3.06 "Hi, Infidelity"
Aired Nov 07, 2006
Roundtable Reviews
topanga: I can't wait to hear other people's opinions. I loved this episode, but I know some of you thought it was just okay. Our impressions span the gamut every week. For me, the ep had everything I love — fast pacing, interesting and plausible mysteries, Veronica and Wallace BFF love, complex character arcs, and helpful VM voiceovers.
misskiwi: I thought it was good, but I loved last week's so it would have been hard to top.
topanga: See, misskiwi. That's what I mean. I thought last week's episode was just okay.
BethGee: I liked it a lot; overall, it was pretty complex and had a darker feel. Though V's hair looked dreadful in points...
fulfilled: Really? I thought it was cute. There were a couple of scenes that I remember specifically loving the curly-messy look she had going on.
Polter-Cow: I'm with topanga. Great episode.
grim squeaker: I agree. I loved it. I want to cuddle it and feed it cookies, for some reason.
Inigo: You never feed us cookies.
grim squeaker: That's because none of you look like Ryan Devlin.
Inigo: I liked it, too, more than last week. It felt...satisfying.
topanga: Maybe it fed us cookies.
misskiwi: Hee. I quite enjoyed having a MOTW where Veronica's not only invested, but the victim. I'm still not entirely clear on why Tim just didn't say something like "Good paper and, oh, by the way, Landry's a scumbag who's nailing the dean's wife, among others." But still, nice twist.
wyk: If Tim had just told Veronica the truth, then what would the writers do for the next 40 minutes?
Inigo: Good point. Also, would Veronica have believed him? From day one she's shown disdain for his skills, which, given the flourished bow on his sixteen-minute achievement, is something I've never actually condemned her for. He judged, I suspect correctly, that Veronica is a bit of a "see with my own eyes" kind of girl and needed to be led. I'm still a little confused about how Jeff Ratner got in the picture, but I'm happy to assume that Tim dropped a hint to him. What I'm more interested in is Veronica probably losing Jeff his job. That's the second "innocent" whose job she has jeopardised. I can't think Danny's employer is going to be that thrilled if and when he finds out about "Mr. Wolfcastle" contacting the ISP. Is Veronica creating her own line of victims who are going to haunt her? I hope so.
topanga: I think Tim also wanted to confirm, as painful as it was, that Veronica Mars is smarter than [him]. He sent her on a wild goosechase to see if she could solve it. It proved to him (Veronica already knew) what a badass she really is. She isn't just a snippy college freshman. Maybe they'll put their heads together to solve the rape mystery.
misskiwi: grim pointed out something quite interesting during the mystery speculation that I completely missed: Mercer's radio show, Club Flush? Was what was playing when Veronica came into Mac and Parker's room the night of the rape. Thoughts?
Inigo: Was it live or was it Memorex? Sorry, Brit commercial of many, many years ago. But the fact that Mercer's live the night he formerly meets Parker seems to suggest he was live the night of the rape and has a better alibi than Logan's "I can't tell you." But what's with the "rape in the summer"? Was the campus full of people over the summer? Was that Nancy's rape? Couldn't be Dawn's (February), Stacey's (March), or Parker's (September). And another curious thing: Lamb said two of the victims were drugged with GHB. Why only two. Granted, he can't know about Dawn because she didn't come forward until a month later, but which of the three others was not given GHB, or was not tested for it? We can assume Stacey was one of them as Lamb confirmed she was "roofied" in "The Rapes of Graff", but that's all.
misskiwi: What do you guys make of the fact that there hasn't been any forensic evidence in any of the rapes? Personally, it put Landry firmly on my radar since, as a criminologist, it seems like something he might do. Add to that the fact that we've learned he's a bit of a sleaze (much like we learned Aaron was abusive and violent?) and that taking him down would adversely affect Veronica's career and I'm definitely going to be watching him.
Inigo: But can Landry wander about the dorms without being spotted? I don't know. I'm still leaning towards an R.A. or a student. Or even O'Dell who seems to be accustomed to wandering the campus at night when his wife's, ahem, doing someone something else.
topanga: My money's on Rafe...okay, so it's not. I just wanted to throw out a name. I have no clue.
misskiwi: Can I just say how much I love Piz? Seriously, not only is he cute, adorable, and funny, but I love the way they've set up his crush on Veronica. Who hasn't been in that situation where you're trying to casually ask somebody out without making it obvious that you're asking them out? It's playing very real and I love it.
Polter-Cow: I agree. I love Piz too; he's just so amusing. One of my friends had a great point that Piz is actually a very noir character: he's the innocent, the one who provides a contrast to the darkness and complexity of all the other characters.
topanga: I'll third that Piz love. He reminds me a lot of season one Wallace: cute, genuine, funny, and somewhat innocent. Minus the flagpole, of course. And he's a lefty! You can't get much cooler than that. Piz is the kind of guy women in college would fall for (Exhibit A: Parker), but he's totally hung-up on Veronica. Part of me wants to see them together, but Veronica seems too "worldly" for Piz. She'd eat him alive.
grim squeaker: Piz is totally a sweetie, but I don't get what he's got against Parker. She's so cute, especially when she is rowdily making fun of him when he sucks at bowling. Wait, I think I can see why he thinks she's not so hot.
topanga: Yay, the BFF love is back. I absolutely loved Veronica and Wallace's scene in his dorm room. Veronica comforting "evil Wallace" and convincing him that he's still "regular Wallace" was classic, and it had all of the chemistry and intimacy that had been missing for me this season.
But Wallace is a bad cheater. I guess he was supposed to be, given that he'd never cheated before. I'm glad he confessed. Although Wallace is still flawed, he's still one of the most morally centered characters on the show.
misskiwi: Yeah, I really liked their scenes together.
Polter-Cow: And how cute was "Evil Wallace"? He's so ashamed, and he doesn't want Veronica to judge him like, you know, she judges everyone else. Plus, the plane callback to the pilot made up for the random "I've ALWAYS wanted to be a mechanical engineer. It's been my SECRET AMBITION."
Inigo: My favourite line in that scene was "And I know Veronica doesn't hang with the evil and morally bankrupt." Ha ha ha.
grim squeaker: I loved him with Piz as well. The two of them make a good combination. Both just fun, nice guys.
BethGee: I think the Keith/Harmony affair could have been handled differently. I realize having Harmony's husband NOT be a dirty, dirty cheater in "Charlie Don't Surf" improved the MOTW, but had he been cheating, there still would have been a bit of a moral gray area to make Keith's ultimate decision more interesting. They could have not yet been separated; they could be wrestling with what to do about the children; they could realize the situations under which they got to know each other better weren't exactly ethically conducive to starting a relationship. Yes, we would still always think "well, he's a cheater, why should she stay faithful?" As it played out, are we supposed to think Mr. Chase is a chilly prick who deserves to be cuckolded anyway, or are we supposed to be shocked at Keith entirely? Man, bring back Alicia.
grim squeaker: I ... can safely say that Keith's storylines this season interest me the least of all. I mean, I'm more invested in Piz's radio show plot or Wallace's basketball career than this — and I don't even like sports!
fulfilled: Keith, no!! His storyline was definitely the weakest part, even in an episode full of cheating. Being the means by which someone commits adultery is a far cry from cheating on an assignment, and I would have expected more of Keith, especially since he knows what it's like to be cheated on. In my opinion, his behavior was inexcusable in any case, but that fact made it so much worse.
misskiwi: Exactly; as someone who's been cheated on, repeatedly, Keith should know better. Besides, I think the car crash/life's too short "revelation" was a bit contrived and clichéd. I really hope there will be a darker side to this; somebody suggested that Harmony's husband could approach Keith to find out who his wife has been cheating on him with, and I think that would be a great direction to take. Either that, or Keith's affair with Harmony affecting the outcome of her divorce, like costing her custody of her kids or something.
I also would have liked it better if Harmony had a more compelling reason to not grow a spine and get a divorce — like if it was likely her husband would get custody of the kids, for some reason. The fact that she just doesn't want the divorce to be her fault and wants an excuse to leave him just doesn't do it for me. Now, that being said, I do really like the character and I think Keith falling for her is totally believable. I just wish they had pulled it off a little bit differently.
Inigo: There only one kid, a daughter I believe. And I'm going to go against the flow and say that I like the story line. Keith is lonely and he is charmed by her. Always was by the sound of it, even back in the day of Judge Crawford's parties. He's not perfect and he's had a real reminder of that with his part in Kendall's murder. It makes sense to me that he's looking for more than he has. And there's no doubt that he knows the path he's taking. The crash worked for me because it was what he needed to get over his scruples. It's real and it's tawdry. Works for me.
topanga: It seemed a bit out of character. But Keith has taken the moral high ground so often in his life — maybe he was tired of always being the good guy. I still love him.