Episode 4: “The Wrath of Con”
Well, this episode is fun. The last two cases were good, but nothing special; here, we see Veronica’s resourcefulness and creativity and intelligence at its highest level as she outsmarts everyone she comes across. It’s an episode about disguises, literal and figurative, and the former comes into play with the case: Keith the DEA agent, Wallace the math genius, Veronica the schoolgirl (Kristen Bell, you are killing me here). They make a great team.
“Purpose.”
It’s becoming clearer and clearer how influential the Guilty Remnant is, how it’s able to pull in those–Meg, Jill–who have every reason to be pissed off at its members. We see that the GR doesn’t necessarily go out and bring these people in; rather, they find their own ways, their paths winding through meaningless and depression and loss before they converge at the same front door.
EPISODE 2: “Credit Where Credit’s Due”
Ha ha ha, Paris Hilton, you waste of space. You make that one Neptune High extra in the background look like Amy Adams.
Anyway, the episode in general is certainly a step down from the pilot, as most second episodes are. However, it’s an episode that begins to delve into the class structure in Neptune: you have 09ers like Troy, Weevil’s guys, and ‘undesirables’, and the show seems intent on playing with your expectations as it explores these characters. We continue with Weevil, for example, in the way the pilot handled him: he fits a stereotype when you look at him from the outside–which is what most people in that society do when they slap the label on him–but when you know him as Veronica does, you see that he values honor and respect.
“Veronica Mars, she’s a marshmallow.”
This marshmallow has been through a lot. She was raped, her best friend died, and her parents split up, and gone is her former high status at Neptune High, her reputation as a hot and popular girl in a town without a middle class. We see and hear this explicitly, but the stylistic touches are also abundant: between the present day and flashback narratives, there are differences in color tone, in clothes, in hairstyle–the long, flowing hair more in line with the stereotypical pretty blonde–and it all creates a more surreal quality through the flashbacks.
“I Can’t”–Season 4, Episode 10
What an episode this is. It’s not every day that you see the topic of abortion handled with the nuance provided here by the writers and the actors, and the situation is heart-wrenching to watch unfold. Becky’s strained relationship with Cheryl is very much on her mind throughout, and she realizes that she’s the product of a situation akin to her own, that her mother harbors resentment for the impact teenage pregnancy had on her life. Yet, that abortion never happened, and while Becky wants to go on to do bigger and better things, she now also wonders about her own child. Enter Tami Taylor.
“I want people to talk to me in my language sometimes. That does not make me the bad guy.”
The above quote, said by Amantha to Janet, is a perfect representation of how so many people in Paulie simplify things so as to make it black and white or us versus them or good guy versus bad guy. The Daniel Holden case brought our main characters together, but it was under the constant pressure and watchful eye of an angry crowd. It was under shared hardship, not shared happiness, and although it’s united them under a common goal, it’s also torn them apart and prevented them from living life as a true family.
“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”
These are the words that open the series, and these end up being the words that resonate the most with regards to the ending. There’s a full circle aspect to the events of this finale, and it feels like we’ve been on quite a journey to reach where we leave off with Ryan Newman; essentially, he remains in the same place, but at the same time, he’s learned to cope with his problems, to find something in his life upon which he can build off of…even if he’ll never be fully healed.
“In public, power is best wielded with a gloved hand…not a clenched fist.”
“Whoever says that hasn’t been to my neighborhood.”
The following exchange takes place between Fausto Galvan and Sebastian Cerisola, and it’s a prime example of the way The Bridge handles duality and morality and the way power struggles come about in this environment. Especially with the cartel, death is expediency, and death is a way to assert its influence over both its victims and those involved in its business. And, when you get involved with the cartel and with Fausto Galvan, you dive into treacherous waters.
EPISODE 6– “STAY”
This one’s all about people leaving, but while there’s a sense of melancholy–as is the case whenever you’re separated from someone who’s close to you–there’s also a sense of hope and freedom. Both Lyla and Tim know their relationship is over, but that doesn’t prevent them from enjoying the time they have together in this episode, nor does it take away from the times they shared prior to this. Lyla’s finally taking control of her own life, something we certainly didn’t see when she was still tied to Jason Street.
“I’m not weird. I’m normal.”
There’s a common thread that constantly pops up in episodes of Nathan For You: the fact that while it’s all ostensibly about the business plan, the character Fielder’s crafted may perhaps be the driving force behind his actions. For, a lot of time is spent attempting to make not only the business better, but also the person in charge of that business better; Fielder the character is out to impart both his business and moral expertise to the people he comes across in his field of work, and in doing so, we see that he has to constantly defend his own normalcy and his own character.
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