televisionary

Goodbye, Ms. Mars

Before I saunter off to dinner, let me be devastated over the sad, sad, sad news:  Veronica Mars is dead.

Boy, and I was getting my hopes up on Special Agent Mars. Oh, dear.

I'm so sad. Yes, over a tv show. Suck it.

Veronica Mars 3x10 “Show Me the Monkey”

I’ve forgotten how much I missed this show. It’s back again, and sadly, the last mini mystery of the season. So, anyway, on with the episode:-

- The MOTS is of course, who killed Cyrus O’Dell? But for the first time for the big mysteries, Veronica didn’t seem to care so much. It’s Keith who gets the case from Mrs. O’Dell, and the most invested in this case. The only connection so far with Veronica is her perfect murder paper (who didn’t guess this?) where the last words match. But anyway, it’ll be a couple of episodes before I really start to care about this one. The top suspects so far are Landry, Nancy, and Tim. Of course. Which means none of them did it. My guess for now is Chip. He did have that one night stand with Nancy. And he’s been in enough episodes this season to matter.

- Ok, the MOTW was a real bore, what with Veronica solving it two-thirds into the episode. The only interesting thing about it was the fact that Veronica didn’t solve the crime for her client to save a monkey. Maybe all the PHAT stuff is rubbing off on her. Veronica’s look was priceless upon hearing that she’s doomed another monkey by protecting the first one. The mystery itself though? Kind of boring and easy.

- But who cares, because it’s the Mac Show this week! This is why we’ve missed Mac all this time. She slides into Veronica’s BFF so easily it almost makes up the fact that Wallace was missing. Love the banter between Veronica and Mac, and I love the addition of the PHAT guy. Hope he’s not the killer or something. It was really cute seeing Mac wanting to date again, and she really deserves a nonkiller type of a boyfriend this time. Let’s hope we see more of this.

-  I like Parker’s involvement with Veronica and Mac. They make a good team of Charlie’s Angels, what with the Ted Nugent Ed Argent rocker guy who loves meat. I especially liked Parker’s squeals right after Veronica’s. They make a good sorority girls act. Hee. And Parker stealing the PHAT guy’s ID to get Mac to see him again. Awesome. Parker’s totally growing on me.

- That look on Veronica and Mac’s face when told to pose naked. Together. Teehee. Fantastic.

- Ah, LoVe. I’m guessing the stunt Logan did in his car with the girl would bite him in the ass again once Veronica finds out (and you know she will). But, their reunion was oh so sweet. I don’t like Piz as a love interest for Veronica, but I did find it sad that Piz’s talk in the cafeteria, which Piz thought have brought Veronica closer to him, was the kick Veronica needed to get back to Logan. Ah, young love.

- Even better than LoVe is Mac and the PHAT guy (whose name escapes me for now). Mac running back to kiss the guy after she asked him out? Fantastic.  How gutsy of Mac.

- All in all, a solid episode for the new year. Let’s hope it’s not the LAST year.

VMars 3x9 “Spit and Eggs”

Wow. I really never do get these mysteries right. Always thinking things to be way more complicated than they are. But I did get my "Oh!" moment. Let's see:-

- Fantastic setup at the beginning of the season with the sociology class guard/prisoner experiment. I wondered why Wallace and Logan’s sociology class experiment was featured at all to begin with, and holy crap, it was the key to this mystery. That photo on the wall with Mercer and Moe in their uniforms, add a falling ceramic mug – that’s right my friends, there’s your Keyser Soze moment. (I’m sure the victim’s (and her sister’s name readily written on a cup) name is no coincidence here.) Hm, I wonder if Homer will get into trouble for administering these experiments that pretty much led to the rapes. Hey, at least I got the shaver/apist right; there were two people – a shaver and a rapist. But anyway, I really liked that it was the sociology experiment that spawned the rapist(s) Mercer and Moe. So simple. Occam’s Razor, right?

- I’m not sure how well the execution went though. There were a lot of holes in the mystery that we never got an answer to, and didn’t make too much sense. First, would have liked more backstory/flashbacks of Moe and Mercer, and how they ganged up on doing the rapes in the first place. Mercer’s little speech to himself in the (to be ) victim’s room didn’t make enough sense for me. So Mercer just doesn’t like to waste time with girls, and so he rapes? Huh? So was Mercer a rapist before the experiment too? And the shaving is kind of like prison (and their make believe experiment)? I’m at a loss here. Also, why did Moe keep the hair? Fetish? Weird prisoner present? This is the place for a really really good flashback that would explain all of this, and I was very disappointed they didn’t have one here. 

-Hey, on the topic of flashbacks, did they just decide to replace them with Veronica’s drugged out vision? Flashbacks are way better. Plus, how many times does Veronica need to be drugged?

-  Mercer’s alibi … is really not an alibi. That was annoying. I’m not even sure how it works – so was the radio show a live show or taped? Veronica realizes the radio show could be taped when she hears a glitch(?) at the party (not to mention seeing Mercer just moments earlier) – which means the show really isn’t live. But I thought the whole point of Moe was to provide for Mercer’s alibi – like when Parker was shaved, it was Moe and not Mercer – which means the show really IS live?

- Why put in an ad in the paper? Or was that really just the feminists trying to warn others?

- The freaking DNA/semen/hair evidence that didn’t exist in all the rapes – so DID Mercer raped these women or not? I didn’t think he was being especially careful with his hair (how funny would it be if he was all dressed up like Dexter here?) and/or anything else. From his rant, I’m assuming that Mercer did rape the girls, so why were his victims so clean? Also, he would never have gotten away with the rapes in this episode, even if he’d dosed Veronica with tons of drugs – his blood in the room and unicorn, his skin under Veronica’s nails, etc, etc. See, if he’s so sloppy this time, it makes me wonder how he was so meticulous previously to leave nothing.

- Nice Lucky Tim diversion. So he wasn’t investigating the rapes, he was investigating his girlfriend. Wasn’t it weird though he seemed excited for Veronica to meet the girlfriend? Like he’d set it all up or something. Weird.

- Oh how can I forget? “Ask me about my STD” Mac’s back. She didn’t really do anything pivotal here, but still loved that she at least was in the episode. Geez – Mac better get more screen time, that’s all I gotta say.

- Still not sure if I like Piz much, but that dance was quite remarkable. And avuncular. Also liked the Wallace and Piz tag team. Cute. Btw, why didn’t Veronica ask Piz to be backup when she was hiding out in the victim’s room waiting for Mercer? How about just a call to anyone?

- Ok, there’s no way Parker is still wearing a wig. Look at that hair! It was pretty nice of her to save Veronica. For a girl who’s so independent, she sure needs a lot of rescuing.

-  LoVe: I was sad to see Logan break up with Veronica, but from previous episodes, it was a natural progression of their relationship. So heartbreaking, but quite necessary - it’ll be refreshing to see them together, but not together. Will Logan get his groove/snarkiness back? Let’s hope so. Really nice of him to beat the crap out of that police car in order to beat the crap out of Mercer. “You sick fuck, how dare you tried shaving my ex-girlfriend? And to think I went to Tijuana with you!” Gosh, I guess Logan really attracts trouble. His dad murdered Lilly, his friend’s brother bombed the bus, and now his new Hearst buddy is the rapist. He’s never going to get a break, huh?

- Pretty creepy for Weevil to find Dean O’Dell (presumably) dead in the office. And right when he’s hooking him up with HDTV. Darn it, I really liked Dean O’Dell here, and it sucks not to have him on the show anymore. So that’s why he got so much camera time this season without being part of this mystery. But this makes for a very solid setup for this second mystery, which should help with the timing and pace. Given he’s also Keith’s kind of friend, it’ll be nice to see Keith and Veronica working together to solve this next case.

Until then, good night…for now. Veronica Mars should be back in January. (Phew.)

VMars 3x8 “Lord of the Pi’s”

“Worst. Easter. Egg. Hunt. Ever.”

The feeling of anticipation. Ooooh. The final stretch. See, this is why I love this show.

Alrighty, we’re down to the second to last episode on this arc, and I still have no clue as to who the rapist(s) is/are. Well, I do have my guesses, but without much reasoning (other than tiny little clues, random guessing and the fact it should have something to do with the Dean and/or the gambling thing. Hm. Up to this point I still have trouble exacting the number of rapes, including last year’s.  Was it five? Anyway, TA or the RA? Maybe Chip? He did nail the Dean’s wife last year. Your guess is as good as mine.) There simply wasn’t enough clues or info concerning each suspect’s whereabouts and whatnots (at least for me); maybe it has to do with the new shorter format (9 episodes instead of 22). I’d love it if the reveal next week could be like last year’s – that one clue that lets all the other puzzle pieces fall into place and you could see that lightbulb over Veronica’s heading going ‘bing’ (and hopefully, there’s one over your shoulder too.) Can’t wait. I guess it’s kind of great to have three of these moments this (possibly last)season; we’ll know soon enough whether the ending pays off. Now, on to the ep:

- MotW: Patty Hearst? In Hearst College? Heh. Predictable mystery, eh, kinda boring. Nice to see Mr. Sheffield get some work though. Hey, wouldn’t it be totally awesome if Fran Drescher was Selma Rose instead? Hee.

- This is the second time the Dean asked for the Mars’ help. Wonder if Keith and the Dean will become friends.

- Second “mystery”: Hey, who doesn’t love a chocolate egg? Hi Dick, long time no see! I didn’t know Dick thinks Veronica’s a friend – how strangely adorable. Given all that’s happened to him, he’s  all calmed down and happy again – which is a nice contrast to the “I’m so tragic” Logan. I’m not sure when Wallace became the ‘numbers’ guy here – but hey, he’s actually in the episode! And he got to show his compassion, his moves (in fighting),and his glasses(coz you know, they DO make people smarter).

- So Veronica finds out why the feminists faked a (or more than one?) rape - the whole sob story of Patrice. Oh so that’s when you should put an egg up someone’s anus. How come Veronica didn’t talk to them longer to get more details which one were the fake rapes? I thought this girl never misses an opportunity. But anyhoo, nobody who was the prime suspect was ever the one. Too obvious. So ladies, you’re excused. (For now.)

- Nice to see Keith and Veronica all snazzy with each other again, but notice how quick it took for Veronica to forgive Keith and how she still hasn’t forgiven Logan for the Mexico thing and not accepting who she is blah blah blah. I’m on her side, yet -

- I think Logan does have a point. Throughout this season, Logan’s totally losing his ‘bad boy’ status. Other than having no parents and living in a hotel like Dylan McKay, Logan has become (too) much of a marshmallow when it comes to Veronica. So it’s nice to see him stand up for himself, even though this means the end of LoVe – at least for a while. They both have their points, and I can’t see how they could reconcile this for now. Veronica’s hesitant answer to Logan– “Yeah”– certainly didn’t seal any deal, and the last scene pretty much said it all.

- Again, where’s Mac? I’ll keep asking as long as she’s not around. But she’s back! According to next week’s promos, finally. Is she really that busy over at Big Love? All I can say is that she better not be the one who doesn’t survive. No, that won’t happen – she’s in the credits, and so far she’s been in like one/two episodes.  But anyway, I do like the idea floating around that the perfect murder papers will be used for the actual murder.

- Maybe it is really the TA/Lucky. In season two, the culprit’s name happened to be part of the title of the last episode of season one – and isn’t Lucky part of a title name in the second last episode of season two? Tee hee hee. Yes, I’m being silly. But how cool if that were true? Then whatever the next mystery, Piz did it. No questions asked. Heh.

VMars 3x7 "Of Vice and Men"

Logan: good boyfriend

Keith: good father

Veronica: bad girlfriend + bad daughter

That about summed up this week's episode. Oh, and of course the eternal question: Where's Mac??

The MOTW sucked. I didn't really care for the missing boyfriend or the out-of-town girlfriend who's all about the crazy lasers. The only point the mystery made was making Veronica feel guilty for abandoning the ones she love. Or might love. Is there any question to whether Veronica actually loves Logan, if "I wasn't in love, I wouldn't have believed it either" ? But anyhoo, long story short, boyfriend goes missing, girlfriend finds him in the drunk tank - and not dumping her like Veronica thought utilizing the ever popular Occam's Razor(When had Veronica ever used this theory? In that case, Duncan killed Lilly, and bus was blown up by driver Ed...or something. Season 2 really was a hugely convoluted mystery with no simple solutions - even the red herrings were insanely complicated. But anyway, back to Hearst!). My question was: did the boyfriend make those damn circles in the facebook or was the girlfriend right, and the circles were not perfect enough? So anyway, boring ass MOTW.

But this episode was all sorts of awesome. Why? Look out, the last five minutes of the show. Lesson to you all? Never leave your drink unattended. We got to see Logan play a hero (again) and save (albeit not all of) Veronica's hair. Loved how Veronica being mad at them forced Keith and Logan to be pals. Would love to see more of that.

Logan and Mercer's mystery alibi? Well, it was nothing like I thought it would be, which is good. But eh, kind of out there no? And I'm not sure why Veronica was all pissed off about them not checking to see if everyone's all right. Sure that would be the right thing to do, but as Logan said, nine out of ten guys would've done what he did. So strangely enough, I actually sided with Logan this time.

As for Keith - is this the last we'll see of Harmony? Darn it! - I suppose he did the right thing. But I was hoping for him not to cave into Veronica this time.Punching below the belt was Veronica, bringing up Lianne and Jake Kane's affair.  He could've asked Harmony to divorce first, but then again, he like Veronica had seen enough of affairs to know that probably wouldn't happen. Keith is really the perfect father - hear how he sounded on the voice mail before the whole Veronica-almost-got-it ending?

But that ending revealed this much: The rapist shaves before he rapes. If he actually rapes. This and previous clues like no DNA/semen are all pointing to this: He's a shaver, not a rapist. Hmm. I've shot down the shaver-aist is a girl theory because we've been shown that last episode already, with the whole Claire thing. Plus, I'm not sure if Rob Thomas would want to paint the feminists that way - if he hasn't already. But anyhoo, LAME if it were. So shaver-apist=guy, but one who might not have actually raped.

The clues from Mercer, if we are to believe him, is this: he was framed for the GHB stash in his safe, and Dean O'Dell and Chip are the top names who want Mercer gone because of bad gambling bets. I don't really care about Chip, because I'd be annoyed if he turned out to be the shaver-apist (boring!), but the Dean... I'm convinced he's an important part of the mystery but definitely not the culprit, and with only two more episodes to go, I think I'm right about that.

Which brings me no closer to the shaver-apist - except for that student-aid Mercer mentioned. He, if he had anything against the Dean, would be the perfect culprit. But, if it turned out to be either the TA Lucky or the RA Frak guy, then I hope he isn't.

Anyhoo.

Oh, how can I forget? Vinnie! Knew he was going to blackmail Keith as soon as he appeared in the office. But what a lovely save he made at the River Stix. That non-camera phone sure is a keeper.

Oh, but that Piz stuff? Eh. They seem more like brother and sister to me. What a lame but nice guy.

VMars 3x6 "Hi, Infidelity"

Really good ep. I don't know about you, but I have such a great fondness for the characters on this show it'll take a lot for me to declare any episode as a blah episode. Not to say that this one isn't great, coz it is - way better than last week's.

Finally a MOTW that we care about and Veronica could care about. On top of which we got tons and tons of little details about the new characters on the show who all could be the rapist. Add a little bowling-sort-of-double-dating-fun and some non evil-Wallace and this is one fine episode.

So what have we learnt?

Veronica, you are always right - Keith does have a lot in common with Prof. Landry...only not so much in the way you thought. Hello infidelity! If I were Keith though, I'd probably have NOT picked the same hotel my daughter's boyfriend lives in. 

Which leads to....Keith Mars, doing the nasty! I was so shocked at the car crash thing I almost missed it. But there it was, Keith ripping the clothes off Harmony. This is a side of Keith we never saw. Hot! But anyhoo, I love that it is with Laura San Giacomo. Better her than someone else, I suppose.

So the rapes were a combo of maybe legitimate ones and copycat ones. Since Claire's exposed rape is the one faked by the feminist groups, they most likely aren't the actual culprit(s), or the 'real' rapist. Then there's Mercer. Given all the bad evidence pointing to him - the cologne, the clippers, the GHB, it is also certain that it's not him. Most likely he did some really deplorable stuff (perhaps with Admiral Moneybags as well, possibly leading up to the breakup of LoVe?) but not the rapes themselves. So those two - Mercer and the feminists are out of the loop.

So who remains?

-The Frat guys. But that would be quite anticlimatic, which is something this show's not known for.

-The TAs (both the battlestar fan RA and Lucky no. 2): They are both smart, and unLucky's been revealed to have been following the rapes very closely. I'm not putting my money on this one though - I think Lucky2 might be involved, but not the mastermind behind this.

The Dean, who's been in most of the episodes so far, will have to figure into this mystery. He as well as his family has been mentioned/shown/featured most regularly so far for them not to have anything to do with the rapes. But I'm almost certain he's not the fall guy, because I love Ed Begley Jr., and I think he's to stay for at least a little longer this season.  I like that he's oblivious to Veronica's snooping and seem to be for the most part on her side. He even seem to like her much on the basis that she's not like the other college students.

Freaks and Geeks guy and Boy Meets World guy? They're mentioned again, so they are suspects. But that would be too weird. Come on, it's Rider Strong!

How about Prof Landry? His character has been exposed to be less than perfect, and he certainly has the smarts to pull it off. He's certainly suspicious, even though similar to Mercer's case, he's too big of a red herring.

Given Lucky2's remark that there hasn't been any DNA/semen so far, it does seem likely that either none or most of the rapes were actual rapes. Since I believe that the Dean has to be involved somehow, how about this : All the rapes were not intended to hurt the girls (who were pretty much picked at random) but to hurt the Dean's reputation in order to get rid of him - either that he gets fired or that he gets caught as the rapist.

So far that's all I got. But this scenario does lead to many possibilties...(even one when I pinned Harmony as the lover of the rapist who's been sent to bed Keith in order to distract them. Hee!)

One more thing:

WHERE THE F IS MAC? I'm really not buying into the gym-going-funeral-attending-projects-aworking-Mac here. It's actually MORE annoying to hear these really pathetic excuses than to just not see her on campus. Just tell us she went to Utah to witness more of Pullman's ass.  I expect more from you, Rob Thomas and the writers.

VMars 3x5 "President Evil"

Oh Weevil. You so cute. Just like a teddy bear.

Good episode, even though it's the third MotW this season (out of five) about a theft -  first Piz's crap worldy possesions, then the football(? some sport anyway) playbook, and now around $10,000 from Logan's (or some other guy's) casino. Glad to know Logan is making some money now, he'll need it if he's staying at that hugeass suite at the Neptune Grand until he's 21. But if he's just gambling, he'll be in trouble soon enough, given he only has enough money to last a year.

Anyway, the mystery was very standard VMars, interesting but nothing out of the ordinary; which means the best parts of this episode is ...Weevil! Not much of a surprise though, considering Mac has disappeared completely (yes, I know they said she's at her aunt's funeral, but geez..), Wallace's story SUCKED (with no interaction with Veronica. Aren't they supposed to be BFFs?), and newcomers Piz and Parker has all but left Hearst and married each other. So much for 'newcomers'. But, back to Weevil...Great lines for him, and great chemistry between him and Veronica. They really have been through a lot, and it's interesting to see that there is just the right amount of trust and distrust between them. Loved how Weevil is the only one who actually was surprised Logan's her boyfriend (again). Out of her friends/boyfriends, he's also the most protective of her (after Keith of course). They have a mutual respect for one another, which in no doubt sprouted from them one-upping each other multiple times in the past. 

The Sheriff is back! Lamb is still great, though I'm not sure enough to be an actual regular. I'm not sure how pivotal his role is in Veronica's college-centric life. Let's hope we get some cool back story from Lamb sometimes this year. Whatever happened to his dark past that we haven't heard from since last year's Grace Manning thing?

Oh, and love the fact that Veronica is really, in fact, totally not a child person.

And that Backup doesn't scare Logan or Weevil. Wonder if Backup every growled at Duncan?

New evidence on the rape case: Well, I've no idea why Claire was lying about not knowing her asian boyfriend (whose name I failed to hear. Something Yeung I think.) But the interesting part for me is the dean's mystery part. To me he is definitely NOT the rapist, because that would be a third time in which a recurring adult character is some sort of rapist/molester/etc; but it's interesting to see how far he went for his son's life here. I don't remember all the members of his family, but he does have that other son (who crashed his car in 3x3?). Maybe this son is the rapist, and the dean either taking the blame for it himself/get another scapegoat. In any case, the dean seems to be hiding something. How convenient for Weevil to be working for him now. But hey who knows, maybe the dean is involved in the later mysteries. This is why I like that there's 3 mysteries this season. Red herrings in this first mystery could mean real suspects in the next 2 mysteries, making it kinda confusing.

Annoying bits: What the hell was that "One Week Later" thing? If it's not me missing some sort of homage to some film/tv show, then that shouldn't have been there at all. We're not idiots, you don't have to tell us that time passed. Plus it wasn't all that important. And of course, that entire Wallace storyline. I don't buy Wallace cheating (badly - who makes it so obvious they're cheating by finishing the test faster than anyone else and giving the prof a smug look?) in order to watch The Hills have Eyes or whatever with some friends we'll (viewers) probably never see again? And when did Wallace become so rich he can just blow 200 bucks on this without blinking an eye? And doing all this without even consulting Veronica? Argh. Give me a break.