Veronica Mars, Part 2
Ok, I'm doing better at this -- commenting on each separate episode after I watch it to avoid that, "It was one of the ones I watched today and I can't remember which...." phenomenon.
1x06: Return of the Kane
WEEVIL! Ok, not much and I'm amused that people (Wanda) think that Veronica's dating him. There needs to be more Weevil. Like an entire Weevil episode. And um. Was I supposed to get the idea that maybe Lily and Weevil had a little something on the side or was that just meant to say that Lily liked bad boys and so maybe Veronica does, too?
Duncan's history and current reputation as a nice guy just keeps building. The less it looks like he could have killed his own sister, the more I think it might be true. However, if Veronica suspects it's him, well, it's way too early in the season for that cat to be out of the bag. I do not doubt that Jake Kane loves and worries about Duncan but he continues to creep me out. I hope that's intentional of the writing and not merely the fact that he is played by Kyle Secor.
I'm a little ashamed that I didn't recognize Harry Hamlin in his first scene as Logan's father, considering my wild crush on him when he was on LA Law and I was 12. This crush led me to actually watch Clash of the Titans. Anyway, nice meta casting with Harry Hamlin and his real-life wife Lisa Rinna as Logan's mother. The great big OMG, poor woobie! shocker is, of course, that Logan's father beats him with a belt, and I felt awful for Logan but...there are worse things his family has done to him. Namely, with that lovely anvil courtesy of the USMC vet, that they've built a world of artifice around him. Logan's public face is one he's built entirely on the photo negatives of his family. He has nothing real to define him, so he forms himself from the space leftover. No one knows Logan Echolls, including Logan Echolls. Ultimately he's searching for things that are real, and he's looking at things like violence because nothing from the GOOD side of life has proven true.
And what have we learned about Lily's murder? That the circumstantial evidence used in conjunction with Koontz's confession is unreliable. Still a confession, still no evidence that points to anyone else. On pure conjecture, though, I'd say extensive pre-meditation was out. If Lily's shoes were in the crime scene photos and later in Koontz's possession, it appears to be a cover-up rather than a frame.
1x07: The Girl Next Door
WEEVIL! And Logan. Rock. Someone cough me up some slash.
Ok, now this is interesting. I was under the impression that Duncan had dumped Veronica after Lily's death, as part of his departure from reality. But he began acting strangely prior to Lily's death. Psychological Autopsies R Us. I wonder if he knew/suspected that Jake and Lianne were having an affair -- or maybe they weren't. Maybe their conspiracy is something else entirely.
Things are starting to build from previous episodes. Yeah, Weevil and Lily had/did something. Logan finally witnessed someone having his back and Weevil totally lied to save Logan's feelings.
Veronica is suspecting that maybe she's Jake Kane's child instead of Keith Mars's and that would explain what gave Lily such an about-face on the subject of Veronica/Duncan and also made the revelation a few episodes back that Veronica and Duncan never slept together a great big relief. I sort of want to say, "Dude, NO," and have it all be a tragedy of miscommunication, but I haven't seen anything that would rule out the idea just yet.
The mystery was not much of mystery -- I had it figured out somewhere between Sarah not wanting her mother to know about the baby and the man introducing himself as her stepfather. I was kind of disgusted with Sarah for venting on Veronica until I realized she wouldn't be more than 3 years older herself. I was, however, awaiting the sound of a self-inflicted and fatal GSW, so the ending was actually a rather nice surprise for me.
1x08: Like a Virgin
Well, ouch. More fuel on the fire that Veronica isn't Keith's daughter. Of course it comes from a deranged nut case, but not a stupid deranged nut case. Abel Koontz seems to have known Lianne, which supports the idea that her affairs (sexual or otherwise) with Jake Kane played a role in Lily's death. Koontz seems happy to be part of the coverup for her. Lingering obsession or something else? Was he the one blackmailing her with those pictures of Veronica? Probably not, he's not at that level, but that could have been his attempt at leverage. Also, this paternity things tends to put both Jake and Duncan out of the running as Veronica's rapist. (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease) As the timeline goes, it appears that Veronica was raped after Koontz was jailed, but I was off on that earlier and could be again. If he had an obsession with Lianne, he might easily have been tempted by her daughter, but what he was doing at that party in the first place and why he was never tagged as out of place tends to exclude him. We're back to Logan.
1x06: Return of the Kane
WEEVIL! Ok, not much and I'm amused that people (Wanda) think that Veronica's dating him. There needs to be more Weevil. Like an entire Weevil episode. And um. Was I supposed to get the idea that maybe Lily and Weevil had a little something on the side or was that just meant to say that Lily liked bad boys and so maybe Veronica does, too?
Duncan's history and current reputation as a nice guy just keeps building. The less it looks like he could have killed his own sister, the more I think it might be true. However, if Veronica suspects it's him, well, it's way too early in the season for that cat to be out of the bag. I do not doubt that Jake Kane loves and worries about Duncan but he continues to creep me out. I hope that's intentional of the writing and not merely the fact that he is played by Kyle Secor.
I'm a little ashamed that I didn't recognize Harry Hamlin in his first scene as Logan's father, considering my wild crush on him when he was on LA Law and I was 12. This crush led me to actually watch Clash of the Titans. Anyway, nice meta casting with Harry Hamlin and his real-life wife Lisa Rinna as Logan's mother. The great big OMG, poor woobie! shocker is, of course, that Logan's father beats him with a belt, and I felt awful for Logan but...there are worse things his family has done to him. Namely, with that lovely anvil courtesy of the USMC vet, that they've built a world of artifice around him. Logan's public face is one he's built entirely on the photo negatives of his family. He has nothing real to define him, so he forms himself from the space leftover. No one knows Logan Echolls, including Logan Echolls. Ultimately he's searching for things that are real, and he's looking at things like violence because nothing from the GOOD side of life has proven true.
And what have we learned about Lily's murder? That the circumstantial evidence used in conjunction with Koontz's confession is unreliable. Still a confession, still no evidence that points to anyone else. On pure conjecture, though, I'd say extensive pre-meditation was out. If Lily's shoes were in the crime scene photos and later in Koontz's possession, it appears to be a cover-up rather than a frame.
1x07: The Girl Next Door
WEEVIL! And Logan. Rock. Someone cough me up some slash.
Ok, now this is interesting. I was under the impression that Duncan had dumped Veronica after Lily's death, as part of his departure from reality. But he began acting strangely prior to Lily's death. Psychological Autopsies R Us. I wonder if he knew/suspected that Jake and Lianne were having an affair -- or maybe they weren't. Maybe their conspiracy is something else entirely.
Things are starting to build from previous episodes. Yeah, Weevil and Lily had/did something. Logan finally witnessed someone having his back and Weevil totally lied to save Logan's feelings.
Veronica is suspecting that maybe she's Jake Kane's child instead of Keith Mars's and that would explain what gave Lily such an about-face on the subject of Veronica/Duncan and also made the revelation a few episodes back that Veronica and Duncan never slept together a great big relief. I sort of want to say, "Dude, NO," and have it all be a tragedy of miscommunication, but I haven't seen anything that would rule out the idea just yet.
The mystery was not much of mystery -- I had it figured out somewhere between Sarah not wanting her mother to know about the baby and the man introducing himself as her stepfather. I was kind of disgusted with Sarah for venting on Veronica until I realized she wouldn't be more than 3 years older herself. I was, however, awaiting the sound of a self-inflicted and fatal GSW, so the ending was actually a rather nice surprise for me.
1x08: Like a Virgin
Well, ouch. More fuel on the fire that Veronica isn't Keith's daughter. Of course it comes from a deranged nut case, but not a stupid deranged nut case. Abel Koontz seems to have known Lianne, which supports the idea that her affairs (sexual or otherwise) with Jake Kane played a role in Lily's death. Koontz seems happy to be part of the coverup for her. Lingering obsession or something else? Was he the one blackmailing her with those pictures of Veronica? Probably not, he's not at that level, but that could have been his attempt at leverage. Also, this paternity things tends to put both Jake and Duncan out of the running as Veronica's rapist. (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease) As the timeline goes, it appears that Veronica was raped after Koontz was jailed, but I was off on that earlier and could be again. If he had an obsession with Lianne, he might easily have been tempted by her daughter, but what he was doing at that party in the first place and why he was never tagged as out of place tends to exclude him. We're back to Logan.