Vice Principals - General Discussion

[Noirprncess]

I agree that both Gamby and Russell would have acted this way regardless of who was hired as the principal.  Heck, even if one of them was hired the other would have STILL acted like a fool.

But, I think them burning down the house showed who was really crazy (Russell) vs just overly entitled (Gamby).  I mean, they drove the school's student driver car to her house.  Might as well have painted a huge arrow above their heads saying it was us.

I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the end of that brooch.  Clear evidence connecting Gamby to Dr Brown's house robbery and fire.  

The fact that Russell is completely effeminate seems to suggest a larger issue at play.  Walter Goggins is the ONLY reason I tried to watch this show.

[Noirprncess]

Out of the three episodes, this was my least favorite.

Gamby is clearly a clueless sad sack that sees himself as a very special snowflake despite the constant reminders that he isn't well liked or respected by anyone in his life.

The school trip wasn't necessarily interesting as it was clear that everyone tolerated him.  

[benteen]

Not enough Goggins.  He's great on the show.  Even the note he left "Lock your car, asshole" made me laugh.

Way too much of McBride's Gamby being obnoxious and hateable.  And like in Eastbound and Down, the people around him inexplicably put up with him.

Last five minutes were good though.

[Febgirl]

Lee Russell is definitely the Regina George of N. Jackson High. I'm sure on Wednesdays he wears pink. 

Walton Goggins' presence was missed in this episode. I love how he can change Russell's demeanor on a dime from bitching about dr. Brown to kissing her ass.   And yes, when Iclose my eyes and  hear himsweet talk her, all I can hear is Venus Van Dam.  I hope we get more insight into what makes Russell tick. 

Edited August 1, 2016 by Febgirl
Typing on an iPhone sucks

[SFoster21]

I think it was nice that we saw a side of Gamby that differentiates him from the Goggins character.

It is titled "Vice Principals," but Gamby is the character we follow. He is unable to to tamp down his insecurities, so he seeks to dominate.

But he's a follower; his macho persona was challenged and he did a lot of damage.  He accepted a "valuable" brooch from Goggins and then passed it on to settle a debt.  Will that come back to haunt him? Goggins is surely setting him up.

 

(I don't think that this show is like "Another Period," where episodes turn on grossness. I think the house-burning will turn out to have consequences.)

Gamby chose to seek love and forget vengeance.  He has moments of charm and an animal appeal to a woman over thirty, so he got laid with no effort at all.  He didn't seem surprised. He can get women.  But he wants to impress this one.  

[ganesh]

19 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Wasn't feeling this one, since Russell/Walton Goggins was only in two scenes, and I really don't know if I find Gamby watchable by himself.

I did like that more of the teachers were featured, but just Gamby took a little work to get through. I stopped a couple of times to do other stuff. It wasn't totally one note, but it took a little too long for Miss Snodgrass to call him out.

I liked the teacher with the black hair though; she was just down for whatever. The look Gamby gave her when she was just rocking out with the turkey leg was funny. 

15 hours ago, Noirprncess said:

The school trip wasn't necessarily interesting as it was clear that everyone tolerated him.  

It is important for the show to establish that for the viewers. But, Gamby is kind of good at his job. He's always looking for something, and with high school kids, you're going to find something all the time. Especially on an over night field trip. Although he did it in a stupid way, I tend to agree that for an overnight field trip, he should be there. The other teachers were going to call the police and make a huge mess of things. So Gamby finds them and yells at them a little and that's the end of it. 

He's an idiot for leaving the book out. I know he wanted to toss it, but still. 

I think the history teacher was kind of a bag tbh. He knows he isn't supposed to ride a bike in the actual school. Not at least calling Gamby for dinner was kind of asking for it too. Not wanting him to hang out in your room after, ok. But come on. 

[formerlyfreedom]

This episode was a bit more like what I expected from the show. There are things that do entertain me, even while there are things that I'm finding repulsive. I did like the teacher Gamby's crushing on trying to let him down a bit at least.

If this were a potentially unlimited series, I'd probably be out, but the fact that they've said that it's going to be two seasons, and a total of 18 episodes is probably going to keep me around out of curiosity.

[ganesh]

So now, Russell has essentially got two over on Gamby. He gives him the broach, which Gamby uses. Then he leaves the binder with Gamby, which he also uses. Both times other people find out. 

I don't know if Russell is running a long con on Gamby at the same time as they are both trying to oust the principal, or if it's more of Gamby being just stupid. Maybe both. 

[Unclejosh]

On 7/23/2016 at 7:37 PM, seacliffsal said:

Just a quick note about teacher gender.  Females are by far predominant in elementary schools.  However, high schools historically were male dominated (and many decades ago high school teachers were paid more than elementary teachers because the faculties were mainly men [the pay scales are now the same]).  As for high school administrators, there's a bit more of a gender balance in administration.  Probably still more male administrators at the high school level, but from my experience (as both a high school teacher [in two states] and a high school administrator) women are not far behind.  Some schools/districts vary of course.  The fictional school district may have hired a female principal to help equalize the gender balance (and because both vice principals would be horrible principals from what has been shown so far).

I was reading the comments in this thread and thinking the exact same thing you posted.  In my elementary school, I had all female teachers except for 1 year and pretty much the exact opposite in high school.  Almost entirely male teachers with a few females.  I believe I had a total of 4 female teachers my entire 4 years of high school.  In my Jr High School (Grades 7 & 8), aside from my homeroom teachers I only had 1 female teacher in 8th grade. The rest were all male.

[thuganomics85]

Seem this was the episode to try and humanize Belinda a bit, and I did think it somewhat worked.  She clearly can be a hardass, but I do think is sincere in wanting to do the best for the school, herself, and her children.  Too bad she's dealing with both Gamby and Russell, who hate her ass. I did love her coming out ahead in this one, thanks to Gamby not wanting to loose the football game.  Even Gamby has his limits, dammit!  Both him and Russell on LSD was hilarious!

In general, while both characters are horrible, I do think each episode is showing that Russell is on another level.  Gamby is clearly insecure, delusional, egotistical, and short-tempered, but I think they show that he has some lines he won't cross and even feels something resembling guilt at times.  Russell though, just seems to be a manipulating psychopath, who will hurt anyone to get what he wants.  Nine times out of ten, he's in the driver's seat, but Gamby is just such a loose cannon, that even Russell can't always predict what he is going to do. 

Walton Goggins continues to be my favorite.  He can make the simplest line or insult tens times funnier, just by the way he delivers it.

[Noirprncess]

Without Walton Goggins, I would have given up on this show earlier.  Danny McBride as a lead or writer isn't compelling enough for me.

I'm chuckling at Kill Face (character from Devious Maids) being a featured character next week.

[Febgirl]

I really liked seeing Russell and Gamby meet their Percival High doppelgängers. And that acid trip sequence was great. 

Nice to see that Gamby has some sort of code, as warped as it is. He feels a shred of remorse. Russell is just a horrible person. Damn, is Walton Goggins good. 

[ganesh]

Gamby actually looked like he felt bad when he saw Brown crying in her car. I liked the scenes with her and the kids and then telling off the other principal. I'm wondering if this is the first time Brown has heard that Gamby and Russell wanted

I don't necessarily think losing the football game would have hit Brown as hard as Russell was making it out to be. He kind of flew off the handle.

The whole graffiti aftermath scene with "I don't think they meant you. I would guess yours isn't purple." That's the kind of humor I was expecting from McBride and is good for the show. 

[scrb]

Loving the show.  I liked Eastbound and Down, especially the latter seasons.

I guess McBride believes in unsympathetic characters.  He was interviewed by Bill Simmons and he comes across as nothing like his characters.

[DrivingSideways]

This show is insane and I kind of like it.  I started off agreeing with Gamby and Russell about Belinda - she did seem needlessly bitchy.  But the show has softened her and I'm rooting for her.  I'm so happy Gamby and Russell dosed themselves because I really wanted the team to win, and I was afraid with a show this dark, I was going to get disappointed.  Seeing Belinda channel all of her frustration and anger into her pep talk was a thing of beauty.

It's interesting that Belinda inspires such fear in everybody, but her two sons are such brats.  I loved her takedown of the opposing principal.  Russell is insane and I'm really interested to see where this is all going.

[thuganomics85]

Gamby breaking down during The Circle and confessing his feelings to all those students, was actually close to touching.  I liked how the students seem to legitimately want to help him.  He's such an asshole, but I guess he's kind of human on some levels.

Glad we got a lot of Russell in this one.  He's still an insane, scary loon, but they did a good job at making that Jackie character so despicable, with his racism, sexism ("you should smile more often!"  Slow your role, Kilgrave..), and generally meathead attitude, I was rooting for him when he finally destroyed the boom box.  Gamby saving him at the end though, was a hilarious way to end it.

I like that Belinda continues to be effective at her job (The Circle), even though she can still get her jerk on (she totally made Gamby park and walk that distance, just because she wanted to stick it to him.)  Of course, it helps that Gamby (and Russell) are worse then she is. 

[Febgirl]

Good to know that all the La Croix water I bought on sale can serve more than the purpose of being a delicious beverage. 

I was happy to have a Russell centric episode this week, especially after seeing the depths of his darkness last week  

Lee Russell trying so hard to be a man, claiming to have the sexual prowess of Warren Beatty and prancing off, killed me as did his smug victory song. 

Even Gamby broke my heart a little this week, when his "friend" moved on  The way they're having the adults suffer the indignity of High School is something I really like about this show  

[red12]

I know I was supposed to hate Jackie and would if he was my neighbor, but I could have played him knocking Russel out in the scene where Russell put his toe over the property line 32x's in a row and still laughed. That would make a great GIF. I also responded, "Now burn his house down since you're so big and bad." at the tv when he had to slink back home to his disappointed wife when he couldn't get Jackie to turn the music down the first time. 

I liked the writing this episode and I am enjoying getting to see the small interactions of the characters. I especially like the conversations between DeShaun and Gamby.  

[ganesh]

I was surprised Russell was bullied that much. I figured he would be plotting something and the garage would explode. 

I get the point of the Circle, but on the other hand, Gamby having a circle for all the dumb stuff high school kids do, and he'll be in the circles for 20 hours a day. I don't know if it was fair of Brown to not let him give out any detention. It is his actual job. 

I liked this episode though. 

[scrb]

Maybe the joke is that Russell is whipped by his wife and mother in law at home so he's a psycho at the office.

[DrivingSideways]

This show is getting better and better every week after a slow start.  I love all of the characters.  I also love the latent homosexuality of Lee Russell.  Belinda is still my favorite.  She gets shit done.

[scrb]

Virtually every character has been great.  The English teacher was good and the repartee between her and Belinda was well written.

They gave Amanda a bigger role and she raised her game, showing more about her character than as simply Gamby's crush.

[thuganomics85]

Ha!  I love that Russell might have just fucked everything up, because his own damn ego.  They scored a huge victory over Belinda, but then he just had to make her that "special coffee", and sure enough, she catches him mid-spit.  Even if she doesn't completely figure out he was behind all of the recent issues (yet), she has to know that he is clearly not a fan, like he pretends to be.  Sucks to be you, Russell!  But Walton Goggins continues to to make almost every line gold.

The Amanda scenes were probably some of my favorite of hers so far.  I'm glad there is more to her outside of Gamby's crush, and how even she was only basically helping him for her own personal needs, even though she ended up supporting him at the end.  I still don't want them to be a thing, since Gamby is still a creepy asshole, but I kind of like seeing them actually working together.

Always down for more Gale and Ray.  Still want more of the former, but Busy Phillips is still great.  Ray though, is really becoming my favorite character.  Shea Whigam is such an underrated talent.  I love how Ray truly seems to be supportive of Gamby, and actually wants to be friendly. If only Gamby could look past his hatred, he'd see that he would have a good friend with Ray.  But I doubt that's ever going to happen!

[TaraS1]

Walton Goggins is definitely the best part of this, I love him more every week.  But why are they wasting Busy Phillips like this??  Any generic actress out there could do the boring role they've given her.

[red12]

The English teacher character is the spirit twin of my high school AP History teacher. They dress exactly the same and my teacher had the same braid and superior attitude. That lady was a piece of work.

In retrospect, I realize now how hilarious she was. She actually said out loud that she wasn't racist like people down here (TX) because she grew up in Connecticut. She also called my mom one time to make sure she knew a male classmate was driving me home from an after school activity the teacher was sponsoring. My mom was pretty clear from the awkwardness of the conversation that she was basically calling to find out if my mom thought we were dating and if she knew the boy is white. 

[benteen]

Quote

Ha!  I love that Russell might have just fucked everything up, because his own damn ego.  They scored a huge victory over Belinda, but then he just had to make her that "special coffee", and sure enough, she catches him mid-spit.

Yep.  He won a big victory but he still couldn't resist spiking the football afterwards and his getting caught like that made me laugh.

This show is getting better and better every week.  I've always found McBride to be funny but Goggins is the one who is owning this show.  I was laughing out loud when Lee was arguing with his mother-in-law.

I totally agree that Busy Phillips is being wasted in a throwaway role on this show.  Freaks and Geeks is one of my all-time favorite shows and I like to re-watch it every so often.  I find Busy to be funnier and funnier every time I watch an episode.

[Pallida]

Each time we see Gamby, Gale, and Ray together, I want the backstory on how Gamby and Gale ever were together.  Did divorce make Gamby a jerk or just exacerbate it?  As much as I love Water Goggins and how he plays Russell, I think Ray is my favorite character simply because in this world of deceit and backstabbing, Ray seems like an honest, happy guy.  

[ganesh]

This was a really good episode. I liked the friendship with Gamby and Snodgrass, and Gamby actually was genuinely invested in trying to be part of the daughter's life. I felt bad for Snodgrass pining for the jerk teacher. 

Great plan with the books too. Lee needs to learn to take the win though!

[DrivingSideways]

It was kind of hard to believe Belinda would go so over the top with the teacher.  I had trouble believing she would fall for that setup.  And since I've started to love the character, it really disappointed me to see her humiliated.  Then to catch Lee spitting in her coffee.  I just hope she goes HAM next week and shows herself capable of the crushing them and coming out on top, like I know she will.

If this show was edited a little more and threaded together, it would make an awesome, oddball movie.

[scrb]

That was some serious loogie that Russell was hocking when he was caught.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Walter Goggins continues to be a delight. I love that Belinda caught him spitting in her coffee because I can't wait to see how he tries to squirm out of that and try to get back into her good graces. Russell's greatest strength is his charm, but when it doesn't work (like on his neighbor) he gets flustered so I am really looking forward to seeing how he handles the situation with Belinda now.

ITA that Busy Philipps is totally underutilized. She gets like three lines per episode and one of them is always about how awesome Ray is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will have more for her to do before the season ends, but I think there are only three more episodes left.

Awww, Snodgrass can't take a hint! It's always sad when you see an adult realize that the situation is like high school all over again. Hopefully she gets over her crush on that lame history teacher.

I love the little touches they added in this episode with the English teachers. From LeBlanc pointing out Brown's double negative (and her defense: "I'm an English teacher") to Snodgrass explaining split infinitives before Gamby interrupted her class, the grammar nerd in me loves that stuff.

[ganesh]

I liked when the kids all went "oooh" and Gamby snapped at them. 

I guess they're still using The Circle too! 

[Phishbulb]

11 hours ago, DrivingSideways said:

If this show was edited a little more and threaded together, it would make an awesome, oddball movie.

Jody Hill and McBride wrote the script together as a movie script originally (I think a while ago), and then decided to expand it so that it would stretch over 9 episodes. 

[CofCinci]

11 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

Jody Hill and McBride wrote the script together as a movie script originally (I think a while ago), and then decided to expand it so that it would stretch over 9 episodes. 

It's great that they were able to expand the premise into a series because without the extra hours to flesh out characters and their motivations, I could easy see the movie labeled as racist and misogynistic.

I squealed out loud when Belinda caught Russell mid-spit.  I can't remember the last time I reacted like that during a show. Cannot wait for the next episode!

They've made a mistake not utilizing Busy Phillips more. Perhaps her stuff isn't making the final edit?  I figure she'll feature prominently at the end, like Gamby has to make a choice between the two women?

Edited August 24, 2016 by CofCinci

[ganesh]

I'd rather they not go that route. I'd like to see Gamby get some growth and develop an amicable relationship with Busy and Ray. 

I kind of want Ray and Lee to "win" against Brown, but it can't be a total win. Neither can be the principal. We haven't heard anything about the fire in a while. That has to come back.

[scrb]

Russell and Gamby may have a legit grievance for being passed over but they shouldn't be taking it out on Belinda.

It should be the superintendent or the board.

But I guess this antagonism among the 3 of them make for great comic moments.

[Ottis]

After almost giving up on this show, I've really liked the last two episodes. It's showing some heart. Still don't care for Goggins' character. His home life is more interesting than he is. 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Ottis

[SoothingDave]

I'm kind of feeling sorry that Gamby is going to get his budding relationship with Snodgrass ruined because of the dossier that Russell had made on her.  You know that other teacher (the one he slept with on the class trip) is going to get jealous and spill the beans.

[Brooklynista]

Miss Snodgrass, girl I feel your pain.  I recently had a lover put me down for no good reason.  Just like that, it was gone.  Reflect on the good times and know that there is more good penis out there. 

[vb68]

My honest reaction after this latest episode is that this show is dumb as hell.  It certainly has its charms, namely Walton Goggins, but it does come across like fan fiction written by junior high students about their teachers and principals.  I almost expect Sue Sylvester to show up.  She would certainly fit in this universe.

Busy Phillips is on this show?   I would hope she had other offers than this nothing part (so far).

[thuganomics85]

It was almost, well, human of Russell to drive Neal to the hospital, after hearing about his daughter.  He even seemed kind of, gasp!  Concern for both of them.  Can he actually have something resembling a soul, after-all?!  Neal was being typically over-the-top about his daughter yelling at him last week, but I still kind of felt for him.  I do think he loves and wants to be a good father to her, but he's just so messed up in the head, that he goes at it the wrong way.  Plus, automatically making Ray his nemesis just turns everything into a competition.  If he would just be more mature about it, it would work out so much better for everyone involved.

Oh, boy.  Gamby and Amanda finally kiss.  That just has to mean something will derail it.  I'm guessing it will be the other teacher.  Even if she doesn't have that special binder anymore, I have to think she will cause enough drama to mess it up.

Hilarious how Russell is still trying to suck up to Belinda, even though she is clearly over him.  He's such a little weasel, and he seems incapable of being able to handle someone who is on to him.  Him with her kids was as hilarious and twisted as I suspected, complete with smoking weed, bragging about how awesome his jeans are, and showing them porn so he can prove to them that he totally isn't gay!  Oh, Russell.

[Phishbulb]

The whole show has kind of had nods here and there to the teen comedies of the '80s, but I have to say the whole "Ferris Bueller"-ish sequence of Russell and the kids trying to get back to Principal Brown's office in time before she got there was awesome.  I just had a smile on my face through the whole thing.

[jbrecken]

9 minutes ago, Phishbulb said:

The whole show has kind of had nods here and there to the teen comedies of the '80s, but I have to say the whole "Ferris Bueller"-ish sequence of Russell and the kids trying to get back to Principal Brown's office in time before she got there was awesome.  I just had a smile on my face through the whole thing.

It felt more Breakfast Club than Bueller to me.

[scrb]

Just imagine if teacher's lounges had that kind of juvenile but venomous putdowns being exchange back and forth.

All this over Gamby?

[Racj82]

10 hours ago, jbrecken said:

It felt more Breakfast Club than Bueller to me.

The music made it more Ferris like but its basically miss since the setting was breakfast club like. 

[SoothingDave]

If Dr. Brown's kids go to another school why were they at this school all day in need of being babysat?  And why would they be wearing their private school uniforms if they didn't have school that day?

[Ottis]

So Gamby and Belinda seem to be connecting, while Russell and Belinda are on the outs. Wonder if a desperate Russell will bring Gamby with him? Which would be too bad, because I like when there is some humanity in a show, even one like VP. 

The whole Darious (or whatever) thing was out of the blue. A principal's ex wandering the school unaccompanied, and then a public reunion in front of the teachers? weird. 

The teacher work day had promise when Russell kicked the kid out of school with the ironic, anti-kid comment by a professional school official, but nothing else materialized.

[thuganomics85]

Sure enough, Gamby already fucks things up with Amanda, after finding out about her and Hayden from Abbott, and then getting pissy about it. He really is his own worst enemy.

Damn, the Belinda stuff is crazy.  Her sons decide they want to go back to Philly with their dad, so she lets them, but also falls off the wagon (she's an alcoholic, apparently), and Russell video tapes and even encourages her to keep embarrassing herself.  Gamby clearly seems to be uncomfortable about this, but still goes along, because I guess he doesn't have it in him to actually stop Russell.  Too bad, since he and Belinda actually seem to be getting along finally.  He's probably going to regret this if Russell does end up succeeding.

I am so going to hell for laughing at Russell bumping his mother in-law into a clothing rack.  He's such an asshole.  Walton Goggins is the greatest.

[scrb]

All 3 actors are so good.  She said some hilarious things as she got more and more drunk.

Good to see it labeled as a season finale next week.  It seems McBride may not necessarily want a long run so we may be lucky to get two seasons out of this.

[benteen]

Belinda drunk was hilarious.  Great job by Kimberly Herbert Gregory, as she managed to steal the episode even away from Goggins.  Goggings was hilarious as always, particularly when he was recording her.  The faces Belinda made when she was peeing on top of the police car made me LOL.

Edited September 12, 2016 by benteen