is his main hobby. I think it’s good to have hobbies - hell, maybe if Claire had a hobby, she wouldn’t have slept with her student.

[BlackberryJam]

Claire’s hobbies seemed to be shoplifting and trying to recapture her college years.

[CrystalBlue]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

An ex of mine tried to make it as a professional musician in his 20s, didn’t, turned his day job into a career, and still plays & takes lessons. He’s a C-level exec and music is his main hobby. I think it’s good to have hobbies - hell, maybe if Claire had a hobby, she wouldn’t have slept with her student.

Hobby, yes.  I wouldn't expect a musician to stop playing music ever, let alone just because they got married.  Matt was all jazzed up about starting a band and possibly/probably touring, I thought.  Matt bought a lot of expensive equipment without saying anything to Claire before he did it.  I'm betting he knew Claire wouldn't have approved the big purchase, especially when they're trying to have a baby.  So he went ahead and did it anyway.

[mamadrama]

I wish there were more episodes after next week. It's just now really starting to get me interested. 

[dmc]

9 hours ago, Empress1 said:

They might have been in his opinion, though. Like, other than her expressing disapproval about him spending the money on the music equipment, did she tell him "I am unhappy in this marriage?" She was blowing him in the kitchen and trying to conceive with him; did he know she was that unhappy? He could have thought the music thing was just something she got mad about and then got over, you know?

When I was on dating apps, I would regularly come across men (I only date men so those are the only profiles I saw, but I'd bet women do this too) who straight up said in their profiles "I'm married and bored. I don't want a divorce but I want some excitement," "excitement" being dates/sex/whatever with the women they meet on these apps. (Keep in mind, I was only on apps that billed themselves as for single people looking to date other single people.) And before I swiped left (swiping left means I rejected them, for those who don't know dating app parlance) on them I would always think, "I bet their wives think everything is fine." I would guess Matt is in the same boat - "our marriage wasn't perfect, she got mad at me about the music equipment, but I didn't know she was that unhappy."

I never got that impression, and given how upset he is at Claire's affair and how he initially wanted to work it out (I think he said something like "you messed up but we shouldn't throw away ten years"), I think it's safe to say he wasn't. I don't think their marriage was perfect, but he seemed like a pretty decent man to me. If Claire really objected to the music stuff, it was on her to say so - she's an adult, she was with the man for a decade, she should have been able to communicate with him how unhappy she was (if she was even that unhappy). Like, a more mature person could have recognized that she was maybe more flattered by Eric's attention than she should be, NOT ACTED ON IT, SHUT IT DOWN, and told her husband "I was tempted by someone - nothing happened, don't worry, but I think it's a sign that I'm unhappy," and opened up a conversation about what she needed from him and their marriage. (She's going to be bored sometimes no matter what. A lot of adult life is boring. Paying bills is boring as shit. Still got to do it.) 

At the end of the day, people cheat because they want to. You can't force someone to cheat who doesn't want to cheat, and Claire had even more power than the average person who chooses to have an affair - it really was up to her, as the authority figure, to put a stop to this before it started, and she didn't, because she didn't want to.

I wondered but I wasn't sure either. Grace Gummer has a very distinctive face but she looked young to me.

Oh, I think she looks like Meryl - she has her mother's nose.

Agreed he may have thought they were happy

[DrSpaceman73]

I agree she should have expressed her opinion to her husband I'd she was unhappy with her marriage.  

Though when she brought up her feelings about his band and not talking with her about it, he completely dismissed her and basically told her he doesn't care what she thinks. 

[BlackberryJam]

Marriage is hard and spouses stop communicating. They grow together; they grow apart. It's never easy. It's annoying and upsetting when one spouse makes a large purchase without talking to the other. (That's what always cracks me up about those holiday car commercials. As if someone is going to drop 50K on a new car and not tell the spouse. That's a path to divorce.)

It did seem that Matt wasn't valuing Claire, wasn't considering her feelings and was trying to relive part of his youth. However, the house they lived in was well above that of a high school teacher salary, so Matt appeared to be contributing to the marriage financially.

It doesn't matter though, because this story is about Claire's bad choices and her abuse of Eric. It doesn't matter if Matt was cheating or decided to quit his job and follow a Grateful Dead tribute band. None of that makes Claire sympathetic or makes her predation of Eric rational. She had sex with a child. Yeah, he doesn't look 17, but that's a casting issue. He was vulnerable and his brain hadn't fully developed. She abused her power over him. She is completely despicable. 

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

(That's what always cracks me up about those holiday car commercials. As if someone is going to drop 50K on a new car and not tell the spouse. That's a path to divorce.)

SNL just skewered this very thing.

2 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

However, the house they lived in was well above that of a high school teacher salary, so Matt appeared to be contributing to the marriage financially.

I think he was in sales - IIRC he came home from a work trip too tired for sex. And I agree with you - the issue is that Claire had sex, repeatedly, with one of her students, which was the wrong thing to do no matter what was going on in her life. She hurt him. That’s the other thing that bothers me - she hasn’t given a thought to how this has affected him. He told her he was a mess over it and she told him to go away because seeing him was bad FOR HER. Not “you need to get some help, I’m so sorry for what I did to you,” but “ this violates my probation! Leave!” She’s very selfish.

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Marriage is hard and spouses stop communicating. They grow together; they grow apart. It's never easy. It's annoying and upsetting when one spouse makes a large purchase without talking to the other. (That's what always cracks me up about those holiday car commercials. As if someone is going to drop 50K on a new car and not tell the spouse. That's a path to divorce.)

It did seem that Matt wasn't valuing Claire, wasn't considering her feelings and was trying to relive part of his youth. However, the house they lived in was well above that of a high school teacher salary, so Matt appeared to be contributing to the marriage financially.

It doesn't matter though, because this story is about Claire's bad choices and her abuse of Eric. It doesn't matter if Matt was cheating or decided to quit his job and follow a Grateful Dead tribute band. None of that makes Claire sympathetic or makes her predation of Eric rational. She had sex with a child. Yeah, he doesn't look 17, but that's a casting issue. He was vulnerable and his brain hadn't fully developed. She abused her power over him. She is completely despicable. 

Thank you.

[SunnyBeBe]

It seems to me that Eric was rather experienced with girls and sex when he met Claire.  But, I don’t see that as negating the damage done by his teacher.  I don’t see her abuse of her student coming about because she had marital problems or an unhappy childhood.  Child abusers have a core issue.   And, they aren’t necessarily fixed after they get caught and serve their punishment.  I feel zero pity for Claire. The show has shown how abusers are often those we least expect and how the sweet looking ones are able to get away with more.   I see her post release behavior as overly self-indulgent.

If a man abuses a young girl, it’s not normally attributed to the man having an unhappy marriage. 

Edited December 25, 2020 by SunnyBeBe

[tennisgurl]

Yeah as much as her life has sucked after the abuse came to light and she went to jail, every time I start feeling bad for Claire, I remember how phenomenally messed up what she did was and how she still is only kind of now understanding that what she did was morally wrong, and not just something that got her in trouble legally and with her family. Eric was eighteen, sure, but she was in a position of authority with him, and it was clear that he thought that this was a really serious love affair, being emotionally still very young, while for Claire this was a fun thing she did to try and have the fun young adult life that she never got to have. I don’t think that Claire is/was a habitual abuser of children or went out looking to groom and abuse her teenage students, but that is what happened, and now these are the consequences of that. She was bored, unfulfilled in her marriage, and used Eric as a distraction from her unhappiness and regret over having to grow up fast.