The show doesn’t miss a beat; Neal is recovering from his wounds and, true to form, as self-pitying and egotistical as ever. (He does seem to have legitimately warmed up to Ray, though.) Gamby rides his wheelchair everywhere even though he doesn’t need to anymore, until Russell gives him the literal and metaphorical kick in the ass he needs to stop feeling sorry for himself and start earnestly trying to get better.
Gamby’s unnerved by all the changes Russell has made to the school, but takes the opportunity to collect information from Mrs. Swift on Belinda Brown, who he believes shot him. Confronting her, though, she rightly points out something I was thinking for the first half of the episode: Nobody has benefited from Gamby being shot more than Lee Russell. (Also, she’s over them, or more accurately, they’re behind her: See the tattoo of them eating shit.)
Gamby confronts Russell, and he angrily denies it; he’s been a friend to Gamby and helped him recover (all true) and he brought him back to the school because he needs Gamby’s help as a disciplinarian. In the last scene, we see Neal fully shed the symbols of his infirmity, kicking ass, taking names, and restoring order to the North Jackson High School cafeteria. Go Warriors Tigers!
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
- Gamby’s ego is as susceptible to flattery as ever; notice how his attitude toward the security guard changes once he calls him a hero. (Also, Gamby was shot in the parking lot. How would a metal detector have prevented that?)
- Of course Gamby has a Homeland / Pepe Silvia Conspiracy Board. Best detail: The note “GANG RELATIONS?” under Brown.
- Also, of course Gamby makes a Taxi Driver gun rig, and of course it fails to go off. (We get both Chekov’s gun and Chekov’s sword-cane in the episode! Speaking of, did I mention the sword-cane? Ray is the best. )
- Was Lee Russell posing for the camera when he was leaning against the tree while Neal tried to walk under his own power? Also, did he get frosted tips?
- Gamby awkwardly interrogating Dayshaun about his relationship with Brown was priceless, of course.
- Nothing, however, topped the scene in the auditorium of a choir singing “Tears in Heaven” to Neal, maybe the most absurd scene I’ve seen in a comedy this year, and one that just prompted a “What the fuck” in my notes.
- “It’s the most annoying, confusing gangbang I’ve ever been a part of in my life!”
- Miss Snodgrass seemed particularly taken by Neal’s display of authority at the end of the episode. Possible rekindling?
- That’s Dale Dickey as Vice Principal Nash; you probably remember her most as “Skank” from Breaking Bad (Well, officially, she’s credited as “Spooge’s Woman”).
- Who do you think shot Gamby? I believed both Brown and Russell (although Russell is enough of a sociopath to lie about it, or to have hired someone to do it and “technically” tell the truth in his answer), and Ms. Abbott seemed too excited to see him for it to be her.
- “This isn’t my car!”