You know, I hadn't planned on watching VM totally anymore. No siree, I was just going to watch the Logan scenes and ff through everything else because I was tired of it. And that's what I did on Tuesday, and then I deleted the episode. I downloaded it, true, but only to cut the Logan scenes out to save for myself. And then I deleted that episode. I kept wavering before I did all of this thinking I should watch it, but then decided, no, I won't. I'm too hurt; I'm tired of getting hurt by a tv show. But then people were really liking it, but no, I won't. I won't watch it. And then I did the chemistry for the breakdown and saw a potential vision of what Rob Thomas has planned for Logan/Veronica and damned if it didn't all make sense, even in light of the upcoming spoilers. So I re-downloaded the damn thing and watched it. And whaddya know? I liked it, I really liked it. Anyhoo, thus the late, late review.
So thoughts ...
Logan is adorable. Seriously. Seeing him with Heather and how he interacted with her, I simply can not believe for one second that this is not a great, great person at heart. And Jason Dohring is hot. Very, very hot. Even in that hideously nerdy outfit at the end that surely came out of Jason's closet.
See exhibit A: Jason at the CW Upfronts last year:
I love Logan; I really do. He is not only my favorite character on this show, but one of my favorite characters ever. I don't know how the writers have managed to do this. I want to give Jason Dohring all the credit, seriously I do, but it is more than him (although, he's helped ENORMOUSLY). Still, how they managed to make him so likable and so fucked up and so adorable and so real and so GAH!!! despite their screwing up of pretty much every other main character at some point (with the exception of maybe Mac), they (and Jason) have managed to keep this character to interesting, so real, so fucking awesome. I. Love. Him.
For the most part, Veronica did not annoy me this episode. Yes, the whole accusing someone of murder and then expecting them to just play along gets old. And yes, the fact that she was all teary-eyed about Keith being murdered bringing NO recall of the fact that she DID think he was murdered once upon a time and when that happened, Logan the guy she can't forgive for a stupid-ass reason compared to their entire history, stepped up to the plate (yes, La Bell, he stepped up to the fucking plate) and took super-duper, awesome care of her. Sigh.
But overall, I liked her. I liked how she dealt with and half-played Josh. I liked her scenes dealing with Logan and I thought that Bell actually did a wonderful job (see my L/V thoughts) and overall, that over-the-top, phoniness that she's been phoning in was mostly absent. I liked that. A lot.
I also thought Keith was kick-ass; he's such a good investigator and so, so much better than Veronica, it's not even funny. She so needs to sit her ass down and watch and learn from him ... cuz girl needs a plenty o' learnin' still. Jeesh.
I love Tina. I know it's a small role, but she is SO enjoyable. She's had a very few minutes of screentime (and this is only her second episode), but I just LOVE her. And I think it's all because of the wonderful spirit and warmth that the actress brings to the role.
Okay, the whole letter from the Dean? Puhleeze!! Don't get me wrong. I love the Dean; I adore the Dean and this episode made me remember that I do care who killed him (and I loved Keith's speech about why Mrs. O'Dell couldn't take him off the case), but that letter from him about Veronica?!?! Give me a fucking break. Seriously. What did Veronica possibly do to warrant that from him? Let alone any other human being on the planet? Honestly. The girl is not nice she treats most people like crap. She is a smug, selfish, self-entitled, holier than thou, judgmental, snarky brat. And when she's written well, I still love the hell out of her, but she did not deserve one flippin' word of that letter.
And speaking of the ridiculousness of sanctifiying Veronica Mars. She. Is. Not. A. Good. Detective. And would make a HORRIBLE FBI agent. She doesn't investigate, she accuses people based on information and investigating that other people do and then narrows it down. Oh, and then there's that whole on the FBI watchlist from DR because of the lame-ass kidnapping plot. Just insanely stupid. Come on, show, continuity used to be your friend. Sigh.
I've given John Kretchmer a lot of grief for sucking ass in the direction department, but boy done woke up from whatever stupor he's been in because I thought this episode was extremely well-done. Stealing some comments I made for the LoVe Shack breakdown on directing choices:
It's been a while since we've had some nifty camera moves, so it was nice seeing the slowly spinning angle on Logan as he lay in bed. It did a nice job of showing Logan's continued state of mind. Another great scene of direction was the cliff scene with Veronica and Josh. The whole of it was just gorgeous, with a touch of menace and intrigue. The background, the waves crashing over the rocks, the way it darkened as the camera pulled away to almost silhouette the two standing on the cliff ... all of it was captured beautifully.
Even the sole Logan/Veronica scene was well-done. A nice touch of tension and awkwardness, the yearning from Veronica was there, but held in check beautifully by both Bell and the camera choices. And the tenseness Logan was feeling was also communicated well by both actor and director. So, while I may dog him when he bites, I gotta give credit where it's due and he did a great job this time around. More of that in the future, please, John.
Okay, going back to that cliff scene ... so, I was like totally not the only person who thought that he was gonna push her off the cliff for a second there. Cree-pee!
Juliette Goglia, little girl God, Heather. She was wonderful, absolutely, totally wonderful and I swear that the elevator scene will go down as one of THE absolute cutest, pitch-perfect scenes EVER in the history of this show thanks to her. The leaning into Logan, the loudly whispered, tinged with giggles repeated "it's her, it's her, ohmygosh, it's her" was just hysterical and adorable and I can't NOT smile every time I watch it. Just wonderful. As she was in every scene and her chemistry with Jason was fabulous. I loved watching the two interact and while I doubt we'll ever see her again, it would be really, really nice to do so.
Was I bummed at the lack of Wallace? Actually, not really. I know, I know blasphemy, but Percy Daggs III really is a subpar actor and everyone else was either great or very good in this episode, even all of the guest stars, big and small roles and more of him, I think, would have stood out. Sorry.
I thought this episode also did a really good job of showing two building mysteries really nicely. The mystery of the week(s) was well-done, intriguing and I honestly don't know what's up with Josh. I like that. And as mentioned before, I thought the mystery arc with the Dean was well plotted also.
Dick was fun and actually was a good friend to Logan. I just have to accept that all of the shit he pulled in S1 is long forgotten and deal with him as he is now and Ryan Hansen does do a WONDERFUL job with it. And hee, his storyline gave us another MFEO moment with regards to Logan and Veronica. Logan uses the same joke that Veronica did in Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle when asked about an acquaintance with a lawyer. What makes it even funnier is we know that they are both referring to our beloved Cliff.
Weevil? Not much with him, but I enjoyed what we got despite the idiocy of him caring about what his parole officer will think this week, while nary a mention was made when he stole and was gonna cube a car last week. My only problem with the Weevil angle of this episode was the fact that seeing Veronica lean against the frickin' silver Subaru whilst engaging in semi-illegal activity (sorta, I guess -- talking to known thugs and hearing how they commit crimes and not reporting it .. that counts, right?). It just hurts, man. I miss the LeBaron so much and hate that fugly, so not Veronica Mars hybrid!! Grrr.
Despite my grr-ing at the end there, I really did like this. All in all ... an excellent episode. Twas a shocker.
Hah, the original sentence before the cut was "Some quick thoughts ..." And then I finished typing it all up. Quick? Double hah.
So thoughts ...
See exhibit A: Jason at the CW Upfronts last year:
I love Logan; I really do. He is not only my favorite character on this show, but one of my favorite characters ever. I don't know how the writers have managed to do this. I want to give Jason Dohring all the credit, seriously I do, but it is more than him (although, he's helped ENORMOUSLY). Still, how they managed to make him so likable and so fucked up and so adorable and so real and so GAH!!! despite their screwing up of pretty much every other main character at some point (with the exception of maybe Mac), they (and Jason) have managed to keep this character to interesting, so real, so fucking awesome. I. Love. Him.
But overall, I liked her. I liked how she dealt with and half-played Josh. I liked her scenes dealing with Logan and I thought that Bell actually did a wonderful job (see my L/V thoughts) and overall, that over-the-top, phoniness that she's been phoning in was mostly absent. I liked that. A lot.
It's been a while since we've had some nifty camera moves, so it was nice seeing the slowly spinning angle on Logan as he lay in bed. It did a nice job of showing Logan's continued state of mind. Another great scene of direction was the cliff scene with Veronica and Josh. The whole of it was just gorgeous, with a touch of menace and intrigue. The background, the waves crashing over the rocks, the way it darkened as the camera pulled away to almost silhouette the two standing on the cliff ... all of it was captured beautifully.
Even the sole Logan/Veronica scene was well-done. A nice touch of tension and awkwardness, the yearning from Veronica was there, but held in check beautifully by both Bell and the camera choices. And the tenseness Logan was feeling was also communicated well by both actor and director. So, while I may dog him when he bites, I gotta give credit where it's due and he did a great job this time around. More of that in the future, please, John.
Quote:
Wallace: You know a good lawyer?
Veronica: I know a lawyer.
Quote:See? Made for each other.
Dick: You know a good lawyer?
Logan: I know a lawyer.
Despite my grr-ing at the end there, I really did like this. All in all ... an excellent episode. Twas a shocker.
Hah, the original sentence before the cut was "Some quick thoughts ..." And then I finished typing it all up. Quick? Double hah.
5 comments | Sharing is Caring
