Vice Principals: “Run for the Money” Review

‘Vice Principals’ kicked itself back into gear with an antic-filled homecoming week.

Image via HBO

“This Is Our Home Now.”

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

“Run for the Money” was the kick in the ass Vice Principals needed. Spawned out of “The Field Trip” episode were some storylines, notably Gamby and Ms. Abbott hooking up, but not much else. With that episode thankfully out of sight, we got back to Gamby and Russell scheming to destroy Belinda.

The show does well with sticking on its high school theme and focused on North Jackson High’s homecoming week. The fun kicker to all of this was the rival school in Percival, known for their unbeatable football team and their dastardly pranks. With this week of vandalism and tit-for-tat-ing, Russell wisely uses this as an excuse to take Belinda down while she’s weak. Back in Episode 2, the burning down of Belinda’s house felt too dark for this kind of show, but the ransacking of NJH was more appropriate. Watching Gamby and Russell blend in and smear Belinda’s name was one of many moments that made this episode outstanding from what came before it.

The writing and pacing did great things for the episode’s off-kilter finale. Belinda’s spark has been non-existent since her house burned down, and her home life with her kids did more to break her spirit. The final blow for her morale would have been NJH’s defeat in the homecoming game. Gamby had his reasoning for NJH to win in wanting Ray to eat his words. Russell, on the contrary, wanted NJH to lose for the purpose of knocking Belinda out. The conflicting point of views eventually led to the two VPs getting a large dose of LSD meant for the home team. Vice Principals doesn’t shy away from overexaggerated bits, and this one has been the biggest and most fun yet. You had distorted visuals, hallucinations and wacked-out dialogue. “WHAT?!” was laughed out more than a few times, especially after Russell plants a kiss on one of Percival’s VPs and Gamby finger blasts (in a completely different way, trust me) the other.

THE BREAKDOWN

I nearly lost faith in Vice Principals in last week’s uninspired “The Field Trip” episode, but “Run for the Money” gave the show the drive it needed. It did a lot right this time around. We got Gamby and Russell working together while also fighting each other, we got the necessary Dayshawn scene and we got a great ending that was transitioned to nicely. As I said in last week’s review, the show is best when it stays on brand.

How did you enjoy the VPs’ acid trip? Tweet me @NerdDot. Also, be sure to follow us @YouNerded for more ‘Vice Principals’ reviews.

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