Talk of Life

Friday, October 28, 2005

Kristen Bell and her doggies

If any VM fans out there are near the San Diego area, I have been told by a friend-of-a-friend that KB will be at the 15th Annual Spooktacular People*Pet Walk tomorrow (Saturday, October 29) in Rancho Santa Fe. It's a charity event benefiting the Helen Woodward Animal Center and Kristen will be one of the judges the pet costume contest. Supposedly (aka supposably), Kristen has said that her dogs Shakes and Lola will be dressed as Hugh Hefner and a playboy bunny. Hee.

I can't find any confirmation on the official site, so I'm not posting this anywhere "public." Perhaps she's just going informally because she loves doggies and supports animal causes. Or maybe she was supposed to be there but has canceled because of scheduling or something, I don't know. But I thought if someone were in the area and inclined to go to this event, they might be interested.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

VM 2.5: Blast from the Past

It's Thursday. Last night's episode of Veronica Mars was a blast. (From the past.)

Last night was VM episode 2.5 "Blast from the Past." Wallace had to deal with his visitor from the past. Veronica also discovered that one of the kids killed in the bus crash left a voicemail right before plunging to her death -- the "blast" being an explosion that occurred before the bus hit the railing. Veronica also got punk'd by a message from Lilly in the afterlife: "You should have stayed away from my boyfriend." I'm not sure whose idea it was to punk her with that message, but that was a low blow, man. I don't think I believe Jackie that she had no part of that and that it was all the psychic's idea. Okay, I get that the whole town probably knows the whole story, but still. Low blow.

So Wallace finally gets an episode revolving mostly around him. Percy Daggs III did a great job, I thought. And "Papa was a Rolling Stone" was a nice touch. Wallace can sing better than Duncan, that's for sure. Every teenage character on this show has serious parental issues and now Wallace can join the rest of them. I can understand his being upset with Alicia (there is no excuse for lying to him about his father in my book), but he doesn't know *anything* about this guy Nathan and he's running off with him already? This can't be good.

The conflict between Keith and Alicia was handled very well. I can see both sides of the argument between them. Keith had no business stealing Alicia's personal documents, but she shouldn't have lied to him in the first place. And lying to her son was wrong also. Although Keith's not exactly a model of perfection in parental terms either. (He's a great dad, but he's made his mistakes.) All in all, nicely done by EC and EG. I hope Keith and Alicia can work out their differences though, because they have the only functioning romance on the show and I'd like to see that continue.

The best part of the episode was Wallace finally calling Veronica on her shit. She's been a shitty friend to him and he's sick and tired of it. She can be very self-centered and single-minded and it's great that someone finally has the nerve to point that out to her. Although that person should be Wallace and not Jackie. Jackie has no room to talk. Beyotch.

The Exterminator. Hee. A bug in a bug. Too funny. And I love how Keith just picked up the bug without a word. I know he's going to let V have it next week, though. I wonder if she tells him what she found out about Lamb blackmailing Terrence. She knows that it will break his heart to learn that Terrence has clay feet, so I doubt it. But then again, having something on Lamb is a good thing. I can't wait to see where they go with this.

I liked that Duncan reached out an olive branch to Logan in the form of a video game. That was cute and reminiscent of their "make-up" scene in AEFC. I do wish we had seen more of their reaction to Veronica's getting that "message" from Lilly. What did they say to each other? Given Duncan's recent behavior, I'm guessing he said something like "play another game?" Duncan is the king of avoidance. The scene with V in the hotel suite was cute, though, and they did look happy at the dance. For a minute.

I enjoyed the reappearance of Corny, Mandy, and even that bitch Ashley Banks. Continuity, yay. It was funny to see that the Veronicahate is still alive and well in the halls of Neptune High, Duncan or no Duncan. She's never going to be embraced by the 09er community at large because so many of them still hate her. Which is a good thing in my book. She isn't one of them and she doesn't want to be.

I could have used more Logan. But that sort of goes without saying in every episode. But Logan drunk at the dance was another blow for continuity. That dancing with Jackie was all kinds of weird. Did they go to the dance together? It didn't look like it, because she was getting pawed by the random dude earlier. So who was coming on to whom exactly? It looked to me like Jackie initiated the dancing and Logan was not at all into her, although there is no question that he flirted with her in homeroom. Something was off about their whole interaction at the dance. Maybe a scene was cut for time that might have explained the situation.

Jackie needs to die. Soon.

Dick and Beaver need to return. Soon. What is going on with them? Did Beaver confront Logan about Kendall? Inquiring minds want to know.

Question: Who was voted Homecoming King?

I totally didn't understand Duncan's line about feeling no love from the Mars family until someone explained it to me. It was all about Keith telling Veronica that he was pulling for Wallace for Homecoming King. Duh. Rooting for Duncan is like rooting for the Yankees. Okay I definitely get that. DK wins everything. I sort of wanted to see them announce Wallace's name as Homecoming King after he had already walked out of the dance. So he wouldn't even know and wouldn't get to have his big moment. And Veronica would have just stood there, stunned and distraught. ::sniff::

Boy, they have a lot of plates in the air this season. I can't wait to see what comes crashing down first. And I have faith that everything will come full circle by the end of the season, but they have a LOT going on in terms of subplots and mysteries, much more so than last season at this time.

Edited to add: The fact that Jackie TiVos Cupid is her only redeeming quality. I'd like to ask her what channel has been playing it. (And yes, I paused my TiVo to check out her TiVo "Now Playing" list. Didn't everyone?)


Episode Grade: A-

It was nice to have a Wallace-centered episode and PD brought it. Veronica was both the heroine and sort of the villain, and that's one of the things I love best about this show, that V skates a fine line on that likability thing. But Jackie needs to die soon or I won't be responsible for the damage I inflict on my television. If she goes after Logan, it's all over. I didn't enjoy this episode as much as "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang," but it was a solid and entertaining episode.

Favorite line: You're just here for your looks. Leave the heavy thinking to me, Sugarpants.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

VM 2.4: Green-Eyed Monster

It's Thursday. Time again for my review and thoughts on last night's episode of Veronica Mars.

Last night was VM episode 2.4 "Green-Eyed Monster." So the monster has green eyes. Was that supposed to be Julie? Was she the "monster" because she only wanted to date a guy who had money? The recurring theme of jealousy was obvious, and the songs with lyrics about jealousy were a nice touch. (I heard two, but there might have been more.)

This episode clearly had the feel of a "filler" episode, as Veronica takes her first "official" case at Mars Investigations. I was glad to see her at the MI office again, back to being the disobedient daughter who takes cases behind her father's back. I was equally glad to see that Keith is two steps ahead of her again, as usual, and that he wasn't happy about her spending the night in Duncan's hotel room. Although really, what can he do about it, when he's not spending the night at home much lately either. But yay! She's officially back as his assistant, if only for two days a week. Go team Mars. I hope she can keep her grades up if she's juggling two jobs now.

Wouldn't it have been funny if Veronica had confessed to Keith that even though she spent the night with Duncan in his hotel suite, there was no hanky panky? Dad, I swear, we just had Chinese food and then went to sleep. He never would have believed her, of course, but the sad thing is that it was the truth. Veronica and Duncan spent their very first night together -- in a luxury hotel suite, no less! -- yet they looked like an old married couple as he slept beside her and she was on her laptop. Geez, keep the noise down, you two. Somehow I can't imagine that scenario happening with Logan. Hah. Live large, indeed.

The MOTW was just "eh." I thought Julie was up to no good from the beginning, and in the end, she wasn't. Okay, she did think her boyfriend was lying to her, but breaking up with him when she found out he was house-sitting was a bit of an overreaction. If she had only waited and thought it over for a while, and maybe asked him to explain himself, she would have landed the wealthy fiance of her dreams. Oh well. Sucks to be you, Julie.

The best part of the MOTW, though, was watching Veronica go undercover as the Lolita-like temptress. Veronica is always fun when she goes undercover and this time was no exception. I loved the bit about the roommate who might be more than that on occasion. Well, we're in college. Hee. I'm sure the male viewers appreciate Veronica in short skirts as much as we chicks dig Logan in a towel. I'm guessing, anyway.

Speaking of Logan . . . this episode suffered from a serious lack of Loganage. Okay, we got one scene, and he was back to form as his usual jackassy self. Does he really not know who Curly Moran is? Didn't Curly Moran's body just wash up on the beach in Neptune a week or two ago? Wouldn't that have been all over the news? I guess Logan's been too busy boffing Kendall to keep up with current events.

Weevil, on the other hand, has been completely clued in as to Veronica's whereabouts, even though we haven't seen him in the last two episodes. He knew that she had been brought in for questioning about Curly's murder, calling her Martha and asking about her ankle bling. Hee. And she recognized that the earring Lamb showed her last week was Weevil's! Good eye, V. But I'm still a bit confused about how Weevil lost his earring and how Lamb ended up with it. I know Weevil got a call about Curly, but why did Weevil confront Curly at the Road Hog again? I will have to replay that scene, but I'm not sure we were given much of an explanation. I know that Cervando supposedly scammed the "Fightin' Fitzpatricks," who are "meth addicts" and the local crime syndicate or something, and something or other happened at the "River Styx," and Weevil doesn't actually believe that the Fitzpatricks would off Cervando by hiring Curly to send the bus over the cliff, but it was all glossed over too quickly. How did Weevil's earring end up in Lamb's hands again? I need details.

So I have no idea what to make of that mysterious phone call to Weevil implicating Curly in the bus crash, but according to Logan, the call could have been made by almost anyone as the entire town of Neptune was apparently at his house during his "Life is Short" party (except for Veronica and Duncan, of course, and comatose Meg). Although does Veronica really know that the call was made from Casa de Killer? She knows that the phone number is registered in Aaron's name, but he could have another house somewhere, couldn't he? Can he really have five different land line phones registered at Casa de Killer? Somehow I doubt it. I know that the address where the number was registered must have been the address of Casa de Killer (or Veronica would have investigated further), but it just doesn't add up. (Or maybe I just like writing "Casa de Killer" because it cracks me up. It's possible.)

It was also a little weird to me that Veronica didn't mention the time of the call. She told Logan that the call was made to Weevil's cell phone on Saturday, September 24, and it was about two minutes long, but she doesn't mention the time of day the call was made? Assuming that Logan's party was on Saturday night, it would have been nice to know if the phone call was made at 10 in the morning or 11 at night. But I was so happy to see Logan by that point in the episode, I don't want to quibble.

Not only did I want more Logan in this episode, but I also really missed Dick and Beaver and the entire saga of the Casablancas family. Last week's episode ended with Duncan saying that Dick's dad (aka Big Dick) was "all over the news," and yet this week we get no mention of what is happening with the Casablancas boys? Did Beaver tell Logan that he knows about Logan and Kendall? It just seemed weird to me that there was no mention of Dick or Beaver at all, and how they were handling being the sons of a fugitive. I can only assume they are "laying low" at the moment, and this story will be picked up again next week. I hope.

The worst thing about this episode imho was the way that Donut treated Veronica. It's one thing for him to be dullard Donut, but this week he really became his own version of the "bad boyfriend." First we find out that he's been going to see Meg at the hospital *every day* and has failed to mention it to Veronica. Then he completely ignores her very valid question about why he's failed to mention that fact, and changes the subject back to Dim Sum. Nice. That sort of thing would have sent me over the edge at 18. First you lie to me and then you ignore my question so you can just avoid talking about this? I don't think so. We are so going to talk about it.

But the coup de grace, as it were, was making V hide in the bedroom when Lizzie showed up at his door at 2 a.m. Like a hooker?!! A very similar thing happened to me with a boyfriend in college and let me just say that a major fight ensued afterwards. Lizzie knows that Duncan and Veronica are dating, so why did he feel the need to have her hide in the bedroom? We know Veronica was majorly pissed, as she should have been, but she should have had it out with him then and there. At least after Lizzie left, anyway. Duncan has some splainin' to do.

I'm guessing that a clue to Donut's behavior might have been in Meg's secret computer files that Veronica, very uncharacteristically, chose not to pry into. Why did Meg have a laptop that her parents didn't even know about? (And how could she keep that a secret, I wonder?) And what has been going on between Duncan and Meg that might explain why Meg was so mad at Veronica and why Duncan has been acting so strangely? Did Duncan dump Meg after sleeping with her? That might explain Meg's anger at Veronica, but I think there must be more to the story. Duncan is obviously upset about Meg being in a coma and all, so why did he feel the need to pretend to Veronica that he isn't that upset? The whole situation is very strange. And the reaction of the parents was a little much also. I get that Duncan broke Meg's heart and all, but that was months ago. Why do they hold such a grudge against Duncan and also against Veronica? I'd think they'd be happy that Meg has friends who care enough to come visit her. I can only hope we learn more about this in the coming episodes.

Last but not least there was Wallace and his own personal saga of "Who's your Daddy?" So a paternity question raises its ugly head again. I was a little confused about Keith's telling Lamb that this mystery man from Chicago "Carl Morgan" was a known crook with a long record. Did Alicia lie to Keith about the guy's identity? That seems clear. But why wouldn't Keith have discovered Alicia's lie when he investigated "Carl Morgan's" background? Keith knew about his record, but he doesn't know that the guy is actually a cop? I think I must have missed something. But in the end, Keith knows that Alicia has been totally lying to him and that her real name is Cherie Saunders, or Rogers, or something. She's got secrets, that's for sure. And not just from Keith, but from Wallace. The plot thickens. Dun, dun, dun . . .

The less said about Jackie, the better. I have no problems with the actress, but Jackie just grates. Does she think she's going to go up against Veronica Mars and live to tell the tale? Dream on, sister.

Edited to add: Yay Mac! Her appearance was brief but welcome. I'd love to see more Mac, less Jackie. Please.


Episode Grade: B+

This definitely seemed like a "filler" episode, although it had some fun moments when Veronica attempted to go all Lolita. But I missed Logan, and I also missed Dick and Beaver and the saga of the Casablancas family, and the MOTW wasn't entertaining enough to compensate for the lack of Loganage. I want to get back to the good stuff!

Favorite line: If I rub your head, do I get three wishes?

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Penis Head?

Okay, VM fans. TVGasm says that Logan has a "penis head." Okay, I know he's frequently a dickhead, but are they saying that his head is shaped like a penis? WTF? Is that what people say about Peyton Manning? I have no idea what they are talking about.

And since the author says he doesn't get what is "all that" about Logan, I am convinced he doesn't know what he's talking about either. It's not the shape of his head, that's for sure.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Don't Shoe Me In

At the risk of sounding like a middle-aged fuddy duddy . . . I've noticed recently that there are certain words and expressions that are routinely misspelled all over the internets, even on somewhat "professional" websites, and it's starting to bug me. Of course, standard grammar and spelling is hard to come by on a lot of blogs and such, but I'm talking about errors that I see by people who otherwise have a good grasp of basic spelling.

For example, the expression "shoo-in," as in "he's a shoo-in to win the election." When did people start spelling this "shoe-in"? Did I miss something? Aren't we supposed to be "shooing" the person in the door? Or are we now kicking them through the door with our shoe? I know society is becoming more violent, so maybe I missed the memo. Another one is "cut and dried." Like a flower is cut and then it is dried, and then it's done and it can't be undone or changed. Somehow this has mutated into "cut and dry." Is it just me, or has this expression been lost also?

And then there are actors who apparently take various "rolls." I always think of the craft services table when I see that and it makes me laugh. They take their rolls and then they eat them. But I think they would prefer to get a meaty role instead. I know I would. And don't get me started on "intensive purposes." I don't think my purposes are ever intensive enough . . . but for all intents and purposes, the original expression appears to have been lost. I think a lot of people just have never seen the expression in written form and just hear it as "intensive purposes." I don't know. These are the things that spell check will never catch, so maybe that explains why they are so frequently misspelled.

Anyway. I know I sound old. ::sigh:: I guess I'm turning into my mother. When did that happen? And she doesn't want to think of herself as old either.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

VM 2.3: Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang

Gosh, I love Veronica Mars. Have I mentioned that?

Here are my thoughts on VM episode 2.3 "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang." I get the "cheatty" part, but where was the bang? That may be my only real complaint with this episode. Oh, wait, was it the scene where Logan was "banging" Kendall? Is that the bang? Okay, then I have no major complaints.

So the mystery of the week was Veronica investigating Kendall's infidelity. I really like how the MOTW was so integral to the overall plot again, and didn't have Veronica off on some silly detour when so many important things were happening. And Veronica's client was Beaver, someone we already know and like and care about.

Poor Beaver. Talk about unintended consequences of trying to get at the truth. He was trying to help his father, or so he thought, and he ended up bringing down his dad's whole company. Possibly sending his dad to prison. Wow, is every kid in this show going to have a parent in prison? Seems like they are heading in that direction. I'm sure even Lianne gets thrown in the clinker for public drunkenness every so often. Wherever she is.

And speaking of parents . . . boy, that stuff with Alicia was totally out of left field. WTF? I didn't see that coming. I can't believe she's been doing anything nefarious, though. I have to think there is a good explanation for her name change or whatever is going on. Did she change her name to run from an abusive spouse? Is the true story maybe that her husband isn't really dead and she left him in a Sleeping with the Enemy sort of situation? And what does Wallace know about it? No idea, but I'm interested to see where that story is going.

There were so many good things going on in this episode, it's hard to know where to start. Oh, who am I kidding? Let's start with Logan.

Oh, Logan. Logan in a fight. Logan cries. Logan getting some ack-shun with Kendall. Logan in a towel. Ahem, that bears repeating. Logan in a towel. And finally, Veronica actually speaks to Logan. In Logan's bedroom. When Logan is in a towel. Oh, Veronica, of course you are only in Logan's bedroom because you didn't want to feel responsible if anything happened to him. Of course. You do that for all the potential victims of jealous husbands, don't you? Of course you do. It's just part of the full service package you provide at Mars Investigations. And way to go on that storming out. You showed him.

I loved that Veronica finally spoke to Logan and confronted him directly about something. She called him on his self-destructive behavior and his death wish. Yeah, it's a cliche, but he wears it well. I loved that Logan remained so calm and cool about Veronica's discovery of his extracurricular activities, when he surely must be scared, a little, right? I'm with Veronica on that -- if he's not scared, he should be. But the whole conversation was fantastic and KB and JD were pitch perfect, as usual.

We've been waiting for Logan to talk to Duncan about Lilly and Aaron (or at least I have) and we finally got to see it as well. I thought Duncan attacking Logan was a bit OOC, though. I know Logan's barb was supposed to be a thinly veiled reference to Veronica (wasn't it?), but was it really that bad that Duncan thought he had to defend Veronica's honor? I didn't think so. And why didn't we see Veronica's face when Duncan lunged at Logan? I was annoyed at the editing there. No reaction shot from Veronica at all.

The fight was also too brief -- I would have preferred to see more of the fisticuffs and Logan's fist connecting with Duncan's face -- but the scene in the nurse's office was great. Finally, Logan confronts Duncan about Duncan abandoning him this summer and Duncan confesses that he didn't stand up for Logan because, you know, Logan's dad killed his sister and all. Okay, it's not all about Veronica. That much is obvious. Even though I'm not sure I believed Logan that Veronica is "in the rearview mirror," I still liked it when he told Duncan that he is angry at him for being such a sucky friend more than the Veronica situation. Duncan is a sucky friend for completely bailing on Logan. How is it Logan's fault that Aaron is a murdering scumbag? Logan hates him too. Yeah, Duncan. Suck on that. It was heartbreaking to see that Logan is genuinely hurt by Duncan's behavior, and JD rocked that scene.

As for scenes not involving Logan, I especially loved Veronica and Lamb in the interrogation room. I could use a scene like that in every episode. You're an adult now. Well, that makes one of us. More Lamb, please. MM was great as usual, and KB and MM play off each other very well.

I also loved the stuff between Veronica and Wallace and the retracting of the claws. Still not liking Jackie. Wallace can do better. But I think the actress is fine in the role. No complaints there. I also loved the conversation about Colin Firth and his mysterious allure. I'm a big fan of the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice and I totally get the allure of Colin Firth so I found all that hilarious. And Wallace continues to be adorable. Jackie better not be playing him or she will be witnessing Veronica's claws faster than you can say Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

If I had a complaint about this episode, it's that Veronica's resolution of the real estate fraud was a little hard to believe. I'm not sure she would have been able to figure out the shady REIT so easily and quickly. I'm not an expert on REITs, but if Casablancas was registering with the SEC and all that, there would have been more safeguards in place that would have prevented him from selling investments to the public in a luxury hotel that didn't even exist. It's not quite that easy to pull off such a major fraud. I know we are expected to suspend disbelief a lot about Veronica's abilities to figure things out that mystify local law enforcement, but this was a bit much. A high school girl is going to visit the Sandpiper Hotel when nobody else thinks to do that? When people are investing thousands and perhaps millions in this company and this hotel? I don't think so.

But it's a minor quibble, and the implausibility of that part of the MOTW didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of this epsiode. Real estate fraud does exist, but it's complicated and it would have been very hard to explain it fully in the context of this show and keep the audience engaged in the story. So I'll give that a pass. Veronica found out that Big Dick was up to no good and his company is getting taken down by the feds. That's enough to keep me interested. What does this mean for Kendall? Did Dick Sr. leave her when he got in that helicopter? Is she going to be part of the criminal investigation also? I can only guess yes, since she was obviously involved in bribing the assessor and all that. And what does all this mean for Kendall's dalliance with Logan? I'm sure Kendall is not going to take all this lying down. (Pun intended.) I guess we'll have to stay tuned. I can't wait to see the inevitable showdown between Kendall and Veronica. Talk about claws.

The only other complaint I have about this episode, and again it's minor, is that it strains credulity that Logan would still have Aaron's movie posters all over the wall. Yes, I get that we needed to see that Long Haul poster on the wall for Veronica to make the connection to David "Curly" Moran, but still, is Logan really going to want to look at Aaron's big mug on the wall every day? I don't think so. He would have ripped all those posters off the wall long ago. They are such a symbol of Aaron's ego and his phony public image and everything that Logan hated. But still, because the posters served a major point in the plot and because the overall episode was so engaging, I can overlook that.

Episode Grade: A

Best episode so far this season. The plot thickens, and then thickens again. Logan and Duncan fight and have a real conversation about Lilly and Aaron. Veronica finds out about Logan and Kendall. Logan in a towel. OMG, the bus crash was meant to kill Veronica! And Aaron may have been behind it! What more is there to say? This is good television.

Favorite line: My underbelly is rock hard. It can go all night.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Veronica Mars DVD

I feel like a kid on Christmas Day.

My Veronica Mars season one DVD arrived today. It's kind of sad how excited I am about being able to watch all the deleted scenes tonight. I know the extras are paltry, but I'm still excited to get new scenes. On a night with a new episode, no less! It's sad that it takes so little to get me this excited.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

VM 2.2: Driver Ed

Wow. Yet again, Veronica Mars continues to surprise me. This show doesn't pull any punches. Here are my thoughts on VM episode 2.2 "Driver Ed." Again with the punny episode title. I love this show.

Let's start with the mystery of the week (MOTW). I really liked that the MOTW was directly related to the season-long mystery, even though this is only the second episode of the season. Veronica was asked to solve one small piece of the puzzle (Did Ed commit suicide?), but the answer leads her to question even further what happened with the bus, and why. This made the MOTW seem more important than usual and it didn't feel as if Veronica was off on some "detour" that kept her from pursuing the important questions.

The resolution of the mystery also made perfect sense and was satisfying. Some people apparently missed the comments from Duane the convenience store clerk. (Kevin Smith? A convenience store clerk? Hee. Great cameo.) Duane said on television that Ed had bought a "few things" and then was on his way out of the store when he turned around suddenly and came back to buy the St. Christopher medal. Veronica saw that the pay phone was near the door and this is how she deduced that the reason Ed bought the medal was to get change to make a phone call. That made complete sense to me, especially in light of the "suicide" note that didn't seem like much of a suicide note.

The cliffhanger ending was also great. What the heck could it mean that Veronica's name was written on that dude's hand? I have no idea, but color me intrigued. Surely it's related to the bus "accident," because nothing happens accidentally in Neptune.

Another highlight of the episode was the appearance of Sheriff Lamb. Oh, Lamb, how I missed you. As usual, he was his incompetent dickish self, but he was a welcome sight. His reaction at finding out that Veronica was in the interrogation room was hilarious. I almost wanted Veronica to fill out a job application for real, just because it would be so funny to see her needling Lamb on a daily basis around the Sheriff's Department. We need Lamb around as an adversary for Veronica and for Keith, and I'm looking forward to the election with Keith and Lamb running against each other. Snarkiness should ensue.

I'm also really liking Beaver. Poor Beaver gets no love. I'm enjoying the entire dynamic of the Casablancas family, actually, and it was great to finally meet Daddy Casablancas aka Big Dick. I must say, he's much more attractive than I would have guessed and something tells me that Kendall is not sleeping with Logan out of any dissatisfaction with Big Dick. (I'm betting he more than lives up to his nickname.) My guess is that Kendall has far more sinister ulterior motives for trysting with our boy Logan. It's not simply that he's cute and she's bored. Big Dick doesn't seem that boring to me.

That scene at the shooting range, though . . . well, I didn't even know what to make of that. Was Big Dick hinting to Logan that he was onto him? I don't think so. Something tells me that Big Dick would be more direct. But considering how screwed up the entire situation is with Logan right now, adding guns to the equation spells major trouble. This is not going to end well. Only psycho chicks want to go to Casa de Killer. What a pal, that Dick.

Speaking of Logan and violence . . . it's only the second episode, but already Weevil is missing. I hope that isn't a trend. I really like the Weevil vs. Logan class warfare dynamic and want to see more of it. But Logan getting friendly with guns doesn't bode well for Weevil (or Logan either, for that matter). I can't wait to see where they are going with this storyline, but it's going to be intense. This season is shaping up to be a lot more violent than last year. I expect more deaths and bloodshed.

The jury is still out on Jackie. I did like that Wallace was able to solve her little "mystery" about who hit her car (our boy Wallace has learned a thing or two!), but so far I'm not liking her so much. She's definitely a bitch of the highest order, but if Wallace likes her, I can't begrudge him a little action when everyone else seems to be getting some . . . which leads me to the other major development in this episode . . .

Okay, so Veronica got it on with Duncan. Yeccch. I'm not surprised that she decided to sleep with Duncan (voluntarily and consciously this time), but I was completely surprised that they went there so quickly in the season. I definitely thought she was going to sleep with Duncan at some point (and I wanted her to - stay with me for a minute here), but given how long she held out when she was with Logan, it did seem mighty quick. True, she and Duncan had a long history together before, and from everything we saw, it seemed like they were pretty close to doing it the first time around until that pesky sibling problem reared its ugly head. But I'm still a little dissatisfied at how quickly and casually this "new" relationship with Duncan has been developed.

Last season, the development of Veronica's relationship with Logan occurred so naturally and gradually over the course of the entire season and we were allowed to see (or at least some of us were) a developing friendship and attraction over time. Even though the kiss in "Weapons of Class Destruction" seemed to come out of nowhere to many people, we were shown that they had put their past hostility behind them and we were given hints, however subtle, that their relationship had changed and deepened. With Duncan, all we got was a 10-second music-video montage in the season two premiere, and bam, Veronica jumped into his arms and they were back together. Then we get a couple of short scenes of them in this episode and bam, she slept with him.

I do understand that the bus incident was traumatic for Veronica in part because it was a "near death" experience for her -- if she hadn't seen Weevil at the gas station, she'd almost certainly be dead. On top of that trauma, Veronica hears the driver's girlfriend express regret that she never really got to be with the man she loved and then he was gone. So Veronica had her "epiphany" that life is short. Given everything that's happened to her in the past couple of years, she should know that already. But I get the motivation, I really do. Life is short, seize the day, yadda yadda yadda.

Having said that, I do like how Veronica's decision to sleep with Duncan was handled: there was no "very special episode" for Veronica Mars. There was no big build-up: should I, shouldn't I. She made the decision, she was ready, she did it. Teenagers have sex. End of story. Then again, maybe not . . . because things are never that easy on Veronica Mars.

Unlike other "teen" shows, which would have made such a big deal about Veronica's decision to sleep with Duncan, and would have made it into this whole "true love" scenario with rose petals strewn about, it didn't quite happen that way for our oh-so-happy couple. For one thing, there was all that screaming and moaning from next door. Hee. Even Duncan joked that maybe they did it wrong. Hee again. Then, to top it all off, we find out that it was Logan and Kendall in the next room. Awkward! The message was delivered, in a not-so-subtle fashion, that sex with Logan is quite a different experience from sex with Duncan. Hee again. And that message was not lost on Veronica. Even though Logan still had to get a dig in at Duncan, because, well, he's Logan. If the cuddling was the best part, he didn't do it right. Hee. (Then again, not so hee, because Logan's glance at the door sure looked like hurt to me.)

As painful as the scene in the hallway was, I loved it because it tells us that things are far from over for Veronica and Logan. Last year, their antagonism towards each other definitely had an undercurrent of something resembling attraction, but now the sexual tension is more than just a subtle hint. We know they still have strong feelings for each other and the hallway scene made it pretty obvious. Okay, sure, it was a pretty big coincidence that Logan was in the room right next door to Duncan's suite, but the smoking heat of the encounter in the hallway made me overlook the implausibility of the situation. When Veronica actually called the room, I had to laugh. Oh, Veronica, why do you care so much about who is in that room? She cares all right. She's trying so hard to get back to the "normal" life she had with Duncan before Lilly was killed, and she's trying especially hard to pretend that she's over Logan, but it's not that easy. What did she think she was going to say to the person on the phone? I don't think she had any idea, but she made that call on impulse because she just had to know what was going on with Logan.

So as surprised as I was that Veronica slept with Duncan so quickly (and that had to sting for Logan -- geez, what's a guy gotta do?), I'm glad it happened because I do think it's necessary for Veronica to completely throw herself into the relationship with Duncan so she can feel like she really made the effort to be "normal," whatever that means. I'm still on the Logan love train, though, and I'm not getting off any time soon. Logan has a lot of growing up to do, and the boy has more issues than National Geographic. But even as they're both boffing other people, it's clear that Veronica and Logan still have feelings for each other that aren't going away any time soon. Just like it's clear to Veronica that sleeping with Duncan doesn't make those feelings for Logan go away.

If and when Veronica and Logan do make their way back together (like I said, I'm not getting off the Logan love train any time soon), her relationship with Duncan has to be totally a thing of the past and that couldn't happen fully until she slept with Duncan. Plus, there has to be a lot of pain on both sides first, and RT&co. know how to bring the pain in a big way. I don't think we've even started with the pain yet. Logan and Veronica would never work as a couple at any time if she remains "virginal" while he's whoring it up with half of Neptune. So I'm okay with it . . . for now. And so long as I'm not forced to see too many sex scenes of Veronica and Duncan. (Although watching her call him "Logan" in the heat of passion would be kind of funny. Hee.)

Edited to add: I forgot the worst part about this episode: Veronica's sweatshirt and cutoff ensemble. WTF? I thought for a minute we were doing another '80s party or something, because that outfit was straight outta Flashdance. What happened to Veronica's cute outfits from last year? Sex with Duncan must have done something to her fashion sense.

Episode Grade: A-

I liked this episode better than the premiere because it felt tighter and more focused and the MOTW was developed so much better. The resolution made complete sense and it obviously has a direct link to the season-long mystery of what the hell happened on that bus, and more importantly why. The cliffhanger ending was quite a surprise and a nice touch. I can't wait to see where this story is going next week . . . and the promo makes me think it's going to be a good one. :)

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Hollywood Habitat for Humanity

I'm not sure if everyone has seen the photos of Jason Dohring and Michael Muhney at the recent Hollywood Habitat for Humanity event, but I have a few. Too bad they spelled MM's name as "Michael Mahney."

Mmmm . . . Logan. Lamb. With their toolbelts. Enjoy. :)