EPISODE 20: “LOOK WHO’S STALKING”
I’m beginning to suspect that there might’ve been more to that night at Shelly Pomeroy’s than I thought. With the news that Veronica has chlamydia, I’m now wondering whether someone else raped her that night before Duncan came in; after all, this season is now beginning to tie in season one’s events–look no further than the very next episode–into the narrative.
EPISODE 17: “PLAN B”
Well, what an ending that is. We get some progress on other storylines–Woody’s turning into a suspect, Cassidy and Mac break up, and Wallace kisses Jackie–but the episode is mainly building up to that excellent, intense final sequence. Here, the show intertwines its characters and their pasts, and Logan ends up being the one who pushes the plunger that sends Shark Stadium crumbling to the ground; fittingly, this is all set in motion by Weevil, someone who loved Felix (this is emphasized earlier in a truly wonderful scene for Francis Capra). I’m assuming that this literal explosion is only the beginning, as we seem to be moving into the season’s endgame right now.
GRADE: B+
EPISODE 14: “VERSATILE TOPPINGS”
I don’t have much to say about this episode, but it does set up a nice conflict for Veronica: she has to balance her case-solving necessities with the kids’ desires not to have their identities figured out, and although I must say that it isn’t a very compelling story for me overall, it’s still intriguing enough to anchor the episode. Elsewhere, Kristen Cavallari guest stars as Kylie, and it’s pretty clear that she is a bad actress right off the bat; I guess she fits in nicely with Jay Cutler, her bad football player of a husband.
EPISODE 12: “RASHARD AND WALLACE GO TO WHITE CASTLE”
This episode essentially sends Wallace and Weevil on opposite paths: the former begins the episode in a state of denial and uncertainty, but ends in a happier place, whereas the latter’s life seems to be going well until it all goes to hell at the end. For me, the biggest thing to come out of Wallace’s story is the fact that Jackie’s in on the Rashard plan, that she seems to be fine with Wallace dating the girl from a few episodes back; I haven’t been the biggest fan of her character thus far, but this episode makes her a bit more likable (which continues in the next episode).
EPISODE 10: “One Angry Veronica”
This is the first time after watching an episode that I’ve thought: “Man, that was mediocre.” “One Angry Veronica” is extremely disappointing because it takes a dull plot and mashes it up with a few awful plot twists, all of which are straight out of Veronica Mars: What You Thought It Would Be Before You Watched the Show. First of all, Leo’s sister is conveniently pulled out of thin air in order to give him motivation for stealing the Kane/Echolls sex tapes, and second of all, Meg wakes up just in time to say “Please take care of my baby” (aka “I’m going to die later on in this episode, so I’ll go ahead and wake up from my coma to tell you this and make the whole situation more poignant”). Sure, there are nice moments to be found throughout–Dohring is once again excellent during the tape-watching scene–but this is all getting to be too much.
EPISODE 8: “Ahoy, Mateys!”
The opening scene of this episode pretty much spells out where Duncan’s at right now. We open with a dream sequence consisting of an Angel/Devil image–Meg’s dressed all in white, Veronica’s dressed all in black–and the subsequent scenes serve to emphasize just how torn Duncan’s subconscious is at the moment. He sees Veronica and Logan talking to each other on the couch, but he essentially pays no attention to them and moves right on to the Meg letter.
EPISODE 6: “RAT SAW GOD”
Hey, it’s season one all over again! I’m happy that last season’s storylines aren’t going away, although it’s interesting how this season’s tapestry is already more intricate than last season’s, and we’re only six episodes in. I’ll wait to see whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but one thing’s for sure right now: “Rat Saw God” is a very tightly plotted and extremely entertaining episode that deftly brings Amelia DeLongpre, Clarence Wiedman, Abel Koontz, and Aaron Echolls back into the fold.
EPISODE 3: “CHEATTY CHEATTY BANG BANG”
Attempting to juggle too many plot points can come back to bite a show, but as of right now, it’s pretty entertaining watching Veronica Mars break from its season one structure to try something new. We’re getting cliffhangers left and right, Aaron Echolls is being brought back into the fold through Curly Moran, and cases of the week are being interwoven with multiple overarching plots. Aside from a karaoke scene that goes on for way too long, this episode is really great, especially when it focuses on Cassidy’s relationship with his family or the tensions between Duncan, Logan, and Veronica (with some Kendall stuff now thrown in). On the Duncan-Logan note, it’s easy to see where exactly this conflict is coming from based on what we know about the characters, and we can probably draw a line connecting their relationship around the Jake Kane accusation period to accusations leveled at Logan recently. Logan prides loyalty, but he feels like he’s not getting any from Duncan.
EPISODE 1: “Normal is the Watchword”
Damn, talk about a cliffhanger.
The bus crash is a thrilling end to the episode and an exciting kick off to season two, but it’s too bad that the preceding 40 minutes are fairly average. Yes, it’s difficult to follow up a masterpiece like “Leave It to Beaver”, but “Normal is the Watchword” feels like a two hour premiere that had to be cut in half. It’s chaotic, and not in a good way; the writers accomplish their goal of rushing through exposition and throwing us back into the action, but as a result, the fallout over last season’s resolution fails to make as big of an impact as it could have. In addition, the flashback overload is nifty at first, but it brings diminishing returns as the episode progresses, and that plus a bland case of the week makes for a subpar Veronica Mars premiere.
“Don’t forget about me, Veronica.”
“I could never.”
Season one of Veronica Mars is nearly flawless because of flaws. It’s charming and funny and entertaining, but it also doesn’t shy away from complexity, from the bad decisions and the ugly conflicts that develop at various times in peoples’ lives. Its characters are flawed and human, and the way the show handles them is similar to the idea behind the Lilly Kane memorial video at the beginning of the season: at first, you may expect the saccharine, but you realize that the most moving memories are created because we see them for who they are.
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