VM 3.14 'Mars, Bars' L/V Thoughts
Here's the latest batch of my Logan/Veronica analysis as seen (or will be seen) in The LoVe Shack Breakdowns.
Scene One: Re-assembling the Haystack
What I loved about this scene is that everything that was good about it was beneath the surface, tangible there in the undercurrents and the subtext that was zig-zagging across the screen. There was an evident tentativeness to most of the interaction. The most being in reference to the line about what he could do for her. That was way too expositional without a softer lead-in and I felt that Kristen Bell made the switch from the tentative yearning that must not be acknowledged too quickly without a proper emotional shift before or after.) However, other than that I felt that both she and Jason Dohring did a wonderful job in making it clear to the audience that Veronica and Logan are still so madly in love with one another. They are both just trying to put a brave face on it because they think it's over, but yet they are still in each other's lives and going back to the nastiness of senior year is not an option. They've been through too much. (Of course, I would have thought that after season one's events, but what do I know ... I'm just a viewer.)
Returning to the scene at hand, I also want to add an aspect of the other jailed scenes compared to this that offer an additional straw with which to rebuild our haystack of hope. Veronica's over-the-top acting -- yes, I deliberately said 'Veronica' and not 'Bell' -- in the other jail scenes and not present in this one was a sign that the connection is still so there between Logan and Veronica. I got the impression that Veronica was genuinely freaked about being arrested and was thus overcompensating. Admittedly, I do believe that that this would have been more obvious had Bell not been playing most of the season in such an over-the-top fashion, but that's neither here nor there. This time, I did get that it was a deliberate show on Veronica's part because there were moments -- just a twinge here or there, a shadow in her eyes, a downcast to her smile before she turned it "on" to perform for Keith or Cliff or Wallace -- where it was clear to me that she was putting on a show.
And now here's where we get to the LoVe: Who was the one person she DIDN'T perform for? That's right. Logan. She was closer to natural and at a level of ease with him than we saw her with anyone else who visited. Yes, there were a few lines (notably, the heart-warming bit) that leaned towards the 'performance,' but it was done with a subtle warmth ... she was sharing it with Logan, as opposed to play-acting it for him.
Am I grasping? Maybe. But hey, from this point on, I'm fairly certain we're back to the straw-stacking of season one and we've got to take what we can get.
Scene Two: ... A Kernel of Hope
Did I like seeing Logan sitting there, smiling and conversing with Parker? Absolutely not. But the one joy of this scene is that neither did Veronica. I do believe that the writing is on the wall and that we will see a romantic entanglement between Logan and Parker, therefore I was thrilled to see from the outset Veronica witness their interaction and react as she did. Any doubts that any viewer might have had that Veronica was over Logan should have been completely erased by this scene. She was literally *literally* stopped in her tracks by the sight of them. And this can only be a good thing from the point of view of LoVe fans, because in the long-run Veronica needs to see and understand that she has got to stop taking Logan for granted because that is exactly what she has been doing for the last two years.
Yes, he was the one who broke up with her the time before last, but all she had to do to get him back was to show up at his door. After last week, during the elevator scene, where I pointed out my belief that Veronica was just waiting for Logan to make a move so that she could graciously forgive him and take him back once more (with her in the power position), this is yet another sign to her that she no longer CAN take him for granted. If she wants him in her life, she's going to have to learn to accept him completely which she has yet to do.
Do I like this route that it looks like Rob Thomas and co. are going? No. However, considering the dynamic that's been set up all season long (and even takes into account their relationship with each other and others the last two and half years), it does make absolute sense if the show is going in the direction that I hope it is.
As for Logan, let's talk about him looking all happy while conversing with Parker. Again, I do not like it ... but I do believe that this interaction (and possible future interaction as I think it will be) serves the purpose of the story. And that story is ultimately to bring Logan and Veronica to where they need to be as individuals alone and in a relationship to BE in that relationship that will last their whole lives long with one another.
If Logan and Parker do enter into a relationship -- and all bright, glaring neon signs sure pointed to it in this episode
-- then I believe that Logan will find some happiness with her. And that's necessary and key! Whereas Veronica needs to learn that she has to take share in the relationship game, Logan needs to learn that he isn't responsible for everything wrong in a relationship. Yes, he said words to that affect in Lord of the Pi's, but did he really believe them? Judging by what happened in the following episodes, no, he didn't. Simply put, he needs to learn that a relationship DOESN'T have to be disastrous. Because if you take into account his relationship history, that's all he's known. I believe that he and Parker need to have a fun, caring relationship that's not about deep, deep feelings, but just affection and about enjoying each other in a short-term fashion.
Logan has to have feelings for her because that's the kind of person that Logan is; he cares deeply all the time ... but that won't mean that it's true love or even love at all. It will simply show him that he's capable of being in a caring, productive relationship; that, yes, he can do it. And that's one of the main things he needs to know that he is capable of, instead of just expecting it to all fall apart as it did with Lilly, and Caitlin, and Veronica, and Hannah, and Veronica again ... and then Veronica again. Even though he experiences a kind of happiness with Parker, it won't mean that he's destined to be with her; it will just show him that he can be happy in a relationship without "blood shed and lives ruined" and it still can work. It is possible.
And where the LoVe aspect of this comes in is that no matter how happy he is with Parker, it could never be the kind of happiness he has with Veronica when things are good with them. And I do believe that any happiness found with Parker won't come so much from Parker, but with the self-esteem that being in this type of relationship NOW in the short-term will do for him. Yes, he'll care about her, but Logan loves Veronica. He LOVES her ... in capital letters. Completely. And any happiness he has with Parker or anyone else, would be a thousandfold with Veronica ... once they get their shit together. But first, he needs to realize that he's capable of that kind of relationship. And this -- I hope! *fingers crossed* -- is the point of this interaction with Parker. Not just for Logan, but for Veronica as well ... because she needs to see that he is capable of it as well to realize that problems in their relationship can not just be lain at his feet, but hers as well. Until she makes that realization, she may never truly start looking at her own actions to see where she needs to compromise or outright change.
And that's the kernel I saw in this ten-second scene, and while a kick to my shipper-gut, it did give me hope for the potential long-run health and viability of Logan and Veronica together. I say "kernel," because I do not believe for one solitary second that this sighting was even remotely enough to get Veronica into fighting form, and in fact, it may very well lead to Veronica attempting her own version of moving on {{shudder}}. However, I can deal with just about anything that Rob and co. throw at me if it makes sense, is in character and continues to show -- that at heart -- Logan and Veronica definitively belong together ... even if they're taking their sweet-ass time getting to the point where they can make it stick.
Scene One: Re-assembling the Haystack
What I loved about this scene is that everything that was good about it was beneath the surface, tangible there in the undercurrents and the subtext that was zig-zagging across the screen. There was an evident tentativeness to most of the interaction. The most being in reference to the line about what he could do for her. That was way too expositional without a softer lead-in and I felt that Kristen Bell made the switch from the tentative yearning that must not be acknowledged too quickly without a proper emotional shift before or after.) However, other than that I felt that both she and Jason Dohring did a wonderful job in making it clear to the audience that Veronica and Logan are still so madly in love with one another. They are both just trying to put a brave face on it because they think it's over, but yet they are still in each other's lives and going back to the nastiness of senior year is not an option. They've been through too much. (Of course, I would have thought that after season one's events, but what do I know ... I'm just a viewer.)
Returning to the scene at hand, I also want to add an aspect of the other jailed scenes compared to this that offer an additional straw with which to rebuild our haystack of hope. Veronica's over-the-top acting -- yes, I deliberately said 'Veronica' and not 'Bell' -- in the other jail scenes and not present in this one was a sign that the connection is still so there between Logan and Veronica. I got the impression that Veronica was genuinely freaked about being arrested and was thus overcompensating. Admittedly, I do believe that that this would have been more obvious had Bell not been playing most of the season in such an over-the-top fashion, but that's neither here nor there. This time, I did get that it was a deliberate show on Veronica's part because there were moments -- just a twinge here or there, a shadow in her eyes, a downcast to her smile before she turned it "on" to perform for Keith or Cliff or Wallace -- where it was clear to me that she was putting on a show.
And now here's where we get to the LoVe: Who was the one person she DIDN'T perform for? That's right. Logan. She was closer to natural and at a level of ease with him than we saw her with anyone else who visited. Yes, there were a few lines (notably, the heart-warming bit) that leaned towards the 'performance,' but it was done with a subtle warmth ... she was sharing it with Logan, as opposed to play-acting it for him.
Am I grasping? Maybe. But hey, from this point on, I'm fairly certain we're back to the straw-stacking of season one and we've got to take what we can get.
Scene Two: ... A Kernel of Hope
Did I like seeing Logan sitting there, smiling and conversing with Parker? Absolutely not. But the one joy of this scene is that neither did Veronica. I do believe that the writing is on the wall and that we will see a romantic entanglement between Logan and Parker, therefore I was thrilled to see from the outset Veronica witness their interaction and react as she did. Any doubts that any viewer might have had that Veronica was over Logan should have been completely erased by this scene. She was literally *literally* stopped in her tracks by the sight of them. And this can only be a good thing from the point of view of LoVe fans, because in the long-run Veronica needs to see and understand that she has got to stop taking Logan for granted because that is exactly what she has been doing for the last two years.
Yes, he was the one who broke up with her the time before last, but all she had to do to get him back was to show up at his door. After last week, during the elevator scene, where I pointed out my belief that Veronica was just waiting for Logan to make a move so that she could graciously forgive him and take him back once more (with her in the power position), this is yet another sign to her that she no longer CAN take him for granted. If she wants him in her life, she's going to have to learn to accept him completely which she has yet to do.
Do I like this route that it looks like Rob Thomas and co. are going? No. However, considering the dynamic that's been set up all season long (and even takes into account their relationship with each other and others the last two and half years), it does make absolute sense if the show is going in the direction that I hope it is.
As for Logan, let's talk about him looking all happy while conversing with Parker. Again, I do not like it ... but I do believe that this interaction (and possible future interaction as I think it will be) serves the purpose of the story. And that story is ultimately to bring Logan and Veronica to where they need to be as individuals alone and in a relationship to BE in that relationship that will last their whole lives long with one another.
If Logan and Parker do enter into a relationship -- and all bright, glaring neon signs sure pointed to it in this episode
-- then I believe that Logan will find some happiness with her. And that's necessary and key! Whereas Veronica needs to learn that she has to take share in the relationship game, Logan needs to learn that he isn't responsible for everything wrong in a relationship. Yes, he said words to that affect in Lord of the Pi's, but did he really believe them? Judging by what happened in the following episodes, no, he didn't. Simply put, he needs to learn that a relationship DOESN'T have to be disastrous. Because if you take into account his relationship history, that's all he's known. I believe that he and Parker need to have a fun, caring relationship that's not about deep, deep feelings, but just affection and about enjoying each other in a short-term fashion.
Logan has to have feelings for her because that's the kind of person that Logan is; he cares deeply all the time ... but that won't mean that it's true love or even love at all. It will simply show him that he's capable of being in a caring, productive relationship; that, yes, he can do it. And that's one of the main things he needs to know that he is capable of, instead of just expecting it to all fall apart as it did with Lilly, and Caitlin, and Veronica, and Hannah, and Veronica again ... and then Veronica again. Even though he experiences a kind of happiness with Parker, it won't mean that he's destined to be with her; it will just show him that he can be happy in a relationship without "blood shed and lives ruined" and it still can work. It is possible.
And where the LoVe aspect of this comes in is that no matter how happy he is with Parker, it could never be the kind of happiness he has with Veronica when things are good with them. And I do believe that any happiness found with Parker won't come so much from Parker, but with the self-esteem that being in this type of relationship NOW in the short-term will do for him. Yes, he'll care about her, but Logan loves Veronica. He LOVES her ... in capital letters. Completely. And any happiness he has with Parker or anyone else, would be a thousandfold with Veronica ... once they get their shit together. But first, he needs to realize that he's capable of that kind of relationship. And this -- I hope! *fingers crossed* -- is the point of this interaction with Parker. Not just for Logan, but for Veronica as well ... because she needs to see that he is capable of it as well to realize that problems in their relationship can not just be lain at his feet, but hers as well. Until she makes that realization, she may never truly start looking at her own actions to see where she needs to compromise or outright change.
And that's the kernel I saw in this ten-second scene, and while a kick to my shipper-gut, it did give me hope for the potential long-run health and viability of Logan and Veronica together. I say "kernel," because I do not believe for one solitary second that this sighting was even remotely enough to get Veronica into fighting form, and in fact, it may very well lead to Veronica attempting her own version of moving on {{shudder}}. However, I can deal with just about anything that Rob and co. throw at me if it makes sense, is in character and continues to show -- that at heart -- Logan and Veronica definitively belong together ... even if they're taking their sweet-ass time getting to the point where they can make it stick.