Sob! Last new episode until after the New Year … Right? I’ll happily have the facts wrong there. Anyway:
One Angry Veronica. Called to jury duty over Christmas break, Veronica must sit on a difficult, polarizing case against a pair of affluent 09’er defendants accused of assaulting a young Hispanic woman. Steve Guttenberg guest stars.
Well, you’re wrong in the sense that ‘after the New Year’ is a bloody generous way of describing January 18th.
Sob, indeed.
Oh, cruel! Rubbing salt in the wound… Loved your latest VM post, Abigail.
Wallace returns, yay!
And Meg’s death leaves me surprisingly meh. (Too saintly.) Let us all hope this means the swift exit of Duncan when Veronica Mars returns…
Did not love the Meg death. I hate that “have someone wake up against all odds and then have them die anyway after they have spoken important plot moving words” gambit. Either have them wake up or not.
The Leo thing, meh. I’m glad he’s gone because I couldn’t stand him. Still, meh. Logan on the other hand is the awesome. He is the perfect fucked up kid.
I also didn’t love the jury duty plot. But Wallace! Yay Wallace! All is forgiven.
I thought this was probably the season’s weakest entry yet (which just proves that I’m out of step with the TWoP fandom. They adored this episode and disliked last week’s, which I thoroughly enjoyed). Lots of good elements (and some not-so-good ones) but all crammed together into an unsatisfying whole. Not a good note on which to go on a ridiculously long hiatus.
I totally called Meg’s death the minute she asked Veronica to help the baby if something happened (and I think it’s telling that she asked Veronica and not Duncan). I can look past the contrivance of her death, but only because I do not for one second believe that it was natural. If it turns out she really died of an aneurism, I’ll have to revise my opinion of the episode even further downward.
So, I guess now we know how Veronica’s college problems, and the issue of keeping her in Neptune, are going to be resolved. She’s going to attend UC Sunnydale! Or something to that effect.
I’m yet another non-fan of Leo’s, although to give the actor his due, he seems to have finally gone that much-needed voice coach. He hardly mumbled at all.
Logan on the other hand is the awesome. He is the perfect fucked up kid.
I think this line from the TWoP recaplet pretty much says it all:
To review? Logan watched tapes of his father screwing his girlfriend preceding his murder of her. And Logan looked fantastic doing this. I’d say this would screw him up, but there’s a whole glass-ceiling effect there.
But I did love Logan’s interaction with Keith. They have an interesting dynamic. Keith stops way short of acting parental, but he can’t repress his fundamental decency. I think on a certain level Logan senses that decency and responds to it. I also enjoyed seeing Logan using his head and acting in a vaguely Veronica-ish manner. There may be hope for the kid yet.
Loved your latest VM post, Abigail.
Why, thank you.
I haven’t been over to the TWoP boards yet, but it did seem to me that Veronica was more like the Veronica of last season in this episode. In fact, I’d say that this episode was textured more like a mid-season ep from last year. (Which may be what the fans are responding to.) I liked, but didn’t love; this felt very plotty, and yet, so many of the present plotlines weren’t touched at all. (I am questioning us not having seen the Fitzpatricks again yet — it seems unlikely they let someone pulling a gun on them just slide…)
I SO want the Veronica dumps Duncan scene.
I am in the disconcerting position of aggreeing with TWOP denizens: I really rather liked this episode. Not wild about the Meg death, but it was obvious even before the episode started that it was going to happen (the only way for either of last week’s endings to be valid is if Meg still ends up dead), and meanwhile I really liked the courtroom plot. Also, I agree with Abigail about the dynamic between Logan and Keith being really interesting.
Having watched the ep again now, I’m tilting more toward your position, Niall. This really did feel like one of last season’s episodes to me, in pacing, in the way Veronica acts and speaks and in the renewed focus on Mr. Mars.
I’m just really, really hoping that the baby is Duncan’s and we’re not going to have a creepy incest thing — that would be over the top even for VM, esp. with the previous Duncan and Veronica storyline.
Late to the conversation, but I REALLY disliked the courtroom plot. The worst thing about it was the character-encapsulated-in-a-line-of-dialogue that was done by/for at least three of the jurors. Unless these people are going to be important in the future, I didn’t see any point in it, especially since it was ultimately very much like every other jury plot I’ve ever seen. (Did anyone else watch that terrible show “The Jury” that Fontana/Levinson tried to do last season? Every TV writer should be forced to watch that before doing a jury episode. If Tom and Barry can’t make it work, no one can.) If the entire thing was an excuse to get V. an in at UC Sunnydale (nice call, Abigail), I will be doubly annoyed.
Everything felt a little off here, with the exceptions of Keith and Logan. Deputy Leo’s motives were unclear and unconvincing, as was V.’s apparent forgiveness of Duncan and her reconciliation with Meg. All in all, I thought it was a pretty weak episode to start the hiatus on.
Which is not to say that I’m not counting the days until the next episode . . .