Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON TWO, EPISODE SIX 'Rat Saw God' (2005)

No one expected the return of Abel Koontz...but maybe
they expected how dark his story becomes.

"Wow. Where did you learn that interrogation technique?"
“"Harvard. Pretty convincing hysterical routine you got. Where'd you learn that?"
“Watching cheerleading tryouts results."

1) It seems like every season after the first, where everything was new and bright and Rob Thomas was setting up the ground rules for the VM Universe, there is always one or more episodes devoted to tying up loose ends from the previous season.  This is that episode from this season, as writer John Enbom and Phil Klemmer address the fate of Christian Clemenson’s Abel Koontz and his daughter.  As such, it’s a very, very dark episode.

2) You wanna know why I hated Clemenson’s recurring character in Boston Legal?  Just watch his performance here as the dying Koontz.  Clemenson only has two scenes, but those scenes run the gambit from compassion to despair to happiness as he is seeking out the fate of his daughter.

3) This is the first episode without Percy Daggs’ participation, as Wallace is off in Chicago following his own subplot.  And even beyond Veronica’s pointing it out, it’s very obvious that Daggs’ presence is missed.  Without Wallace (or for that matter, his mom) to provide a little light in the dark, dim world of Veronica, the world becomes oppresively noir.

Go away, BUFFY creator!  Stop stinking up my show!

4) This is, of course, the Joss Whedon cameo episode and, as much as the Kevin Smith cameo sucked ass, it paled to Whedon’s broad caricature of The Mean Boss to America’s Top Model’s Kim Stoltz.  The less said about him, the better.

5) Oddly enough, the most intriguing aspect of this episode is the presence of Christopher B. Duncan’s Clarence Weidman, and the strange respect that Thomas seems to be growing between him and Veronica.  Do they like each other?  No.  But as their respective investigations into Amelia Delongpre’s fate dovetail, they see something in each other that makes them reliable allies.

6) The surprising return of Harry Hamlin’s Aaron Echols results in two rather strong scenes.  What strikes me, and continues to strike me, about Hamlin’s performance is his absolute conviction that he is A Good Man Who Has Done Nothing Wrong.  Even as he tries to convince Logan that Duncan was the true killer, Hamlin doesn’t seem to understand how monstrous he’s become.  And speaking of those two scenes....

This is the last tender moment these two will have this episode.

7) Those of us, like me, who prefer our Enrico Colantoni hardcore will love his role in this episode.  Don’t be fooled by his more or less lighthearted moments at the top of the hour; once we get deep into the episode, Colantoni’s Keith Mars is all business, culminating in a downright bad ass scene where you expect Keith to be after one thing, only for us to realize what he’s really after and why Aaron should be very worried.  I’ve always said Colantoni is a major player in why I love this show, and this episode is further proof as to why.

8) I’ll call it--even for a show like this, the ending of this done-in-one, where we learn Amelia’s fate and how Veronica chooses to handle telling Abel as he’s literally dying is one of the grimmest ever.  It’s made especially grim by how, by the nature of the mystery, so much of the interaction happens off-screen.  Only when Veronica is face-to-hand with Amelia’s ultimate fate does anything happen immediately.

9) I never was quite comfortable with Ryan Hansen’s promotion to series regular, and this episode makes the argument for me.  The scenes of Dick Casablancas uilizing his father’s outlawdom to get into (a very green, acting-wise) Krysten Ritter’s Gia, or giving Logan the tacit approval to bang his stepmom just feels....weird.

(and if you think his behavior is strange now, wait until we get to next season....)

10) Look, I know that this single episode gets so dark that everyone felt that some serious comic relief was needed--but those scenes with Tracy Walter’s Motel Manager are not only unfunny but They.  Keep.  Coming.  Back.  To. Him.  I would accept an entire mystery built around Joss Whedon’s rent-a-car manager before I watch one more second of that toothless stereotype of a motel guy.

Overall...a truly grim little episode that actually gives some relief to the overarc by having the done-in-one story darker and nastier than it is.  Recommended, but be prepared; saying relief is sparse is being kind.

Ten Statements--No, Wait, Eleven!About....VERONICA MARS (2014)

Welcome back, O Angel of Vengeance...I agree with Logan
when he says you should always wear this!

1) I know that making a film liberates you from certain things, but it’s still weird for me to hear the characters cursing from time to time.

2) I love how writer/director/series creator Rob Thomas finds a way to squeeze in as many of the show’s recurring characters as possible I was particularly happy to see Veronica bailed out by my favorite character of all, Daran orris' Cliff).  The second act set piece of the high school reunion does allow Thomas to drag in such obscure characters as Korny while also setting up the plot thread that will lead Veronica to the solution of the mystery.

3) There are a couple of really shocking cameos.  Besides Jamie Lee Curtis, whose presence in the film is spoiled by the trailer (and, to be fair, has her cameo extremely early in the film), there’s a surprising and extremely funny extended cameo in the second act that totally blindsided me, and also provides the basis for the post-credit sequence.

4) I am somewhat disappointed that Kristen Bell only dons what I like to call her ‘Angel of Vengeance’

It''s interesting how this shot echoes the first shot of the
pilot...

black gear once, a outfit that makes her look so good that I had to agree with Jason Dohring’s Logan when he says “You should dress like this all the time.”

5) The violence has been upped--there’s a moment involving a hit and run that is as graphic as it is shocking because of the victims involved--but it doesn’t seem out of place in Veronica’s world.  After all, Thomas consciously patterned the series after classic hardboiled detective fiction.

6) If there’s one frustrating thing, it’s the way the subplot about the corruption in the Neptune police department, headed by Jerry O’Connell’s Sheriff Dan Lamb never goes anywhere.  This is established very early on, and there are implications that this corruption has a hand in both the A and B plots, but it’s never resolved.  Even Lamb’s final comeuppance is unconnected to this subplot.

7) I am heartened that the film is very clear that the central relationship is not the one between Veronica and Logan, but between Veronica and Enrico Colantoni’s Keith Mars.  The chemistry between the two is still palatable and immediate, and watching them interact together is a joy to behold.

The Three Musketeers of Neptune High are on the case again!

8) As the series always did, the use of music is very effective.  The way Thomas sneaks in an acoustic version of the show’s theme in the first act to represent Veronica’s distance from her former life is great, and this is probably the only film that would think to use a Luther Vandross song in a suspenseful action sequence.

9)  It is amazing how some recurring members of the cast--Francis Capra’s Weevil, Amanda Noret’s Madison, Brandon Hillock’s Deputy Sachs--seemed to have not changed a bit.  On the other hand, it’s rather shocking to see how other cast members--in particular, Ken Marino’s Vinnie Van Lowe and Duane Daniels’ Principal Clemmons--have not aged well at all.

10) I sort of gathered where Veronica’s character arc was going to end up, but it still didn’t stop me from feeling a frisson of pleasure when she reached that final moment, kicked up her heels and finished her monologue about being an addict.

11) Perhaps the single coolest moment?  The title card at the end where Thomas thanks all of us Marsmellows for their undying devotion and the legions of us who kicked in to the Kickstarter to make this all happen.

Overall...I admit, I’m biased.  I love returning to Neptune and spending two hours with my beloved friends.  I just hope this film makes enough money that a second film will be warranted, because I missed seeing Kristen Bell as The Angel of Vengeance.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON TWO, EPISODE FIVE 'Blast From The Past' (2005)

Admittedly, a chicken outfit is not involved in any of
the fantasies I have about Kristen Bell.

"I'll need an orchid wristlet, preferably in the fushia family, a Rolls Royce limo, and some Kane Software stationary."
"Seriously? Stationary? What for?"

"You're here for your looks. Why don't you leave the heavy thinking to me, sugarpants?"

1) We start a couple of minutes after last episode ended, with Wallace confronting his mother about Nathan. This storyline is coming to a head pretty rapidly, and will result in Wallace disappearing for a stretch only to return in a diminshed role, and Alicia disappearing altogether. However...

2) this is the first 'let's get Veronica and Jackie to bond' episode...and if you've been following my journey through the show, you'll know how much I'm down on that. To be fair, there is another one of these episodes that's a little more effective down the line, and the neat little inversion (Jackie wants to hire Veronica to prove her friend Cora didn't do it in spite of all the evidence, but this outing just doesn't quite rid us of Jackie-stank to work.

This episode is a showcase for Percy Daggs...just in time for
him to be sent away for a while...

3) Boy, Percy Daggs got some pipes on him...and he chooses to rebuke his dad with Motown!

4) You know what I find really, really strange? It's established very early on that this is all taking place during the days leading up to Homecoming--and yet the Bus Crash Overarc is not mentioned at all. It does get brought up elsewhere (as we'll get to in Point 5), but the fact that it doesn't come up during this rather important part of the school year is odd; especially since it could've been solved with a single line of dialogue claiming the Dance is in memory of the Bus Crash dead, or that some students are questioning holding it. A strange misstep for a script crew that's usually spot on.

5) The moment where Veronica listens in to a phone message left by one of The Bus Crash Dead is truly horrifying...and Kristen Bell sells it, and sells it well..

6) I like how director Harry Winer handles Veronica's bugging of Lamb...when she fast forwards through the recording, we cut to the squadroom in fast motion...until, of course, we're hit with the revelation of Terence Cook's secret shame.

7) And here's why this episode does not succeed in getting us more on Jackie's side...by having her get some digs at Veronica through the psychic, she comes off as even more petty and nasty than we've been assuming up to this point...especially given how Veronica has spent quite some time helping her out. Being played by Tessa Thompson doesn't help endear her much, either...

"...and then our growing closer will be stunted by my doing
something petty against you...it's to laugh, right?"

8) Now here's why I am so going to miss Percy Daggs when he is demoted to secondary sidekick soon...there is a scene here where he confronts Veronica and basically gets her dead to rights. It's a brilliantly written scene, all the more so because Wallace is correct in his assessment about the situation. But it would not have worked if Daggs wasn't able to give it the emotional heft it needed. Hell, the contrasting of how he speaks to Veronica, with passion and anger, to the way he speaks to Jackie in the next scene, drives home how close these two characters are.

9) We get another example of Enrico Colantoni's physical acting--the anguish on his face after hearing the phone message speaks volumes about how conflicted he is about telling Veronica he won't use the Bus Crash as leverage to win the election.

10) If you thought wasting time with a Dandy Warhol was a good idea, keep an eye out for the band at Homecoming. That's The Faders, an all-girl group who had the first in a series of...let me check...one hit, getting a rather generous chunk of air time.

Overall...this episode could have been a disaster, but it is salvaged by the reintroduction of the Overarc in the back end. There's some truly choice elements in here, so try to ignore the screechy performance by Erica Gimpel, the hamhanded handling of the Nathan Cook storyline and other missteps and enjoy the diamonds in this pile of chiffon.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON TWO, EPISODE FOUR 'Green Eyed Monster' (2005)

I'm sorry...I briefly lost the capacity to think....

"There's a fine line between looking for a problem, and creating one."

1) As you'll learn as we go deeper into this season, it's pretty grim...thus, we hit the first of a couple of 'breather' episodes, mostly done in one stories to give us a break from the relentless gloom of The Bus Crash Overarc. This one is pretty frothy, although I should warn you--a couple of the others are almost as grim as the thing we're taking a break from.

2) Of course, that doesn't mean the various story arcs set up in the first three episodes are ignored--we get nearly ten minutes at the top of this episode devoted to the continuing Alicia's Got A Past storyline. Trust me--it may look like it's still going somewhere, but...well, it'll go twisting off into oblivion soon.

3) I know that this episode is supposed to be light hearted and all, but Laura Bell Bundy's Julie may be too far into the comedic, becoming shrill and unrealistic. Hell, she's so paranoid that you have to wonder why her fiance'--who comes off as rather nice and reasonable when we meet him--puts up with her.

4) And here in the middle of everything, we have the first mention of the Fitzpatrick family, who are going to pretty much be nightmares for Veronica for the rest of the series. We'll talk more about them when we get to their first onscreen appearance.

"And I will grow a mustache ttttthiiiis big!"

5) Seriously, why was Tessa Thompson cast? Weren't there other African-American actresses more capable of expressing emotions in a way that was more realistic than her? If her earlier 'I's so proud of my man' moment was bad, wait until you endured her jealousy hissy fit when Wallace heads off to help Veronica. Totally and thoroughly unbelievable.

6) As mentioned earlier, I do rather like Michael E. Rodgers' Colin in his one extended scene. It's played for laughs, with Veronica trying to play temptress, but he's an excellent straight man.

7) All of Laura Bell Bundy's goofiness is worth it just to see Keith finally deliver a little truth to his daughter. At this point, Colantoni and Bell are so comfortable with each other that they can do what might come off in a lesser show as an abrupt shift in character tone and make it make sense.

"Is this a good psycho face?  Be honest, now...."

8) Of course, the brilliance of this is that while Keith takes the high ground, he turns around and starts invading his girlfriend's privacy in his desire to get to the bottom of the whole situation with her and her ex. And it's doubly hypocritical when we see that Veronica chose not to invade Duncan's privacy when it comes to reading his emails to Meg.

9) Gleefully, writer Dayna Lynne North once again drags in the Curly/Aaron Echolls connection as part of her continuing campaign of misdirection...plus it gives us a logical excuse to have Veronica confront Logan anew, keeping that relationship still percolating.

10) And speaking of Duncan...we get the first murmuring of his storyline. You'll see throughout the year that Rob Thomas is determined to streamline and refine his supporting cast, writing some out and reducing the importance of others. As we'll see, some of these movements aren't entirely successful...and I'd kind of put Duncan's repositioning in there, as we'll see.

Overall...an okay episode muddled by those storylines that really don't go anywhere and a truly broad performance that sort of makes you want to root against Veronica making things work out for Julie.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON TWO, EPISODE THREE 'Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang' (2005)



"How do you get along without actual, you know, talent,Ms. Carpenter?"


"Somewhere that million chimps with their million typewriters must've finally written King Lear, because Sheriff Lamb is actually right about something. I have seen this man before."

　

1) As mentioned earlier, the mini-mysteries (in this case, Cassidy hiring Veronica to catch Charisma Carpenter's Kendall cheating) end up serving the overarc while giving us a satisfying done-in-one puzzle for us fans. Of course, we're still early enough in the season that some of the additions to this overarc, like the man washed up ashore with Veronica's name in his palm, just add to the maze we're going to spend a year trying to transverse.

2) As terrific as this season is--and I really do feel it is the best of the three seasons this series lasted--there are a couple of really baffling dead ends and missteps...as we see early on with the first rumblings of what is going to be a really daft subplot involving the Fennels and the skeletons in their closet. Okay, it's just a little reaction of Alicia's when Keith asks her to come with him on a trip to Chicago right now, and a couple of appearances by a mysterious, vaguely menacing man, but trust me...soon we'll be up a cul de sac the series didn't need to go down.

3) The connection of our dead body to Aaron Echolls is actually sort of clever, as it gives us, the audience, a credible possible solution to the overarc tied in with last season's overarc. This ends up diverting us away from the real villain, who has shown his face several times already, and will show it a number of times before this season is over.

Everybody turns their back on Beaver...

4) This episode does feature the first one on one interaction between Duncan and Logan this season--and it is interesting how, even at this point, Jason Dohring is a little ahead of the game. The way he allows Logan all this anger at being abandoned--and then slips in the one thing that should unify these two friends--is very interesting. Pity that Logan is one of those characters that the writers don't seem to know what to do with, as he sort of drifts from ill-defined sub-plot to ill-defined sub plot for the first half of this season; he rapidly becomes the character the writers think is essential to the show, but have no idea what to do with...and it gets sort of worse next season.

5) I was never much of a Charisma Carpenter fan--thought she was kinda shrill and one-note in Buffy--but let's give her credit for one thing. When she needs to do a little comedic facial acting, like she does in her scene with Veronica in the gym, she's very, very good.

6) More reasons why I think Enrico Colantoni is an amazing actor--look at the moment when he discusses wanting to become Sheriff again...yes, he's joking during most of that, but he keeps that somewhat serious tone and face from when he tells Alicia, 'Yes. Part of me likes being that guy.' It makes it very clear how important this opportunity is to him, even when he's making cracks about Veronica struggling to wrestle methheads into the cop car.

7) We've talked in the past about some of the really small done-in-one characters--Michael Kostroff's Mr. Pope is in maybe ten minutes of this episode spread out over the first two acts, and yet this actor infuses this teacher with a great deal of life and moral character. That he refuses Veronica's advice when it becomes obvious the Casablancas scam is about to go belly up speaks volumes for what kind of man he is...and that Kostroff sells it without going into hysterics is commendable.

8) Boy, that extended cameo by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, lead singer of the Dandy Warhols, was a bit...random, wasn't it?

Richard Casablancas...the lame-ass you get when you can't
get Jake Kane....

9) Here's why David Starzyk's Richard Casablanacas never quite works--unlike Jake Kane, Richard gets maybe four scenes over two episodes, then disappears in a rush when Cassidy reveals that Kendall has been cheating. Granted, the whole point of introducing Richard is to drive home Cassidy's feelings of neglect, but there needed to be more life in the elder Casablancas for this to work.

10) And we end with Veronica making the connection we made--that if the dead man on the beach was a stunt coordinator connected with Aaron Echolls, he probably was hired to cause the bus crash to kill her. And the brilliance of this is that it strengthen what the show has led the audience to believe...which allows their misdirection to continue further beyond this episode.

Overall...while this episode features a couple of the messy bits that will detract from this season as a whole (I'm not even mentioning the continued wince-itude that is Tessa Thompson), there are enough good bits that make this watchable.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON TWO, EPISODE TWO 'Driver Ed' (2005)

Kevin Smith in this episode?  How can that be?

"Jessie, I wouldn't even know where to start with that. I mean, how do you prove that someone didn't kill themselves?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be waiting for Veronica Mars in a bathroom."

　

1) And we start this episode with Veronica experiencing some guilt--and oh, yeah, the rather...annoying debut of Tessa Thompson's Jackie Cook. I warned you about her last episode, but to reiterate--she's the most unwelcome cast member since, well, ever, and no matter how much Thomas and company try to get you to have sympathy for her later on, we never do. And what's more, the fact that Wallace falls for her so hard so quickly sort of diminishes him in our mind.

2) Notice how Diane Ruggerio's script still uses the 'done in one mini-mystery' format...only this mini-mystery ties directly into the overarc, as Veronica is hired to prove that the bus driver responsible for last episode's tragedy didn't do it to commit suicide...

3) And on top of that, the shakedown cruise of the first season has given our writing staff a little more confidence in dealing with multiple balls--for an example, witness how the build up of the storyline involving Woody Goodman and his political ambitions dovetail nicely not only with the ongoing background noise of the increasing racial and economic tensions in the city, but introduces an intriguing slant in the character arc of Keith Mars. We're on edge with Guttenberg's Woody since everything about his presence screams 'this is your villian for the season'...and yet, his interplay with Keith is very genuine and he seems real in his desire to get things done (notice how he appears in the background of Sheriff Lamb's press conference).

"Noooo, Wallace!  Stay away from Annoying New Supporting
Romantic Interest Girl!"

4) Oh, yeah...this is the episode that features Kevin Smith in a small role. He's...okay, I guess (a damn sight better than Joss Whedon when he shows up a few episodes later), but he's dripping with red herring oil....

5) Another introduction--David Starzyk's Richard Casablancas, the father of Dick and Cassidy. I'm going to be honest--he never quite makes an impression, coming off throughout his appearances as a sort of 'Jake Kane Light', but he is essential in contributing to the overarc in a way that will pay out toward the end of this season.

6) I really appreciate how the solution to the mini-mystery comes out of a shift of perception that's thoroughly logical given the circumstances--yes, Sheriff Lamb gets it wrong, but not due to incompetence but placing the suicide note in the context of the situation as he sees it, whereas Veronica sees the real circumstance and acts upon it. And while we're on the subject...

7) The ultimate solution doesn't give Jessie the kind of comfort we'd expect it to--it's a solution that opens up a whole new box of messiness, and doesn't necessarily translate into accomplishing the goal of getting the insurance company to pay out.

8) Now here's something that I do think the second season--and especially the third season--tends to do that I think detracted from the show...namely pump up the soap operatics. The whole side trip to Veronica sleeping with Duncan and then learning that...dumdumdum...Logan has rented the suite next door just drags the show down into the netlet mud, erasing the smartness of the show even for a few minutes.

And the plot thickens....

9) Reasons why I love Enrico Colantoni as an actor--the single, sustained shot of his face as he watches Sheriff Lamb dismiss Jessie is magnificent. His expression doesn't change a whit, and yet you can see everything that is going through his head, including an increasing outrage.

10) And then, after putting paid to Wallace's mini-mystery and giving us a cool lil' bit between Bell and Colantoni which includes the hint that he knows she had sex....Ruggerio grabs hold of our attention to drive home that this is all about the overarc, as we get the stinger with Veronica's name written on the bus driver's corpse.

Overall...a pretty good episode bouyed by some great guest performances, the best thing about this is how it keeps introducing threads that all play into the greater tapestry of the overarc. Yeah, we're going to see some of those threads get pretty inconsequential soon, but right now we're just salivating for more.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE TWENTY-THREE 'Leave It To Beaver' (2006)

By the end of this episode, Lily will find some peace...

"You wanna know something about Joan of Arc, Veronica? God didn't really talk to her. Oh, no, it's true. I saw it on TV, you know, on one of those historical forensic programs. They decided she had a brain turmor. Burned alive. What a waste. She thought her death meant something, but all it meant was she was crazy."

1) This is it--the big season one finale and what was at the time, in Rob Thomas' mind, the series finale. Once again, a lot happens and it might be hard to keep up with all the balls in the air--but knowing what I know about Season Two, I can't help but seeing the role Kyle Gallner's Cassidy has in the way the story develops indicates that Thomas knew where he wanted to go if he got that renewal, and knew what sort of a person Cassidy was...

2) Of course, other loose ends needed to be tied up, and the resolution of the one involving Veronica's paternity allows Thomas to give us a scene that speaks volumes of the Veronica/Keith relationship. The way Bell unhesitatingly signs away her right to pursue legal redress against the Kanes says more than fifteen pages of dialogue could about the strength of that familial bond.

If you just went through what Keith Mars did for his
daughter, you'd be on the floor unconscious, too...

3) I've spoken in praise of Kyle Secor's Jake Kane before, and I'll speak again--the scene where Jake finally breaks it to Duncan that in his mind he killed Lily shows a remarkable passion. It once again proves that Jake didn't start out the cardboard villain he ends up by Season Three.

4) Perhaps the cleverness of this script is how Thomas just piles up the case against Logan in such a way that it compels Veronica to locate the one piece of the puzzle she's missing...which leads to her and Duncan discovering that the murderer was not Logan, but someone one step removed from Logan.

5) There's something truly, wonderfully creepy about how, when the moment of revelation happens, Thomas has the tape paused at a moment where it looks as if Harry Hamlin's Aaron Echolls is looking right at the viewer, a smirk of contempt on his face.

6) Incidentally, this episode--to the best of my knowledge the only one that ran without the opening credits while it was on UPN--has its own theme song, 'Bad Boyfriend' by Garbage. This song plays at several key times in the show, specifically during the final act's confrontation between Veronica and Aaron (and Logan and Weevil)...and, like the Dandy Wharhols song, acts as a de facto Greek Chorus.

He may look inocuous, but Cassidy
will prove to be something
truly sinister next season....

7) I really like the whole horror movie vibe of the whole Veronica/Aaron battle. Director Michael Fields keeps to a blue-and-black color palette, and choereographs everything as if Bell unwittingly stepped into a slasher movie, complete with an old house in the middle of nowhere and a villian who seems capable of the Jason Teleport.

8) The only thing that freaks me out more than the way Aaron has trapped Veronica in a fridge and tries to burn her alive? The trap the villain gets Veronica in next season.

9) You wanna know how convincing an actor Enrico Colantoni is? Not only does this balding, short and goofy looking man convincingly engage in a vicious fight with the larger and more physically fit Harry Hamlin which manages to wreck and entire backyard, he also walks literally through fire to save his daughter and crack wise as he's being sent to the hospital without us once rolling our eyes.

10) Now given that Thomas had not expected the show to be renewed (it may still hold the record as the lowest-rated drama to be renewed for a second season, and was the only new UPN show to survive into the 2006 Season), he expertly wraps up everything quickly. And while the resolution of the Lianne Mars storyline is prime hardboiled fiction, the true wonder is the final bit of magic realism that has Veronica unwittingly witnessing Lily's passing on to the afterlife. It's an ambiguous ending, but a magnificent one.

Overall...an excellent wrap-up of Season One that would have provided the few fans who watched it that first year a satisfying conclusion...if only UPN didn't have other plans for the show.

Next time we begin the Second Season--the last one before UPN is liquidated and becomes part of the CW--and talk a bit about why there really was a second season.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE TWENTY-TWO 'A TRIP TO THE DENTIST' (2006)

This is the aftermath to the most devestating scenes of
Season One...

"What did you realize was so bad? What did you do?"

"I slept with you!"

"But it was consensual, right?"

"Yes."

"Then what about it was so wrong?"

"CAUSE YOU'RE MY SISTER! And I knew it."

1) This episode and the next effectively act as a single, long season finale. As such, this episode goes at a fairly fast clip. Just look at how many threads get touched upon or tied up in the pre-title sequence--the Missing Duncan plot, a brief reminder that Weevil is back in play as a suspect, a general tightening of tension across the cast--all to keep this Rock o' Revelation rolling down the hill.

Yes, the big solution is coming up...but that doesn't stop
Rob Thomas from continuing to keep us suspecting his
suspects...

2) ...and since this is the finale of this season (and, I suspect, the show in Rob Thomas' mind, as the ratings were iffy at best), we get to do a little tour of some of the more memorable characters of season one. Of course, it's to the credit of writer Diane Ruggerio that she chooses only those character that make sense for Veronica to approach--so we see Alona Tal's Meg, Jonathan Bennett's Casey, Sam Huntington's Luke, Leighton Meister's Carrie and...most importantly...Amanda Noret's Madison Sinclair. Sinclair and Meg will be back next season, but some of these others get fitting farewells.

3) There is a scene between Bell and Colantoni at roughly the ten minute mark that changes the tenor of the Veronica/Keith relationship...and what I like about it is how it's done in a very even, quiet way--and yet there are blows landed, blows that hurt. I have frequently praised the chemistry between these two, and this is another magnificent example.

4) Here's something, though, that I find kind of funny...even though, as we'll see, Thomas and co. were assuming this was the show's one and only season, that doesn't stop Ruggerio from planting seeds that will grow into the central mystery of Season Two...that conversation between Veronica and Cassidy may just be another rung of the ladder to solving one of the two major mysteries of this season now, but wait until next year's revelations, where this scene is put into an entirely new light.

5) It is interesting how, even though the episode's flashback more or less create a linear narrative, Ruggerio still creates a sort of Teen Beat version of Rashoman with some of the fiddly bits--but then, an argument could be made that one of the discrepencies shores up my theory that Thomas had the ultimate role one of the characters takes in Season Two in mind right from his inception, and this little lie in his account is an indicator that he is Someone Not To Be Trusted.



Lo, look upon the Face of Vengenace and despair...



6) And the big narrative flashback chain comes down to this brutal scene--Veronica outside Duncan's house, confronting him and having to deal with the horrible truth...that it wasn't rape, it wasn't a crime, but the extenuating circumstances have turned it into a godawful memory for the both of them. If you took this scene out of sunny San Diego and plunked them down in some black-and-white film from the 40's, you'd have prime film noir, and both Bell and Dunn rise to the occasion. It's one of my favorite scene in this season for just how gut-wrenchingly nasty it gets.

7) And from that we go to this sweet, nice little scene that drives home the friendship between Veronica and Wallace...and sets up one of the big cliffhangers down the road. There is a sense of Wallace's character arc reaching some sort of closure (after all, the next episode is pretty much a three hander) and allows Percy Dagg to shine for a moment.

8) I find it fascinating how, even as we close in on the Big Revelation of Lily's Killer, Ruggerio manages to plant a little seed of misdirection, giving Duncan a big spazz-out moment to remind us why he's been a suspect all season.

9) The sequence where Veronica discovers the secret recording set-up is truly creepy, taking advantage of the multiple viewpoints and switch from film-look video to the cheap, grainier video of the VCR to drive home the ickiness of the discovery.

10) And here's the one development that I think falls a bit flat--namely, the final scene appearance of Lianne Mars as the cliffhanger. After all the high emotional scenes and the whirlwind race to resolve the rape storyline, having Corrine Bohrer pop up just seems...anticlimatic.

Overall...a cliffhanger that falls flat aside, there are some truly amazing scenes which show the supporting cast for the top notch thespians they are...and this is just the beginning of the high-powered suspense we're about to get into.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE EIGHTTEEN 'Weapons of Class Destruction' (2006)

Yes, yes, this is the one..you can calm down now.

"Dear Seventeen Magazine, how can I tell if the super-cute boy in my class likes me? No, scratch that....Dear Seventeen, how can I tell if the super-cute boy in my class killed his own sister?"

1) This and the next couple of episodes, in keeping with the tying up loose ends before the climax idea, comprise a little mini-arc involving Keith's dating of Wallace's mom (a returning Erica Gimpel), and the return of Lianne Mars. This is the strength of this very, very weak--dare I call it bad--episode.

2) Joey Lauren Adams, she of the lil' girl voice in the early Kevin Smith movies, suddenly makes her only appearance as Geena Stafford, the new faculty advisor of the school newspaper. This is pretty much a clear indication that Sydney Tamiia Portier was not coming back, as her character is never mentioned again. And after this episode, neither is Adams'.

3) I've sung the praises of Duane Daniels' Mr. Clemmons before, and I'm going to again--while he may be an impediment to Veronica in the A plot, the beauty of Jed Seidel's script is that there's a grain of truth in what he's saying...namely, he does have an obligation to protect the student body that Veronica and Ms. Stafford interfered with. Daniels continues to add more and more nuance to what could have been a cardboard character, a process that will culminate in an excellent episode down the line.

"And I learned this trick from watching Jackie Chan movies."

4) What's not excellent is the performance of Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He is thoroughly unconvincing throughout--the man seems to feel the best way to sound sinister is to channel his inner Christian Slater channeling his inner Jack Nicholson--and because the effectiveness of the A Plot rests on him, the A Plot fails.

5) And its doubly aggravating because it takes away from the performance of Theo Rossi as Norris. Rossi manages to create a very three dimensional character from what could have been a stereotypical thug. He allows us to see a bit of his inner life, and his true nature during his interactions with Veronica.

6) There is a scene at roughly the twenty-one minute mark between Veronica and Duncan that acts as a showcase for Teddy Dunn; he goes through a number of emotions, and what's even more amazing is what his body language tells us he's really thinking.

Mr. Taylor Thomas, you're sending this episode down that
toilet....

7) But you don't want to know about all this stuff...you want to know about The Kiss. Yes, what Rob Thomas and his room of writers have been leading up to finally goes off with Logan and Veronica's first kiss. I remember how shocked I was at seeing this moment when I viewed the episode for the first time, and it continues to have a sort of impulsiveness even now after five years. But then, pulling the trigger on their relationship is vital to getting Veronica in position in the coming episodes to put the pieces together.

8) The one thing that puzzles me about the A Plot--besides why we had to put up with Jonathan Taylor Thomas' cliched performance--is that it's established very clearly that Norris' bullying stopped around Junior High School. We never quite learn why, however, which is doubly puzzling given that the ultimate reason why Norris was set up ties in with his history of bullying. I suspect that Seidel's reference to Norris' father giving him an incentive to keep up his grades with a tour of Japan has something to do with it, but it's only a fleeting reference. Usually I'm not that worried about dangling plot threads, but here it bugs me.

9) I sort of wish the tension between Veronica and Wallace over their parents' romance had extended beyond a couple of act. It just seems like there was a wealth of quipping and interactions that goes to waste after they get all chummy again....

10) As corny as it is, I still rather like how Veronica takes up the just fired Ms. Stafford's mantle in the moments after she exits the journalism room.

Overall...the real good moments in the overarc aside, this is a pretty poor A plot built around an atrocious performance by a failed child actor. Try to suffer through the bull and focus on the few good moments...and try not to realize that an even worse episode is coming up next time.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE SEVENTEEN 'Kanes and Abel's' (2006)



"Remember this overarc is about my
murder!"

 "What do you think Lily would make of you investigating all the people who loved her?"

"I loved Lily. Maybe if I didn't, I'd be able to drop this."

1) We're now into Act Three of Season One, and this episode is all about setting up the elements Thomas and his writers need for their big climax. It's also about starting to discard the red herrings left in the road, but we'll get to that on a case by case basis. A lot more is going to be going on in each episode, and they're sometimes going to be difficult to keep up with.

2) That's not to say there isn't an A plot--it's just that the whole storyline involving Veronica being hired by a student to stop the harassment of her during midterms is pretty much the B plot this episode. It's treated as an impediment to what the story is mostly about, namely Veronica sequestering Abel Koontz' daughter Amelia, played by Erin Chambers, while she develops the case to clear Abel of Lily's murder.

We get even closer to the Logan/Veronica relationship...
thanks to a little snooping.

3) There's some advancement of the plot thread involving Logan and Veronica's changing relationship--which is vital for the Lily Kane storyline to shake out...and Bell and Dohring more than prove up to the task. There's a simple exchange--quoted above--that explains why Logan isn't a suspect while drawing them closer together. The chemistry at this point is a physical presence here.

4) You know, Veronica in this episode comes close to being a real jerk when it comes to her interactions with Amelia. She consistently lies to the woman and is overall deceptive just so she can get what she wants.

5) And, of course, this is the episode that introduces Vinnie Van Lowe, played expertly by Ken Marino. Right now he's seen primarily as a comedy character, but come the next two seasons Marino will start slowly getting darker in his performance until he becomes something of a threat to the Mars family.

6) The whole sequence revolving around the Scholarship Dinner is significant primarily for setting up the motif of Veronica replaying the murder of Lily with each of the final suspects (which means more of Amanda Seyfried being fabulous, but that's besides the point)...but one of the other things I like is it once again gives us a glimpse of the very nuanced portrayal of Jake Kane by Kyle Secor...okay, and the wretched scenery chewing of Lisa Thornhill as Celeste. Seeing their reaction to Veronica showing up side by side shows why Secor knows what he's doing, and Thornhill doesn't..

7) ...and speaking of Lily, we get another little bit of magic realism, with Veronica having a discussion with her ghost that leads into a wonderful moment with her and Duncan admitting in a circuitous way how much they miss her. I've said it before, but these are the moments that elevate the show into something unique.

8) There's another strong Veronica/Keith scene that leads directly from the first real exposure we have to Christopher Duncan's Clarence Weidman. The scene with Keith and Clarence basically playing chicken with each other is pretty choice--and the one that follows, with Keith finally giving his consent to Veronica's investigation is extremely powerful...all the more so because of the absolute believability these two have as father and daughter.

Say hello to a red herring...

9) If you want proof of how this show, at least for the first two seasons, planned for the long term...the ultimate resolution of the Amelia plotline that is for all extents the A plot of this episode ends with a comment about her running off to Belize. I have no idea if Thomas had intended this, but it's a foreshadowing of what ultimately happens to Amelia when the series decides to revisit the Abel Koontz subplot in Season Two.

10) And give this episode credit for ending on a real shocker of a hook, as we reach Veronica's mental recreation of how the murder of Lily would go if Duncan was the culprit. Short, nasty, too the point, and leading to a silent outro.

Overall....a pretty disjointed episode that is given a lift by some strong character bits and some genuine movement of the overarc. It's a great forty-some-odd minutes before we hit what has to be the two worst episode of the first season...so you've been warned.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE FIFTEEN 'Ruskie Business' (2005)

She calls it 'Manilla Whore Barbie'...I call it Derrick Hottie
Growl Worthy...

"J. Geils was right--love stinks. You can dress it up in sequins and shoulder pads, but one way or another you're just going to end up alone at the Spring Dance strapped into uncomfortable underwear."

1) Okay...we're close to the end of this season's second act, which means there's still fifteen balls up in the air. Just look at the pre-title teaser--we touch upon the Veronica/Logan situation (wonderfully underplayed by both Dohring--who looks like he has no idea how to start being Veronica's friend again--and Bell), reintroduce Meg so she can throw a spanner into another relationship thread for Veronica, begin the tease for the reintroduction of the Lianne Mars thread...and then get the first taste of the A plot. And, thanks to writers Phil Klemmons and John Enbom, and the direction of Guy Norman Bee--who utilizes a number of tracking shots to give this all a fluid momentum--it's seamless.

2) Oh--and since the whole Logan and Veronica relationship is beginning to develop, it's time to drag Max Greenfield back in to banter with her as Leo...and you know, there's a certain much-missed chemistry that just falls into place immediately. It's a pity Greenfield doesn't stick around for much longer (although he'll pop up time and again throughout the series)...he's a lot of fun.

3) And speaking of people I missed...man, is Alona Tal fun as all get out. She's even more confident playing Meg, and the interplay between her and Veronica is stellar. It's a pity that, like Leo, she gets written out fairly quickly at the beginning of Season Two, because she and Bell are comedy gold.

"You need to stay away from her, Logan...she was an evil
lesbian witch on her previous show."

4) And here we get the official debut of Alyson Hannigan as Trina Echolls. Hannigan was between jobs here, having finished Buffy the year before and about to start How I Met Your Mother, and it seems that she agreed to do this solely if she could play the exact opposite of Willow Rosenberg. Thus, Trina is a shallow, venal and more or less detestable person who only adds to the American Gothic that is the Echolls family. To be absolutely fair, I couldn't see originally considered Denise Richards or ...grumblemutter.... Tara Reid doing a better job. Hannigan shows up a handful of times before New York and a fake marriage to Jason Segal whisks her away...

5) That being said...take a look at the first scene with Logan and Trina. First off, it's interesting how Bell is continually reacting to the insults and accusations flowing between the two...although her surprise at the accusations of abuse seem odd given how close Veronica and Lily were supposed to have been. And when Trina leaves, the way Dohring just allows himself to collapse totally, almost as if he is regressing into a child, crying and seeking comfort in Veronica's awkward embrace is powerful. It's a hell of a lot more effective than Veronica's breakdown several episodes back.

Keith Mars' attempt to find a date for his
daughter was somewhat lacking...

6) You'll notice how I haven't mentioned the A plot...it's because it's hardly there, only blasting into high gear at the 30 minute mark. The funny thing is how it sort of gets resolved by Keith, and even then by accident. As we'll see as we move further into this season, Rob Thomas gets more and more impatient with these A Plots as we move closer to the final act, and the revelation of Lily's murderer.

7) I can forgive the thoroughly inconsequential aspect of this story taking place leading up to an 80's dance called 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' since it does get me the sight of Bell dressed as, in her words, 'Manilla Whore Barbie.'

8) You know, I really have to wonder how closely Thomas studied the works of John Hughes...because I swear there are a number of visual and dialogue throwbacks to his work during the sequence at the dance...and to have it shattered by the big reveal leading to the final scene, leaving us as confused as Leo is as Veronica tries to runs off in inappropriate heels....

9) I do like how Meg continues to prove that she's one of the true stand-up people in Neptune High by being the person to get Leo to the dance...although it's heartening that he came to see Veronica. Hell, our girl even gets some smoochies out of it...at least for the moment.

10) My God, the final scene...just as Logan regresses when confronted with the truth about his mother's death, so does Lianne Mars regress when confronted with Veronica, only she regresses into a recalcitrant child, trying to push her daughter away out of fear. And when we see why she's afraid, we almost sympathize with Veronica's stunned silence.

Overall...forget about the whole 'Russian gal looks for a boyfriend-who-isn't-her-boyfriend-that Keith-susses-out A Plot. Just bask in the way all these ducks fall into a row getting us ready for the bang-a-minute third act of this story.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE FOURTEEN 'Mars Vs. Mars' (2005)

But Veronica...he can't be eeeevil...he's cute!

"I know all of this because I have done everything I could to get to the truth... including using you and I'm really sorry about that. But I-I used you, then fell for you, not the other way around."

1) Ewwwww....in the middle of one of the more compelling aspects of the overarc, we get the icky teacher/student sex episode.

2) No, seriously...Thomas at this point has so many balls in the air--the Lynn Echolls disappearance, the mystery illness of Duncan, the Koontz motivation--that throwing in this rather ordinary done-in-one adventure that kinda sorta covers a lot of the same ground in regards to the Keith/Veronica relationship as 'Drinking The Kool-Aid' is just...well, pointless.

3) Leighton Meester, who plays accuser Carrie Bishop, prolly would have gotten a lot more credit for her nuanced, unflinching performance if she wasn't contrasted with the near-saintly portrayal of Adam Scott as Mr. Rooks. Contrasting the two inadvertantly hides how good she is by allowing us to relegate both performances to the bin of 'Black and White Perceptions Are Always Wrong.'

4) For me, the most interesting aspects of this episode are the ones involving Logan and Veronica's investigation into the last moments of Lynne Echolls. It's obvious that Thomas has set up a situation where the two characters have echoes of each other...and yet, Dohring is able to still be his problematic, dangerous, borderline self-destructive self while still managing to generate some understanding and sympathy in the viewer. It makes the slow progression these two characters are making toward a full-on-relationship not only acceptable, but compelling.

I am almost afraid to caption this photo...really....

5) Okay, the whole boobytrapped safe gag--and the scene between Veronica and Keith afterwards--was funny ("You're patronizing me?" "Well, to be fair, I am your patron.")...but it seemed like an awful lot of business to get to that moment. And to have Keith cave so easily and provide Veronica with info regarding Bishop's diary makes it all seem so...unnecessary. You know, like this whole A plot.

6) Wow...I am amazed that they were able to get some of those racy lines between Veronica and Weevil through. Especially in an episode about sexual harassment...If you ever fantasized about Kristen Bell referencing Deep Throats and rin jobs, well....

Boy, Leighton...sorry you got your performance
trapped in a whole 'don't judge a book' cliche'd
situation...

7) I know I already talked about Meester's performance, but I wanted to point out how cool it was that once Veronica does her 'I'm sorry' speech, she doesn't automatically get all huggy and 'it's okay.' She still keeps Carrie a bit of a bitch, and only a slight shared smile when Mr. Rooks makes his exit indicating there might be a change in their relationship.

8) If there is one thing that might be removed, it might be the Duncan Kane subplot aspects--although, to be fair, advancing the Duncan plot advances the Koontz plot, and leads to the show's kick-ass final scene.

9) What makes elevates this episode into a much watch? Two scenes...first, the final discovery of Lynne Echolls fate, done in a darkened classroom. And it's not the reactions to what they see that makes this scene work--it's that the two people Logan has to rely on in this moment of pain are two people he is antagonistic toward--Veronica and Weevil.

10)...and second, the final scene where Veronica confronts Abel Koontz with 'what she knows,' and we see how good both Bell and Clemenson are as actors...within a matter of moments, the emotional tables are turned, and the person who ends up devastated is not the person you expected to be.

Overall...while the A plot stinks on ice, covering ground already covered, those two subplots and the punchlines they lead to knock this episode out of the park. Ignore the A plot and just bask in what lies in between.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE ELEVEN 'Silence Of The Lamb' (2005)

Sometimes there's a reason someone acts like Bizarro-You...

"It is big--like, life altering big, so you should really think about if you want to hear it or if you'd rather just forget it and go on with your life. And may I suggest Option B."

1) Since we're now into 'Act Two' of our longform story, some of the 'Done-In-One' mysteries get a little more serious--thus the E-String Strangler serial killer investigation that Keith Mars has to collaborate with Michael Muhney's Sheriff Lamb on. It helps give us a fuller idea of Lamb's personality and back story, just as Veronica's case illuminates Mac.

2) And a new Act means a few new characters. In addition to Madison Sinclair returning to take a fuller role, we're introduced to Max Greenfield's Deputy Leo, who will be Veronica's romantic interest for the next stretch of stories.

Veronica's new romantic interest is more virtuous
than her last one...but has his own edge.

3) The script by Jed Seidel and Dayna Lynn North effectively builds up Mac's parents as loving if boorish. In fact, both the parent sets are pretty decent. But then, when you have Amanda Norel making like the Prep-School Devil as Madison, that makes up for the older characters being decent variations on a theme....

4) As the cases get more intense, so does Keith Mars' behavior. Watching him knock down a suspect he's interrogating when he makes a comment about Veronica drives home how this is Not A Man To Fuck With.

5) There's a whole Nature Versus Nurture angle that I'm not sure sits well with the episode. It sort of muddies the water a bit, and isn't really addressed fully.

6) It's interesting how Lamb and Keith, the deeper into the case they get, begin to act as a unit.

The transition is seamless in spots, and I have to attribute that to Muhney and Colantoni's skill as actors to build a chemistry out of antagonism...and tear it apart once this sequence of their character arcs are done.

7) The chemistry between Greenfield and Bell is genuine--which somewhat covers up the fact that at least at this point, Veronica is using Deputy Leo solely to advance her own agenda regarding the Lily Kane case. This scene, by the way, also locks in Veronica's age as 17.

This episode illuminates Mac, while cementing her relationship
with Veronica.

8) The scene between Mac and Bridget Hoffman's Ellen Sinclair are truly heartbreaking. Part of this is because the casting agent took the time to make sure there's a definite resemblance between Hoffman, Tina Majorino and Carlie Westermann, who plays Madison's sister Lauren. Seeing all three in the same room emphasizes that this should have been Mac's family...which makes what transpires all the sadder.

9) As much as I enjoyed the whole Keith Mars/Strangler storyline, it does irk me that the mystery is resolved--after a whole lot of hardcore detective work--with a hunch that would not have come to Keith if he hadn't worriedly tracked Veronica down.

10) And here, at the very end, we get the first in media res appearance of Clarence Weiderman, indicating that the next phase of this overarc is firmly on....

Overall...a fairly good episode that shows how much more confident Thomas is becoming. Both plots balance well, both plots illuminate different relationships, and both--more or less resolve well. And it gets better from here.

Ten Statements About....VERONICA MARS SEASON ONE, EPISODE NINE 'Drinking The Kool-Aid' (2004)

"Who's up for 'Camptown Races? My Sweet Lord?....

"Enough already with this mellow incense and peppermint vibe. Let's break out the mushrooms and dance naked, strap on the goat skull headgear, sacrifice a few infants. Come on, people, you're cultists. Start acting like it."

1) We begin immediately where the previous episode left off, with the unconvincing panic attack and a set-up for what is going to drive the next few episode's overarc elements--the question of Veronica's paternity. Right now it plays out of left field, although there are moments (like her reaction to realizing what Duncan might be to her) that are at turns funny and appalling...and they're nothing compared to the moment towards the end of this season. That moment--and we'll be talking about it when we get there--is what makes all the dithering in these episodes worthwhile.

2) And this episode we get another introduction--Christopher B. Duncan is uncredited as Claude Weidman...but trust me when I tell you that this character, and the actor playing him, is very, very interesting. He ends up fulfilling a strange role in the series, a kind of grey-area wildcard foe with a grudging respect for our heroine...and some of the things we see him do are cold.

Yeah, that crying jag convinced no one, Kristin...luckily for
you, what follows does.

3) Look, even if this show wasn't a clever and modern fusion of Nancy Drew and Mike Hammer, I'd still watch it for the interaction between Bell and Colantoni. Does the scene where Keith finally grants five year old Veronica's wish and gets her a water bed have anything to do with the main plot? Hell, no. But is it a vital, alive and funny scene that's entertaining? Damn straight.

4) You'll notice I haven't said much about the A plot yet...and it's because even now, after repeated viewings, I am very ambivalent about it. I think there's a point Rob Thomas and scripter Russell Smith are making about not everything society would deem a 'cult' being sinister and evil...but in making that point I wonder if they go too far in the other direction.

5) Another problem with the A plot--given what we've seen of Veronica's romantic life so far, I find it hard to accept she would go from contempt to borderline crushing on Jonathen Bennet's Casey so quickly. There's a little chemistry between the two, but the abruptness of the transition doesn't quite work for me...

"Nope...no ambivilence here...
I's a total creep.'

6) And it also doesn't help that Ray Proscia's Deprogamming Guy is such a thorough and total creep (he's billed as 'Ice Cold Guy' in the credits...and let's be honest, Proscia's specialty is ice-cold creeps). It unbalances the debate to an extreme, when a less threatening, more nuanced character would keep us open to both sides of the issue the episode is raising.

7) That being said, I'm glad that the script is self-aware enough to allow the voice of reason to spring from Wallace's mouth, proving to us why Veronica needs him as her Watson. And I love the fact that some of Veronica's funniest lines to date come from this A Plot.

8) Ascribing base motivations to the parents towards the end of the episode, making their desire to save their son from this cult all about money, furthers the one-sidedness of this episode. And it's doubly frustrating because the two characters seem a little stuck-up, but genuinely concerned in their scenes.

9) You know, the deus ex machina development that finally brings the A Plot to a climax makes everything that Veronica goes through unnecessary..yet another reason for my conflicted feelings about this episode.

10) And yet...all this is allllmost worth it for the scene between Veronica and her father in his office--it bookends with the comedy of the first scene, and bring forward the fact that at its core, this next stretch of the series is about nature versus nuture, and what has shaped Veronica into the person she is..

Overall...this suffers from the same problems "The Girl Next Door" did, although not to the extent. Yes, some of the humor and small touches makes up for the heavy handed nature of the A Plot...but there's just some things that prevent me from getting behind it one hundred percent.