2.21 "Happy Go Lucky"
Aired May 02, 2006
Roundtable Reviews
misskiwi: I don't know if it was the anticipation of having to wait for a torrent completely legal recording of the episode to watch, but...fucking YEAH! That's what I'm talking about! I may be slightly less giddy on a rewatch, but right now I've got to say that was one of the best installments of the season and — dare I say it? — the series. From the kickass, heart-pumping opener, to the excellent wit of Diane Ruggiero's writing, to the marshmallow-y goodness of the Veronica/Wallace scene, to the gut-wrenching, tear-jerking final moments, a fantastic episode.
wilecoyote: I don't know... On the one hand, I was completely tense during the entire episode, with a feeling of dread about the (apparently unavoidable) ending, and any TV show that makes you feel like that is a good one. OTOH, though, it felt a bit rushed to me, almost as if they were trying to tie up all the loose ends in this episode; as a result, some of the most emotional scenes didn't have enough space to "breathe" among all the action. (But then again, that's something that I've also felt about many other episodes of this show (both in S1 and S2), including some of the all-time favorites of the fans, so maybe it's just me.)
Inigo: It dragged for me the first time although it improved on subsequent viewing. It seemed to speed and drag in equal measure. Odd and unexpected in the penultimate episode of the season. And I am gripped with the fear that too many balls are still in the air to be resolved next week, although I suppose that's an unfair basis of criticism.
grim squeaker: Let me go on record saying that this is one of the few episodes this season that have done almost nothing for me. Granted, I might be more than slightly biased in my assessment, because I'm neither fond of Aaron's presence in season two nor of Woody's NAMBLA storyline, but apart from the great, suspenseful opening everything else dragged. Adding to that there were a few too many lucky coincidences, like Aaron's lawyers either having bribed Veronica's doctor or even having faked the test results to slander her and the judge allowing it, or someone keying Beaver's car just at the moment when Weevil needs a math tutor. And don't let me get started on Keith randomly deducing that Lucky had left a bomb in Woody's home by bringing Lucky's catcher mask and Woody's home decoration together. I mean...what? Maybe Keith is simply more intuitive than I am, but I wouldn't have jumped to this conclusion from the given evidence in a million years.
misskiwi: What an adrenaline rush that opening scene was. Seriously, wow. I haven't felt that pumped since the end of "Normal is the Watchword" or the teaser of "A Trip to the Dentist." Fantastic performances and very well executed. Uh, no pun intended, Lucky.
fickledame: Holy crap. I had twenty-five heart attacks before the credits even started. The fear in Veronica's face when Wallace was shot was perfect, as was everyone in that scene. I sat gripping my desk the entire time, and my hand turned white and eventually dropped off. Ouch.
topanga The pace of that opening scene had me on the edge of my seat. And Wallace's heroics...there are no words. Except, "They were blanks! Thank you, thank you. I can breathe now."
wilecoyote: And Jackie too, with her trying to call the police. Tessa Thompson was excellent in that scene, BTW (now, if only she had an actual character to play...).
Inigo: Is it common in US high schools for there to be armed security guards? The man's hat identified him as such, and not a deputy as I first thought.
misskiwi: I can't comment on security in American high schools, but given how hard they were hammering the class war at the beginning of the season and the occasional shot we get of the metal detectors, I buy an armed security guard.
grim squeaker: Poor Lucky. He didn't really live up to his name, did he? I have to applaud James Jordan, he did really great portraying the character as both creepy and pitiful.
Adding to the ever-present gun imagery this season, Lucky is the first person who actually gets shot and killed, even if we had numerous guns drawn and pointed, and even shot at people: Logan "shot" by Big Dick (all right, it was a finger gun, and maybe the elder Dick just thought Logan was super-fine, but work with me here), Liam threatened by Logan, Cervando "shot" by Dick, Keith "shot" by Liam, and now Wallace getting "shot" by Lucky. Either Lucky's death is the final culmination of this, or somebody will get shot for real in the finale. Really getting worried here...
Inigo: Bleach! Guess we know where Dick filled his water pistol now.
misskiwi: ...And the Non Sequitur of the Week Award goes to Inigo.
Inigo: I'm anal. What can I say?
topanga: I feel like Veronica. I want to cry. How can Aaron be found not-guilty?
misskiwi: Because it's noir, baby. It's noir.
wilecoyote: Forget it, Jack topanga. It's Chinatown Neptune.
topanga: Everything seems to be in vain — Keith and Veronica's investigation, Veronica's near-death experience, Cheyenne being outed... Veronica said she wouldn't rest until Lilly's killer was rotting in jail. What now? Does Aaron have to die? Will Lilly haunt Veronica again?
misskiwi: Honestly, I think they did an excellent job of setting up a (fake, TV-ish) trial leading to a not-guilty verdict. I complained in the past that Aaron's Oscar being at the Kane residence couldn't be easily explained by Aaron and that Aaron attacking the homeowner and Keith would be incontrovertible evidence towards his guilt. But Aaron claiming that Lilly stole his Oscar after he saw the error of his not-having-sex-with-her-no-sirree ways and broke up with her and paying off the homeowner to disappear...makes sense. I mean, it makes sense from a reasonable doubt point of view. Sure, the idea of a famous actor being acquitted of murder despite mounting evidence to the contrary is a little unrealistic, but...uh. Hm. Never mind.
wilecoyote: The moment Veronica went all self-righteous in the teaser about how badly she wanted to see Aaron declared guilty, I thought to myself: "Uh oh. I have a bad feeling about this". And how appropiate it was that Keith, the one who advised Veronica to keep her cool, was the one to lose it on the stand... (See also: Giles in Buffy 2x17, "Passion").
Inigo: I've thought that Aaron would get off since last season's finale, to be honest, so it was no surprise. The hard evidence against him was thin and he had celebrity on his side. He's been presented as the Tom Cruise of the VMverse, so you can imagine how hard it would have been to convict him.
misskiwi: I...don't think Tom Cruise is a good example. *cough*Cuckoo!*cough* But point taken.
Inigo: And come on, the drama! It's a credit to the show that they went here. I can't think of many other mystery shows that show the consequences of solving the puzzle and how it doesn't always result in punishment or justice. Think back on all the Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis: Murder episodes where the denoument would probably result in conviction in one out of a hundred cases.
Of all the problems I had with the episode, the trial was not one of them. Intellectually, we all must know that any trials shown on TV are highly unrealistic, even those on the so-called procedurals. Every legal drama since Perry Mason has presented witnesses out of order, had witnesses in court before giving evidence for the impact, put questions that would never normally be allowed. It would be impossible, I think, for an entertainment to do anything but manipulate trial scenes. And I loved, loved, loved the drip, drip effect of exposed corruption that was Aaron's defence and how much was explained by it. There were a number of small things, but two stood out for me. The first was Lavoie's knowledge of the diagnosis of chlamydia. How did he know? We were reminded in the episode through the headline in the newspaper about SAT scores (under the one about Thumper's body) that test results in Neptune are suspect and we've known since "Normal Is the Watchword" how easy it is to arrange false returns and since "I Am God" that diagnoses are purchasable. I was suspicious about the chlamydia in the first place but the fact Lavoie knew confirmed for me that Veronica was set up and never had an STD. It was a key stage in the defence strategy to give weight to the claim that Veronica was promiscuous. Given that it was a part of their defence and that Veronica's credibility and character had to be attacked to pursue it, I didn't have a problem with the judge allowing the question. But even if I did, it was covered, again subtly. Judge Ferris's demeanour with Leonard Lobo stood for another type of corruption, that of the judiciary being in the pocket of the rich and powerful in Neptune. That leads to the question of who else is corruptible and to Lamb. How did Lavoie know about Duncan and Veronica breaking into the Manning home? How did he know about Leo's disciplinary file? The latter may have come out in discovery, as Leo was the one blamed for the loss of the tapes, but the former? Lamb is unlikely to have made any record of that, having let them go. So was Lamb batting for the defence? Lovely, lovely greyness.
misskiwi: The chlamydia diagnosis being faked is certainly a possibility, and one I hadn't considered. I'll be pretty mad if they don't explain it as such, but there is another possibility: rather than faking a diagnosis, Lavoie may have just convinced the good doctor — or someone else, like an office assistant — to let him have a look at Veronica's medical records.
wyk: The Kanes somehow found out that Abel had terminal cancer. The doctor offices in Neptune ain't exactly secure.
Inigo: But that would just make Aaron very lucky. And if you look at all points of the defence, they covered every base. Nothing happens by accident in Neptune. They knew Veronica was going to college and that there would be a physical. They didn't have any hard evidence to suggest Veronica was promiscuous. They needed some. Like the Oscar covered in Lilly's blood and Duncan's hair, I don't think that diagnosis was just a happy coincidence.
misskiwi: I'm sure they would have found a way. They could have discredited her — and did — in many ways without using her chlamydia to imply that she's a big skank. I think you're giving Aaron and Lavoie more credit than they deserve. I think they did set up a lot of it — the planted murder weapon and buying off the homeowner, for instance — but I think they also merely capitalized on some things, too, as icing on the sweet, sweet cake of corruption.
wilecoyote: I tend to side more with misskiwi, at least in the sense that what brought us the downfall during the trial were long-standing character flaws of our heroes, which ended up biting them in the ass. Let's face it: the secrets that Veronica keeps from her father are the weak spot in their relationship, and that was precisely the angle that Lavoie exploited. In the same way, one of Logan's traits has always been his protectiveness towards his private life and his contempt for the media (see the beginning of "Return of the Kane" and "Mars vs. Mars"), which drove him to erase the tapes, with the consequences that we've all seen. Hell, Lavoie wasn't even completely lying when he described Veronica's exploits: she did manipulate Leo to get the Kane interrogation tapes. (And may I just say: this way to structure the trial so that its outcome was caused by the characters' own shortcomings was another awesome thing about this episode.)
Inigo: Those are excellent observations and I love the symmetry, but I don't think it's mutually exclusive. I think you're right but there has to be a practical route by which the defence knows what to exploit and has the information to do it. How do they know these flaws in the first place and how do they know what will work, because if they were random shots, every one hit home. It was too organised, too calculated to be dumb luck.
wilecoyote: Having said all this, though, I can buy that the chlamydia diagnosis might have been faked. I mean, that came so out of left field...
misskiwi: Oh, I could buy it, too. But as of right now, based on what we know, I think it could go either way and I'm siding with Lavoie exploiting the situation rather than creating it.
Inigo: So all those faked results throughout the season are just happenstance. I think not. But maybe. It will be disappointing if they don't tie in.
misskiwi: I'm not saying they're all happenstance. I'm saying the show has made you paranoid.
Inigo: One thing did fail, however. I believe that we were supposed to think that Aaron steered Logan to make the deal with the prosecution for immunity, only to then torpedo his credibility for being a bought witness. But Logan was already giving evidence, so presumably had already made his deal. It's a shame though because the idea of Logan thinking he was screwing his father only to find himself screwed in return is just so delicious. If Aaron makes it to S3, I'm going to love watching this particular familial relationship.
misskiwi: Hm. I read it differently: I thought that Aaron was trying to convince Logan to save his ass, and used the idea of Logan going to jail as incentive, pretending to be all concerned for Logan's welfare. Logan turned him down, knowing he was safe, and then took great pleasure in informing his father from the stand that he was able to both stick a nail in Aaron's coffin — the only one, as it were — and avoid going to jail.
Inigo: Except that it was the only way that his evidence could be impeached. If Logan hadn't made the deal, then the defence would have no basis on which to attack his credibility.
misskiwi: Again, they would have found something, I'm sure. Besides, wouldn't the prosecution have struck a deal with Logan before, you know, the middle of the trial? And I don't think the conversation with Aaron would have motivated Mr. Torture to seek a deal for himself if he hadn't already done so. I don't buy it.
Inigo: Hence the "it failed." I agree it didn't work for that reason but the look Aaron gives Logan at the trial makes me think it was the intention.
misskiwi: I thought Aaron was thinking "You made a deal? Son of a bitch! And I mean that literally..." Also, check out Logan during his interview with Aaron: does he look like he got caught off guard? Does he look like he's thinking "Damn, he's right — I don't want to go to jail." We've seen Logan get sucker-punched — we just saw it last week, in fact — and this wasn't it. I saw him being subtly cocky, as if he knew that his testimony wasn't going to send him to jail.
Inigo: I don't think Logan's reactions to Veronica are the same as his reactions to Aaron. With Veronica, he is raw. If you go back over S1, Logan doesn't react the same way with Aaron at all. He's had a lifetime of practice with Aaron. I don't know, as I say, it didn't work because of the timing but from an emotional point of view, I have no difficulty in believing Aaron would and could have elected to manipulate Logan in such a way.
misskiwi: I still say he looks smug, regardless. You could voiceover a Nelson-esque "Ha, ha!" when Logan looks at Aaron during his testimony.
Does double jeopardy apply now that Aaron's been found not guilty? As in, if Keith and Veronica somehow blackmailed Kendall into admitting that she had planted the bloody Oscar, would they be able to retry Aaron?
Inigo: I believe double jeopardy would apply to all those charges of which he was found not guilty but it would not protect him from new charges, such as perverting the course of justice (or whatever the US equivalent to that is). It also would not protect him from civil charges that the Marses could bring.
misskiwi: College fund! Ka-ching! (Third time's the charm, right?)
wilecoyote: Another thing. I know it's something so known to us, the VM viewers, that it doesn't even bear repeating, but: Kristen Bell during that final shot, while Aaron's innocence was being announced. OSCAR NOMINATION NOW!!!
Inigo: That would be EMMY, I believe, wile. Given what I've heard about Pulse, I don't think our girl will be getting any Oscar nominations anytime soon. Although Fifty Pills might be a better bet.
wilecoyote: I don't care. This girl is so good, she deserves every award invented under the sun: Oscars, Emmys, BAFTAs, Cesars... Give 'em all.
misskiwi: Word. I did read somewhere that they're revamping the way Emmy nominations are handled, but if Kristen Bell, Battlestar Galactica, and at least one representative apiece from Arrested Development and Scrubs don't get nominated, I will...continue to not care, at all, about the Emmys.
fickledame: Even though I was accidently spoiled for the outcome on the murder of Lilly, I didn't know the other two results. The reaction of Veronica had me in tears and I agree KB needs whatever awards are out there — now! The trial was handled excellently, I thought.
funky-donut: Another thing that bothered me was that it really seemed like Veronica — being a witness for the prosecution in a murder trial and having just witnessed a scary shooting at school — should have an excuse for missing finals. It really seems like there should have been some sign of repercussions for the shooting of Lucky. I mean, Wallace, Jackie, Gia, Veronica, everyone else that was there — they should have been getting some serious counseling for trauma. If that hadn't been a blank, Wallace would be dead! And they all saw someone killed right before their eyes! That shouldn't be just glossed over, life-goes-on.
Inigo: Do we know that Veronica is not going to be excused walking out of her exam?
funky-donut: Well, I took it as that was her decision right there to give up on the Kane Scholarship and Stanford. She was looking at Wallace all longingly — he's going to Hearst. Maybe she will be excused, since she was going to hear the verdict, but I think that was supposed to be the Big Moment when she decides to stay in Neptune. I really got the impression that it was supposed to be like a final moment, though. Like, point of no return.
alliterator: Yeah. A VMVO might have helped the scene where she walks out of the final. I was like, "Huh? She's walking out? But doesn't she need to take it?" It wasn't until later than I figured out she was ditching to go to see Aaron's verdict.
topanga: Maybe a recycled VMVO would have worked: "So what's it gonna be, girlie girl?" Except it would have to be a little more somber to fit the mood.
Inigo: Didn't she tell us in the scene in the teaser why she did it? "You know what I want, more than anything in the world? I want to be there, in court, watching Aaron at the moment the jury reads the verdict. I want to see that smirk wiped from his face. I want to see his expression at the exact moment he realises he'll never be a free man again."
misskiwi: I agree with funky that since Veronica was staring at Wallace packing up his locker, she basically forfeited the Kane scholarship by skipping out on her final, and I agree with Inigo that her other motivation was to see Aaron's face when he got convicted. In my opinion, it was a combination of the appeal of going to Hearst, and her desire to see Aaron punished winning out over her desire to win at Stanford. It fits right in with Veronica's "eye for an eye" philosophy of life that seeing Aaron get what's coming to him would trump something more selfish, i.e. going to the college of her choice and getting to leave Neptune.
topanga: But seeing Wallace clear out his locker had to bring back memories of snickerdoodles and choosing a locker near his and lying to him about Logan's absence slip — and knowing Wallace saw right through her. Those two kids have a short but meaningful history. Perhaps she isn't ready to throw that friendship away. Ummm, on second thought, I think ditching the final was more about hearing Aaron's verdict.
misskiwi: There had better be more than meets the eye for this semi-resolution to the bus crash mystery or Rob Thomas's ass is going to have an unfortunate meeting with my foot.
Inigo: RUN, ROB! Those high heels are SIZE NINES and VERY POINTY!
misskiwi: And I do kickboxing, so beware. Anyway, they've been telegraphing Woody's creepiness and playing him up as a suspect in the bus crash for ages, so it had better not be that simple. Where's the twist? Where's the shock and awe? Why hasn't my head exploded?
Until next week, I'm going to stay in my warm cocoon of denial as I remember that, among many things, the saga of Curly and the "Veronica Mars" Sharpied on his hand remains unexplained. You could say that Woody, as well as Aaron, knew Curly, but that doesn't explain "Veronica Mars," so I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that either Woody didn't actually blow up the bus, or that he didn't work alone.
wilecoyote: Well, there's also Kendall... I have the feeling that, while there will probably be a master plan, some of the clues that we've been following will turn out to be red herrings. In particular, I don't know why, but I've got the feeling that the rat on the bus wasn't set up by whoever put the bomb; either it ended there by accident or it was left there by someone different than the bomber.
Inigo: I refuse to panic until after the finale. I have no doubt that we will know how Curly came to have Veronica's name written on his hand, whether the rat was part of or independent of the bomb on the bus, and learn that Woody wasn't responsible for the bus crash. In fact I'm so suspicious of where we've been led so far, I'm still not sure Woody is even a molester. Kids use the word pervert to describe a lot of things. It's just...42 minutes...so little time, so much to do. I will be pissed if we don't learn the who and why of Griffith's perjury though.
misskiwi: Uh...didn't the Fitzpatricks lean on him so that Logan, and not their bitch Thumper, would take the fall for Felix's murder? Am I forgetting something else that needs to be resolved?
Inigo: Did they? Why? Lamb wasn't looking for anyone at the time. He thought Logan did it. Thumper wasn't in danger. Why then, just after they brought up the bus? Why didn't we ever get confirmation of what Logan and Veronica assumed, that Griffith was a cokehead and that the Fitzpatricks leaned on him. If you remember Logan's and Griffith's scenes, it was Logan who put the case. Griffith didn't correct him. Was that an admission or was it like Heidi's boyfriend Nick who didn't correct her assumption that he sent her a fax in "The Quick and the Wed". It's a curse, this not believing anything until it is fixed in concrete.
misskiwi: Okay, I'll grant the timing is a bit odd. But I just assumed that Veronica and Logan's speculation about Griffith's motives and the Fitzpatricks' involvement was spot on. We'll see, but at this point I'm fairly confident in my belief that, aside from Weevil's impending brush with the law, we've heard the last of Felix's murder.
Inigo: When you assume...
misskiwi: Well, at least I'll end up making an ass out of you, too.
How awesome was the look of glee on Lamb's face when those kids fingered Weevil? He really should have known: the demolition of Thumper was outstanding.
wilecoyote: And speaking of Lamb: look at him smirking to Veronica after it was revealed in the trial that she had a STD. Ass.
Inigo: Please make it that Thumper didn't kill Felix, please make it that Thumper didn't kill Felix. Bring on the pain.
misskiwi: Told you: it's over, all is said and done.
Inigo: And can someone with better knowledge of American vehicles go back to "Plan B" and tell me exactly what that type of vehicle that was that those kids peered out of? Was it a very small mobile home? Certainly, the young mother doesn't seem to have the same fear of Weevil as Luis had of the PCHers. Maybe she's new in town, living with her kids in the car and stopped outside a church thinking it safe for the night.
fickledame: Perhaps now that Weevil is out of the PCHers, people don't fear him?
misskiwi: I adore Wallace's "I just wanted to say...it was worth getting taped to a pole." Oh man, how do I love it. It's perfect. What a great way to sum up their friendship. And the opening riff of Adrienne Pierce's "Lost and Found," which I'm familiar with from the VM soundtrack and love, was a perfect setting for that.
fickledame: I loved, loved the Wallace and Veronica scene. I always adore their friendship, and I admit I cried at the flagpole line. Excellent stuff. Let's hope they are there for each other now, in this horrible, horrible time.
Inigo: Jackie and Wallace are still dull. topanga, don't kill me, but I really can not work up any interest in Wallace except in his relationship with Veronica. But the nostalgia scene between him and Veronica was a cracker.
grim squeaker: I really have no problem with Jackie, or Wallace, for that matter, but I simply don't care for their storyline. Which is a bit of a pity, since I would have loved for them to get something meatier, and was hoping Wallace's daddy angst might actually provide that. Alas, it wasn't to be. As for Terrence Cook - Slave to His Faults and Addictions, I don't really have any pity left. Jackie is better off without him.
topanga: I won't kill you, Inigo. I agree with you. Wallace hasn't been terribly interesting this season. I loved him in "Normal Is The Watchword," but his other appearances have been less than mind-blowing. The writers did create some intriguing storylines for him with Jackie, and then with his father, and the Chicago hit-and-run, but his most interesting moments are when he's with Veronica.
But isn't that true of everyone? Logan, as dynamic a character as he is, is most compelling in his scenes with Veronica.
Inigo: Now that there is fighting talk! Logan and Aaron, Logan and Duncan, Logan and Hannah, Logan and a block of wood, Logan and...I'll be in my bunk.
topanga: Bring it on, British Girl. Let's look at the examples you mentioned. Logan and Aaron: those were emotional, angsty scenes. And sometimes snarky. They weregreat. But that's your one. Logan and Duncan? *yawn* — except for the fight and make-up scenes. Logan and Hannah? *yawn* Hannah was a sweet, skinny Veronica look-alike. But their scenes weren't compelling. Logan and wood...the scene with the bong was great only because Veronica was in it, laughing. You want more? Logan and Kendall? Sexy and snarky, with great dialogue, but their chemistry was nowhere close to what Logan and Veronica have. Logan and Rebecca James in "Clash of the Tritons"? Arguably, one of the most memorable Logan scenes ever. But Veronica was in the background, listening and reacting. Technically, she was there. What else you got?
Inigo: La, la, la. Busy right now...
grim squeaker: I respectfully disagree, topanga. Logan and Duncan's scenes — were there two or even three this year? — were highlights for both of these characters for me, and I greatly prefer them to Duncan/Veronica or schmoopy Logan/Veronica scenes. This goes even more for Logan and Weevil tag-teaming in the middle of the season, which did a great deal to make me like Weevil again.
misskiwi: Catfight!
grim squeaker: Eeep...
Inigo: Hey, if this was a real catfight, I'd be saying that whilst most of Logan's best scenes are with Veronica, ALL his scenes are compelling, unlike a certain best friend...
wyk: Logan is way overrated. I hope Rob fires Jason and adds the guy who plays Hector to the main cast.
misskiwi: wyk, you're one of those people who goes to the zoo and decides to poke the tigers with a pointy stick, aren't you?
topanga: Hee. Back to my original point. Characters are better when they interact with Veronica. Keith is both bad-ass private eye and super-dad when he's with Veronica. Our brave Sheriff Lamb has great snark with every character, but no one gives it back to him quite like Veronica does. Weevil is the tough guy, but Veronica reduces him to Maybelline lashes. She's one of the only people on the show who makes him laugh. Cliff...is just Cliff. His scenes always rock, no matter who else is in them.
wilecoyote: I don't necessarily agree with that, topanga. Going back to Wallace, I have the impression that he could have had a really interesting storyline of his own this year, but the writers simply decided not to; they preferred to confine him to the role of Veronica's sidekick, and solved his problems (with his mother, his newly discovered father, etc.) in the most sketchy way possible.
topanga: wile, you don't think interacting with Veronica strengthens other characters?
wilecoyote: Not necessarily, and it's odd for me to say that, because Veronica is by far my favorite character in the show. But there are other couples that have good chemistry on their own: Mac/Cassidy, for example. And Wallace too, if the writers had been less negligent with him.
grim squeaker:I'm with wile. I actually like it that not every single interaction on the show revolves around Veronica this year, which is why I've enjoyed Beaver's storylines, but also Keith's scenes with characters other than his daughter. I mean, while I love our girl, I do have a foible for minor or sideline characters, and seeing Beaver and Kendall cheerfully disliking each other, or Cliff snarking at Logan, Keith, or Wallace, entertains me much more than the angstiest Veronica/Logan scene. Yes, no need to help me here, I'll just let myself out.
topanga: I just read an article on assertiveness in Psychology Today magazine, and it stated that assertive people aren't afraid to express their opinions even when they know others will disagree with them. And since I'm on a personal crusade to be more assertive — Screw you, wile and grim!
wilecoyote: [blows raspberry]
grim squeaker: Love you, too, t! Ahem.
wilecoyote: Back to topic: as for Jackie... I liked Tessa Thompson a lot in her final scene with her father, and couldn't help but think: "What a waste." People, it isn't that she isn't talented, it's just that she was stuck playing a character introduced with no other purpose than being the "love interest" of one of the protagonists, and we all know how well that tends to work (see also: Riley Finn). Wallace and Jackie have been boring for the last few episodes because the writers decided to gut them and deprive them of any interesting traits, not because of the lack of chemistry.
misskiwi: I've actually enjoyed Jackie and Wallace. To me, it's more interesting now that Jackie's not the token bitchy rich girl, and yet they managed to move her to Veronica and Wallace's side of the social fence without over-exploiting her new status as a bit of a social pariah. I still prefer Beaver and Mac, but that's at least partially because I love Tina Majorino and find her comic deliveries spot-on.
Inigo:Speaking of which, Mac and Beaver seem to have forgiven each other, although that shouldn't really be a surprise, given that she was wanting to listen to his cell calls and the only reason she'd want to do that is to rescue the romance.
grim squeaker: Regarding Beaver and Mac, I really liked them at first, but by now it feels forced. I understand that TPTB would like to welcome Tina Majorino as a regular for next year, but to me, they are simply overselling Mac as a character, and made her a little too hip and too cool and too perfect. She is beginning to honestly get on my nerves and that makes me sad, since I used to think of her as quite cute and funny.
I have to say, while I appreciate their scenes on a meta level — this must have been the first time Francis Capra and Kyle Gallner have interacted on the show, and the same goes for Francis and Tina Majorino if I am not mistaken — and thought they were very, very funny together, I don't really buy them on a story level. I mean, I'm sure Beaver and Mac need to get back together, only to be horribly crushed in the finale, but couldn't this have been taking place at some point earlier, and maybe with a little more resistance from her side? After all he was pretty bitchy towards her. No, I'm filing this one firmly under "rushed-out plot points, section 23."
misskiwi: While I'm inclined to agree that the writers seem to be shoehorning a hell of a lot of plot into the final episodes that could have been slowly fed to us earlier in the season, you should keep in mind, grim, that several weeks seem to be passing in between episodes, so it's not quite as rushed as it seems to us. Plus, while Beaver was quite the ass, from Mac's point of view he was (over)reacting to something she had done wrong, so I can see her forgiving him for his assholishness easier.
grim squeaker: I find it amusing that we saw the breakup and its potential aftermath exactly the other way round in the RTR for "Plan B"...
misskiwi: Heh, so we did. Well, I'm far more willing to forgive Cassidy when Mac's smiling adorably at him rather than sitting alone on a bench, about to cry as she watches him walk away.
Inigo: How very typical of Veronica and Logan to spend a week of "forced smiles and occasional heys," after the events of the last episode. My little shipper heart would have loved a scene of them thrashing out that little embarrassment, but then they wouldn't be the characters I fell for in the first place. *sigh*
fickledame: I was also disappointed with the Veronica/Logan scene. However, it was freaking awesome that it was Veronica that said they had an epic love, when Logan said their relationship was. My shipper heart holds out much hope.
topanga:I missed that — Veronica said "epic love"?
Inigo: What Veronica actually said was "Ain't epic love grand." I'm not sure that's quite the same thing as her saying they had an epic love, fickledame. We're still in baby steps, I think.
fickledame She said the words "epic love" in reference to her and Logan, and that's all I care about. She has only said the L word once before, and that in the pilot when she said Duncan was her first love. In my opinion, it's pretty major, even if it was a flippant remark.
topanga: Allow me to don my shipper hat for a moment. Did Veronica ever love Logan? Does she now? Remember in the flashback when Logan said he was falling in love with her and she joked her way out of responding? I always thought Logan's feelings were stronger than Veronica's.
Inigo: I think that's a fair observation, although I think it has to be tempered with remembering that Logan tends to be overdramatic at the best of times as well and that when he says "I think I'm falling in love with you," it still doesn't mean that he thinks she is the love of life. Which I like (as I wave goodbye to the shreds that were left of my shipper credentials) because there is so much more room for the journey to that place for them both.
misskiwi: I also think it's important to realize that Veronica has a very strong joke defense mechanism when it comes to expressing affection. She responds to Wallace's "I'm gonna miss you" with "And my stupid-ass face?" She responds to Keith's relief that she wasn't on the bus with a joke about him turning her room into a yoga studio. "You don't have to make a joke, you know." Sure she does. It's what she does.
fickledame: I totally agree, misskiwi:. I'm not going to argue that Veronica does or did love Logan, the point is that what she said to Logan in response shouldn't be taken as a "she doesn't." We know she cares a lot for Wallace, so just because she made a joke doesn't prove she doesn't. I think the look on Veronica's face last episode when she realised that she wasn't just a summer fling for Logan spoke volumes as well.
misskiwi: That's pretty much my point: you can't use Veronica's joking response to Logan's admission against her, because it's the way she responds to anything of that nature. It's inconclusive.
Polter-Cow: Hey, guys you've had a very interesting discussion here, but no one has mentioned how hilarious Gia is and how much Krysten Ritter rocks. So I am doing that now. Geez, you must have all defriended her on MySpace, huh.
wyk: And hey, let's not forget about Rick Pickett, Rick Pickett, Rick Pickett, too bad the writers made him a potential abuse victim, Rick Pickett, Rick Pickett, Rick Pickett.