2.17 "Plan B"
Aired Apr 05, 2006
Roundtable Reviews
grim squeaker: Wow. Just...wow. This probably just shot up to be my very favourite episode of this season. And you guys know that's difficult, given that I liked quite a few, and I thought it was next to impossible to kick "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang" and "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" off the podium in my regard.
funky-donut: I loved this episode so much, I want to hug it and squeeze it and cuddle it.
misskiwi: Kick. Ass. That is all.
topanga: Allow me to second that. Except I'd say "Butt." Definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season. The ending was another one that left a lump in my throat, much like "Nobody Puts Baby In a Corner."
misskiwi: Really? I was pumping my fist due to the awesome.
alliterator: I agree. The ending was the most powerful part of the episode, but everything (minus some "Say it ain't so, Wallace!" scenes) was awesome.
misskiwi: By far the best ending of the season since "Normal is the Watchword". Great momentum, great editing, and a blow-your-mind finish with Weevil in the confessional.
wilecoyote: Well, guess I'll be alone this week in feeling that this episode was just...weird. Sure, lots of good character moments, from Mac/Cassidy to Keith walking in on Weevil talking about "treating her like a whore," but overall...I guess my main problem is with the pacing of the season as a whole, not with the episode itself. Like, it took Weevil four episodes (from "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough") to start up his revenge plan on Thumper? It took him this long to remember the flashback?
Inigo: wile, I thought the flashback did two things. It showed that part of Weevil that was responsible — wanting to graduate for his grandmother's sake — and it reminded him of the plans that Felix was laying down for his future. It's the responsible or good side of Weevil who continued to investigate and went to Veronica for help, to try and get the evidence that would punish Thumper within the system. It's a side that wars with his instinct to take matters into his own hands. The speed with which he activated Plan B suggests that he had been watching Thumper long enough to know when he made the money dropoff. So I don't have a problem with the pacing of his story at all.
Polter-Cow: Allow me to be another voice of non-squee. Like most everyone else, I loved the ending. It hit me viscerally in an awesome way, the kind of way where even though you know what's going to happen, it still affects you differently to actually see it happen. I understand why John Kretchmer is Rob's go-to director.
I think the episode as a whole, however, was a bit...weird. For one, the MotW wasn't really a MotW but part of the arc, which was fine, but it makes everything else seem far less important. Like, there seemed to be absolutely no reason for it to have been Logan who won the contest but for the convenience of having the camera around a main character and Woody Goodman for easy access to Keith/Woody scenes. And there was all this relationship angst that seemed so Dawson's Creek-ish, but it wasn't that bad. I mean, it still gets a thumbs up from me, but it wasn't perfect.
misskiwi: "Plan B" is obviously this year's "A Trip to the Dentist": resolution of the season's B-mystery, moral ambiguity and shades of grey, and no MotW. As for Logan, I actually expected Veronica to conveniently win the contest so she would get a chance to snoop around the Woodman.
wilecoyote: Also, part of the force of the episode's ending was lost on me because I thought for a moment that it was all a fakeout and Thumper wasn't really in the stadium. Watch the scene again: Thumper hears a noise, looks towards his left, where the light is coming from... and they cut to a TV shot of the explosion. The impression I got was that Thumper was just watching the demolition on TV (I know, I know: TV monitors in the restrooms? Stupid me). And so, the best part of this episode lost its force for me while I was watching it...
Polter-Cow: When Liam tied Thumper up and left him, I was initially confused. Like, they're just going to leave him there? And of course I immediately realized that it was a bathroom in the stadium, which I LOVE THIS SHOW.
Inigo: Perhaps it was deliberate? We are all assuming that Thumper was killed in that explosion but perhaps what wile "saw" is the truth. I don't know, I haven't made up my mind, although I lean towards it being so. The sound of the klaxon when Liam and Danny were binding him seemed too close. Also, the symmetry of Logan being the unknowing instrument of death, again, for it was he who provided the opportunity for Felix's murder, is just too perfect.
misskiwi: The horn did it for me since we've been working towards the demolition of Shark Stadium for two episodes now. I'm positive that Thumper was actually in the stadium since (a) the horn sounded, (b) Thumper's bike was found chained up in the stadium, and (c) Thumper's panicked look was co-ordinated with the explosions. I didn't get the feeling at all that it was some sort of fakeout. I look forward to some fallout if/when Thumper's body is found in the wreckage.
Polter-Cow: And, randomly, Thumper's bike. Who put it there? Who would want to destroy the fucking evidence? DID CERVANDO COME BACK FROM THE DEAD TO KEEP HIS NAME FROM BEING SULLIED?! Why did Woody seem a little gung-ho on destroying the motorcycle? Wait, am I overthinking this? Was it just there because the Fitzpatricks put it there when they took Thumper? But...they took him to the stadium; he didn't drive there on his bike. Why destroy his bike? They made a big deal about this bike, dude. It's a clue, right? It was destroyed for a reason, right? Not just some happy accident?
misskiwi: If the bike goes down with the stadium, there's no evidence of foul play. If they abandon the bike somewhere, that might make people suspicious that something had happened to Thumper as opposed to assuming he had run off to avoid the cops.
Hey, did anyone else see the two kids in the van where Weevil jumped Thumper? What gives? Future witnesses? Does it have something to do with the children's laughter at the very end of the episode, over Rob's EP credit?
topanga: I think the laughing kids at the end of the episode are supposed to remind us of the two witnesses in back of the van. I have no idea who they are. But that laughter sent chills up my spine.
Inigo: The laughter is actually a part of the song that was playing at the end of the final scene but the choice was deliberate methinks. Children + creepiness have been a recurring theme all season. What I found more powerful though was that last shot of Weevil, as seen through the confessional screen. Man, that shot was perfect. Rash Weevil, who didn't wait to see if Veronica's lady really was lucky, is a prisoner of the not-good part of his nature. Weevil has gravely sinned and redemption may have to come from the confessional and prison, a fact beautifully captured in that one shot. I repeat my charge to you lot in not selecting that as the WTF Update picture. Philistines!
misskiwi: The shot through the confessional is the update picture. Whatchou talkin' bout, Inigo?
Inigo: When did that happen? YAY. And the onset of senility should come with warnings.
grim squeaker: I for one wonder why they put so much focus on him pocketing Woody's signature...and I wonder why he didn't just take the stamp while he was at it. Could come in handy. (Old computer adventure gamer habits die hard...)
misskiwi: Wasn't the only purpose of the stamp to set up the later joke about Lamb's parking spot? So we would know how Logan pulled it off?
grim squeaker: Ah. I guess I missed that one.
funky-donut: Oh, dude, I totally missed that, too! I was wondering if we were going to see it again...But it must have been for the parking space.
misskiwi: Yeah, I would bet good money that Sacks got a very official-looking letter with a very official-looking signature from the County Commissioner's office explaining why a large yellow Xterra would be parking in the sheriff's spot for the week.
Polter-Cow: Oh, Woody, Woody, Woody. Why are you so concerned with getting Terrence Cook off the hook? Don't you see that he's taking all the suspicion off you?! Are you a total idiot? And why are you squeezing Logan's bicep?! SQUICKY.
wilecoyote: I have read around theories about Woody being a closeted gay and being blackmailed for that, and I've even read theories about him and Beaver having an affair, all because of his sketchy behaviour in the gym with Logan. I'm not sure what to think about it: honestly, everything about the guy is so suspicious that the thing in the gym didn't even register. He's the most obvious bad guy ever (if he really turns out to be a bad guy, that is).
misskiwi: I also got a sort of "Is Woody gay?" vibe when he was talking to Logan, but it could just be rubbing off from his general creepiness.
topanga: I agree, wile. Woody is so obviously the bad guy that I would be hugely disappointed if he really turned out to be the bad guy. Does that make sense?
Inigo: It does. I doubt things will be so simple and, in a poor segue but shameless plug, let me just mention our spanking new Speculation Section wherein such considerations may, or may not, feature.
Polter-Cow: Of course, the only reason we had all this Woody business was to introduce this nifty little DVD. What's awesome about this is that at first, Woody is like, "Keith! Figure this shit out!" And then he clearly took a closer look at it and noticed something totally incriminating, at which point he's like, "Keith! I figured it out! All better! Give me the DVD back! Hope you didn't save the file on your computer or anything, because you totally can't do that with computer files, right?!?!?!" I wonder what's on this DVD and what Keith will find on it and who sent it and oooh.
misskiwi: Yeah, that was my conclusion too. Maybe the filmmaker caught a glimpse of Woody's copy of How to Win Friends and Instigate Mass Murders.
Inigo: Has it occurred to anyone that maybe Logan was supposed to win the contest for a reason other than dramatic convenience? It was tailor-made for him to win in advance. Or that Weevil's Plan B wasn't the only Plan B we were seeing? Just me? Okay, returning to my muttering.
wilecoyote: I don't think so. Remember how surprised Woody was when he saw that the winner was Logan.
Polter-Cow: Granted, they should have done a much better job making it seem worthwhile for the rest of the episode, but they had to have Logan pressing the plunger. They had to have the boy accused of killing Felix sealing the fate of the other boy accused of killing Felix, all because of a plan set in motion by the one person in Neptune who loved Felix the most. There is so much lovely intertwining in that one moment of Logan pushing that plunger down, of Shark stadium going kaboom. Of Thumper hearing explosions and realizing he's done for. It's brutal, and it's cruel, and that is the world of noir, my friend. It is a world that don't take no shit from no one. It is a world where people die, and they die hard.
Weevil confesses his sins, and God, what an ending. Kudos to you, Kretchmer. That's one we'll always remember.
misskiwi: Oh, it was mind blowing — no question. But honestly, I'm a little disappointed in the resolution of the Felix's murder. They've been setting up Thumper for this for so long that I really expected some kind of a twist. (I was particularly fond of Polter-Cow's theory that Cervando did it.) I loved Weevil's devious plan, however, and its resolution. Took me a minute to figure it out, though. "What? Is it the next day? Is this at the school? But why — [horn sounds] — HOLY SHIT! THE STADIUM! Awesome."
I still would have liked some shocking, dirty, noir-ish twist(s) à la "A Trip to the Dentist". Thumper was just too easy.
topanga: There has to be a twist. Maybe someone else was involved besides or in addition to Thumper, and Weevil will have to live with the guilt of having Thumper's blood on his hands. Actually, the Fitzpatricks were involved. Will Weevil go after them next?
grim squeaker: I suppose that might end with him in a bodybag. These Irish boys take no prisoners. And they are seriously psycho. If Danny Boyd's insane giggling and Liam's freaky aggression are what crystal meth consumption does to you, the Fitzpatricks are one of the best arguments to say no to drugs I've ever seen.
misskiwi: On the other hand, last season we had two very different mystery resolutions: one with a clearly defined bad guy (Aaron) and one where everybody was guilty of something and nobody would pay (the "rape"). Not that they're going to necessarily follow that this year, but I hope the bus crash mystery will have a very complex, noir, shades-of-grey resolution.
alliterator: I think Felix's murder is still unsolved. Thumper may have been involved in it, but I don't think he was the one who stabbed him, which could provide extra angst for Weevil.
misskiwi: Well, the witness said he saw who did it and that the culprit was riding on Thumper's bike. So unless Thumper let someone else use his ride... That being said, if it wasn't Thumper, and Weevil arranged his demise for nothing? Daaamn. I repeat, damn. I will kiss Rob Thomas's feet for eternity.
Polter-Cow: The witness? Saw a PCHer kill Felix. IT'S TOTALLY FUCKING CERVANDO. AND HE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO "IDENTIFY" HIM BECAUSE HIS BODY IS FLOATING IN THE FUCKING OCEAN. The fact that he got away on Thumper's bike is circumstantial, and come on, it's obviously not Thumper anyway because there's still no proof. There was no "Aha! We've solved the mystery!" moment.
misskiwi: Dude: calm down and step away from the caps lock key. You have to explain Cervando driving Thumper's bike. Unless it used to be Cervando's before he died, and then Thumper took it over...but that seems unlikely. It feels like they were trying to put an end to the mystery of who killed Felix.
Inigo: I...don't buy it. Cervando had no bike of his own and had been picked up and brought to the bridge. If any of Thumper's account was right about how Felix deployed the bikers, there was bike-swapping that night. What if Thumper actually took Weevil's bike home and Cervando was left with Thumper's? I think the Cow has a point. And the Fitzpatricks didn't need to do anything to protect someone working for them. Lamb had Logan down for it and wasn't looking for anyone else. And the Fitzpatricks do have something against Logan. Logan pointed a gun at Liam on his home turf! Why haven't they acted? I think we are a long way from having gotten to the bottom of exactly what happened that night.
misskiwi: Okay, I can concede that Thumper taking Weevil and his bike, leaving Thumper's spider bike on the bridge for someone, i.e. Cervando, to take off on, is a possibility if you assume there was any truth in what Thumper told Weevil in "Ahoy, Mateys!" The main problem with that is that then either the Fitzpatricks didn't actually put the hit on Felix or that they were dealing drugs with someone other than Thumper, which seems pretty unlikely.
Great, now you guys have gotten my hopes up that it was Cervando and Weevil had Thumper killed for absolutely nothing. Except, you know, the whole betrayal and kicking out of the gang stuff, but a good flagpole duct-taping would've taken care of that.
topanga: I wonder why Logan was suddenly able to remember crucial details about the witness on the bridge that he never did before. That seemed a tad bit contrived.
misskiwi: Silly topanga: then we wouldn't have had to draw out the suspense all year and the murder would have been solved during the summer hiatus.
Inigo: Meow.
misskiwi: Eh, I wouldn't be happy if they solved the mystery after two episodes either.
Inigo: Logan wasn't suddenly able to remember crucial details. He always remembered what he did remember about the man on the bridge. It was why he knew Tom Griffith was lying. However (and with apologies to the LJer to whom I initally wrote this point for lifting it wholesale from my comments to their LJ), the reason why Logan couldn't go after the man on the bridge before is simple. Logan was free because there was no one to give evidence that he had a knife. He knew the man on the bridge could give exactly that evidence, which is why he lied in the first place. He didn't want him found. Logan did not know what else, if anything, the guy could testify to and judged the risk too great. Actually, there was still a risk and it showed some measure of faith in her that he finally told Veronica what he knew. So I'm hard pressed to see how this is contrived.
wilecoyote: And speaking of contrivances, what misskiwi said above about "is it the next day?" We see Thumper being tied up before the scenes at school with Wallace and Mac, but the demolition was on a Saturday, right? So did they leave Thumper there for an entire day? Didn't they risk some worker (not controlled by Danny Boyd) finding him during that interval?
Inigo: Maybe they didn't care all that much. If he was released, so be it. He was a marked man. And if he died, that was okay too. I was more interested in what Thumper had on Liam, which he started spouting before Liam stuffed the rag in his throat. It seemed above and beyond their dealing drugs together.
misskiwi: wile is right: the timeline is kind of confusing. I suspect it's a side effect of editing all the storylines together. My best guess is that the dance and Thumper getting jumped happened on Thursday night, Jane and Wallace and Mac and Cassidy broke up on Friday, which is also when Woody came to get the DVD from Keith and Veronica and Luis went to see Lamb. Since Thumper being tied up happened in between all that, it had to have been Friday, with the demolition on Saturday morning.
wilecoyote: One more thing that I didn't want to forget: the intensity of Weevil's feelings for Felix. Up to this point, we could have reasonably thought that Weevil was pursuing this murder for loyalty towards a friend, but also for a mixture of class resentment ("an 09er killed one of us") and territoriality ("an 09er killed one of us"); basically, he'd have done the same for any PCHer who had been killed in the same circumstances. But his "I loved him!!"... whoa. Add to that the blue flashback, and Weevil is in the same situation as Veronica was in S1. (Yeah, but in that case, what took him so long to start his plan after being kicked out of the PCHers? And why did he remember that conversation with Felix only now? Yeah, yeah, pacing issues... (grumble grumble)).
funky-donut: See, I don't think that was, like, the first time he ever remembered that conversation, and I don't think we were supposed to think that. I think that seeing Thumper standing there like that just jolted his memory, and he put it together with Molly in a way he never had before.
wilecoyote: Another thing: I don't know if I remember correctly, but that blue flashback is the first human detail that we've gotten about Felix since... well, ever, right? Up to now, he has been in the show pretty much just a PCHer with lines, and from time to time we heard about him having a fling with Wanda or Molly or whatever, but we didn't really know anything about what kind of person he was... until now.
topanga: His little sister likes Oaktown.
Inigo: Sweetie, you need to listen to your kids' music choices more often. It was O-Town. (Okay. I had to look them up.)
topanga: My kids listen to Veggie Tales and the soundrack to Dora The Explorer.
Polter-Cow: Oh my God: I loved the Felix flashback. John Kretchmer, you are SO. FUCKING. HOT. He matched those goddamn tableaux exactly. Oh, blue flashbacks, how I've missed you!! And Felix! Had dreams of being a trucker! Awww!! Felix is no Lilly Kane, but, still, aww. I mean, maybe this sort of thing would have been better earlier on in the season so that the audience would care more about Felix's death, but I'll take it now since it's here and all. (Also: Ms. James!!)
misskiwi: I agree; with Lilly, we got to see a side of her that revealed why everyone around her was so devastated by her death. With Felix, we've only had Weevil's big talk to give us an idea of why this was supposed to be a big deal.
grim squeaker: I never once thought that Weevil wasn't in the same situation Veronica was last year in regards to Felix, wile. Most of their scenes last year established that these two were best friends. Remember for instance how Felix teased Weevil about his crush on Carmen in "M.A.D.". That made clear that they've known each other at least since they were fourteen — probably roughly as long as Veronica and Lilly had known each other. It also showed us that Felix is more to Weevil than any other PCHer, since I don't think he would have allowed to be teased by any random gang member like that.
I'm usually not one for schmoopiness, but I found the idea of Felix having found his own "Romeo and Juliet" style pairing with Molly curiously touching. Granted, I've always liked Felix a lot, but this was more or less the first time they really made me feel like he died too early, and tragically, having had something more than just his gang in his future. I agree with Cow, though, this might have come a little earlier in the season.
misskiwi: On the other side of the season arcs, a detailed re-watching of the episode has convinced me that we got several interesting clues to the bus crash mystery cleverly hidden in the unwinding of the Felix mystery and other quick bits of dialogue.
First of all, we learn that while Curly may not have been responsible for the crash, he knew who was — I totally missed that line of dialogue on the first run-through, but damn! Iiinteresting. And now we know why Curly ended up dead. The obvious suspect for his murderer is of course the occupant of the mysterious car that scared off Weevil and the PCHers, which I have no clue what to make of.
The other bit I noticed was that the phone call Woody is on when his model secretary lets him know Logan has arrived revolves around something Father Fitzpatrick has to say in opposition to the incorporation. I don't know what to make of this either, or if it even relates to the bus crash, but it's definitely piqued my curiosity. Er, more.
grim squeaker: About Curly: If we go by whom we know he knew and could suspect, it still could have been half the town. I mean he was working for Big Dick Casablancas, Aaron Echolls, and Woody, and except for Logan, all their kids seem to have known him, including Gia. Hey, wait. It's so obvious! Gia did it!
Okay, probably not.
topanga: Has my sweet Wallace become a typical playa-playa? I know I'm hopelessly biased, but I'll dare to say no. Of course, what he did was wrong. Dead wrong. First, cheating on Jane. There's no excuse for that. Second, the fact that he expected Jackie to cheat with him. And that he expected Jackie to hook up with him immediately after he broke up with Jane. I am glad he came clean with Jane the day after the dance. Being a lying cheat isn't a good look for Wallace.
I think Wallace's heart and hormones got the best of him. And a little bit of arrogance, I must say. He never got over Jackie, he sensed she felt the same, and he thought that was reason enough for him to sneak around on Jane. He ignored Jane's feelings, Jackie's feelings, and his own basic goodness to pursue a piece of tail. A pretty piece of tail, but still. I'm glad Jackie stood up to him and said, "Who do you think I am, man? Nubian prince or not, basketball star or not, you're not making me look like the tramp ho who stole you from Jane." Those weren't her exact words, but that was the sentiment.
misskiwi: Yeah, at the beginning of the episode I completely expected Wallace and Jackie to hook up, so her turning him down was an unexpected surprise.
...Uh oh. I think I might like Jackie. Can we start a support group? Hug me.
topanga: *hugs misskiwi.* I like her, too. I hate you, Rob Thomas! You're a genius.
grim squeaker: *hugs everyone* I was cheering Jackie on during the whole episode. I'm glad that they finally made me go from doozy indifference (sorry, not that much of a P & P fan) to faint annoyance (how dare she diss geeks?) to genuine sympathy for this character.
I especially liked that we got hints that Terrence's bad reputation seriously affects the way people treat Jackie. Charlie's mother, who seemed very happy about Jackie taking Charlie to the dance at first, suddenly acted cold and distant and dragged her son away as quick as possible, probably after discovering who Jackie was. It seemed a nice parallel to the way Hannah's mother treated Logan in "The Quick and the Wed," although I don't think Logan suffers so much from his father's reputation.
topanga: Way to go, grim. I missed that reaction the first time around. I couldn't understand why Jackie left the dance so abrubtly.
wilecoyote: I was annoyed, not so much by the fact that Wallace couldn't get over Jackie, but by the fact that there was no hint of this at all in the previous episodes. In fact, the only thing we've seen Wallace do lately has been to go around chasing college girls in "The Rapes of Graff"; put that together with his behaviour this week, and he comes across as worse than he should. Suddenly, that Couch Baron joke about the writers making Wallace snort coke out of a hooker's ass is becoming ominous...
topanga: I've seen hints all season, wile. Of course, it is possible that because I'm so Wallace-focused, I overanalyze everything that relates to him.
misskiwi: You? Never.
topanga: Ah, who asked you, misskumquat? I mean misskiwi? Anyway, I never felt Wallace was over Jackie (or that she was completely over him). Jackie effectively asked him out at the end of the Rashard-White Castle caper, and he made a big production when Jane walked by and asked if they were still going out. It was an "In your face, Jackie" move. For both of them — Wallace and Jane. And when he threw the softballs away while Jackie was in the dunk tank. Arguably, just a nice-guy Wallace thing to do, but I read more into it.
Inigo: Something was off though. I'm not saying that it wasn't realistic for Wallace to have a wandering eye. I think they established him as something of a one for the ladies last season. And I didn't think there was any defamation of his character for him to grow bored with Jane. He's 17/18 looking for fun, not a lifelong commitment. He's no saint and is allowed to have his own weaknesses and flaws. I suspect there are very few lads of that age who handle raging hormones with dignity and honour. But the execution was off. Percy didn't sell it. I will now go get my will in order as T is going to kill me.
wilecoyote: Nah, it wasn't Percy. It was a problem with the writing. Sure, it was reasonable to assume that Wallace wasn't over Jackie, specially for overanalyzing obsessed people like us, but it would have been nice if there had been at least some explicit hint about it during the 4 episodes since he and Jane got together. Wallace and Jane: the spy pen of this season?
grim squeaker: I don't know. Like topanga, I really didn't feel that surprised, either, maybe because Jane and Wallace, while sort of blandly-sweet together, never displayed any zing!! for me. Wallace and Jackie, on the other hand, seemed always interesting.
misskiwi: I agree with topanga. The way Wallace rubbed his dating Jane in Jackie's face the first time we heard about it counts as a clue that he wasn't over her.
funky-donut: I'm with grim. I wasn't really suprised, and, to be honest, I wasn't really that disappointed in him. High school is confusing. Hormones are confusing. He did come clean with Jane, and I don't really blame him for not telling her immediately, either. It is very very difficult for high school-age boys to be that honest with a girl, especially if he's essentially a nice guy and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. I'm really liking Jackie now, too, but I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that she's still so focused on what other people think of her. I don't think she should have immediately hooked back up with Wallace, but I would have preferred that her reason not be "but I don't want other people to think I'm horrible," but rather, "that would make me horrible, and I don't want to feel that way." Less focus on what other people think.
misskiwi: If Cassidy is still anyone's TV Boyfriend after dumping the fantastic Mac, there's going to be trouble. Is there more to the story than Cassidy having been so traumatized by Dick that he's self-conscious (witness the catalyst for the dumping was the possibility that Veronica knows that the Beav is too chicken to get it on) and nervous around girls?
grim squeaker: misskiwi, I'm not necessarily sure it made Beaver nervous that Mac talked to Veronica about their love life, he seemed to freak out that she talked to Veronica about him. I also think that the conversation they had after the dance wasn't so much about him not wanting to make out, but him not wanting to take her to his home (I guess they can't make out at her house because of her parents/little brother?). I think something really iffy is going on here, and the sexuality issues he might have are more of a distraction from what it actually is. I mean, seriously, growing up with the two Dicks would traumatize anyone, so I'm not necessarily surprised by this development. I think the show implies that there might be more behind it, but I'm not sure we are not being led astray. All I know is, there is some wack stuff going on.
misskiwi: Those are both kind of what I meant. And keep in mind that Veronica knows things about Cassidy from Shelly's infamous party that he probably doesn't want Mac knowing. He didn't actually do anything, but I still suspect Mac would be less than impressed.
Inigo: I'm with grim. Beaver knows what happens when Veronica gets near things. He doesn't want her anywhere near what's going on at Casa Casablancas. Whatever that is.
grim squeaker: Honestly. Mac and Beaver's conversation after the dance had some remarkable ambiguous dialogue and very interesting imagery. Since I usually don't pay attention to wardrobe it took me a while to clue in as to why Beaver looked so strangely "familiar" in that scene, but after about the tenth viewing (shut up!), I notice that he wears almost exactly the same clothes he also wore at the end of "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang," shortly before Big Dick makes a run for it. Kyle's body language is the same as in that scene, too, and taking that as "visual clues," combined with the two possible Casablancases that could be addressed with Dick...I don't know. My very crazy idea would be that Big Dick is back home, only that would be a really, really stupid move, wouldn't it? I mean, returning to a country where you'll very likely get 15 years of prison for fraud, hello? But it seemed like too much of a visual recreation to be completely coincidential. Or, you know, I really should step away from these colourful mushrooms.
misskiwi: Ooh. That's an intriguing idea, Big Dick being back. Would be pretty stupid of him, though.
Inigo: Maybe he knows a good plastic surgeon.
misskiwi: I guarantee you his wives do. Anyways, from what we've seen of the way Dick treats Cassidy, and especially the crass comments he makes with regards to Cassidy's success (or lack thereof) with the ladies, I really can't blame him for not wanting to take his girlfriend anywhere near his jackass, crass older brother.
That breakup was so painful to watch. You could tell poor Mac was just trying to be supportive and find out what was wrong, but everywhere she turned she was just digging herself deeper and she knew it. It was like a slow-motion train wreck.
grim squeaker: I agree. Poor Mac, I'm sure that was not the reaction she was anticipating. I found it interesting though, that Beaver first said "Let's not talk about this here," which at least seems to indicate that he was willing to talk about what the issue is (just not right in the middle of the campus at lunch time). But then somehow all communication went to hell and he jumped on the one word in her sentence that probably had the least to do with what she was trying to get at. I'm sure Veronica will be thrilled to discover that she was yet again unwittingly the reason for a breakup among her friends.
Inigo: Um. Hello? Logan and Veronica? Not a word? "Sway"? Veronica thinks she's doing Gia a favour only to find it was a dangerous move? Well sod you then. I'm just going to go watch for the *cough*ieth time.
grim squeaker: Sorry, Inigo, but I was a little too baffled by the Beaver/Mac scene and then too busy giggling about the Logan/Gia exchange to really pay attention to slow-dancing or background music. So that was the famous "Sway" everyone is making so much fuss about?
Seriously, Veronica and Logan did have lots of chemistry in that scene and it was lovely played. Veronica saving Gia from Logan was also perfect, as was Logan's growing impatience with poor Gia. She truly lives in her own little universe. Any spin-off that ever features Logan must have Gia in a prominent role.
funky-donut: I'm sorry, I was too busy squeeing to comment. But seriously, I'm not a shipper, but the tension between those two? Was a fucking beautiful thing.
misskiwi: Not to get all fangirly on y'all, but "Sway" is a great song for them, much like last year's "Momentary Thing." Just listen to the lyrics. Nicely played.
What I did notice about Logan on a second viewing (I think I remember making note of it on the first, too) is Logan's beautiful delivery of the line "the ones that survive" in response to Woody's asking about the ladies. Anyone but Logan saying that, and it would be a superficial joke, but you can tell the difference between his truly sarcastic lines and the ones where he's fighting something else, and the connections to Lilly, Veronica, his mom, and even Hannah, I suppose, are beautifully understated.
topanga: Good point, misskiwi. Jason was on this entire episode. Okay, let's play, "Read Veronica's Mind." Winner gets a pony. And Rob Thomas can't play, of course. When I was in high school aeons ago, if there was a guy I wanted to "bust a move" with at a dance or a party, I'd spend the whole evening plotting how to get together with him, what song would be playing when we danced, etc. Even if I danced with other people, my mind was on That Guy. When Veronica grabbed Logan to dance, was that really a spur-of-the-moment decision, or was the thought of being close to Logan milling through her subconsious mind all night, as the romantic in me believes? Think about it. She could have grabbed Logan to talk or get change or borrow his car if her only intention was to rescue Gia from him — or vice-versa. She hadn't been that physically close to Logan since she rested her head on his (Duncan's) argyle sweater, and she missed him. That's my answer, and I'm sticking with it.
Inigo: Sadly, I think you are deluded. Certainly, there has been something of a thawing. Since Logan went to Veronica to confess what he'd done vis à vis Hannah, she's been much more pal-y with him, albeit she disapproves of what he's done/doing. But they are bantering again, it's not ill-natured, and he helped her when he didn't have to. But I do think it came as a big surprise to her that she couldn't simply drag him on the dance floor without it having such an electrifying effect. She grabbed his arm on the spur of the moment to rescue both him and Gia but as she preceded him, you could see her suddenly realising it was a bad idea, so by the time she turned to face him, she was seriously nervous. And then...magic. Which they both choose to ignore. For now.
funky-donut: Inigo, I agree. I think it was just the first thing that popped into her mind to say. I have to go back a little to their stakeout and say that I loved the little bad-boy/high-five moment. That was too cute. And maybe that's what was in her head: that they might actually be friends again, for real this time. And then...the tension, it just hit. And *poof* everyone's TV explodes.