3.18 "I Know What You'll Do Next Summer"
Aired May 15, 2007
Roundtable Reviews
alliterator: I like how even with "stand-alones," the episodes are all about arc, baby!
Chris: I liked this one much more that the past two. Nice to get some VM continuity back.
starxdsparrow: While I'm a little broken up over some things (namely Piz and Veronica's absolutely irresistible adorable-puppy-dog-osity), I genuinely enjoyed the Apollo storyline (and, heh, his girlfriend named Olympia) and the Fitzpatrick/Vinnie/Keith stuff. That's Neptune, baby.
wyk: Cassidy, Kendall and Liam. Nice to see those storyline back.
It means Inigo will have to update the mysteries even though there aren't any mysteries.
Inigo: Will it hell.
alliterator: Liam Fitzpatrick! Kendall's name popping up! Dick, Sr! OMG DICK IS ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT BEAVER AND CALLED HIM "CASSIDY" HOLY CRAP. Now that is how you utilize Dick.
BepperGirl: The Cassidy stuff made me wanna cry. *sobs*
misskiwi: I liked the Dick stuff; my only problem was Dick Sr. yelling at him because he was going to jail, so they should spend time together. Buddy, you're going to be in jail for less time than you spent on the run. Perhaps this is not your son's problem?
Polter-Cow: Ha! Good point.
starxdsparrow: Dick was just great. I actually got an old-school VM "Oh my God!" when Big Dick showed up, and Dick's angry tears over BD not showing for Cassidy's funeral were fantastic. The 'we used to have contests to see who could make him cry' bit was genius. Wow. Yay for continuity all around!
Inigo: I've seen mileage varies on this, but I actually liked that Dick kept this pent up until now. He spent his summer with his dad in the Caymans, after Beaver's death and after the funeral. He didn't say anything then, which makes sense because Dick takes a long time to process stuff and there was reason to think his dad was forever estopped from returning to the US. Dick didn't really get a flavour of his loss until facing Hearst without any family (hence his crying on Logan's shoulder) and then to see his father just walk back into the country, when he could have done the same thing before for Beaver, hit him much harder. Thought it was cool and liked that we didn't have to have it all explained to us.
funky-donut: Nice analysis, Inigo. I had forgotten that Dick spent the summer with his dad, so I wasn't surprised at Dick's reaction, but now that you mention that, I like it even more. And this is coming from a renowned Dick-hater. Not like that, dirty bird.
Inigo: *whistles*
wyk: The MoTW was good. Fair amount of twists.
Inigo: Veronica was played! Brilliantly! Ha ha ha. This was the first mystery in a while that played me all the way too. Loved it.
funky-donut: Good episode. I was leery of the MotW, it seemed too big at first. But they did a nice job with it, and the guy who played Apollo was excellent.
misskiwi: I liked the MotW — it's not that often that they can catch me off guard like that. I called that Apollo's story was fake, but then they turned it around and it totally wasn't.
alliterator: I was a little wary of the Invisible Children mystery, because I thought it might go into the whole "very special episode" type thing, but it didn't. It was actually very interesting.
Inigo: Chris dug out an interesting titbit. The guy in the booth with the volunteer who signed up Wallace, the one in the middle, is the co-founder of Invisible Children.
funky-donut: Oh, that's cool! I dig that it was a real charity they were giving publicity to. I assumed it was made up until the PSA at the end.
wyk: It's a real charity. Ryan Hansen and his brother-in-law started it. That's the reason why the writers included it in the storyline.
alliterator:The only part that got weird was when Wallace signed up to go to Africa. I mean, I understand that the episode was all about the characters planning what to do over the summer, but really?
funky-donut: My suspicion is that sending Wallace to Africa would have been a way for them to write him off the show, if the show had continued.
Alex: My sentiments exactly. And haven't they set up Veronica's FBI bit nicely?
Inigo: Why? He's only going for the summer. And he's a little old for being kidnapped into a warlord's kiddie army. Not saying it's not dangerous but I have to admit, I didn't think it was a write-out shout-out (unless unbenownst to us, Percy was being canny about pay - and the prospect of another season). I thought it was a straight reminder of Wallace's heart, if a little overly obvious.
funky-donut: I don't know why, exactly, I thought that, Inigo, but I did. Not for any meta reasons, but just because it occurred to me that Wallace's character has had little-to-nothing to do this season, and if the show were coming back, in any format, it would be a way for Veronica to have more angst. I assumed he would be killed or decide to stay there, not that he would be conscripted.
Inigo: I could see him staying there, or going outside Neptune for his future. I just can't see them killing him off. Lilly. Rinse. Wallace. Repeat. If they were going to go back to a death that would crucify Veronica and not be a replay, it would be Logan or Keith, I think. Or her mum which, with or without the actress, they could do. It would be twisted because Veronica's feelings for Lianne are so twisted. I don't believe for a moment she wouldn't care, particularly given her dream at the end of S2.
funky-donut: Yeah, I see what you're saying, but I wasn't really thinking of a Wallace death as a Lilly redux. It wouldn't have to be something for her to investigate, just a terrible thing that happened for her to grieve over. And while I love Percy, I think I would rather have him be off the show than as criminally under-used as he was this season. And yes, I know, there were plans for the third arc. But there were plenty of wasted opportunities in the first two arcs for him to have been more involved.
wyk: I like how the Vinnie for Sheriff story line is working out. Wonder if Vinnie setting up Danny was part of the set up by the Fitzpatricks to get Vinnie elected as Sheriff. I thought it was weird that Vinnie would have Danny arrested since Vinnie had close ties with the Fitzpatrick. But if Vinnie and Fitzpatrick intended Vinnie to arrest Danny, then it would make more sense. Vinnie arrests Danny, Vinnie becomes a hero, Vinnie and the Fitzpatrick rides his hero status all the way to the sheriff's office. Would be a very interesting town if the Fitzpatrick had the Sheriff in their back pocket.
Inigo: I thought that was obvious from last week, which now makes me wonder if we're being led up a garden path. Probably not, but it would be good if we were. What I'm more interested in in Liam's motivation for it. He wants Kendall's money. How is ousting Keith from office going to achieve that? I can't quite believe Liam's suddenly turned into such a great manipulator.
alliterator: I love Vinnie's commercial (and we were there! While they were filming that scene! Holy crap, Enrico says "Ice cream!" so hilariously).
misskiwi: I can't figure out whether I really like Veronica and Piz...or whether I just really like Piz. Hm.
funky-donut: I like them together. They're nice and light and fluffy. The footsie and cuddling on the couch was adorable.
tallow: I like them together, too. It's college, you know?
funky-donut: I have to say, as much as I enjoyed their canoodling moment at the beginning, the foot-in-mouth moment with Keith bothered me. I think Keith is smarter than that and should have been able to pick up from just looking at the book that it wasn't something to be made fun of. I get that they were trying to highlight the differences between Piz and Logan, but I think it could have been done without making Keith look like an ass.
starxdsparrow: He just seemed rather over-excited at the prospect of Veronica having a new boyfriend not of Logan variety. And it came off... strangely.
funky-donut: So, Piz took the internship in Neptune because it meant he'd be closer to Veronica, but then she got the Feeb job, so he would have been closer in New York? Is that what happened?
starxdsparrow: Yeah, I didn't understand his woob-face at the end. Why can't he just take the Pitchfork job and be on the same coast? VA and NY aren't that far apart — it'd be a 40-minute plane ride, max.
Inigo: I got the impression that Piz had already turned down the preferred Pitchfork job in favour of the Neptune one.
Polter-Cow: Yeah, Veronica even told him to take the KRAQ job since he wanted to eventually end up in radio, despite the fact that the Pitchfork job was way cooler.
starxdsparrow: I thought it was deliberately vague - 'take whichever job will get you what you want.' It definitely seemed like he turned down NY for Neptune, but it could potentially still be up in the air.
Inigo: I thought it was vague too, sparrow. I didn't see Veronica telling him to take the radio job. I saw her not caring that much one way or the other which, you know, bummer for Piz.
starxdsparrow: Of course, this is coming from the same girl who's hoping since Logan doesn't have the South America Surf Adventure anymore, he and Veronica will be together forever and ever, amen. Yeah — I'm hopeless.
Alex: I agree that Piz's destiny is a bit hazy. Perhaps the writers want to leave his summer plans shrouded in mystery...or maybe Piz just won't admit that he's answering phones for Addison Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd. But back to Logan...
funky-donut: And I'm so over Logan — boring. I don't know how that happened.
Inigo: What? My boy?
wyk: Was Logan ever not boring?
Inigo: I've never found him boring. Love him to pieces. Always have, always will. And yes, I know the emo stuff can get old, but give the kid a break. He is utterly directionless, and always has been - he even put Duncan up to run for the salvation of Pirate Points rather than do it himself - and saw Veronica as his guiding light. Kid's got to grow up, and it's hard sometimes. And snotty. Lots of snot.
funky-donut: I like him better when I look at him through your eyes, Inigo, but I got sick of the on-again, off-again stuff pretty quickly, and having him with Parker...meh. I still love the character, particularly when I remember his past. And it's not because of Julie Gonzalo, because I like her. They're just so...vanilla. And I thought all the angst over being separated for the summer was a little overdone. It's college. You can be sad and know that you're going to miss your significant other, but I don't think it's worth all the aggro. That goes for Piz, too, much as I like the kid. It's two, three months, you know?
starxdsparrow: I'm right there with you, Inigo. Why does no one give Logan any room to just be who he is, be it emo or jackass? And, yeah, the relationship with Parker is so very sadly grasping at straws. None of them can be single for two and half minutes?
Inigo: I don't know. When I try really hard, I can remember what it was like to be a teenager, and everything just...so...much...more. But yeah, Piz and Parker - invested and wanting lovey-doveyness; Logan and Veronica - couldn't give a toss so much so that they didn't even think about it.
funky-donut: Yeah, it bothers me less if I think about it in terms of Piz and Parker not being upset about the separation but about the fact that they're more invested in their relationships than their respective partners are.
wyk: I know the constant shipping can be aggravating at times but I kinda like the fact that these kids are having short flings, sometimes with Mr./Ms. Right, sometimes with Mr./Ms. Wrong. None of this true love, soulmate, we-are-going-to-get-married-even-though-we-are-barely-teens crap that is typical of other teen shows.
Inigo: Dear God, yes.
funky-donut: Yeah, word times a million to that.
starxdsparrow: Did anyone else hear Keith call Sacks 'Jerry?' As in, 'Jerry will hand out printouts detailing the hot spots.' JERRY Sacks? I don't know...I always sort of thought of Sacks as a Cher or a Bono.
Inigo: Not a Sonny? Sonny Sacks has a very ring to it. Of course, with the porn 'tache, it should be Ben N. M. E.
Polter-Cow: Nope. His name's Jerry. We even saw his name placard.
funky-donut: I heard that, and I was happy. Jerry!
alliterator: Hey, he said that? Woo! Now we can include it in his bio!
wyk: Another mystery solved! Wonder what other mysteries the writers will solve next week during the *gulp* series finale. *weeps silently*
funky-donut: *lights a candle*