The Teacher - The Complete 3rd Season - DVD

Movie: Chemistry teacher Stefan Vollmer (Hendrik Duryn) imagined this a little differently when he followed his colleague Karin Noske (Jessica Ginkel) on the plane to Boston, only to find out that she didn't fly to her boyfriend who lives there at all. At the start of the new school year, Stefan of course doesn't want to admit this shame and simply claims he spent a wild summer vacation in Tuscany - unaware that Karin is keeping from him that she broke up with her boyfriend long ago. The way for a relationship - or at least a hot affair - would actually be clear now. But there's no time for that now, because the merger of the comprehensive school with the nearby secondary school, which burned down shortly before school started, causes a lot of chaos among the staff and a lot of new problems. On the very first day, Stefan has to deal with a petty criminal whom he desperately wants to bring back on the right track. But this is only the beginning of a turbulent school year in which Stefan has to deal with anorexia, pregnancy, depression and theft. In addition, he has to help a student with the serious illness of his mother, found a boxing club to prevent students from beating each other up in secret fight clubs, or give two lovers good advice about their first time. And on top of all that, he's supposed to get his emotional chaos with Karin in order? That just can't go well...

For a long time it looked like Der Lehrer 2009 would have to look for a new job after only one season. But RTL believed in the concept and the reviews were decent, so that the series four years after the broadcast of the first season then still received a second season. After the ratings were satisfactory, a third season was also ordered in the wake of the success of Fack ju Göhte, which allowed the unconventional chemistry teacher to increase his popularity once again. A fourth season was quickly decided. But before that is filmed, the ten episodes of the third season are now being released on DVD. Again the makers fall back on the proven concept: there is some comedy, a little romance and a lot of socially critical drama.

This works quite well for long stretches, even if some clichés are too thickly applied. The real problem is that most of the issues addressed in the series are dealt with all too superficially. The intention of the makers to deal with normal worries, fears and problems of teenagers in every episode and also to address the weaknesses of the school system can be considered absolutely praiseworthy. However, since most of the stories are dealt with within one episode and there are also other storylines, the necessary depth simply cannot be offered. In addition, the qualitative realization is too unbalanced. As good as some elements of the stories are drawn, as flat others seem to be. This is entertaining for long stretches, but falls far short of what would have been possible here.

The actors are good and likeable, even if Hendrick Duryn sometimes articulates his sentences a bit too squeezed out. The romance between Stefan and Karin is nice, but the complications feel too forced at times, unnecessarily dragging out the get-it-or-not-get-it banter. But thanks to the good chemistry between Duryn and Jessica Ginkel, even that works really well in the end. So The Teacher is certainly not a revolutionary series that scores points for originality and depth. But even if the possibilities offered by the topic of school are not fully exploited and the mixture of comedy and drama sometimes leads to dramaturgical superficiality, season 3 again offers entertaining and quite charming entertainment with some very funny moments. But there are also some scenes that go to the heart or even make a little thoughtful. And exactly for this, the series has then, despite small weaknesses, still earned a satisfied worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation is on a good TV level. The picture is clean, the overall sharpness is satisfactory and also the detail representation can convince in many moments. The colours are attractively mixed, which makes the picturesque landscapes in particular stand out well. Presented in a stereo mix, the audio is primarily dominated by the dialogue, but every now and then the music and ambient sounds also provide a coherent atmosphere. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, the 3-disc set has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: The Teacher remains true to its concept in season 3. The mixture of comedy, drama and romance does not always work, because especially the problems of the students taken from life sometimes remain a bit superficial, because they are mostly worked off within one episode - which of course does not correspond to reality so at all. Good ambitions, some amusing gags, the actors and the slight pinch of romance make sure that all fans of the first two seasons will love these new episodes. And that's why, despite the lack of extras, there is then also for this season box a clear: Recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp