Let this be a lesson in class comedy
It seems a shame that this American comedy created by Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride and
Jody Hill will be coming to an end after this second series.
Admittedly, the first run took a little while to get going, but the shocking and very violent season one finale brought everything together.
However, according to the creators, Vice Principals was always envisioned as a two-season show, so we shouldn’t complain too much.
The swansong run picks up at the start of a new semester at North Jackson High, as embarrassing manchildren Neal Gamby and Lee Russell (McBride and Walton Goggins) continue their petty pursuit of becoming head principal.
Gamby is coming to the end of his rehabilitation following the shooting, waiting to get out of his stair lift and back in the saddle. And, after an aggressive move by Russell, he sheds his sweats and dons his tie once again. However, his return is actually more motivated by locating the whereabouts of Dr Brown, his prime and only current suspect in the shooting, than it is by getting one over on his rival or moulding the minds of America’s youth.
McBride is as funny as ever, tracking down the would-be killer, aided by a pin board of suspects and clues, and delivering lines that no teacher would surely ever dare utter, while Goggins shines against type as the catty administrator.
If this opener is anything to go by, there is no end in sight to Gamby and Russell’s absurdity. Well, not for another eight episodes anyway.