What I’m Watching: Vice Principals (Series Finale)

Vice Principals: Season 2, Episode 9 “The Union of the Wizard and The Warrior”

I don’t think this show could have ended any other way. I was glad to find out that Lee wasn’t the one who shoot Neal after all, but we saw a whole lot of Ms. Abbott acting pretty crazy. Releasing a live tiger during a graduation so that she could get revenge on the close relationship that Lee and Neal had with each other was nuts, and only a show like this would there ever have been a live tiger at a graduation. After Gale and Ray expressed shock that Amanda was able to actually get Neal to listen to reason and then she nearly got killed in the bathroom by Ms. Abbott, Neal sprang into action the only way he knew how by evacuating the graduation with calm and poise. I loved that the only way to block Ms. Abbott from escaping in her car was to plow right into it, and that things got so messy in the process. Seeing Neal become principal in a new school while Lee ended up in middle management for a role that suited him a whole lot more than being around kids, with Amanda able to pursue her love of writing and actually make something it, was very sweet. That knowing nod between the two of them when they were in the same food court was great, and I like that this is how things ended. I would have loved to see many more seasons of this show, but this was a superb note for the show to go out on. Additionally, casting Steve Little as Neal’s vice-principal was really fun since it helped to link this show with “Eastbound and Down,” lending hope to the idea that we’ll see another series with Danny McBride as an educator of children soon. And wouldn’t it be great to have Walton Goggins back in a role like this too? Maybe HBO will decide that this show is worth revisiting – one can only hope!

Series finale: B+
Series grade: A-
Season MVP: McBride and Goggins
Season grade: A-
Series MVP: McBride and Goggins
Best Season: Season 1
Best Episode: The Foundation of Learning