Comedy
English Teacher
Filled with profanity and LGBT content, FX’s English Teacher won’t be found on most families’ back-to-school shopping lists.
Tom Ripley’s story is not new to the screen. But Netflix’s Emmy-nominated limited series retells his 1961 escapades in a new and intriguing way.
Originally a book and then 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, the miniseries Ripley is shot in black and white. It follows Tom Ripley, a petty con artist living in New York with an ability to put people at ease and impersonate pretty much anyone.
When wealthy shipbuilder Herbert Greenleaf mistakes him for one of his son’s friends and offers him money to go “fetch” his spoiled, free-spirited son from the Italian city of Atrani, Ripley accepts.
After meeting Dickie Greenleaf, Ripley decides he quite likes the rich young man’s life. So when money from Dickie’s father runs low, Ripley murders Dickie and assumes his identity.
And so, the games of deception, cover ups, and cat and mouse between an Italian inspector, Dickie’s loved ones, and Ripley himself begin.
Deceitful and murder-prone Tom Ripley is the clear protagonist of the show. Despite his actions, we are led to believe the people he deceives are much worse than the poor, orphaned Ripley himself.
Ripley seems troubled by his actions. But viewers should be careful to see past the same caring and honest façade that so many characters fall for.
The greyscale color palate here softens the story’s gore, but we still see Ripley bludgeon two people to their bloody deaths. Characters smoke and drink, and profanities are kept to a minimum. We see a man’s bare backside, though not in a sexual context.
LGBT issues are present in both movie adaptations of the story, with the 1999 movie even asserting Ripley himself is gay. The original book series leaves his sexual-identity issues painfully ambiguous, though the author denies Ripley’s homosexuality.
Ripley leaves Ripley’s sexuality ambiguous, as well, though issues arise with other characters. Two men are in a relationship, Dickie accuses Ripley of being infatuated with him, and Ripley asserts that Dickie was in love with Ripley instead of his own girlfriend (supposedly a lie to further his cover).
Ripley may not tread as deeply into TV-MA content as many shows with this rating do these days. That said, violence and deception sit at the heart of Ripley’s web of lies, even as he escapes unscathed … leaving a trail of grief and death and his “charming” wake.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Before Ripley gets sent to Italy and ultimately never comes back, we get a glimpse of his life in New York. There, he steals checks out of mailboxes and pretends to be the bank with clientele whose checks “weren’t received.”
According to the private investigator sent to bring him to Dickie’s father, the deceptive and paranoid Ripley is a hard man to find.
Ripley is a liar even in his first escapades as the Greenleaf son-collector. Though it is not explicitly said that Ripley never knew Dickie, it is implied. Such are most of Ripley’s lies, which the audience is left to deduce for themselves. Later in the episode, he steals a fancy pen and impersonates Dickie in front of a mirror.
Ripley’s aunt (his caretaker after the tragic death of his parents) ridicules him and his lack of money, so with the new “job,” Ripley is glad to be rid of her.
Dickie’s father seems to genuinely care about his son, believing the trust fund made him lazy, living a life of sailing, drinking, and avoiding responsibility.
Dickie seems to be fine with his opulent life, living in a large cliffside home with his girlfriend Marge.
In the fancy Italian villas, there are plenty of religious art pieces, and some old statuettes seem to depict nudity.
Ripley is seen showering, but nothing critical is shown. Later, he is fitted for a very small speedo that he wears to the beach, the rest of his body unclothed.
Characters drink.
Ripley’s web of lies has stretched to almost a breaking point. But every time it seems as if the inspector, Dickie’s father, or Marge have figured him out, Ripley spins a new lie, catching them in their trust for him.
Ripley, no longer acting as the vanished Dickie, lives an opulent lifestyle nonetheless and is somewhat of a public figure for his “loyalty” to his close friend Dickie, the “fugitive playboy.”
For the most part, Ripley just feeds the current rumors that exist, that Dickie murdered a man Freddie (when in fact the murderer was Ripley) and was filled with such guilt and lack of life’s purpose, that he killed himself.
We also hear a rumor that Freddie and Dickie were romantically involved.
The only man who seems to see beyond Ripley’s lies backs Ripley up in the end, finally convincing the morose Mr. Greenleaf and Marge that Dickie is dead by his own hand.
There is plenty of smoking and drinking. Marge overdrinks at a party and is hungover the next day. She is seen in a bathtub and later with just a towel wrapped around her, but just her bare shoulders are visible.
We see Ripley contemplate murdering Marge, but he ultimately does not.
Scenes set in Rome in the year 1606 are not explained, but they seem to parallel Ripley’s actions in their depiction of a deceitful man in Victorian clothes brandishing a bloodied knife. The man seems fixed on a painting depicting an unclothed baby boy stepping on a snake’s head, paralleling biblical themes.
God’s name is used in vain at least once.
In the end, Ripley receives no punishment for his lies and murders, buying a new identity before he can be found out.
Caleb Gottry is the Plugged In intern for Summer 2024. Caleb studies journalism with a minor in music at Texas Christian University, where he will be a junior in the fall. He loves playing with words, listening to and making music, and spending any spare time with friends or family.
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