Last Time You Said That, You Didn't Actually Get Any Jellies
Wait, wait: final guesses on whodunit:
Poll A mystery for the ages!
Well, that was different. A little underwhelming and less exciting than "Spit and Eggs," but I liked that it was less "Let's put Veronica in danger" and more "Let's let Veronica solve a crime."
westcoastlovin would like to remind you that she called Tim Foyle, albeit with an incorrect motive, from the very beginning. I would like to remind you that I called Tim Foyle, and with pretty much the correct motive, last week. This was before I went to the writers' offices and had my suspicions confirmed by the whiteboard with everyone's appearances on it throughout the season. Because after this episode, Tim Foyle flatlined. So I was pretty sure he was the killer because of that, especially since he was my prime suspect anyway.
Did they really expect new viewers to tune in for this episode? There's really no other explanation for Keith to spend five minutes laying out the entire case for us. I mean, it did help put everything in proper order, but it still felt weird.
I did like that this mystery was so fucking full of clues and alibis and evidence and all that good stuff. It was fun to watch it point every which way. Mindy's setting Batando up! Mindy's setting Landry up! Landry's setting Mindy up! Mindy and Landry are working together! WHO KNOWS ANYMORE?!
I also liked that we finally got the begrudging crimefighting duo of Veronica and Tim, with Tim playing the bumbling fool ("Do we look like we smoke?" "Yes."). Of course, that's the part that sort of makes his murder/frame job a little hard to swallow since it's difficult to tell how much was an act. And I don't think much was, given what we saw of him in the previous episodes. He clearly was a little inept, and Landry knew it. Then again...I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sacks! Kristen told us that line about the jelly donuts; she seemed to get a kick out of it.
Mindy was such a great femme fatale. And with red hair! And those sunglasses! You don't put on sunglasses inside unless you're totally sketchy! Which...she wasn't, I suppose, in the end, right? I think she must have just been unwilling to believe Hank killed Cyrus until the clothes came out, so she was covering for him. Obviously, she and Hank looked hella suspicious, especially with the midnight visit. And I loved that we got flashbacks! With new Dean O'Dell craziness! In VM-flashback style!
The hunt for the bug CD was amusing. "Does he have A Bug's Life?" Haaa. "No, but he does have Taps." You guys. Seriously. Also, notice how linear-thinking Tim is all, "Hey, he has DVDs. Lookit!" That's not linear thinking, cheater! DVDs aren't the same as CDs! They just look the same! That's thinking outside the box! Or inside the box, if the box is a DVD case!
When we heard Landry's sort of ass-y non-recommendation of Tim, I immediately thought of my theory that Tim did it to prove himself to Landry, and that totally fit...except for the fact that he was just hearing it now. See, now I'm the one who's doing the linear thinking.
Does Keith not even bat an eye at the fact that Veronica clearly broke into Batando's house to get that CD? I mean, make jokes about running red lights all you want, but...there are laws to be upheld, here. Except in Neptune, where the laws are only as law-y as you want them to be.
It's definitely cool to look back at the episode and see that the entire time, Tim is obviously leading Veronica to all the evidence he wants her to see. He finds the CD. He finds the phone.
Mindy was hot, and NOW SHE'S DEAD. THANKS A LOT, ROB. WHY DO YOU HATE ME? (Or why do you hate women? And redheads? Because that's clearly the message you're sending here. And adulteresses! And Dean's wives! Do you have something against Dean's wives? The Irish?! Wait, wait, Mindy O'Dell probably considered herself a feminist. I'll betcha.)
I know my icon says that Veronica Mars is smarter than me, but, really, couldn't she have just Googled "Papa's Cabin"? Just for fun? I know she didn't hear the capital letters, but you've got to consider all possibilities.
Once Hank was in jail and the story focused on Tim again, it became pretty clear that Tim was in fact the murderer, and it was cinched when he made the dry cleaning joke, which was supposed to remind us that he had access to Landry's clothes. I really did like the parlor room scene in the classroom, however. It was cool to see Tim try to talk his way out of and around the murder until he finally made the classic slip-up of knowing something he shouldn't have known. I loved the way Veronica found the bug in her phone and just sort of gazed in horror, and I liked the way she confronted Tim about it. It was a good scene.
So, if I have things right, Tim decided to kill Dean O'Dell, like, as soon as he heard Landry diss him. This was the night of the Pi Sig party, and he was already in sort of a bad mood with the Bonnie Capistrano shit. He was inspired by Veronica's paper, and he came in late and killed the dean. Wearing creepy gloves, he typed the suicide note, knowing that would get Veronica interested and after Landry, whose clothes he planted in the furnace. Meanwhile, of course, Hank thinks Mindy killed the dean, and he switches out the dean's keyboard with one that has Batando's fingerprints all over it. This really is like the Lilly Kane case: one party covers up for an innocent, although the original keyboard wouldn't have been much of a clue anyway. Hank just clouded things up.
Oh, shit, dude. This whole time, I was hung up on the fact that Tim Foyle is not good enough to pull off this frame job. And he's not.
BUT VERONICA IS.
He didn't have to do any thinking because Veronica did all his thinking for him. I know the show won't go in a "Veronica feels weirdly guilty about basically being responsible for the dean's murder" direction, but it's interesting to consider.
So can anyone think of the red herring that's left red? Rob said that in compressing three episodes of mystery into two, one loose end didn't get tied up, but I can't figure out what it is because everything seemed to dovetail pretty nicely in the end.
All in all, it was a good episode, but not exceptional. Pretty low-key for the resolution to a six-episode mystery arc. But still fun.
Poll A mystery for the ages!
Well, that was different. A little underwhelming and less exciting than "Spit and Eggs," but I liked that it was less "Let's put Veronica in danger" and more "Let's let Veronica solve a crime."
westcoastlovin would like to remind you that she called Tim Foyle, albeit with an incorrect motive, from the very beginning. I would like to remind you that I called Tim Foyle, and with pretty much the correct motive, last week. This was before I went to the writers' offices and had my suspicions confirmed by the whiteboard with everyone's appearances on it throughout the season. Because after this episode, Tim Foyle flatlined. So I was pretty sure he was the killer because of that, especially since he was my prime suspect anyway.
Did they really expect new viewers to tune in for this episode? There's really no other explanation for Keith to spend five minutes laying out the entire case for us. I mean, it did help put everything in proper order, but it still felt weird.
I did like that this mystery was so fucking full of clues and alibis and evidence and all that good stuff. It was fun to watch it point every which way. Mindy's setting Batando up! Mindy's setting Landry up! Landry's setting Mindy up! Mindy and Landry are working together! WHO KNOWS ANYMORE?!
I also liked that we finally got the begrudging crimefighting duo of Veronica and Tim, with Tim playing the bumbling fool ("Do we look like we smoke?" "Yes."). Of course, that's the part that sort of makes his murder/frame job a little hard to swallow since it's difficult to tell how much was an act. And I don't think much was, given what we saw of him in the previous episodes. He clearly was a little inept, and Landry knew it. Then again...I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sacks! Kristen told us that line about the jelly donuts; she seemed to get a kick out of it.
Mindy was such a great femme fatale. And with red hair! And those sunglasses! You don't put on sunglasses inside unless you're totally sketchy! Which...she wasn't, I suppose, in the end, right? I think she must have just been unwilling to believe Hank killed Cyrus until the clothes came out, so she was covering for him. Obviously, she and Hank looked hella suspicious, especially with the midnight visit. And I loved that we got flashbacks! With new Dean O'Dell craziness! In VM-flashback style!
The hunt for the bug CD was amusing. "Does he have A Bug's Life?" Haaa. "No, but he does have Taps." You guys. Seriously. Also, notice how linear-thinking Tim is all, "Hey, he has DVDs. Lookit!" That's not linear thinking, cheater! DVDs aren't the same as CDs! They just look the same! That's thinking outside the box! Or inside the box, if the box is a DVD case!
When we heard Landry's sort of ass-y non-recommendation of Tim, I immediately thought of my theory that Tim did it to prove himself to Landry, and that totally fit...except for the fact that he was just hearing it now. See, now I'm the one who's doing the linear thinking.
Does Keith not even bat an eye at the fact that Veronica clearly broke into Batando's house to get that CD? I mean, make jokes about running red lights all you want, but...there are laws to be upheld, here. Except in Neptune, where the laws are only as law-y as you want them to be.
It's definitely cool to look back at the episode and see that the entire time, Tim is obviously leading Veronica to all the evidence he wants her to see. He finds the CD. He finds the phone.
Mindy was hot, and NOW SHE'S DEAD. THANKS A LOT, ROB. WHY DO YOU HATE ME? (Or why do you hate women? And redheads? Because that's clearly the message you're sending here. And adulteresses! And Dean's wives! Do you have something against Dean's wives? The Irish?! Wait, wait, Mindy O'Dell probably considered herself a feminist. I'll betcha.)
I know my icon says that Veronica Mars is smarter than me, but, really, couldn't she have just Googled "Papa's Cabin"? Just for fun? I know she didn't hear the capital letters, but you've got to consider all possibilities.
Once Hank was in jail and the story focused on Tim again, it became pretty clear that Tim was in fact the murderer, and it was cinched when he made the dry cleaning joke, which was supposed to remind us that he had access to Landry's clothes. I really did like the parlor room scene in the classroom, however. It was cool to see Tim try to talk his way out of and around the murder until he finally made the classic slip-up of knowing something he shouldn't have known. I loved the way Veronica found the bug in her phone and just sort of gazed in horror, and I liked the way she confronted Tim about it. It was a good scene.
So, if I have things right, Tim decided to kill Dean O'Dell, like, as soon as he heard Landry diss him. This was the night of the Pi Sig party, and he was already in sort of a bad mood with the Bonnie Capistrano shit. He was inspired by Veronica's paper, and he came in late and killed the dean. Wearing creepy gloves, he typed the suicide note, knowing that would get Veronica interested and after Landry, whose clothes he planted in the furnace. Meanwhile, of course, Hank thinks Mindy killed the dean, and he switches out the dean's keyboard with one that has Batando's fingerprints all over it. This really is like the Lilly Kane case: one party covers up for an innocent, although the original keyboard wouldn't have been much of a clue anyway. Hank just clouded things up.
Oh, shit, dude. This whole time, I was hung up on the fact that Tim Foyle is not good enough to pull off this frame job. And he's not.
BUT VERONICA IS.
He didn't have to do any thinking because Veronica did all his thinking for him. I know the show won't go in a "Veronica feels weirdly guilty about basically being responsible for the dean's murder" direction, but it's interesting to consider.
So can anyone think of the red herring that's left red? Rob said that in compressing three episodes of mystery into two, one loose end didn't get tied up, but I can't figure out what it is because everything seemed to dovetail pretty nicely in the end.
All in all, it was a good episode, but not exceptional. Pretty low-key for the resolution to a six-episode mystery arc. But still fun.