I Didn’t See “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber Coming

A Teacher’s co–music supervisor Jessica Berndt on the show’s needle drops.

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Nick Robinson and Kate Mara in A Teacher. Credit: FX on Hulu.

Though I found A Teacher radically bland, I was obsessed with its music. Episode one played Frank Ocean and Tyga; a school dance cued up Usher’s “Climax.” Part of it was the familiarity, the way those same songs were on the radio during my own coming of age; part of it was just me being nosy. The music was good and surprising and clearly selected with a lot of intention. When high school senior Eric (Nick Robinson) acts on his feelings for an overly friendly, Madewell-y teacher (Kate Mara), the camera lingers on her face for a moment, as she rubs her just-kissed lips in shock. The opening sirens of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” lead into the end credits: “If I was your boyfriend I’d never let you go…” There was something thrilling about that song i…