This was my first Danny McBride show. I watched almost the entire first season of before watching the entirety of 'Eastbound and Down,' and then went back to finish all of 'Vice Principals.'
Season 1 works as a dark comedy about an administrative power struggle between three people. When I got to season 2, I realized the reason why season 1 worked so well was because of Dr. Belinda Brown. She is the perfect target for the two vice principals' antics, which sets up most of the comedy of season 1.
Since she's not in most of season 2, I felt the show took a bit of a downward spiral. Gamby spends much of the season trying to find his shooter. But throughout this search, there's little to actually engage us for most of the season. Some of the new characters introduced, like Nash, leave much to be desired. The fact that it takes so long for Gamby and Snodgrass to get back together again is kind of weird, because he spent most of season 1 trying to get her, and succeeded. Here, it felt like someone pushed the reset button in a bad way, which made most of the next season not so enjoyable.
The season finale, however, is strong. Danny McBride shows are weird in that the quality of the season finale will be polar opposite to the rest of the show. In this case, season 1 of Vice Principals is mostly good, but the season finale leaves much to be desired. Season 2, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired, but the season 2 finale is strong.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend only watching season 1, because the story of season 2 does conclude the show. Some people say season 2 was even better than season 1, but I definitely felt a decline in storytelling quality with the absence of Belinda Brown, which put a spike in the show's quality, and impacted its overall vision.
Season 1 works as a dark comedy about an administrative power struggle between three people. When I got to season 2, I realized the reason why season 1 worked so well was because of Dr. Belinda Brown. She is the perfect target for the two vice principals' antics, which sets up most of the comedy of season 1.
Since she's not in most of season 2, I felt the show took a bit of a downward spiral. Gamby spends much of the season trying to find his shooter. But throughout this search, there's little to actually engage us for most of the season. Some of the new characters introduced, like Nash, leave much to be desired. The fact that it takes so long for Gamby and Snodgrass to get back together again is kind of weird, because he spent most of season 1 trying to get her, and succeeded. Here, it felt like someone pushed the reset button in a bad way, which made most of the next season not so enjoyable.
The season finale, however, is strong. Danny McBride shows are weird in that the quality of the season finale will be polar opposite to the rest of the show. In this case, season 1 of Vice Principals is mostly good, but the season finale leaves much to be desired. Season 2, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired, but the season 2 finale is strong.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend only watching season 1, because the story of season 2 does conclude the show. Some people say season 2 was even better than season 1, but I definitely felt a decline in storytelling quality with the absence of Belinda Brown, which put a spike in the show's quality, and impacted its overall vision.