“I’d be the best rich person.”
The various sides of Veronica Mars–comedy, drama, mystery—are on their best displays in this episode, and so are the various looks at what it means to be rich, especially in a society that idolizes those who have a boatload of money. In Neptune’s 09er-land, rich is the norm, but the way certain people react to their statuses highlights the loss of familial connection, the loss of a genuine foundation upon which to live their lives free of unwanted intrusion.
Episode 8: “Like a Virgin”
Rumors would be better off buried in some hole somewhere, but unfortunately, they spread and sully reputations quicker than you can say “Shut up, you dicks”. This is what happens here: first off, we have the lingering effects of the Lilly Kane case and the way much of Neptune views the Mars family, which, of course, plays a bit of a role in Alicia’s initial view of Keith (until Keith scares Jeremy out of the apartment).
EPISODE 2– “On the Outside Looking In”
State.
As the title suggests, this episode deals with those on the outside looking in, whether it be someone like Tami, who’s attempting to enact change at East Dillon but is running into unending obstacles, Julie, who’s navigating her first days at college, or Becky, who’s lost and without a stable family. We also see this idea play out in the fact that after the Lions’s win against Croft, people come down hard on the team just because it wasn’t supposed to win.
JESSICA CHASTAIN JESSICA CHASTAIN JESSICA CHASTAIN
A+
Episode 6: “Return of the Kane”
It’s fitting that following an episode in which Veronica throws herself into the case and turns out to be right about her suspicions (Troy), we get an episode in which she does the same and ends up being wrong (Wanda). It kind of hurts to see her happy while on a date or talking about college while making posters with someone she thought was her friend, then have it all get turned on its head at the end of the episode. Her cold “I didn’t vote for you” is another instance of her hardened heart, one weary to open itself up again and one that, if opened, quickly closes at the first sign of trouble.
ARC 5: “This is what happens when you have to make 20 episodes a season”
EPISODES COVERED: “Epiphanies”, “Black Market”, “Scar”, “Sacrifice”
I will begin this review in medias res. Does it help? Does it improve your reading experience? Does it give you Breaking Bad flashbacks? Speaking of flashbacks, let us now flashback to the time when I began this review, spend a few unnecessary minutes there, do it again at various intervals throughout the review, and then assume that it’ll make everything more complex and intriguing moving forward. I’ll see you back here in 42 minutes after you’ve wasted your time.
With change comes expectation, whether that change is for the better or for the worse. When you say goodbye and enter a new phase of your life, there’s always an idea in your head of how it should or how you hope it will turn out: will the transition be smooth or rocky? Will you go out in a blaze of glory or in a whimper? Are you ready?
The final two episodes of season 4 of Friday Night Lights work in tandem to tell the stories of people who fall, people who feel the walls closing in around them and the world out to get them, people who go through a hell of a lot, but are able to find something to hold onto at the end of it all.
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.
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.
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