S01.E03: Kayla Syndrome

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

Evan and Harry plan the Homecoming Dance, and a student struggles with a new disease.

Air Date: Sep 09, 2024

 

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:21 PM, Dirge said:

Okay, I liked this, and I'm so glad to see Enrico Colantoni on TV, but I'm incapable of not fixing the grammar on a show called English Teacher. This is wrong, right?

"this behavior would not only BE tolerated but encouraged ..."

It should be "this behavior would BE not only tolerated but encouraged ..."

(^^^ from the episode 1 thread)

I read that and thought, lol, true, but super picky. I certainly wouldn’t let that take me out of it!  But then in this episode, The English Teacher says “… if something happens between you and I …”

sigh. 

[Blakeston]

I have no idea what happened at the end. Are we supposed to think that Even imagined Harry flirting with him, and then kissed him out of nowhere?

Because if Harry was actually saying those things and looking at Evan that way, Evan was not crazy for thinking that Harry was interested.

[possibilities]

I think Harry really was into Evan, and did kiss him. Harry said he has a boyfriend but he's in an open relationship. Evan freaked out during the kiss when he realized that there were kids around. He already got in trouble for one kiss, and now isn't allowed to date other teachers. Harry didn't understand that, so he thought Evan was acting crazy when Harry kissed him and then said it was a mistake.

Living in homophobia land makes people feel and act crazy sometimes, is my takeaway. I never felt more chaotic than when I was in a circumstance where I felt like I had to navigate that kind of repression. It doesn't sound that oppressive-- just don't kiss at work! Don't date a co-worker! But it makes you self-conscious and uptight, and it's infantilzing because you know you're being monitored like a child, and are subject to discipline for things other people wouldn't be, and it makes you feel crazy even when nothing is happening, because it's always there, and you can't relax. On the one hand, you aren't doing anything wrong. On the other hand, just feeling something might get you into trouble. It's a total mindfuck.

--

I guess it's official that Markie is going to be the sage and situation saver in every episode. I hate that. At least change it up from ep to ep. It's only ep 3 and already things are getting too obviously formulaic in that arena. Did somebody say: "We will greenlight this show if the gay protagonist is a mess and the crass straight guy is his best bud and saves the day every episode after the gay protagonist fucks things up"?

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Markie understands the students’ mind games.

Principal Moretti not taking any BS from Evan. Evan is such a drama queen — the panic, the paranoia, the overthinking. 

Quote

“I am considered hot in my community, okay? I don’t care if you think I’m basic looking.”

Okay pretty boy… 🤣

 

[Irlandesa]

18 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I have no idea what happened at the end. Are we supposed to think that Even imagined Harry flirting with him, and then kissed him out of nowhere?.

At first I thought Evan bit him so I went back to rewatch.  The second Evan heard the kids, he forcefully pushed Harry away and told him that what just happened didn't happen.

I don't think Harry has the full context of what Evan was going through so the hot/cold stuff threw him for a loop.

Edited September 10 by Irlandesa

[Sarah 103]

I like the idea that Evan is very much in his own head and wrapped up in his own drama so he isn't as aware of the teen drama around him. However, the coach is completely tuned into everything and able to help his friend. I like the idea that the series is subverting the trope of cool teacher who knows the answers and can help his students.  

[iMonrey]

OMG. "Asymptomatic Tourettes." aka "A.T." aka "Kayla Syndrome." It can only be self-diagnosed. She's triggered by talk of a disease.

I know this is parody, but it's also a reflection of what snowflakes kids are these days. We weren't given free passes just by being "triggered" when I was in school. Which admittedly was a million years ago but still. If this is anywhere close to reality I'm terrified about our future.

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I don't think Harry has the full context of what Evan was going through so the hot/cold stuff threw him for a loop.

Yeah exactly. I wish Evan had the wherewithal to just tell Harry he got in trouble kissing his boyfriend in front of some students and now he's wary of PDAs on school grounds. Pretty simple. 

So . . . Harry did deliberately flash Evan in the locker room. Hmmm.

The restaurant waiter was funny. I wouldn't mind seeing him as a recurring character.

[Irlandesa]

19 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I know this is parody, but it's also a reflection of what snowflakes kids are these days. We weren't given free passes just by being "triggered" when I was in school. Which admittedly was a million years ago but still. If this is anywhere close to reality I'm terrified about our future.

But people who really needed accommodations or extra consideration were ignored or treated horribly.  And there are plenty of snowflakes living among older generations. 

As far as I know, students still need paperwork before they're given accommodations.  Accepting a self-diagnosis isn't done. 

But again, I liked how layered the plot was.  It said something about fake triggers/diagnosis which actually was reflecting something human going on with Kayla.  And it villainized the "do-gooder" aiming to co-opt Kayla's "pain" (real or imagined) not because the person cared but because she thought she could earn brownie points. 

[txhorns79]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

But again, I liked how layered the plot was.  It said something about fake triggers/diagnosis which actually was reflecting something human going on with Kayla.  And it villainized the "do-gooder" aiming to co-opt Kayla's "pain" (real or imagined) not because the person cared but because she thought she could earn brownie points. 

I appreciated we saw that it wasn't really about a made up diagnosis.  It was a lot of teen drama that simply presented itself with a nonsense diagnosis. 

 

15 hours ago, possibilities said:

But it makes you self-conscious and uptight, and it's infantilzing because you know you're being monitored like a child, and are subject to discipline for things other people wouldn't be,

I think we saw that Evan was inappropriate with his fired ex-boyfriend at school, so telling him not to date staff seems okay to me.  I mean, he's in Austin.  There are thousands of people he can date outside the staff at his high school.     

[snarkysnarkerson]

On 9/9/2024 at 2:16 PM, SoMuchTV said:

(^^^ from the episode 1 thread)

I read that and thought, lol, true, but super picky. I certainly wouldn’t let that take me out of it!  But then in this episode, The English Teacher says “… if something happens between you and I …”

sigh. 

 I think I heard two instances of bad grammar in this episode, and my brain malfunctioned. I am super picky, though. ;)

Edited September 11 by snarkysnarkerson

[Irlandesa]

On 9/9/2024 at 1:16 PM, SoMuchTV said:

(^^^ from the episode 1 thread)

I read that and thought, lol, true, but super picky. I certainly wouldn’t let that take me out of it!  But then in this episode, The English Teacher says “… if something happens between you and I …”

sigh. 

Oh I forgot to respond to this.  It looks like Evan is more of a lit teacher than grammar teacher.

I'm trying to forgive the adoption of colloquialisms in speech even from people who should know better. It's the kind of thing that stands out when reviewing writing but once you say something, you can't really pull it back. This is especially true with the rise in the misuse of I and me. After he has heard it enough...

 

 

[giovannif7]

I'm absolutely loving this show. MAJOR kudos to Brian Jordan Alvarez and Stephanie Koenig (who plays Gwen) for scripting such intricately plotted chaos that mirrors high school life (or at least the ones I work at) in 2024. I relate far too well to how Evan's brain spins out of control and can easily turn a small misread/misunderstanding into a full-blown catastrophic over-reaction and demonstration of his inner crazy.

I had only one gripe with this episode - when Evan is told by the students that Kayla's "AT" disease has been renamed "KS," I fully expected Evan to lose it over that new designation, and go on a rant about how the real KS (Kaposi's Sarcoma) was an AIDS-related disease that brutally ravaged the gay community during the dark days of the 80s and 90s. It makes me incredibly sad to think that not one of the characters, especially the gay characters, expressed awareness of or brought up the inappropriateness of using those initials - talk about triggering! Those of us who lived through and survived being on the front lines of that horrific battle will never forget.

[iMonrey]

11 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

I fully expected Evan to lose it over that new designation, and go on a rant about how the real KS (Kaposi's Sarcoma) was an AIDS-related disease that brutally ravaged the gay community during the dark days of the 80s and 90s. I

In fairness I was in my prime during those decades and even I've never heard of that. So it doesn't necessarily surprise me if Evan never has.

[Sarah 103]

I thought the Kayla plot line was going to go in a different direction. My guess when it was first introduced was that it was a joke/prank involving multiple students to see which teachers could they convince that "Asymptomatic Tourettes" is something that actually exits, and then how long they could keep it going, especially by upping the ante/increasing the absurdity by constantly changing the name/what people are supposed to call it. 

[DrSpaceman73]

The show is growing in me 

..  but I was also confused if the ending was real or in his mind. 

[Eindestand]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:59 PM, iMonrey said:

OMG. "Asymptomatic Tourettes." aka "A.T." aka "Kayla Syndrome." It can only be self-diagnosed. She's triggered by talk of a disease.

I know this is parody, but it's also a reflection of what snowflakes kids are these days. We weren't given free passes just by being "triggered" when I was in school. Which admittedly was a million years ago but still. If this is anywhere close to reality I'm terrified about our future.

 

"OMG Chelsea, I know, right? I've been self-diagnosed to be suffering from asymptomatic apathy. It may seem as if I'm interested, but I'm really not. It's a daily struggle, since people constantly come up to me and talk about things in which I have no interest. For instance, take this conversation, I know you believe I care, but I don't. So, stop talking and go to the principal's office."

 

The tiara scene made me flash back to Mean Girls.
I luv'd the look on Chelsea's face when Kayla gave her acceptance speech.

[buckboard]

On 9/11/2024 at 8:13 AM, iMonrey said:

In fairness I was in my prime during those decades and even I've never heard of that. So it doesn't necessarily surprise me if Evan never has.

I'm sad to hear that someone who "was in his prime" during those decades never heard of Karposi's Sarcoma.  I was living in San Francisco in those decades and everyone who was gay or who knew someone who was gay was quite aware of what KS stood for.  I can understand that young kids are ignorant about the history of AIDS, but it's a shame none of the gay men in this show (or any of the writers, many whom must be gay) care enough to learn about the history of AIDS.

It certainly would have been no trouble to change the student's initials to JS or DS.



 

Edited September 14 by buckboard

[DrSpaceman73]

I know kappsos sarcoma but didn't think of it with KS

[Sesquipedalia]

On 9/9/2024 at 1:16 PM, SoMuchTV said:

(^^^ from the episode 1 thread)

I read that and thought, lol, true, but super picky. I certainly wouldn’t let that take me out of it!  But then in this episode, The English Teacher says “… if something happens between you and I …”

sigh. 

He said it TWICE. I'm no grammar Nazi, but that one is my pet peeve. If there's one line an English teacher could say to make me dislike them, that would be it.

[aghst]

TIL:

Evan is a size queen or was impressed by Harry's display.

Gay couples dispute which one was the top and which was the bottom -- should be pretty cut and dried?

 

I'm watching this on Hulu and I know FX pushes the envelop more than other basic cable but Evan and Gwen were discussing whether he wanted to suck and fuck Harry?

Holy cow, this isn't your father's gay sitcom -- e.g. Will and Grace!

 

 

[pasdetrois]

On 9/10/2024 at 4:59 PM, iMonrey said:

I know this is parody, but it's also a reflection of what snowflakes kids are these days.

This show's take on snowflakes is hilarious. And I'm enjoying how the peripheral characters - the waiter - are seamlessly tucked into their scenes. The writing is fantastic.

I also thought of Kaposi's when I heard KS. Have never forgotten seeing a young man whose body was covered in the lesions, alone and drifting through the French Quarter late one night.

Edited September 18 by pasdetrois

[iMonrey]

On 9/14/2024 at 12:30 AM, buckboard said:

I'm sad to hear that someone who "was in his prime" during those decades never heard of Karposi's Sarcoma.  I was living in San Francisco in those decades and everyone who was gay or who knew someone who was gay was quite aware of what KS stood for. 

Yes, well, not every gay man lived in San Francisco in the 80s. Just sayin.

[buckboard]

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yes, well, not every gay man lived in San Francisco in the 80s. Just sayin.

My point being that people of any age, don't learn about history.  And one didn't have to live in San Francisco, especially someone who "was in his prime" during those times, to know about KS if they were paying attention to AIDS, which was affecting people all across the country.

It's particularly sad that younger gay men, like Evan, don't bother to read about the plague that wiped out much of an entire generation of gay men. 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, buckboard said:

It's particularly sad that younger gay men, like Evan, don't bother to read about the plague that wiped out much of an entire generation of gay men. 

I don't think his not immediately associating KS with Kaposi's Sarcoma indicates he's unaware of the history of HIV/AIDS.  I've read about that period, seen movies, and watched documentaries about it. Unlike HIV and AIDS where an acronym is often used, I don't recall that with Kaposi's.  They may have referred to it as KS but not to the extent that it seeped into my brain where I'd immediately make the association.  

 

[possibilities]

I recall KS being widely associated with Kaposi Sarcoma. It was definitely in the vernacular.

If we are not teaching history, we are erasing memory and doomed to repeat it and learn nothing from it, which is tragic. 

[buckboard]

Thanks, possibilities.