Does anyone ever wonder about Mrs. Kerr?
For those who don’t remember (and I confess I had to check the source material), Mrs. Kerr was the math teacher who replaced Mrs. Dodds in the Percy Jackson books. In the show, Percy got expelled right after the trip to the museum, but in the books, he stayed at Yancy Academy until the end of term. The Mist made everyone believe Mrs. Kerr had been their Pre-Algebra teacher since December and Mrs. Dodds had never existed.
But what was the experience like for Mrs. Kerr?
What was she doing before Yancy Academy? Did she have a different job, or was she searching for one? Was it difficult to adjust to teaching adolescents at a boarding school? What about her friends and family—were their memories altered, too, so they wouldn’t notice she had suddenly switched jobs? Did all of Mrs. Dodds’ pay get transferred to her bank account, and if not, how did she explain away the discrepancy on her taxes? Did the students blame her for every unfair thing Mrs. Dodds had done to them? Did all the old exams suddenly get re-graded, or did Mrs. Kerr ever look at them and wonder why the red pen was in someone else’s handwriting?
Did she ever wonder if she was slowly going insane?
I just think it’s fascinating to think about. Like, it was a Twilight Zone experience for Percy, but it probably wasn’t any less unsettling for anyone else who was paying attention.
Maybe that’s why so many grown-ups don’t pay attention. It’s easier to pretend things are normal than to face a frightening reality.
