2.10 "One Angry Veronica"
Aired Dec 07, 2005
Roundtable Reviews
topanga: I liked this episode better than last week's, though I seem to be in the minority. More of the plot points were relevant to the season-long story arcs. It didn't feel like filler. And it definitely wasn't boring. I was way more emotionally invested in this week's episode than I was in last week's. And it held my attention better.
alliterator: I'm with you, t. Though some parts of the ep may have been boring and the giant infodump in the beginning of the jury thing was annoying, I still loved it. Maybe because I was called for jury duty last summer and it is not pleasant (although I didn't get on a trial).
misskiwi: I hate to say this without having seen the episode, but Rob Thomas should not be allowed to write and direct his own episode. He spends a few weeks working diligently on his script and look what happens! We get continuity glitches and soap opera plotlines all over the place.
That being said, I agree that this was much better than last week's. Maybe it's because it got off on the right foot with a good confrontation between Duncan and Veronica (and the vindication of my theory on the contents of Meg's letter, boo-yeah!) and I ignored any of the downsides from there on out, but I liked Keith's interaction with his former employees and Logan's reaction to the tapes. Overall, not stellar, but not bad either.
topanga: My reaction is the total mirror image of my reaction last week to "My Mother, The Fiend": then, I found individual elements of the episode to be enjoyable, though it was my least favorite of the season overall. This week, I loved/cared very deeply for the episode overall, though there were individual elements that I didn't like.
alliterator: I think you hit the nail on the head about why I liked this episode. It just tied together well for me. Although individual scenes bugged me (boooring trial scenes, Leo's confession, etc.), they were tied into the overall plotline that made sense. I don't know, maybe it's a result of seeing all these TV shows go out of their way to do a Christmas episode ("Lexmas," for God's sake) that I like the fact that VM had a Christmas, New Year's, and 12 Angry Men episode all bunched together. And I think this episode actually took place over the longest period of time — the start was the beginning of winter break, which is about December 16th, and it ended on New Year's Eve, December 31st. Which means, hey, it's already 2006 in the Marsverse!
misskiwi: I liked the noir vibe from last season; it was grey, dirty, and gritty. This season, I feel...soapy. I don't like it as much.
Polter-Cow: Well, I feel dirty. FROM BEING SOAKED IN CRAP. The episode was horribly, terribly mediocre, and that should mean a lot coming from someone who loves the show a whole hell of a lot. It was slightly less boring than "Drinking the Kool-Aid," which, incidentally, was also written by Russell Smith. Coincidence? I liked this episode more when it was called "Hung Jury," and Trevor and Claire were trying to hook people up, and there was a discussion about nooks and crannies, and Champ was in a Santa suit. And that's not even one of my favorite Cupid episodes.
grim squeaker: I'm quite sure I would have loved this episode much more if Terrence Cook had appeared in a Santa suit...
alliterator: P-C, you're only angry because they killed off Meg. And because you're a bitter, bitter cow.
marks of love: Nah, I've gotta side with the Cow, and I'm not mourning my TV girlfriend. (Though, okay, I am in fact totally mourning the absence of my TV boyfriend Cassidy.) I also quite like "Drinking the Kool-Aid," but that's neither here nor there. This episode was just poopy. Intensely predictable, which is not usually a problem with me and this show. Unsubtle as hell. Perhaps the final kibosh on the last vestiges of my Duncan fanhood. Almost completely lacking in emotional substance, except for Logan's woe and the OTBFF reunion. Oh, my show. Don't ever suck again.
grim squeaker: I concur with marks of love. The only things that remotely moved me about the episode were Meg's scene, Logan crying, the Marses celebrating Christmas and the return of the one and only BFF. And it's a remarkable day when Logan is one of the few highlights of an episode for me.
public displays of lust: While I actually didn't at all hate this episode whilst watching it, I cannot try to argue that it wasn't a shining example of not-goodness. I find myself agreeing with the Cow and marks. Overall, it was very clearly meant to accomplish certain storyline goals and went ahead and did so in a way that was pretty much completely without finesse. Everything was a graceless step towards taking us into what I assume will be the major arcs of the next part of the season: the reversal of Veronica's social status, the weakening of the case against Aaron, the future of Duncan and Meg's child. Quite disappointing for this show.
misskiwi: I agree on the predictability. The second the asshole juror said it looked like an "open-and-shut" case and the 09ers were coming off as innocent victims, I knew which way it was going to go.
funky-donut: I found Leo being the thief to be equally predictable, misskiwi. I knew the second I heard his voice that it was going to turn out to be him that stole the tapes. Which took a lot of wind out of the sails of that plot for me. Granted, I was still squealing "Leo!!!" when he showed up, but it bothered me that it was so obvious that he was the culprit.
topanga: I liked the mystery at the Sheriff's Department. Leo's role in the tape-stealing incident was very contrived, but I loved Keith's interaction with everyone in the police department. His line to Lamb about crime-fighting getting in the way of fitness was hilarious. Lamb is hella-fine, but he knows it. And Keith working with Woody? I wonder if there's going to be more of that in the future.
Watching Logan's scene with the tapes made me want to cry with him and slap him at the same time. Dude, I know you don't want your girlfriend's infidelities publicized, so you'd rather see her murderer let loose? To go after Veronica, perhaps?
misskiwi: I wish Keith had brought that up as a guilt trip on Leo and/or Logan. And speaking of Leo, if his true intention had been to make money by selling the tapes to the media before he changed his mind and sold them to Logan, why did he steal the tapes rather than just copy them? The theft would not have been immediately and undeniably pegged on the sheriff's department. It was all obviously a way to get Leo off the show, though, which is a shame; there are so many characters that just fade into the background in the Neptune universe that I would have preferred to just never see Leo again in place of a contrived send-off.
topanga: I like Leo, but that plot made him seem like a selfish doofus. When he stole stuff from the sheriff's office before, it was done reluctantly, it was after much begging, manipulating, and head-tilting on Veronica's part. And she wanted the items to help investigate Lilly's murder. If Leo really cares about Veronica, and I think he does, why would he jeopardize all of the hard work she's done for the past year? She almost died getting those tapes. Why was it so easy for him to steal them? For private school? Dude, there are things called scholarships. And personal loans. And working overtime.
misskiwi: And now he has no job, so...way to go with helping the family's financial situation there, Leo.
alliterator: Even though I said, "Say it ain't so, Leo!" during the episode, I'd rather have Leo involved in a storyline in one episode and have a legitimate reason why he's gone for the rest then absolutely no reason whatsoever about why he's missing and just not mentioning his name. Of course, his WB sitcom could always been cancelled. Then they can bring him back as a guest star!
Seriously, I only had a smidge of a problem with Leo's characterization. We haven't seen him since "Normal Is the Watchword," and we barely know a thing about him, so it didn't bother me when he revealed he had a sister with Down Syndrome. And we've seen him steal stuff from the evidence locker before for Veronica. And he said he regretted stealing the tapes and almost returned them before Logan bought them. Good enough for me!
misskiwi: Two interesting things I noticed upon re-watching. Leo, the eventual culprit, is the one who tips Keith off that money, and not evidence tampering, could have been the motive for the theft. And second, Logan takes Keith's head off at the mere suggestion that he might want to help out the old block by getting rid of the tapes. And then he...goes and does exactly that. I haven't decided whether it's sloppy writing or neat, ironic foreshadowing. Given the overall calibre of the episode, I'm tempted by the former where usually the show would make me choose the latter.
marks of love: I wasn't wowed by this storyline, though I always like "Keith investigates!" stories on principle. The greatest of these is, of course, last year's Christmas episode, so maybe this will be a yearly thing. It's nice symmetry, in any event. I don't think that Leo was behaving terribly out of character, and neither was Logan, who I can easily buy as too fucked-up to really care about the trial. But I think they were both pretty assholish to disregard the fact that, as topanga pointed out, Veronica very nearly died to secure those tapes. Lame, lame, lame.
I may or may not also be miffed about the utter lack of mention of Logan-Leo conspiracy. Dude. They're Veronica's two remaining exes! That could have been totally fun. But no, firmly stuck in the land of lame. Not to mention weird facial hair. Aw, and Jason was looking so hot last week, too.
Inigo: Jason always looks hot.
I know I am easily pleased when it comes to Logan, but my heart did break when he watched the tape we saw. I wasn't expecting an even bigger emotional impact when Keith arrived, so that was unexpected and, I thought, really well done. Keith exudes such a genuine and gentle sympathy for Logan in that scene, which was even more touching.
Polter-Cow: Those were the best scenes in the episode, Inigo. I loved the use of "Edge of the Ocean," not only because it set a lovely mood for the moment but also because the line "We can start over again" had a lot of emotional resonance. And that's a good observation about Keith's behavior toward Logan considering his usual treatment of the boy.
Inigo: There were some wonderful small touches here as well. Within the sheriff's department, there was Keith's reaction to Lamb's preening; Sacks's "What?" moment when Keith asks him whether he received the email offering to buy the tapes; Keith sneaking a look at Woody's letter to Lamb announcing that he was going to appoint Keith to investigate. It's these little things that always make an even mediocre episode a joy for me.
grim squeaker: I loved Lamb's utter vanity in his scene with Keith. He was practically entranced by his own reflection! Very nicely worked out acted by Michael Muhney.
funky-donut: Heh. Oh, yes indeed, grim. Mmmmmm, Laaaamb.
lilserf: I had higher hopes for the jury subplot when I saw "Veronica is on a jury" in the TV listings. Most weeks, the VM writers really keep me guessing with the MotW, but I recognized 12 Angry Men right away. As soon as there was a lone dissenter, I knew that 30 minutes later the verdict would come out reversed.
Inigo: Me too, lilserf. I think they faced an insurmountable problem with reversing the original premise of the film as well. Perhaps it is the lawyer in me, but I was sadly forced to agree with the Captain of Industry jackass that the boys would succeed on appeal. The story can't work the other way round because the burden of proof isn't equal as between finding guilt or innocence. Henry Fonda can do a cracking job of persuading the angry men that there is reasonable doubt about guilt, rendering an acquittal the only verdict but convincing others that there is a reasonable doubt about innocence doesn't mean that the only verdict is to convict. Yet that is what was sold.
lilserf: The writers must have really been wedded to doing that homage, because it gave them the horrible task of laying a HUGE amount of "pipe." The whole beginning of the jury plotline was quite slow, mainly because it was just unavoidably 5 minutes of exposition. People sitting around a table telling the audience exactly what they ostensibly just heard in the courtroom isn't that entertaining. And a MotW that's one step removed, where we never meet the players but only hear about them secondhand from the jury members, just can't pack the same punch as ones from past episodes.
misskiwi: You make a good point about reasonable doubt, Inigo. I don't see how they could reach a guilty verdict when, really, all they'd done was poke holes in both the defense's and the prosecution's stories and come up with a theory that fit all the facts. It definitely would have been better for Veronica to have been building a case for innocence rather than guilt. Oh, and pardon me for getting most of my information about the way a jury works from reading Runaway Jury, but why did the verdict have to be unanimous? Doesn't it usually just have to be 9 out of 12 agreeing?
Inigo: I don't know what the requirements are in California. However, I believe that even where a majority verdict can be accepted, it is only after every effort has been made to reach a unanimous one.
misskiwi: But considering how much they were whining about being stuck there, I don't see why they couldn't have gone with a verdict to convict once they got down to 10 to 2, or 11 to 1, and had been at it for several days.
Polter-Cow: I could barely follow the courtroom drama, even when they threw like THIRTY MINUTES OF EXPOSITION in our faces. And how did everyone know she was on the case? Why should we care about that stupid-looking sports DJ guy? Or the stupid mother? Or the stupid random woman who just happens to want to fight for Veronica to get into some random college that she will attend in season three?
misskiwi: And what happened to jury selection? Anyone? It felt like we skipped a lot there, going right from "Oh crap, jury duty!" to "Okay, let's elect Veronica foreman and review the facts." I think this might have been a lot better if had been closer to the show's usual formula. Maybe the girl could have approached Veronica to prove it was the two rich 09ers who beat her up, which would have led Veronica to the theory that the girl was a hooker and that her pimp beat her up, to the revelation that the gun was hers and she was, in fact, innocent. All the twists and nuances of a usual VM episode, none of the heavy-handed exposition.
topanga: I'm in the minority once again because I liked the jury story line. Maybe it's because I'm reading a John Grisham novel right now.
misskiwi: Ooh, is it Runaway Jury?
topanga: Hee. That would be appropriate, right? But no, it's The King of Torts. Anyway, the jury scenario wasn't predictable to me at all. What would have been predictable is if Veronica had been the one to doubt the suspects' innocence and bring forth damning evidence. Instead, it was the middle-aged Latina woman who turned the case on its ear and helped to unravel the mystery. Her line, "Why would a ho work at a car wash all day then walk the streets at night?" (or something along those lines) made me laugh out loud for a long time. Everyone knew right away that they were dealing with an intelligent woman who wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
lilserf: The predictable thing about Veronica was that as foreman she would be open to anyone's legitimate doubts about the verdict. I knew she'd keep discussion going until they knew all the "facts", just like she does on her cases. There wasn't anything surprising or dramatic there for me. Just "when will they find that one chunk of evidence that convinces everyone?"
One thing I did like about jury duty, however: it's a guest appearance by The Todd! I don't know how he has time to work two jobs in radio and surgery, while also serving on a jury...
misskiwi: Show The Todd some love! I miss Scrubs...
grim squeaker:: Oh, me too!
funky-donut:The Todd! The Todd!
lilserf: It's back this spring on NBC! But that's not why we're here.
marks of love: Why are we? As far as I can tell this plotline was introduced for two reasons: A) to weaken Veronica's social status, and B) to give her an in at some conveniently located college. But B was so incredibly clunky that I just hate it for existing. Why not just mention in passing that that lady works on a school board or something? Then three episodes later when she's doing college visits they can have a run-in, maybe V'll be surprised because she thought the woman worked at a preschool or something, and Veronica has had a horrible day and suddenly she has a SEED OF HOPE that maybe, just maybe, she'll have some luck. Or something. But to lay it all out there was just inexcusably lazy writing.
Polter-Cow: It was extremely clunky, marks. It was like THUNK HERE IS THE THIRD SEASON MAY WE HAVE ONE PLEASE. Like, what, this woman knows Veronica for a few days, knows nothing at all about her academic record or extracurricular activities, and she's all of a sudden ready to "fight for [her]"? And it had nothing to do with anything. The episode came to a COMPLETE HALT (YES, IT BECAME EVEN MORE BORING THAN IT ALREADY WAS) as they set up the third season. Not that I don't desperately want one, but geez.
marks of love: As for the cause of Veronica's fall from grace, blah. First, it's barely been clear as to why her social status was at all comfortable. She was dating Duncan...who never seemed to have any connection with Dick; she had broken up with Logan, so he was no longer obligated to be nice to her — I always thought it was strange that he continued to do so, and stranger yet that she returned the favour. There was this thing where he, being neither grieving his dead girlfriend nor unknowingly having taken GHB, tried to get his brother to rape her...? After having poured GHB into a glass to give to his own girlfriend, and thus being the ultimate Dentist of ATttD...? Oh, well. Like Veronica once said, "Bygones!" But, yeah, back in the real world, her friendliness with Dick has bugged me this entire season, and considering that her relationship with Duncan seems to be not long for this world, wouldn't her 09er pass be dying soon anyway?
Inigo: I think the mistake was not to make it more apparent that the case was something of a cause celebre in Neptune, and another case that had split the town. That everyone knew Veronica was a member of the jury, to the extent that Thumper sought to intimidate her and the 09ers vandalised her car, is easily explained by that tiny emphasis. We weren't supposed to care about the two 09ers or the girl, which is why they didn't need to be familiar. I think we were supposed to see this as the Logan Echolls "trial" part two and the impact it has on the inhabitants, including Veronica. Writers walk a thin line between being too subtle and not subtle enough. This was about the class war and Veronica, not taking sides in it, but walking the middle road, the one Keith was proposing when running for sheriff. I also think that is why Keith nudged her in the right direction with the articles.
misskiwi: Absolutely, Inigo. They didn't build it up as an important case at all. It's strange after a season of anvilicious development of the class war, but I'm really not feeling the fall from grace. We never saw Veronica interacting with any characters we know, or anyone else talking about the trial, so how are we supposed to believe this will have some kind of impact on her social standing at school? I would have preferred it if people had discussed the conviction of the two 09ers after the break and eventually figured out that Veronica was partly responsible. Then it might have felt more natural.
marks of love: Word, misskiwi. But enough of that. How about this: who the fuck were these rich white boys, anyway? Dude, you can't just spit out names of characters we've never seen or heard of and call them rich and white and then, ta-da, one class war coming up. The guys weren't even current NHS students, were they? There are plenty of tertiary 09er guys that could have taken that fall and made the class conflict a thousand times more immediate. Like, oh, say...DICK? Just a thought. But even Cole would have done in a pinch. Veronica convicts two random white guys of a crime, so now she's a pariah. That was easy. Pfff.
Finally, I have to complain about the part where EVERYBODY KNEW WHAT TRIAL VERONICA WAS JURYDUTYING. WHY DID THEY EVEN KNOW SHE WAS JURORING AT ALL? WHY THE HELL DID MAC CARE (OH BUT MAYBE MY HER BOYFRIEND CASSIDY...UM...WANTED TO SPITE DICK BY HELPING CONVICT THE RANDOM DUDES VIA OLD SPORTS NEWS CONVENIENTLY FORGOTTEN BY AN OBNOXIOUS RADIO PERSONALITY) ENOUGH TO GIVE HER THOSE ARTICLES? WHAT'S THE VERB FOR "TO SERVE ON A JURY"? WHY AM I STUCK IN CAPSLOCK MODE? WHAT IS GOING OOOONNNNNNN?!??! AIEEEEE.
P.S. Veronica being foreman was really effing contrived! SO THERE AIEEEE AGAIN.
topanga: I thought it was Keith who knew about the Myles kid being a football player and that he simply used Mac's computer skills to make the articles her wallpaper.
public displays of lust: I cannot argue with the fact that this storyline could have been immensely more affecting if it had involved recurring characters in that way that this show is normally so good at; however, I must take issue with the topic of your capslocky rage, marks. While I would love to imagine the involvement of Mac and my secret lover Cassidy, I assumed that Keith was the one who put the articles on Veronica's computer. It seemed heavily implied by 1) the fact that Mac doing it makes no sense and 2) Keith's insistence that they break tradition so that Veronica could get that present then. I mean, I'd like to assume that there wasn't a COMPLETE AND TOTAL BREAKDOWN OF THE ABILITY TO NOT SUCK IN THE VM WRITERS'...PLACE. SO THERE. WHY AM I CAPSLOCKING NOW? THIS IS SORT OF DISTURBING.
misskiwi: You know an episode's either really good or really bad when marks and PDL are thus abusing their caps lock buttons.
marks of love: CAPS LOCK IS LIFE. And I think you meant my secret lover, PDL. It's okay, I know how confusing those pesky pronouns are. I guess you are right in thinking that it would make more sense for Keith to have been responsible, although...frankly, I don't think that makes much sense either, since the man didn't utter a freaking word about the trial the whole time. AIEEEE, I SAY. AIEEEEEE!
public displays of lust: Yes, pronouns are so tricky. Especially to certain people named marks of love who are deluded into believing that their pdl's secret lovers are their secret lovers. At any rate, perhaps Keith did not mention the trial because he knew Veronica couldn't talk about it. That doesn't mean that he wasn't still being awesomely, knowing-of-lots-of-things dad like he often is. But, hey, I will not try too hard to rob you of your AIEEing, what with the major blow that Cassidy belonging to me must already be to your poor, little heart.
marks of love: I can kill you with my brain.
grim squeaker: And I could kill you both with my scythe. I know you love the Beav dearly, but he wasn't even in this episode OMG!
public displays of lust: How true would our love be if it our expression of it was hindered by irrelevant little trifles like whether Cassidy was actually present? Psh.
Polter-Cow: Hey, can we stop talking about the TV boyfriend who wasn't even in the episode and talk about my TV girlfriend instead? You know, the one who DIED? For, like, THE THIRD TIME?
misskiwi: One of the things that really bugged me about the episode was the killing of Meg. (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.) The hospital scene with Duncan, Veronica, and Meg was a very rewarding payoff after all this buildup, but killing her off offscreen and after almost having killed her once and after leaving her in a coma this long...meh. And that baby had better be one heck of a premie since Meg can't be much more than six months along.
lilserf: Okay, I know last week I said everything is a cliché but geeeez. Meg is nothing but a cliché this season. Secret pregnancy? Check. Abusive family? Check. Coma? Check. Recovery followed by surprise death? Check. The only thing missing was a bout of amnesia. Sorry, Rob. Four clichés was one too many for me. But here's hoping that the baby plotline leads somewhere interesting.
Polter-Cow: God, she should have just fucking died in the bus crash, if this is all they had planned for her. We could have still gotten that Duncan dream. Meg was a perfectly nice character, and they just...slapped her around and killed her.
topanga: Meg's pregnancy and death — okay, a little soap opera-ish. But I can't wait to see how the baby is going to affect Veronica and Duncan's relationship. Meg being dead, well, it does erase the possibility for Baby Mama Drama. Since Duncan's the baby's father, he'll be able to take custody of his daughter, despite the Mannings' wishes to put her up for adoption through an agency whose Tough Love methods resemble a Good Times-burn-Penny-with-the-iron-type philosophy. I wonder if Veronica is up for being a stepmom? After her less-than-motherly treatment of Baby Think-About-It in "My Mother The Fiend," my guess is no.
misskiwi: I would like to point out that my understanding of Meg's conversation with Veronica was not that she expected or wanted Veronica and Duncan to adopt the baby if anything happened to her (which is what I was cringing and waiting for), but rather that she wanted Veronica to make sure that Meg's parents didn't get their way and that the baby got a good home somewhere. It's not practical for Veronica and Duncan to raise the baby, and Meg should know that.
And speaking of Duncan...since I was right, and he found out about Meg's pregnancy from the letter, we really should have seen some sign of this last week. Dude (Duncan, not Teddy) is not a good enough actor to be all nonchalant at a comment like "So that's where babies come from" when he's just learned that his ex-girlfriend in a coma is pregnant with his illegitimate love child OMG! I don't know whether that's the writers' fault or Teddy's, but it's sloppy.
topanga: I totally agree with you, misskiwi, that Duncan did not act weird enough in last week's episode. He had to take care of a crying, fake baby for five days. That didn't bother him at all? This seems to be a shortcoming on the part of the writers, not Teddy Dunn. I'm sure no one wanted to give too much away, but Duncan could have acted overly concerned about the baby or even less concerned than Veronica did. Either one would have raised an eyebrow but wouldn't have been too obvious. Or maybe Donut really is a robot. I'm not hatin' on Duncan. In fact, I'm still determined to like him. He's just very strange this season.
misskiwi: Yeah, it's probably the writers more than anything, but we're always hearing about how Kristen doesn't need direction and is so awesome at interpreting the script, so I think it's got to be at least partially Teddy's fault for not going, "Say, guys, wouldn't Duncan be a little awkward with the animatronic parental lifestyle simulator? Just a little? No?"
marks of love: You guys are so right. The fact that Duncan knew even for a week is too much for me. I give up the ghost; I CAN'T like the guy anymore. Either he's an animatronic adolesence lifestyle simulator himself, or just a big jerk. I didn't even consider the robot baby thing, but yeah. Duncan, dear, I think I'm done.
Meg dying is SO cheap and it was SO badly done with her portentous request and why the hell did Keith even get that call and who are you people and what have you done with my brilliant, keeps-me-guessing show?! Bah.
public displays of lust: I, like marks, have pretty much given up on liking Duncan. I want to, so badly, but I need him to react to SOMETHING. ANYTHING. I mean, I keep trying to make up explanations for why he's so cold that do not involve him being a douche, but it's not working. I am no longer able to convince myself that his lack of reaction to everything ever is really part of a conscious effort on his part to be as far away from the out-of-control Duncan of epileptic fits as possible and he just went too far the other direction, but is afraid of what will happen if he lets himself feel and it will all be revealed down the line when he just BLOWS UP ONE DAY AND WHY DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS MUCH TROUBLE TO TRY TO EXPLAIN IT?! It's no good. No good at all.
Inigo: I can't believe you all missed that moment last week. That emotional response? You know, when Veronica and Celeste were arguing? When Veronica says "Me? Breeding with a Kane?" Guys! Come on! Duncan blinked!
marks of love: Ha! *feels mean*
grim squeaker: I really used to like Duncan, but this season it's getting next to impossible. I mean, there is a difference between being repressed and making a Vulcan look like Tom Cruise. Even poor, no-longer-comatose Meg rolled her eyes when he tried to postpone his newest problem by telling her that she "needed some rest." Maybe being a new father will wake him up a little. After all, he can hardly ignore the child when her mother is dead. Which is a plot device I could have lived without, to be honest.
public displays of lust: Meg's death was, indeed, quite cheap, but I'm going to assume that her request was because she knew that her parents were going to off her. Or...something. And, uhm, Keith got that call from one of his, uh, sources at the hospital who knew that Veronica and Meg were friends and I'm doing that thing where I try far too hard to explain things that I shouldn't have to explain again. Woe.
misskiwi: The other reason I'm disappointed that Meg died is that I really wanted to see Veronica's reaction to finding out that Meg intentionally leaving her behind at the rest stop saved her life. That could have been a gold mine that will sadly remain forever untouched.
grim squeaker: I'm kind of disappointed that her death makes her unable to give valuable clues about the bus crash — not that I'm hung up on my stereotypical crime story elements or anything.
alliterator: I'll admit, I am a little miffed at how they handled Meg's death. VM hasn't had that much experience really killing off characters (most either start off dead [Lilly] or we just see the aftermath [Lynn, Felix]), but they really dropped the ball on how they killed Meg. First, they solved a potential love triangle that could have been interesting (I know I would have been more satisfied if Duncan and Meg were together and Veronica was alone again at the end of the season). Second, they killed her right after she woke up from a coma. Really, what was the point of waking her up in the first place then? So she could utter one or two lines? I understand why she didn't die in the crash, but it would have been much less cliché if she had just died in the coma, without ever waking up.
Polter-Cow: I think she woke up because she heard topanga squealing.
topanga: WWWAAAALLLLLLAAAACCCCCCEEEEE!!!!! You're bbbaaaaccckkkkk!!!! I can die happy now. I loved how incredibly surprised and relieved Veronica was to see Wallace at her front door. And she kept glancing at him while they sat on the couch watching TV as if she were still in shock or possibly afraid that he would disappear. And he kept smiling at her and rubbing her shoulder as if to say, "Don't worry." Awwww.
lilserf: How stupid am I? I should have known that was Wallace at the door. But he certainly was a welcome sight, and I'm a happily married male.
misskiwi: I confess, I did an arms-in-the-air-double-fist-pump when Veronica opened the door. Showing up on her doorstep seconds before the ball drops on New Year's Eve? Boy does know how to make an entrance.
Polter-Cow: Who's at the door? IT'S WALLACE JUST LIKE I SAID SEVEN MONTHS AGO.
alliterator: Where's Wallace? THERE HE IS OMFG BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER.
funky-donut: Tears actually came to my eyes. Tears. WALLACE!!!
grim squeaker: When I heard the knock on the door I immediately thought: Wallace. It must be Wallace! I was so happy to see him; he was sorely missed. (Which I am sure no one noticed since we totally didn't mention that fact in every other RTR.)
marks of love: YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I was inadvertently spoiled for this, so it kind of ruined the great rush of joy that might have saved the episode for me otherwise. But who cares. OMG, WALLACE!
Though if the next episode does not deal extensively with their issues and what happened to him while he was gone and the fact that there was a huge bleeding rift between them, somebody's getting punched in the face, and I don't really want to meet Rob Thomas only to receive a restraining order. Mmmkay?
Polter-Cow: Hey, can you wait until I punch him in the face for never explaining the spy pen on the show?
marks of love: I'll kick him in the shin special for you, Cowy.
Rob Thomas LOVES our site today!
public displays of lust: I was not spoiled for Wallace's return and thus when the door opened, I screamed and then promptly forgot everything else that happened in the episode. Perhaps that was why I came away from it not angry at its badness that I fully realize upon actual reflection. WALLACE MELLOWED ME. Oh, Wallace, how I missed you.
Inigo: They were awfully cuddly on that sofa, you know.
topanga: Some people on TWoP have joked that they look like they're about to make out. That could be the cliffhanger (not!). The cliffhanger is whether or not they've returned to being BFFs or if there are issues that need to be resolved first.
Polter-Cow: That is certainly a position from which making out could occur. Not that I'd know or anything.
funky-donut: They just look friendly and snuggly to me. He's comforting her. She's had a rough time while he's been away. PEOPLE HAVE DIRTY MINDS OMG.
topanga: Not so much dirty as oversexed. Everyone in that situation has to make out, right? Although Veronica is cuddling next to Wallace very similarly to the way she does sometimes with Duncan. Minus the kissing. Hmm...maybe people are on to something.
wyk: Nine months from now:
Veronica is in the hospital room giving birth. Veronica's hubby Duncan is there by her side. There's a lot of pain and fluids and tears. The baby finally pops out. The baby's skin tone is kind of dark and the hair is kind of fro-like. Duncan looks stunned, infuriated, hurt the same.
marks of love: I am so inexpressibly amused, yet traumatized right now.
public displays of lust: Dude. You all are SICK. Do not taint the OTBFF with your prurient fantasies.