What I’m Watching: Vice Principals

Vice Principals: Season 2, Episode 4 “Think Change” (B+)

I like the focus that this season has put on Lee’s home life, which is considerably sadder than Neal’s. His wife is nice but extremely unenthusiastic in just about everything he does, and it seems like his family is truly cruel. It took me until the end of the episode to recognize Breeda Wool from “AWOL” and “UnREAL” as one of his terrible sisters, who were so mean to him, reinforcing his deep-seated fears about spending time with them. Fortunately, he took the high road and embraced the bad relationship he has with them, something that he’s failed to do at work. Hiring a group called the Sweat Dogs to come and work the teachers to their breaking point under the guise of team building was among his poorer decisions, and Superintendent Haas showed up much more quickly than we’ve seen him do in a while to communicate that he had heard complaints from the staff, who I have to imagine do lots of complaining given the people that are in charge. While Neal was initially supportive of the squad, led by a well-cast Scott Caan, he chose exactly the right moment to stand up for the teachers, even those like Seychelles that he doesn’t like, and take back the school under his authority. It’s great to see him respected by all the teachers since that’s a moment I couldn’t ever imagine him achieving, and now I bet that the teachers are going to rally behind him against Lee which is not going to make the returning principal very happy.