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clamydomona · 5 years

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Veronica Mars Season 4 (Spoilers)

I had zero expectations going into this season, didn’t watch any interviews or trailers or look up spoilers because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Most revivals I watched in the last years were ony so-so and most of the time when I was looking forward to something I ended up disappointed. Wth that in mind, I enjoyed a lot of what I saw.

Positive stuff:

- I loved that Veronica had a new dog that she named Pony, but I’m disappointed that he didn’t get to go on any of her snooping adventures with her like Backup in the old days.

- I’m glad that Wallace ended up married and with a cute baby and a good job and that he seems genuinely happy, that guy deserves it.

- I could listen to Cliff for hours and still enjoy his relationship with Keith and Veronica immensely. I like that he seems ridiculous but good at his job at the same time.

- Same goes for Vinnie. I can understand why the police chief is reluctant to trust PIs if most of her interactions are with Vinnie. Less so with Keith and Veronica. But at least she seems more qualified for her jobs than the Lambs ever were.

- I enjoyed what we’ve seen of Dick, but I’m glad that it wasnt more than that.

- Big Dick’s right hand man reminded me so much of Mike from Breaking Bad I sometimes confused those guys.

- The thing I enjoyed most of all was Veronica and Keith’s relationship, their teamwork and their banter. That was one aspect of the show I liked the most and I’m glad this season had so much of that.

- Logan’s character development was great as well. I loved that he ha help working through his issues to move beyond his anger and resentment that drove him so much of his life, while still being enjoyable and recognizable as a character. I also absolutely loved the scene where Logan came home with blood on his shirt, acting like nothing happened. And that Logan seemed to have very positive relationships with Keith and Wallace, after their earlier animosities.

- I also liked that scene where the murder heads were all arguing about who really killed Lily. Seems very reflective of all the True Crime culture nowadays.

- The mystery was interesting enough and not as convoluted as some of the previous mysteries.

- I also enjoyed many of the Leo-scenes, there was some pretty good banter and I liked how they snapped out of their drunkenness to draw their guns withing two seconds. Could have done without the sex dream, though I never for one second thought that thing was real.

- Nicole was a very fun character and I’m sad that her storyline ended the way it did.

So-So stuff:

- While pizza guy Penn was an interesting character, after a while he became very annoying being featured so heavily.

- Matty was interesting as a mirror of Veronica’s teenage self, though I’m not sure I would have let her be unsupervised in the office after some of the stuff she pulled beforehand.

- While earlier seasons were certainly violent enough, I could have done without so much casual beheading. Seemed way over the top for me.

- After watching Jason Dohring in iZombie, I was relieved that his head didn’t look as tiny in comparison to his very defined torso as it did in that show. For some reason that was extremely off-putting to me last year.

Negative Stuff:

- Why so little Wallace? They could have found something for him to do, it can’t be that hard. Also I’m disappointed that he was treated as so disposable by Veronica. She treated spending time with him more as an obligation than anything else. Was that the same in the show, it’s been a few years since I saw that.

- No Mac. She was missing so much.

- Why they felt the need to rob Weevil of every positive thing in his life and regress him to the character he was in season 1 I will never understand. I understand that the falling out between him and Veronica was described in the books, but without knowledge of those, their relationship this season just seemed very weird.

- Why the hell did we spend so much time in the first episode with the spring break kids before the bombing, when nothing of that seemed to matter, the scenes could have been cut out and the story would have been just as easy to follow?

- Why did none of these people, except the brother of the congressman and Matty, seem in any way trauamtized or sad that they lost their friends/family in a bombing when they instead expected to have fun partying?

- Why was Veronica belitleing Logan’s therapy so much? Didn’t their relationship fall apart numerous times because of his destructive tendencies? Shouldn’t she be happy that he sought help, even if she is incapable of getting it herself (when she, let’s face it, probably needs it more than any other character apart from Logan)? After a while I honestly didn’t understand why Logan wanted to be with her, when in earlier seasons it was mostly the other way around.

- Is Logan an addict of any kind or not? I thought he was, since he was a sponsor in the movie, but he drank (and did drugs, did I understand that “E” correctly?) with Nicole, Veronica and Dick in one episode, so I guess not?

- If for some reason the show gets another season, it’s reasonable to expect that they will drag out Duncan again, right? He’s the only ex-boyfriend they haven’t used in any of the newer incarnations of the show.

And then the ending:

I wasn’t spoiled, but it did not exactly come as a surprise to me, because Rob Thomas so fas has been incapable of writing a relationship that survived a whole season intact (at least on Veronica Mars and iZombie, I don’t know about any other products of his. I learned not to get attached to any of Liv’s reationships, because why bother when he kils all of them off anyway?). I honestly thought there was a bomb in her car when Logan reminded her on Skype to move it and expected the bomb to detonate when she went to move it while the cartell guys were watching her apartment. I expected the other shoe to drop the whole episode, so I couldn’t even get into the wedding because it was so obvious to me that the whole thing was far from over without any explosion in the finale.

I wasn’t surprised that the bomb went off, though I am surprised that the show seriously went there and appearantly killed off one of the main reasons people still want to watch the show. After watching so many supernatural shows (and a few soaps), I remain highly sceptical that he’s actually dead without showing the explosion itself, the body, the funeral or anyone mourning at all. Especially after they did something similar in season 2 but didn’t kill off Keith.

But after catching glimpses of interviews going around, I am stunned that the death at least seems to be intended to be permanent and I don’t get that argument at all. Why the hell is it necessary to kill of one of the main attractions of the show in order to “save” it? Who wants to tune into a show that killed off one half of a couple that became an essential part of that show? Seemed to me more like he wanted to make sure he would absolutely not get another season, and providing extremely shitty closure in the process. It just didn’t seem like the show to me. In previous finales, while Veronica went through harrowing experiences, the show still managed to end on a somewhat positive note (which might arguably be the case with Keith getting healthier and Veronica willing to see Logan’s therapist, but all of that seemed extremely hollow to me). Plus, the death was so tagged onto the case storyline, not intrinsic to it at all, but just added after the resolution. Random deaths might be true to real life, here it just seems to be shock for shock’s sake, but not necessarily good storytelling. Furthermore it’s just depressing to pile on more and more trauma onto Veronica without any of the relief of healing.

Also, I completely disagree that the show would not be interesting anymore with a married Veronica. Why couldn’t the conflict and drama come from the cases itself, while her private life was stable for once? I’ve really grown to hate this notion that couples are not interesting once they are in committed relationships, so they have to do will they/won’t they, cheating and love triangles. I’ve read tons of fanfiction that somehow managed it, why are so many showrunners incapable of seeing any appeal in that at all? Honestly, the show would have been more innovative if it had let Veronica be married and at least a little attempting to overcome her trauma. But I guess a happy Veronica is not an inspiring Veronica to the showrunner.

I honestly think Rob Thomas overestimates Veronca’s appeal as a character without any of the other elements. No Neptune, not Keith, no friends, no Logan, just Veronica going around solving cases does not sound appealing at all to me. If he wants something like that, it would probably be better to create a whole new show based on that kind of premise, or write this season like that to begin with. Just kill off Logan off screen in a war and start Veronica as a lonely and depressed PI somewhere other than Neptune if that’s what Rob Thomas wants to write so much.

I really have to thank the absolutely terrible finale of HIMYM. After completely screwing over my favorite couple, I just stopped being invested in any couple to the degree I was before. I never assume anymore that the story will go in the direction I expect it to go, no matter how obvious that outcome seems to me, because who knows how differently the showrunner envisions their work and what they see as “good storytelling” (which somehow often means killing someone off right before the end, how fun!). I am kind of surprised by how angry I am about Logan’s death despite my low expectations and diminished investment in the couple since I first saw the show. At least here I can ignore the ending much more easily than in HIMYM.

#Veronica Mars #Versonica Mars Season 4 #Spoilers #Veronica Mars Spoilers

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vmheadquarters · 5 years

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By Alexis Soloski

When we last saw Veronica Mars, the greatest private investigator Southern California has ever birthed and tanned — shut it, Philip Marlowe — she had ducked a corporate law job and returned to Neptune, her beachside hometown, resolved to defend the weak, defy the powerful, wisecrack with the best of them. Happily ever after, on her terms.

But why be happy when you can be hard-boiled? As Veronica’s inventor Rob Thomas said, “Happy and noir don’t go well together.”

“Veronica Mars,” a snappy, sophisticated crime drama about a high school P.I., debuted in 2004 and ran for three critically celebrated but lightly watched seasons, first on UPN and then on CW, returning in 2014 for a fan-funded movie.

That seemed to be the end of it. Its star, Kristen Bell, continued a successful film and TV career. Thomas went on to create and run “iZOMBIE.” But you know the noir trope where a character thinks she has outrun her past and then the past comes on at a sprint? It applies.

In a genre-appropriate twist, the show is back, revamped for the streaming age. An eight-episode fourth season will drop on July 26 at Hulu, where the first three seasons are already available.

Reboots and revivals are as thick on the ground as Neptune beachgoers. A long-gone show that returns after so many years with its original cast, led by Bell’s Veronica, and its distinguishing style (think Dashiell Hammett after a few blender drinks) mostly intact? That’s rarer, and not without its dangers.

Continuing a beloved series after so many years risks tarnishing its legacy. (If we’re being honest, the uneven third season was risk enough.) Besides, how do you make a show about a child prodigy when that child prodigy can apply for a fixed-rate mortgage?

The season’s big mystery, according to Thomas: Is a 30-something Veronica Mars “an interesting enough character on her own to continue to attract fans?”

A few weeks ago, I met Bell on a gloomy June afternoon in her trailer on the Universal lot, an overheated box befrilled in demoralizing beige. She was in the middle of a shoot for her other show, “The Good Place,” and had two caffeinated drinks going, which partly explained the pep. (The messianic zeal she feels for Veronica explained the rest.) In her costume, a lilac sweater over an embroidered blouse and green chinos, she looked about as noir as an Easter basket.

And yet “Veronica Mars,” she said, is the show that launched her, that shaped her, that taught her comedy and responsibility and a commitment to social justice. She will quit it, she said, when everyone in Neptune is dead.

“That’s when I’ll do it,” she said, pushing her cane-sugar soprano into a lower register. “That’s when I will let her go: When the last body is buried.”

“Veronica Mars,” which The Times described, on a list of the 20 best TV dramas since “The Sopranos,” as “a peerless blend of neo-noir mystery and teenage romantic drama,” was always a show ahead of its time. Its heroine, 17 when the show began, looked like a Barbie and scrapped like a G.I. Joe. She was as quick with a comeback as with the Taser she called Mr. Sparky, but still vulnerable to problems personal and systemic.

More politically minded than your average teen soap, “Veronica Mars” had love triangles and cliffhangers and, from its first episode, a sustained interest in wealth inequality. In its depiction of gendered violence, it anticipated much of the #MeToo conversation.

“It continually kept questions about gender inequality in view,” said Susan Berridge, a lecturer in media at the University of Stirling who has written about the series. “There were so many story lines involving sexual violence and other forms of gendered abuse that it became impossible to see these issues as one-off aberrations.”

If you don’t identify as a Marshmallow, the name ride-or-die “Veronica Mars” fans adopted, here’s the back story: A onetime popular girl, Veronica became an outcast when her best friend Lilly was murdered and Veronica’s father, Keith (Enrico Colantoni), then Neptune’s sheriff, mistakenly accused the town’s most powerful man. Keith lost his job and his home. Veronica’s mother deserted the family. Her former friends ostracized her. During a party, she was drugged and raped by persons unknown. At some point she gave herself a terrible haircut.

“It was an adult show about a teenage girl,” Mr. Colantoni said, speaking by telephone. “This wasn’t ‘Saved by the Bell.’”

During the first two seasons, Veronica would solve episodic mysteries while also seeking justice for Lilly and for herself. The third season, which brought Veronica to college, dispensed with the case-of-the-week in favor of longer arcs. It also assigned Veronica a nice-guy boyfriend, Stosh “Piz” Piznarski (Chris Lowell), though most fans shipped her and the poor-little-rich-boy Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring).

Facing cancellation, Thomas tried to interest networks in a revival that saw Veronica working for the F.B.I. No one bought it. Presumed dead, “Veronica Mars” was briefly resurrected when Thomas decided to try crowdfunding a movie. He raised $2 million in less than five hours, drawing the highest number of donors for any film or video project in Kickstarter history.

“Veronica Mars” the movie may not have been a masterpiece — The Times called it “a likable, unmemorable, feature-length footnote” — but it melted the gooey hearts of most Marshmallows. Thomas and Bell could have let their gumshoe-made-good ride into the sunset in her secondhand car, placating the fans with the occasional tie-in novels Thomas co-writes. (“‘Co-writer’ is being generous to me,” he clarified.)

But last year, Thomas called Bell and asked her if she would consider playing Veronica again. It was a big ask: Bell had already committed to a final season of “The Good Place” and a “Frozen” sequel. Also, noir involves night shoots and Bell has two young daughters, which means a lot of missed bedtime.

Weighing the commitment, Bell recalled asking herself, “Do I want a world where my daughters know she exists? Or do I think there’s enough out there for them to look to?”

“I didn’t,” she said. “And I thought, yeah, I have to do it.”

And — “this is going to sound so corny,” Bell added — she still needs “Veronica Mars” in her life, even after all this time and all her success. The show gives her a place to put both her anger at a world that is still unequal and unjust, and her faith that individuals and communities can make it better.

“Just knowing Veronica exists has allowed me to pull strength in certain situations,” she said.

This installment picks up five years after the film ended, with Veronica sleuthing alongside her dad at Mars Investigations and living, reward check to reward check, in the oceanside apartment she sometimes shares with Logan, now an active-duty naval intelligence officer. There are a few B- and C-plots, but mostly Veronica works just one case involving a series of bombings threatening Neptune’s spring breakers.

Thomas and Bell, an executive producer, chose the eight-episode format partly because that’s all Bell’s “Good Place” schedule allowed, but also because they were impressed by what shows like “Fargo” and “Sherlock” were able to do in short seasons. They sold the show to Hulu, which was also able to acquire the past seasons. Craig Erwich, Hulu’s senior vice president of originals, described the revival as “an opportunity to see a beloved character grow up.”

Unlike the movie, this new season doesn’t pander — a few Marshmallows may feel scorched. The emphasis on wealth inequality and structural bias is, if anything, starker. The moral palette is grayscale, and the tone (Thomas described it on Twitteras “Hardcore So-Cal noir”) is dark, though maybe not that dark. “There are a lot of jokes,” Thomas said. “I don’t think we can go full ‘Handmaid’s Tale.’”

Though the earlier seasons of “Veronica Mars” shot in San Diego, the show relocated its exteriors to Huntington Beach, nearer to Los Angeles, where Bell lives. Certain sets, like the Mars Investigations office, have been faithfully re-created and shouldn’t upset continuity hard-liners, though Thomas is wary of checking his Twitter feed once the episodes drop.

The dialogue has stayed slangy. “What’s with the fakeloo, our mark’s no Jasper,” Keith scolds Veronica in the fourth episode. (Among this season’s writers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “It never got normal,” Thomas, a basketball fan, said worshipfully.) And Veronica can swear now, though not much. The sex scenes are a little more explicit, the relationships a little more complicated and the emotions real, just like they used to be. “Even when we were teenagers, we all meant it,” Dohring said.

Here’s the big change: A former child prodigy who could out detect men decades older, Veronica has become age appropriate, maybe even immature when it comes to her personal life. (If the series followed real time, Veronica would now be about 32, but these episodes edge her into her mid-30s, closer to Bell’s age.) Thomas wondered if her superpowers — her bravery, her righteous anger, her lack of interest in what others think of her — would seem as impressive on an adult woman. (Speaking as an adult woman: Yes.)

I spoke to Thomas on the telephone a few hours before I met with Bell. Before we hung up, I asked him what he thought I should ask her.

“Ask for her window of availability in 2020,” he said. “That’s what I want to know.”

So I did. Bell told me she had set aside a few months next spring to shoot a follow-up. “As long as people want to watch it, I will do it,” she said. (Hulu is “definitely open to the discussion” about making more of the show, Erwich said.)

But here is what I wanted to know. As a viewer, I’d grown up with Veronica, too. And I’d looked to her as a character who had survived trauma and had accepted how that trauma had changed her, without ever having to sacrifice her humor or her mean-street smarts or her self-confidence. “Veronica Mars was this girl that other girls and boys could look to as an option of what to do with pain, and how not to let it sink you,” Bell said.

So would she ever get that pony? Would we ever see her happy?

“I don’t think we want to,” she said, speaking as Marshmallow in chief. “We want to see her match lit. We want to keep her fight in her. When she’s truly content, the story will be over.”

#veronica mars #NYT full article #veronica mars revival #vm spoilers

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 7 years

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MTVS Epic Rewatch #169

VM 3x08 Lord of the Pi’s

Stray thoughts

1) If you ever wondered what crossover fanfiction would look like if actually made a reality, this is it. This episode is basically Rob Thomas’ dream of making the universe of VM collide with The Big Lebowski’s. Fanwank doesn’t usually result in masterpieces, and this is no exception. The episode is lackluster at best, and after you’ve found all TBL references you end up realizing it lacks substance. The best parts of it are the LoVe scenes, and not in the good kind of way but in the why-does-this-hurt-so-much-I-want-to-die kind of way.

Now, this isn’t to say that I wouldn’t love to see some sort of creation in any media where The Dude and Veronica meet and work a case together (because, let’s face it, among other things, TBL is a mystery and The Dude is a reluctant detective but a detective nonetheless.)

2) I present thee the reason this episode is Kristen Bell’s favorite…

Yes, you’ve read it right. Kristen loves this episode because she finds the fact Chip was sexually assaulted freaking hilarious. I guess she doesn’t think it’s abuse if you get an egg shoved up your anus. Or if you’re a man. You make what you will of this information.

3) So… after nearly getting raped and being rescued but Logan, Veronica is still dodging his calls? Of course, she is, she’s Veronica. Never mind.

4) And then “the talk”...

LOGAN: We need to have a talk, a serious one. VERONICA: Yeah, I got that from your messages. That-it's why I haven't called. I haven't had time to have a talk. LOGAN: Well, then I'll make it quick. I want you to stay away from the rape case. Okay? Just let it go. And it's clear the rapist knows who you are. VERONICA: He doesn't know about the hair, just about the getting dosed part. LOGAN: Well, maybe he should be in the loop on this one. VERONICA: Don't you dare. LOGAN: Fine. Just stop digging around. Okay? No more looking into the serial rapes. No more putting your nose where it doesn't belong. VERONICA: My nose kind of belongs wherever I decide to put it. LOGAN: I'm worried about you. Okay? I want you to stop now. I'm not kidding. VERONICA: Kind of a one-eighty, isn't it? Can we rewind a week? Cue it up to the part where you were asking me to exonerate your Mexican vacation buddy, Mercer. LOGAN: That was before you were attacked. Why can't you for once just leave things alone? VERONICA: Okay, now you're starting to piss me off. LOGAN: Frankly, Veronica, so what?! You're not invincible, and you're not always right! KEITH: Hey! You might want to stop yelling at my daughter. LOGAN: Yeah? You might want to start.

A lot happens in this very short scene, and first of all, let me say that I’m on Logan’s side. He may have gone about it all wrong, but his heart was in the right place. And see, communication wasn’t his forte, but he was trying. He kept calling Veronica to talk about what had happened, and she wasn’t answering his calls. Let’s put this in perspective, shall we? Just a couple of days ago (I can’t imagine more time than that had gone by because there’s no way Veronica could’ve have avoided him for more than a few days...) Veronica wasn’t answering his calls, and he had found her drugged and passed out with her hair shaved. And now, she wasn’t pickin up AGAIN. So I get why the guy was a little jumpy and on edge, okay? Even if she wasn’t ready to have a conversation, she could have at least told him she was okay.

I don’t get how Keith wouldn’t know about the hair? So, Logan found Veronica at the garage and either took her home or to the ER room - more likely the latter. There, Veronica must have been examined and Logan questioned about how he found her, isn’t that the regular procedure? He must’ve told the doctors about the hair. And even if he didn’t, they probably noticed. And then the doctors probably informed Keith? Wouldn’t they? And even if they didn’t, and even if Logan kept his mouth shut for reasons (he didn’t want to worry Keith any further?), Keith took care of Veronica while she was getting better, so like, how is it possible that he didn’t know about/see her hair?

Anywho, that’s just something that kind of bugs me. What’s more important, though, is the fact that Logan quite wisely points out that Keith should be in the loop about his daughter being targeted by the serial rapist. Damn straight he should. Of course, Veronica then not-so-subtly threatens Logan and he acquiesces on the condition that she stops investigating the case that put her in danger.

As a general rule, I agree with Veronica’s statement that her nose belongs wherever she decides to put it. Except in this case, Veronica is acting like a spoiled child. She’s choosing to rebel against someone telling her what to do for her own safety instead of choosing, you know, her own safety! That is monumentally stupid if you ask me. Choose your battles, my sweet child. Be your own person as long as it doesn’t put you in danger, you know?

Logan’s cry of worry was valid and, more importantly, well-founded. Of course, he wasn’t about to win an argument against Veronica, even if he was kind of right. Veronica is using the fact that he had asked her to help Mercer against him, but she’s wrong. Even if it seems she’s making a good point, it’s troll logic. You see, she’s asking him: “oh you wanted to get involved in the case when your buddy was in a jam but now you’re worried?” Well, of course he is! Before she was targeted, there really wasn’t any reason for any of them to be worried about Veronica’s safety. And it wasn’t as if she wasn’t in the case before he asked her to clear Mercer. Now he has a pretty good reason to be worried about her. And she should be worried, too.

And even though I’m not a fan of yelling and shouting your arguments (I believe that if you shout, your good points get lost amidst the shouting. Even if you’re right, you won’t get your message across because people will only hear your yelling instead of your arguments.) I do applaud Logan for finally dumping a truth bomb: Veronica is not invincible, and SHE IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. She likes to think she is always right, but that’s hardly the case. And more often than not, she lets her instincts guide her actions before finding out if she is actually right, and ends up hurting people.

Like I explained above, all Keith hears is Logan yelling and not the actual words he was saying.

VERONICA: Dad, please, it's okay. He's just worried about me. KEITH: Does he have a reason to be? VERONICA: The Hearst rapist has everyone on edge. KEITH: Well, you take care of yourself. I'm always a phone call away. VERONICA: I know you are. Ciao, Papa.

YES, HE DOES HAVE A REASON TO BE WORRIED! WHY DO YOU THINK HE WAS YELLING AT YOUR DAUGHTER? FOR FUN?

And listen, I love Keith to death and I truly think he’s the best father in television history. He always put Veronica’s wants and needs first - almost to a fault. He valued Veronica’s opinion and he respected her decisions, but the thing is, she was still a kid, and she wasn’t always right. And yet, she had him wrapped around her finger, and she knew it. Veronica truly knew how to play her father. I’m not saying she did it on purpose, I think she wasn’t aware she was manipulating him most of the times, but that doesn’t change the fact that she did, in fact, manipulate him A LOT. Take this scene for example. Logan was literally begging Veronica to stop investigating the case because she got in danger and he was yelling about how she wasn’t invincible. Instead of becoming worried, Keith asks Veronica if he should be. That was his first mistake. And then, Veronica doesn’t really answer his question (I could go on a long rant about conversational implicatures but that’s neither here nor there.) She doesn’t say “No, dad, you shouldn’t be.” She offers him a sort of explanation for Logan’s behavior and lets him fill in the blanks about whether he should be worried or not. Don’t you know your daughter, Keith? Can’t you infer the reason she was drugged was because she was walking into the lion’s den by investigating the serial rapist case? Like, what did Keith think had happened? What was the reason he thought Veronica was drugged? Why is he so chill about this?

6) The first time I watched this episode I had no idea who the actress who played Selma Hearst Rose was and why it was relevant that she was playing that character. In case you’re still in the dark, as I was back then, I’ll break it down for you.

This billionaire heiress became famous in 1974 when the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped her in Berkeley, California. She eventually joined her captors in a series of bank robberies and, after being captured, claimed she was brainwashed and/or intimidated into committing the robberies. Nevertheless, she was jailed for almost two years until being released and later receiving a Presidential pardon for her role in the crimes. Patty Hearst, who now acts for fun and not to save her life, plays Selma Hearst Rose, a rich heiress whose mysterious disappearance suggests a kidnapping. The similarities are eerie. And deliberate, according to Veronica Marscreator Rob Thomas. (marsinvestigations.net)

7) It’s nice to see Lamb has preconceptions about people from all walks of life. He’s an equal-opportunity bigot if it means it will get him out of actually doing his job.

LAMB: Foul play. You think? What makes you say so? DEAN O'DELL: An extremely wealthy woman disappears in the middle of a reception held in her honour. Don't you find that, I don't know, odd? LAMB: Well, I mean, there's "odd" and there's "foul play." Rich ladies aren't the most reliable creatures. DEAN O'DELL: Of course, she must have remembered her tennis lesson. How silly of her to forget. I don't suppose there's someone I can speak with who would take this seriously. LAMB: Dollars to doughnuts, you'll find her sobbing into a mojito at the club because she lost an earring. DEAN O'DELL: Well, you'd be the doughnut expert. Excuse me.

8) They were really trying to make the campus extra creepy.

No lighting? Mist? Desolation? Why would ANY girl, let alone Veronica of all people, walk alone at night there?

9) BUFFY REFERENCE!!!

VERONICA: Hey, Fern. What up, girl? FERN: What do you want, Buffy...Tiffany...whatever your name is?

10) And how awesome is it that Veronica impersonates Martina Vázquez and makes Lamb look like the incompetent asshole that he is? And that she doesn’t even pretend not to be making a fool out of him when Keith blows up her cover…

VERONICA: Well, thank you, Sheriff, I'm glad you enjoyed it. We've learned that Selma Rose received a phone call before she went missing. Have you learned who the call was from yet? LAMB: Actually, Martina, we checked that out, and it was false information. There was no record of an incoming call that night. VERONICA: You are sure? LAMB: Yeah, if you'd like, I can keep you in the loop with this sort of stuff. KEITH: Hello? VERONICA: Dad, I'm on the phone. KEITH: Oh, sorry, honey! Let me know when you're off. VERONICA: Sheriff...you were saying you'd be able to keep me in the loop?

Lamb knows Veronica has outsmarted him yet again…

11) Listening to Veronica making assault jokes at the expense of the assault victim is really disheartening, okay? I can’t ever get behind this writing choice.

12) This shit was scary, though.

13) This scene was super fun.

Can you blame Veronica, though? She was so excited she got to do some old-fashioned sleuthing/breaking-and-entering with her dad a.k.a. her hero.

14)

KEITH: This is my daughter, Veronica. She works with me...occasionally. VERONICA: Ryan. Tatum. When he gets in a jam, I make with the cute.

15)

SELMA: Have you ever been a walking punch line, Mr. Mars? I mean, on a national scale?

16) This scene, though! Such a rollercoaster and it all happens in what? A minute?

17)

MOUNTAIN MAN: It's okay, Veronica. It's okay. I'm here to help. VERONICA: What the hell is going on?! MOUNTAIN MAN: Just calm down, all right? Mr. Echolls has been concerned about your safety. I've been hired to keep an eye on you.

(mountain man lol!) Questionable decision? Yes. But I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. And it’s not like he was wrong. Mountain Man had to rescue Veronica from a dangerous situation. But more on this in a bit.

18)

VERONICA: I have spent the last few days being terrified that I had some whacked-out rapist following me!

AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ANYONE! YOU’RE SCARED AND JUMPY AND WORRIED AND YOU HAVE REASON TO BE YET YOU REFUSE TO DROP THE CASE AND YOU HIDE ALL OF THIS FROM YOUR FATHER AND YOU GET MAD AT YOUR BOYFRIEND BECAUSE HE’S WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND IS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU!

(if Keith won’t yell at Veronica, then I will hahaha!)

19)

VERONICA: So you pay someone to tail me? LOGAN: No, so I asked you to stop putting yourself in danger, and you told me to piss off. Then I hired someone to protect you. VERONICA: You had no right to do that. LOGAN: Look, that's probably true...okay? It's just I don't care. VERONICA: You don't care? LOGAN: Look, I don't give a rat's ass if it's right or fair. I don't care if you're angry. I care that you're safe. VERONICA: That's all sweet and great, but it doesn't really work that way. It's not like this is all some new facet of my personality. You know who I am! You know what I do. LOGAN: And? VERONICA: And...it isn't gonna change. And if you can't accept that, this isn't gonna work. LOGAN: You know who I am. And you're constantly expecting me to change.

LOGAN: And even right now, as you're thinking, "crap, he's got a point," you still think you're ultimately right. I love you, Veronica. I love you.But, do you love me?

VERONICA: Yeah. LOGAN: Well then, can we try to go a little easier on each other? VERONICA: Yeah, I think that's a good idea. LOGAN: So, are we okay? VERONICA: Yeah...we're okay.

Like I said before, Logan’s decision to hire a bodyguard (is that what Mountain Man was?) to protect her was questionable at best. He is aware of it, but he doesn’t care. But it wasn’t his first call. Unlike Veronica (who would put tags on him without giving it as much as a second thought, and who actually followed him like four episodes ago.) It was more of a “if you won’t take care of yourself, then I’ll take care of you however I have to” kind of decision. And also, I get it, I get him. So what if she got upset? So what if she found out about it and broke up with him because of it? At least she’d be safe. (I think there’s an interesting parallel to be made between Logan and the girl who only cared about his missing boyfriend being safe.)

But then we get to the meat of the matter, which is, in a nutshell, Veronica is a hypocrite. Veronica is always quick to judge others but the girl kind of sucks at introspection. She truly believes she’s always right. For once, though, she’s rendered speechless. She has no retort because she knows Logan’s right. Of course, she won’t admit it, not out loud. And it won’t change the fact that she will continue to expect him to change while remaining reluctant to change herself.

The problem is, this wasn’t an either/or situation. Okay, so Veronica didn’t want to drop the case because going after the truth was what made her tick. I get that. I support that. I wouldn’t love her as much as I do if that wasn’t who she is. But she could still continue investigating the rape without being reckless by accepting Logan’s help and protection and opening up to Keith about it. But Veronica never knew any other way than her own way.

And then, the “I love you”. Twice. And Veronica’s response, “yeah.” It never really bothered me that Veronica never said it back because I didn’t need Veronica to say it to know that she felt it. She truly loved Logan, I think we all know that. But it made sense for her as a character to have that inability to completely give herself to someone, especially to someone who she thought could totally destroy her. For Veronica, loving was being vulnerable, and she had been taken advantage of one to many times to let herself be in that kind of position. She wasn’t ready yet. And she wouldn’t be for a very long time.

Logan, on the other hand, was always wearing his heart on his sleeve. He was always the one doing the grand romantic gestures and giving the epic romantic speeches. So it makes total sense that he would say it twice and that she wouldn’t say it at all.

20) Ugh ugh ugh! And how much do you hate Veronica for implying this after almost getting raped herself?!

VERONICA: Oh, I believe you. And I think it's horrible. I also think it's powerful motivation for someone to take desperate action. Fake a rape, right? Possibly a series of rapes. How many of them were real? I mean, other than Chip Diller's. There hasn't been any forensic evidence; no semen, no hair found on any of the victims. NISH: The Greeks would be gone if you hadn't gotten them off. Are you proud of that fact? VERONICA: The moral superiority would fit better if there wasn't already one fake rape on your résumé.

I’ve talked about this before when Veronica found that Clare’s rape claim was fake. But all of this was completely unnecessary. I get it. It's noir. Everyone’s corrupted. But this whole plot just proves that the writers were using rape ONLY as a plot device and they never really cared about bringing light to the real issues underlying rape culture. By reinforcing the idea that women fake rapes (a series of rapes, for god’s sake!) and by having a rape victim of all people actually endorse this idea, they’re contributing to the rape apologists’ agenda. Rob Thomas, I beg of you, don’t ever write another rape storyline. EVER.

21) This breaks my heart, every time.

You know what the saddest part is? You know what makes this scene so utterly heartbreaking? The moments leading to it. Because you see, I don’t think this was a setup, I don’t think Logan was trying to test Veronica or something. Logan was never that kind of guy. You know what kind of guy he was? The one who would be walking around the cafeteria and spot his girlfriend, and who would then decide to call her and say hello, pretending to engage in casual conversation. He would compliment her on her outfit, mentioning something very specific, and probably make some witty remark about her choice of food - a few hints here and there that would make her suspect he was closer by than he originally let her in on. And then he would tell her something like: “I hope you’re not ogling that handsome guy standing by the door...” And she’d say: “what guy...?” and look in that direction and find him standing there. And he would smirk and wave, and she would smile and he would make his way to her, and she’d tell him, still on the phone, “I hate to break it to you, honey, but you know I have a sweet spot for poor little rich boys...” And finally, he’d reach her, and kiss the devious grin off her face. And it’d all be okay.

Except... none of that really happened. And instead, he got the sobering realization that they were really not okay, at all.

*cries self into oblivion*

#Veronica Mars #Kristen Bell #VM #Rob Thomas #Jason Dohring #Keith Mars #MTVSepicrewatch #VMrewatch2015 #mine #recap #Lord of the Pi's #vmrecap

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 7 years

Text

MTVS Epic Rewatch #158

VM 3x05 President Evil

Stray thoughts

1) This episode is a huge disappointment, and I’ll tell you why: the episode’s title is totally misleading. Like, I was 100% expecting zombies? Zombie presidents, more precisely. Rob Thomas, you sit on a throne of lies.

2) I love how all the students in Landry’s class groan when Tim announces he’s taking over the class for the day. It’s a small character moment, one that definitely goes unnoticed the first time watching the show and which acquires meaning in hindsight, once you really know who Tim actually is and what he did. The fact that the students groan at the fact that they’re stuck with him is very telling of what kind of person he is. Like, I don’t know about you, but if I were stuck with the TA for the day I’d be glad because it would mean a much more chill class and not that much work, you know? In this case, however, the students’ reaction clearly shows that Tim was way worse than the head professor, and he was merely the TA. So we can draw a lot of conclusions about his personality traits, which are coherent with his actions and with his ultimate downfall. He’s definitely a person who takes his job way too seriously in a way that usually makes things worse for everyone involved. He’s power-hungry and revels in having the tiniest bit of power and authority and takes it way too far. He wants to climb up the career ladder, he definitely has a disproportionate sense of entitlement and he craves recognition. That’s why he feels the need to brag when he commits what he thinks is the perfect crime, which leads to Veronica realizing what he’d done. This is why Rob Thomas is such a good writer, you know? He does a pretty similar thing with Mercer in this same episode: a small yet telling character moment, something that can be so easily overlooked because it seems so irrelevant and it doesn’t have “SIGNIFICANT CHARACTER MOMENT” written all over it but once all the mysteries are revealed that tiny moment makes so much sense. It’s a pretty good lesson in writing, if you ask me. (yes, I’m aware nobody asked me or cares.)

3) This moment always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable?

It’s kind of diminishing to use Eli as a case study, especially because she’s so clinical when she’s describing his life? Like, he’s an actual person and he’s standing right there and you’re talking about him as if he were this abstract thing, like a statistic or something? And also, he’s your friend? So, if you’ve come to any conclusions regarding the “socioeconomic conditions that lead preteens into a life of crime”, maybe talk them over with him over coffee or something? And yes, I am aware that Weevil willingly agreed to participate in this show-and-tell, but it still feels like she’s taking advantage of him? Which, granted, is pretty in character for Veronica, but it still feels so crappy of her to do this.

4) Look who’s here!

5) Also, this moment:

WEEVIL: I'm trying. I really am. But truth? I- Yeah, I miss it. I miss having cash in my pocket. I miss the thrill.

Cut to Veronica’s reaction:

Veronica shakes her head in an “Oh, Weevil...” kind of way, and smiles. She seems to be entertained by and kind of proud of his statement, yet the first time she has the chance, she will use this confession against him...

6) Then, there’s this exchange:

WEEVIL: Hey, word to the wise. You got a boyfriend? Use the short leash. VERONICA: As hard as this may be to believe, the women of Hearst aren't close to the top of my worries about Logan. WEEVIL: Wait, wait, wait. What? You're dating Logan again? After the way he treated Lilly? VERONICA: This is news? Man, the prison grapevine blows.

On the one hand, it seems kind of odd that after finding out who Lily’s killer was Weevil still believes that the person harming her was Logan instead of Aaron. I don’t really know if Lily had fed him lies about Logan - which could’ve totally happened, if you ask me - or if she had blamed Logan for bruises that Aaron was responsible for just because she didn’t want to reveal she was sleeping with someone else other than Logan and Weevil. Either way, Weevil should’ve started questioning everything Lily had told him after finding out about her affair with Aaron, you know? On the other hand, it kind of makes sense that he wouldn’t question the things Lily had told him. We know he was pretty much head over heels in love with her, and just like Veronica, he had put her on a pedestal. And I think he couldn’t or wouldn’t reconcile that idolized image he had of her with the reality (pretty much like Veronica, if you ask me.) Lily was, after all, a secretive and manipulative girl.

Then, there’s Veronica’s reaction to his question. She doesn’t bat an eyelid when he makes reference to Logan having treated Lily badly. In fact, she doesn’t even acknowledge that part of the question. But more importantly, she doesn’t set him straight? Which begs the question, why wouldn’t she want Weevil to know that Logan didn’t treat Lily badly? Why didn’t she tell him that it was pretty much the other way around?

Food for thought, I guess.

7) Veronica looks extra cute in this outfit, love it.

8) Ok, this is the small yet significant Mercer moment I was talking about...

JIMMY CARTER: You! Give me the cashbox? It's in the drawer behind you. Now! The combination! MERCER: You seem highly intelligent and motivated. Figure it out. JIMMY CARTER: The combination or you're gonna have to find someone new to deal the blackjack, man. (Carter was pointing the gun at the boy and then he slapped him harshly.)

First of all, there’s the costume. I mean, could there be a more fitting costume for Mercer than A Clockwork Orange’s Alex de Large? Seriously! Then, there’s his defiant attitude in a highly dangerous situation. He’s not used to being told what to do, it’s always him ordering people around and he really really wants to tell Jimmy Carter to fuck off. Even when the thief points the gun at the other boy and smacks him around, Mercer still takes his sweet time before doing what he was told. A normal person would probably comply immediately when someone’s life is at risk, you know? Not Mercer. There’s an utter disregard for other people’s wellbeing. He doesn’t really care, and it’s almost like he has to force himself to act unnaturally and pretend like he gives a damn if anyone in that room lives or dies. Kudos again to Rob’s writing.

This is not a threat nor a promise. It’s a fact. There is absolutely no doubt that Veronica will get that necklace back and that she will make this dude pay. I love how as he’s taking the necklace she’s already anticipating her sweet revenge and she can’t help but smile because she knows she will do everything in her power to crush him. Because making justice is not enough for Veronica, she has to have some payback as well...

10) It’s The Dude!!

11) Okay, I’ve just noticed this parallel with the movie...

VERONICA: Where were you? LOGAN: I was in class, like we talked about. Less gambling, more learning. That was right after you said "jump" and I asked "how high?"

12) Boy, was this awkward...

And like, you’ve just used the boy to get a good grade, you’ve seen how hard he’s working to stay on the right track, and now you’re using his past against him to blame him for something you really don’t know he’s guilty of. Like, she made a lot of assumptions here, and she thought she had solved the case only based on a few conversations with Weevil, she hadn’t done any sleuthing whatsoever that could paint him as a suspect yet. And just like that, she was yet another person that assumed he couldn’t be anything but a thief because of his past. And if everyone assumes the worst of you, even your closest friends, no matter how hard you try, you might as well prove them right you know?

She even made fun of the place he was living in (” Hope you don't mind. One of the cockroaches let me in.”) Like, how crappy is that?

13) And then...

WEEVIL: It's a wonder you don't have more friends.

She has the nerve to look affronted by this, but she has not witty comeback because she knows he’s right. He truly is.

14) Ugh this moment...

WEEVIL: Are you lining up your next girlfriend? Hmm?

Logan is visibly uncomfortable, as he should be, and he’s speechless because he knows he’s been caught. There’s no doubt in my mind that Logan was flirting with that girl and giving her his number. I don’t know if he took things any further, though I highly doubt it. Either way, what’s certain is that the writers wanted us and Veronica to doubt him. In that sense, mission accomplished. Logan’s behavior was dubious at best. But like, it’s completely out of character? We’ve seen Logan single, and we’ve seen Logan in a relationship, and while he may have other flaws when he’s someone’s boyfriend, he was never a cheater. He is, in fact, loyal to a fault. Especially when it comes to Veronica. And how could the same people who wrote loving, loyal Logan write him in this way now? Even if it was done to set up their breakup or whatever, that’s just not who he is. That’s not who you’ve shown us he is. The thing is, they could’ve written distrustful, paranoid Veronica without making us believe she could be right. In fact, it’s more interesting to see her spiral out of control when we know she’s wrong. Because, let’s be real, Veronica can make herself believe anything without having evidence to prove it, especially when it comes to distrusting Logan...

15) I like this moment...

VERONICA: So, when I look into this, and I will look into this, I'm gonna find out you didn't order that pizza? WEEVIL: Or you could just save yourself the trouble and take my word for it.

16) The boy fangirling over meeting Veronica is basically every marshmallow ever.

VERONICA: Hi, I'm looking for the manager. He or she around? DANNY: You're Veronica Mars. VERONICA: And you're… Danny. DANNY: Rossow. Yeah, I am. Cool. You went to my school last year. I go to Neptune High. VERONICA: Lucky you. DANNY: You remember when those bikers taped that guy up to the flagpole and you just walked up there and cut him down? VERONICA: Yeah. Listen- DANNY: Remember when you stopped those guys from blowing up the school? VERONICA: No one was gonna blow up the school. So, what I was going to- DANNY: On the last day, I really wanted you to sign my yearbook.

And he’s super into it when Veronica suggests he should help her out to solve the case...

He was really sweet, okay? And although she was admittedly not overly friendly at the beginning, she was kind of impressed and delighted with his impression of his boss. And now I kind of wish he would’ve become a recurring character. The fanboy who’s also very helpful.

17) Okay, but let’s be real: this girl was a mini-Veronica... (because - spoiler alert - Veronica is kind of an asshole...)

VERONICA: Hi. Any idea how this gum got from your mouth to that chair?

18) Keith has no right to lecture Veronica when she’s sassy with authority figures, right? I mean...

SANCHEZ: You presented yourself as an Adrian Monk... A Los Angeles County Building Inspector? And I believe that's your cell phone number written on it? KEITH: And? SANCHEZ: Sir, the apartment complex manager that you handed that to says you ordered him to let you into the apartment of a one Steven Batando. KEITH: Ordered? Asked politely, maybe.

Ok, so he broke the law, he was caught, and he mocks those who caught him? Like father, like daughter.

19)

LAMB: Batando's been missing for fifty-two hours. Guess what, Keith? You're the leading suspect in his disappearance.

Not so much with the jokey-jokes now, eh Keith?

20) Okay, I know I didn´t mention anything about the case Keith was working on, but it’s all sorts of creepy and wrong? So, the dean’s stepson has bone cancer and he hires Keith to track the kid’s deadbeat dad because he’s a match for the bone marrow transplant. They trick the guy into a fake audition so that the dean and his wife can gang up on him and convince him to donate his bone marrow to his son. It was all already quite gray at this point. When he doesn’t agree to do it, they kidnap him, take him to Mexico and have him have surgery on and his bone marrow taken... Like, I get it, your kid is dying, but not only is this wrong but also illegal? And then, the writers sort of want us to think the dean and his wife weren’t really wrong because they could buy the guy off with a car? So, like, that makes him the villain then? Yeah, NO.

21)

JENNY: Our stage is covered in Pam. VERONICA: Who's Pam? ORGON: Pam is a cooking spray. We can't walk out there without falling on our asses. We had the temerity to schedule our opening night on the same weekend as their short film festival. VERONICA: Maybe this is their way of saying break a leg.

22) And look who’s here... hey, Max!

Also: bad Wallace. Bad, bad Wallace.

23) Okay, not only did Wallace cheat, but he wasn’t very good at it? I mean, obviously, he was caught. But also, rule number one of cheating: DO NOT HAND IN YOUR EXAM EARLY.

Especially not when you’ve been getting crappy grades in the class...

24) See what I mean? She is not content with just serving justice, she has to completely humiliate the dude. Which, okay, serves him right on account of being a criminal and all.

25) This moment is so satisfying, though:

Also, the music on this show is always so spot on. I love how Johnny Cash’s “Busted” plays over the montage of Veronica getting the necklace back, Wallace being summoned by his professor and Weevil being released from jail.

26) ICONIC

#Veronica Mars #Kristen Bell #VM #Rob Thomas #President Evil #MTVSepicrewatch #VMrewatch2015 #recap #mine #vmrecap

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