When the finale begins, Matt Bashier (Alex Dimitriades) is led to an interrogation room by Adam Bilic (Aden Young). Back at the school, Tarek (Rahel Romahn) has a run in with George (George Xanthis) and Ursula Bright (Di Adams). They only manage to make matters worse and their conversation ends with Tarek heading out of the school. Adam questions Matt about closing his door with Tarek in his office. Matt admits he did one, but only briefly. Tarek calls Matt and gets his voice mail. He leaves a message blaming George for all of his troubles. He insists he isn’t going to take it.

Adam continues questioning Matt, while Kellie Norton (Mirrah Foulkes) speaks to Chris’ mom. Matt admits he encountered Kenny Movondo (Thuso Lekwape) at the school on the night of the murder. Adam catches him in a lie, since he previously said he left the school right after the meeting. He prods Matt for information regarding the missing hour. Matt suggests he stopped at a park, in order to clear his head. After Kellie leaves Chris’ home, she is given old photos of Chris and Matt. In Matt’s absence, Hafa Habeb (Andrea Demetriades) plans an event for the school and hopes it’ll bring everyone together.

Val (Deborah Kennedy) interrupts and tells Ursula that Dino (Robert Mammone) wishes to speak with her on Skype. Over Skype, Dino ridicules Ursula about Matt’s situation and getting hauled down to the police station. At the police station, Kellie gives Adam the photos of Matt and Chris. Afterwards, Kellie informs Dave Santos (Michael Whalley) that Kenny’s social worker has called and informed them Kenny has made a run for it. She makes a discovery about Mohammad (Michael Denkha). Meanwhile, Matt is hounded about his relationship with Chris.

Matt admits he was there when Chris was attacked. Adam passes him the photographs and insists he must’ve been special to Chris. Matt tells Adam he wanted the boys to stop, but was outnumbered and unable to do anything. Eventually, he admits to kicking Chris, because he hated him. It is revealed that Chris killed himself several days later. Matt is again asked who he was with after the school meeting. He confesses he was with a man, but never got his name.

Adam tells him to find the stranger immediately or he won’t be able to help him. Finally, Matt is released. Kellie speaks to Adam about Mohammad and his previous quotes speaking out against extremists. Adam admits Bashir is still a suspect. She also learns about Bashir’s sexuality. Matt returns to the school and is hounded by Ursula to call Dino. He learns about Tarek’s departure and questions George about his decision to remove Tarek from his recommendation list. Matt insists they’ve created another train wreck and suggests they need to give the kids a taste of a better life.

Matt follows Kellie into the gym and confronts her. He learns that she has been jealous and insists he cannot open up about himself, because everyone will accuse him of doing something he did not do. He also tells Kellie about his father finding Chris and him together. He insists Chris’ mom blamed him for Chris hanging himself. We see Sami Bivas (Narek Arman) packing his belongings and preparing to leave the country.

During the boxing session, Sisi (Aliki Matangi) loses his cool and is ordered to sit aside. Sisi reveals that the Muslims blame them for everything. He also tells Kellie that Mohammad picked up his cousin, before throwing him out of the cab and referring to him as a drug dealer. Matt tells Ursula about being a suspect in the murder. He questions her about telling the police about him closing the door with Tarek in his office. Val interrupts and overhears Ursula referencing Matt’s sexuality.

Adam questions Kellie about Sami and his potential of joining a terrorist group. She responds by telling him about Mohammad’s treatment of Sisi’s cousin. With that, Adam attempts to convince Kellie to apply for detective, but she insists she likes her job at the school. Alma Bivas (Neveen Hanna) returns home and finds Sami missing. She also finds a newspaper article about a boy trying to join ISIS, so she alerts the authorities immediately. At the school, Val receives another bomb threat. Matt vows not to shut down the school this time.

Meanwhile, Tarek heads to the gang leader (Serhat Caradee) and hands over the money. In return, he is given a handgun. With Alma’s tipoff, Sami is tracked down and taken into custody. Lucinda (Alice Lily Zahalka) meets up with Sisi. She asks him, if he killed Karim. He maintains his innocence and the pair are back on. Matt checks his voicemail and hears Tarek threatening George. He immediately rushes over to George’s place and tells him to stay away from Tarek. He also exposes his sexuality and pleads with George to return to the school.

Matt calls Mohammad and questions about Tarek’s whereabouts. Mohammad admits he doesn’t know where his son is. Kellie manages to track down Kenny. She asks him, if Bashir was harassing him and Kenny denies it. However, he does admit he was at the school that night and he saw the killer. Kellie calls Adam and gives him an update. Meanwhile, Mohammad makes it home and discovers Tarek in his room with the gun. Matt arrives moments later and Tarek breaks down. He explains everything that happened and how he killed his brother. He contemplates killing himself, but his father manages to talk him out of it.

The show flashes forward a few weeks and Matt heads to Hafa’s school event. On the way there, he calls his mother and tells her that he wants to see his father. During the event, some of the parents leave, after discovering Matt’s sexuality. However, the students remain loyal to their Principal. Matt and Mohammad visit Tarek at the jail and give him some homemade food. At the end of the finale, Matt pays a visit to Chris’ mother.

 

The Principal Review

The Principal has turned out to be one of the best Australian dramas of the year. The finale did not disappoint and delivered somewhat of a twist. Despite only being 4 episodes, the show covered a lot of ground and managed to build some deep characters. It was extremely difficult not to feel some type of empathy and feelings for each. The writing was excellent and the show was well paced. It never felt like a bore and managed to keep me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end.

The acting was unparalleled. There wasn’t a bad performance throughout the series. Although some of the stars were already notable, Rahel Romahn and Thuso Lekwape definitely shined. The pair played polar opposites and managed to pull off their characters perfectly. It is really hard to find anything bad to say about The Principal. The series is definitely a must watch and one of the best mini series of 2015!

The gripping finale deserves a 9 out of 10. Be sure to catch up with the previous episodes of The Principal now!