VM 2.7: Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
Here are my somewhat tardy thoughts on this week's episode of Veronica Mars.
VM episode 2.7: "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner." The title of this episode already had me predisposed to love it, because nothing beats a Dirty Dancing reference in my book. Then when Veronica made a Ferris Bueller reference in her voicemail message to Duncan, it sealed the deal and we were off to a good start.
I know VM gets compared to Twin Peaks a lot because of the underlying themes of murder and corruption in a small town, and how nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors and all that, but this episode was the first time I ever felt like we were truly encroaching on TP territory. Veronica's plan to take over Meg's babysitting gigs gives her a look into how truly bizarre the 09er world really is, and each family appears more fucked up than the last one. It's a wonder the kids of Neptune don't all become serial killers. Hmmm.
Unfortunately, UPN in its infinite wisdom gave away the big reveal of Meg's dad in the previews, so it came as no shock to discover that something is rotten in the State of Manning. Meg told Veronica last year in "Like a Virgin" that her parents were unusually strict and also pretty nosy, but she gave no hint that her parents were actually downright abusive. Perhaps they didn't treat Meg and Lizzie that way when they were younger, but after their two older daughters "went astray" with the boys and the sex and all, they decided to get uber-strict with young Grace? I know there are a lot of theories floating around.
spectralbovine asks: "But the question is, how the fuck did Meg turn out so goddamn normal?" Good question. I really liked Meg last year and she didn't show any hints that she was the product of a seriously disturbed upbringing, so I can only hope that she does wake up eventually and we learn more about what was going on in that household. spectralbovine's theory: "Maybe Meg and Duncan did have sex, and her parents found out. Having lost Lizzie, they've now lost Meg, and they are not going to lose their little Grace. INTO THE CLOSET WITH HER! Meg needs to wake up and tell me how in the hell she managed to turn out okay." Indeed.
Moving on to Duncan . . . hmmmm, poetry reading? Did he or didn't he? That appears to be the question. I want to believe that Duncan really loves Veronica and wouldn't cheat on her with skanky Kendall (aka Whordelia), but then again, he just told Veronica that he thinks Kendall is hot and he isn't bothered at all by Logan's boinking her, married or not, so maybe that was a hint to the audience that Duncan is not the boy scout he pretends to be.
ladydisdain certainly thinks he is far from it.
In any event, Logan certainly seemed to think that something was up, so to speak, in Duncan's boudoir, so some time must have passed before Kendall walked out and I doubt they were playing parcheesi. Duncan definitely has some splainin' to do. That is, if Veronica ever bothered to ask him about it. Still love her and all, but Girlfriend's blind eye where the Dunk is concerned is starting to bug and the ostrich routine is getting old fast. Wake up and smell the Donut, Veronica.
And speaking of Logan (wasn't I?), his verbal smackdown of Kendall after she practically handed him an invoice for services rendered was the highlight of the episode for me. So many good lines, I hardly know where to begin. I think I owe your village a goat. Hee. I know some people thought he was overly harsh with her, but it was well deserved, imho. Logan's probably had plenty of experience in the past with people making nice to him for his money and/or to get access to his famous father and I think he's built up quite an intolerance for that sort of thing. If Kendall thinks he's an easy mark and that he's just going to roll over and give her a blank check, she's got another thing coming. (But whether that other thing is Duncan remains to be seen. Heh.)
comice has some interesting thoughts and suggests that Kendall may find out that Veronica was responsible for Big Dick's current legal problems and may seek vengeance against our intrepid heroine. Stay tuned. I know I'd pay good money to see a serious confrontation between Kendall and Veronica, and surely Kendall's going to figure out that Veronica is a lot more than just "ipod girl."
Last but not least, there is luscious Lamb and the strange and intriguing ending. What to make of that? For one thing, Lamb is not pure evil as some have pegged him in the past (I never thought that), but I didn't necessarily interpret his comment about his father as meaning that he was abused as a child. It was definitely ambiguous, but hinted that Lamb has a dark family story of his own, like everyone else in Neptune, and he wasn't going to let Manning get away scot-free.
eirefaerie covers the Lamb angle pretty well at Rack of Lamb:
Lamb gets in the squad car (and I love that the buckling of the seatbelt was an afterthought), flips on the lights and drives Veronica and Duncan away . . . to the next street. Pulling over, he gets out and opens the backseat door. Veronica looks bewildered as this is all happening; Lamb just silently removes the cuffs from her and Duncan's wrists, gets back in his car and leaves. I have to say that this little bit is such an in-character moment for both Lamb and Veronica - he's not going to admit that she was right, and he's not going to admit how torn up he is inside. For her part, Veronica decides not to hassle him and just silently hope that he's doing the right thing. Spot on from both actors and Diane Ruggiero for that scene.
Amen. Good job, Michael Muhney.
Overall, I thought this was a very good episode, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some others because I found the Misadventures in Babysitting story more creepy than revelatory. There were some great character moments, though, and I enjoyed the reappearance of Dick and the Beaver and the saga of Team Casablancas. In sum, this episode highlights how good RT & Co. have been at integrating the MOTW into the overall storyline this season, as opposed to being a separate "standalone" plot like most of the MOTW last season. It certainly exhibits a higher degree of difficulty to manage the MOTW this way, but I think they've been doing a bang-up job so far.
I agree with spectralbovine on this point:
The first season was very much, "Here's a Mystery of the Week. Also, we will advance a couple plotlines." This season has been integrating the MOTW with the continuing plotlines (and honestly, I didn't think they could do it so much without it getting very contrived, but they've managed well so far (I kind of miss the random students asking for help, though)) so that everything is important. Every episode advances like seven plotlines. I love the hell out of it, but I'm really afraid it's making it more off-putting to newbies. I mean, I will take a stellar second season over no second season at all, but . . . I also want a stellar third season. And that means we need more new viewers.
I agree entirely, but considering that VM is up against the Lost juggernaut, and also that the structure of VM makes it difficult for newbies to jump in midstream regardless of how well the MOTW integrates into the continuing storyline, I'm not sure it makes much difference in the ratings. VM is a complicated show any way you look at it, and I am enjoying the heightened complication they've added this year by weaving the MOTW into the ongoing arcs.
Episode Grade: A-
I liked this episode a lot, but I guess I'm somewhat in the minority, because I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I did either "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang" or "Rat Saw God." The uber-creepiness of the babysitting storyline squicked me out, and it almost felt a little too over-the-top to me that every 09er family could be that screwed up. Very Twin Peaks. But still, it was a very interesting episode on several fronts and demonstrates yet again how well VM juggles so many different plotlines at once. And Logan's rejection of Kendall was a high point.
Favorite line: Did I hurt your feeling?
[Edited to add: Another reason that I am giving this episode an A- rather than a solid A is because of the preview and the opening scene at upn.com. I have to leave room at the top of the grading curve because I have a feeling the next two episodes are going to blow me away.]
VM episode 2.7: "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner." The title of this episode already had me predisposed to love it, because nothing beats a Dirty Dancing reference in my book. Then when Veronica made a Ferris Bueller reference in her voicemail message to Duncan, it sealed the deal and we were off to a good start.
I know VM gets compared to Twin Peaks a lot because of the underlying themes of murder and corruption in a small town, and how nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors and all that, but this episode was the first time I ever felt like we were truly encroaching on TP territory. Veronica's plan to take over Meg's babysitting gigs gives her a look into how truly bizarre the 09er world really is, and each family appears more fucked up than the last one. It's a wonder the kids of Neptune don't all become serial killers. Hmmm.
Unfortunately, UPN in its infinite wisdom gave away the big reveal of Meg's dad in the previews, so it came as no shock to discover that something is rotten in the State of Manning. Meg told Veronica last year in "Like a Virgin" that her parents were unusually strict and also pretty nosy, but she gave no hint that her parents were actually downright abusive. Perhaps they didn't treat Meg and Lizzie that way when they were younger, but after their two older daughters "went astray" with the boys and the sex and all, they decided to get uber-strict with young Grace? I know there are a lot of theories floating around.
spectralbovine asks: "But the question is, how the fuck did Meg turn out so goddamn normal?" Good question. I really liked Meg last year and she didn't show any hints that she was the product of a seriously disturbed upbringing, so I can only hope that she does wake up eventually and we learn more about what was going on in that household. spectralbovine's theory: "Maybe Meg and Duncan did have sex, and her parents found out. Having lost Lizzie, they've now lost Meg, and they are not going to lose their little Grace. INTO THE CLOSET WITH HER! Meg needs to wake up and tell me how in the hell she managed to turn out okay." Indeed.
Moving on to Duncan . . . hmmmm, poetry reading? Did he or didn't he? That appears to be the question. I want to believe that Duncan really loves Veronica and wouldn't cheat on her with skanky Kendall (aka Whordelia), but then again, he just told Veronica that he thinks Kendall is hot and he isn't bothered at all by Logan's boinking her, married or not, so maybe that was a hint to the audience that Duncan is not the boy scout he pretends to be.
ladydisdain certainly thinks he is far from it.
In any event, Logan certainly seemed to think that something was up, so to speak, in Duncan's boudoir, so some time must have passed before Kendall walked out and I doubt they were playing parcheesi. Duncan definitely has some splainin' to do. That is, if Veronica ever bothered to ask him about it. Still love her and all, but Girlfriend's blind eye where the Dunk is concerned is starting to bug and the ostrich routine is getting old fast. Wake up and smell the Donut, Veronica.
And speaking of Logan (wasn't I?), his verbal smackdown of Kendall after she practically handed him an invoice for services rendered was the highlight of the episode for me. So many good lines, I hardly know where to begin. I think I owe your village a goat. Hee. I know some people thought he was overly harsh with her, but it was well deserved, imho. Logan's probably had plenty of experience in the past with people making nice to him for his money and/or to get access to his famous father and I think he's built up quite an intolerance for that sort of thing. If Kendall thinks he's an easy mark and that he's just going to roll over and give her a blank check, she's got another thing coming. (But whether that other thing is Duncan remains to be seen. Heh.)
comice has some interesting thoughts and suggests that Kendall may find out that Veronica was responsible for Big Dick's current legal problems and may seek vengeance against our intrepid heroine. Stay tuned. I know I'd pay good money to see a serious confrontation between Kendall and Veronica, and surely Kendall's going to figure out that Veronica is a lot more than just "ipod girl."
Last but not least, there is luscious Lamb and the strange and intriguing ending. What to make of that? For one thing, Lamb is not pure evil as some have pegged him in the past (I never thought that), but I didn't necessarily interpret his comment about his father as meaning that he was abused as a child. It was definitely ambiguous, but hinted that Lamb has a dark family story of his own, like everyone else in Neptune, and he wasn't going to let Manning get away scot-free.
eirefaerie covers the Lamb angle pretty well at Rack of Lamb:
Lamb gets in the squad car (and I love that the buckling of the seatbelt was an afterthought), flips on the lights and drives Veronica and Duncan away . . . to the next street. Pulling over, he gets out and opens the backseat door. Veronica looks bewildered as this is all happening; Lamb just silently removes the cuffs from her and Duncan's wrists, gets back in his car and leaves. I have to say that this little bit is such an in-character moment for both Lamb and Veronica - he's not going to admit that she was right, and he's not going to admit how torn up he is inside. For her part, Veronica decides not to hassle him and just silently hope that he's doing the right thing. Spot on from both actors and Diane Ruggiero for that scene.
Amen. Good job, Michael Muhney.
Overall, I thought this was a very good episode, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some others because I found the Misadventures in Babysitting story more creepy than revelatory. There were some great character moments, though, and I enjoyed the reappearance of Dick and the Beaver and the saga of Team Casablancas. In sum, this episode highlights how good RT & Co. have been at integrating the MOTW into the overall storyline this season, as opposed to being a separate "standalone" plot like most of the MOTW last season. It certainly exhibits a higher degree of difficulty to manage the MOTW this way, but I think they've been doing a bang-up job so far.
I agree with spectralbovine on this point:
The first season was very much, "Here's a Mystery of the Week. Also, we will advance a couple plotlines." This season has been integrating the MOTW with the continuing plotlines (and honestly, I didn't think they could do it so much without it getting very contrived, but they've managed well so far (I kind of miss the random students asking for help, though)) so that everything is important. Every episode advances like seven plotlines. I love the hell out of it, but I'm really afraid it's making it more off-putting to newbies. I mean, I will take a stellar second season over no second season at all, but . . . I also want a stellar third season. And that means we need more new viewers.
I agree entirely, but considering that VM is up against the Lost juggernaut, and also that the structure of VM makes it difficult for newbies to jump in midstream regardless of how well the MOTW integrates into the continuing storyline, I'm not sure it makes much difference in the ratings. VM is a complicated show any way you look at it, and I am enjoying the heightened complication they've added this year by weaving the MOTW into the ongoing arcs.
Episode Grade: A-
I liked this episode a lot, but I guess I'm somewhat in the minority, because I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I did either "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang" or "Rat Saw God." The uber-creepiness of the babysitting storyline squicked me out, and it almost felt a little too over-the-top to me that every 09er family could be that screwed up. Very Twin Peaks. But still, it was a very interesting episode on several fronts and demonstrates yet again how well VM juggles so many different plotlines at once. And Logan's rejection of Kendall was a high point.
Favorite line: Did I hurt your feeling?
[Edited to add: Another reason that I am giving this episode an A- rather than a solid A is because of the preview and the opening scene at upn.com. I have to leave room at the top of the grading curve because I have a feeling the next two episodes are going to blow me away.]
posted by Magnolia at
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