Veronica Mars Wraps Season Two

[sdelmonte]

All spoilers, all the time.

The good news? Most of the season's dangling threads were brought together (excpet for what's really going on with notKendall and the Fitzpatricks). The bad? I thought too many things came out of leftfield.

Cassidy as a possible suspect, I can accept. The pieces were there. But Cassidy as borderline insane criminal genius? I don't quite buy it. He wanted to keep his secret shame secret, so he became a murderer? And guess what, he really did rape Veronica, too? And was the mastermind behind his father's downfall? Things got laid on thick, as if to overprove the villainy. It didn't ruin the episode, or the season, but it could have been made to work better.

I was also not thrilled with the sudden revelation about Jackie. Nothing till now set this up at all. It might have been better if she really did go to Paris.

And the Thing of Mislead about Keith's death? As glad as I am that Rob didn't kill the best dad on TV (as well as make Veronica an orphan a la Buffy), I felt manipulated by the whole thing.

Which makes the pseudo-cliffhanger so lame. After all they've been through, is there any chance Keith wouldn't make sure Veronica knew why he couldn't go? We didn't nned to be left hanging. (Oh, and speaking of Cliff-hangers, we still don't know what happened to Cliff's briefcase.)

However, since I love this show, I cannot stay negative the whole time. I loved: Vinnie and Keith; everyone applauding Veronica; Clemons' begrudging respect for Veronica; Logan to the rescue and the door being left open to them being together again; the final fate of Aaron Echolls; Keith catching Woody Goodman; and Keith and Veronica's different objectives in visiting NYC. I surely didn't love seeing Weevil arrested at graduation, or seeing Cassidy's leap to his death, but both of those moments were so perfectly in character for Lamb and for Cassidy. (BTW, was Lamb on the plane?) And as inexcusable as Woody's molestations were, he was right about how parents in Neptune treat their kids, how men like him thrive in a parental vacuum.

So on the whole, this was a good episode, but not what it could have been. Still, I can forgive the faults easily for a cast as good as this one, for writers are capable as these. Hopefully, when the CW's slate is announced later in the week, Veronica, Keith, Logan and the rest will be given one more year. They've earned it.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the dream. As a standalone vision of What If?, it was nice. Surely it was interesting to see what's going on Veronica's head, in terms of her father and mother and her true love and what she thought Lilly would be up to. But I don't know if it served any greater purpose. Maybe we could have lived without it and saved a little more time for the main plot?

Comments

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Cassidy's freakitude has been something people have been commenting on all season. I've been hoping it WASN'T him, but the groundwork (except for the unstoppable mastermind bit, though his efficiency and talent have been harped on too) had been laid for his psychoness.

Given that Thomas has said that WHEN (not IF, damnit) they're renewed for next season on the CW, there will be 3 7-episode arcs, my prediction for the three are:

1: New York, New York: The Summer Arc. Main thread is The Briefcase.
2: Veronica Vs. The Rapist: Ideally with the AD kids recurring.
3: Another Mystery At Hearst.

[porpentine.livejournal.com]

I've rewatched since Tuesday to be certain, but: Lamb wasn't on the plane, no. He called in and had the local authorities take Keith off the plane, since he didn't want Keith there when the plane arrived in Neptune again; wouldn't do for the ex-sheriff to be the one bringing Woody off the plane, or even as part of the entourage, after all.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

My theory?

Cassidy isn't dead. Like all good children of our generation and thereafter, he's seen Back to the Future II. The calm with which he stepped off the ledge? That's not the calm of a man with no future, that's the calm of a man with a backup plan.

We've seen that Cassidy can keep a secret. Did he choose notKendall for the same reason? We've seen how capable of duplicity she is, and how deep her cover goes. Cassidy probably worked it out and held it over her. Or just held her pennilessness against her as was represented on the show.

Chances are good, given the level to which he was manipulating her that she thought it was her idea to go to Aaron Echolls for backing money. Which brings us to the name of Cassidy's land ownership deal.

Phoenix.

We haven't seen a body. The only people we've seen talk about his death are his lawyer (who has a good reason to speak of him in the past tense, dead men pay no taxes) and his step-mother and sole heir. notKendall may be being duped, so may the lawyer, but I want a shot of Cassidy in the coffin before I'm convinced.

Cassidy's actions in season one and this season, make him the uber-big-bad. He is revealed, just as the initial big-bad is taken off the scene, either it's a really good smoke screen on Rob Thomas's part, or he's been secretly rubbing his hands with glee all this time.

And then there's the mess that Cassidy leaves with Veronica.

Suddenly Duncan, who accidently took Cassidy's sloppy seconds in season one, does it again. Is that a coincidence that Rob lets us know that just a few minutes after we see Duncan confirm that he ordered Aaron's death? Duncan has twice profited from something that Cassidy accidently left for him. The first one was Veronica, in a vulnerable state, after having sex. Compare that to how death finds Aaron, in his glow after sleeping with notKendall.

Does Duncan know? Chances are good that his luck has held and he wandered into yet another beneficial situation that helped him out, but, given that we know so little about Duncan's inner life, it's hard to say.

However, Rob leaves Duncan in as close to a state of bliss as he can be. On the beach, with his daughter, Lilly. Restored to a state of childhood, digging in the sand, his sister's murder finally avenged, blissfully unaware that Veronica is suffering.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Other thoughts I had? Logan and Veronica can only be together when they have experienced the same tragedy.

For a very brief window, when they were both fatherless, they were able to cling to each other, to be reunited in their grief. What alcohol can't do for them as a social lubricant, loss can. When Keith returns, Logan slips out, aware that something has changed between them.

Witness their earlier periods of happiness when they were both motherless, Lilly-less, etc.

It stands to reason that the two of them can only operate on equal footing. When the terrain becomes rough underfoot, they break apart. Physical separation will keep them together for a while, but watch for the next status change.

Loss of status plays a huge role in their relationship. Who owes who the next favor has become a ritual for them, and the one-upmanship is probably going to continue to play havoc with them, as they battle to see if they can both be on top.