OPEN CASE: VERONICA MARS

 

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NORMAL IS THE Watchword

 

Episode 2.1

Written by Rob Thomas

Directed by John Kretchmer

Aired: September 28, 2005

 

By: Sue

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NORMAL IS THE WATCHWORD

 

Webster's Dictionary:

Normal: Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting an accepted standard, model, pattern, or level; corresponding to the median or average of a large group in type, appearance, achievement, function, development, etc; Synonyms: natural, usual, standard, regular, typical, average.

 

Veronica: "I'm a people person. I'm just a normal teenage girl going on a normal school field trip."

Wallace: "Normal is the watchword."

 

So, senior year at Neptune High and "Normal is the watchword?" Veronica has her normal job and her normal boyfriend. What's next? Veronica tries out for cheerleader and runs for homecoming queen? Let's examine Veronica's normalcy a bit more closely:

 

Best Friend: check. Of course previous best friend white female 09er Lilly has been replaced by current best friend black male middle class Wallace. Not exactly "typical."

 

Boy Friend: check. In fact, not just one, but two: both handsome, rich, virtual orphans and mightily screwed up. One she suspected of being her brother and possibly killing Lilly; the other she suspected of killing Lilly and fomenting class warfare. Ex-boyfriend Logan is now sleeping with a mother figure. Current boyfriend Duncan slept with Veronica while suspecting that she was his sister. On what planet is either of these two guys remotely normal?

 

After school job: check. Okay, the restaurant one is fairly normal but not so much the detecting job.

 

Parents: check. Veronica is part of a single parent family. Mother Lianne has a history of alcoholism, affairs, theft and disappearing. She's the "normal" parent. Dad Keith is so far above average as a parent that he's off the scale. Any teenager in America would be lucky to have a parent like Keith and a relationship like Veronica has with him.

 

Other adult authority figures: check. This is a mixed bag. Sheriff Lamb is a jerk, but Deputy Leo is a sweetie. The interesting person in this category is Neptune high principal, Mr. Clemmons. As is evidenced in the Mystery of the Week resolution, Principal Clemmons seems to respect and trust Veronica a great deal, highly atypical in a teen drama. How cool is it that he comes to the restaurant and electronically eavesdrops on Veronica's say-so?

 

Does the average teenager (assuming such an entity actually exists) really want to be normal?

Wouldn't they much rather be pretty, athletic, smart, popular? Although, perhaps that's what most teens mean when they say "normal." They want to conform to the image of a perfect life: pretty, athletic, smart, and popular. But nobody really has that life. It's not normal, it's a fairy tale. Think back over Veronica's classmates from last year. To name just a few:

 

Mac: switched at birth.

Troy: devious drug runner

Casey: who inherited his grandmother's money and lived with a cult

John Smith: whose father is now female

Duncan or Logan: see previous comments on Veronica's boyfriends

 

I'll tell you who was normal. Meg and the other kids who returned to school on the stinky bus because their dad didn't send a limo to pick them up and they didn't see a ghostly image of their murdered best friend run by and distract them from getting back on the bus. Look where normal got them. Dead at the bottom of a cliff. Normal is highly over-rated.

 

 

YOU'VE GOT TO PICK SIDES

 

"You've got to pick sides in this town these days. And you've picked yours" Calvin tells Veronica. In the season one opener Veronica was alienated from the 09ers. This season begins with her back with an 09er boyfriend and therefore now alienated from her "have-not" friends. Except for Wallace, of course. Wonder when we'll hear Wallace's thoughts on Veronica's choice of boyfriends.

 

Rob Thomas is not the least bit subtle in laying out several themes for this season. He repeats Veronica's doomed hope of being normal several times. I think we can safely say that that topic has been dealt with and is dead in the water. He also states explicitly, at least twice, the bald fact of class divisions in Neptune. I suspect things are going to get far worse before they get better.

 

Any town as economically unbalanced as Neptune, with it's spoiled, super-rich Paris Hilton wantabees side by side with the children of the hired help, is going to have social tension. Haves and have-nots. And the normal tension has been further exacerbated by the murder of PCHer Felix and the non-trial of his accused assailant, Logan Echolls. I am a bit intrigued by Veronica's voiceover comment: "another rich kid getting off scot-free." Is there a piece of missing backstory, which will eventually be filled in, or was this just an off-the-cuff comment?

 

Then, after beating the rap, Logan actively stirs up additional animosity by (literally) pouring gas on the fire. Is he totally motivated by self-destruction? This action takes place even before Veronica breaks up with him.

 

Clearly class warfare is going to be a big issue in Neptune this year.

 

 

THIS IS NEPTUNE. NOTHING HAPPENS ACCIDENTALLY

 

"Nothing happens accidentally" is the third general theme that is clearly stated at least twice during the episode. RT wasn't taking any chances that the viewers would miss this concept. So, yeah, we get that the bus over the cliff was no accident. But I'm pretty sure this will be another "watchword" to keep in mind throughout the season. Among other things I'm pretty sure it was no accident that the solution to this week's MOTW involved not a single perpetrator, but a conspiracy. And it is no accident that Veronica has been yanked out of her so-called normal life smack back into the middle of simmering jealousies, racial unrest, unknown murderers and mayhem. Getting into college will be a breeze compared to surviving senior year.

 

 

MYSTERY OF THE WEEK

 

Someone, somehow, has altered the drug tests of a number of NHS's leading athletes, causing them to be suspended for the entire year. Veronica's approach to the mystery is methodical and professional: find the link between those who passed the drug test and those who failed. When the most obvious connection, Principal Clemmons' son "Butters", falls through (twice, in fact---he neither forged the results, nor spiked the spirit cookies), Veronica doesn't hesitate to admit the error and move on to look a bit deeper. Personally, I thought the resolution was a bit of a stretch and wrapped up rather quickly but the storyline served its purposes:

 

 

 

WHAT'S TO LOVE

 

Keith Mars

 

Keith and Veronica interaction

 

Keith and Wallace interaction

 

Pretty much every line of dialogue to come out of Keith's mouth.

 

Snarky dialogue throughout. So much so that there is too much to quote here. Just go rewatch the episode. (What? If RT can repeat his themes repeatedly, then so can I.)

 

Rob Thomas' asides to the viewer, disguised as dialogue:

Veronica and Wallace break into Neptune High after hours. Veronica voices the thoughts of the viewers: "Scary, isn't it? The lax security." Then moments later Wallace observes: "Alter it back? I was wondering where we were drawing that ethical line this year?" I took this to mean that RT is more than aware of viewer discussions last year over some of Veronica's rather shady transactions.

 

Repetition:

Normal

Take sides

Nothing happens accidentally

"Your boyfriend is here." Repeated once for each boyfriend.

Dick calling Logan, "Bro." Twice, just before Logan heads off with Mrs. C. Just in case we weren't picking up on the Oedipal images. Urk.

 

Oh, and did I say: Keith Mars!

 

 

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

 

What's up with Woody Goodman (Steve Guttenberg)?

Who caused the bus crash?

Who was the intended victim?

Who killed Felix?

Are these two mysteries related?

What is ahead for Veronica and Logan? (She asks--optimistically believing that V/D is not RT's OTP.)

Is Logan right-handed? The knife was in his right hand.

Who thinks foreshadowing was involved in Vincent (aka Butters) Clemmons observation: "Justice: it can be a bitch."

Oh, and when did Jake Kane divorce Celeste and marry Geena Davis?

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

I'll miss Kyle Secor. And what's up with Clarence Weidmann? I wonder which, if any, storylines from season one will be followed up? Personally, I'd just as soon Lianne stay gone.

 

The new journalism teacher really was too stupid to live. A handful of kids on the bus and she can't tell Veronica is missing?

 

I thought the whole scene at the ballpark with Woody Goodman, daughter Gia, the baseball player and Veronica clinging to Duncan's arm was awkward and uncomfortable. This is the one false note in an excellent episode.

 

Logan is the new Veronica--falsely (we assume) accused but unable to prove his innocence, and with significant gaps in his memory; cutting himself off from those around him.

 

Oh, and, I was right that Veronica was hoping for Logan at the door and did recognize him. The querying tone in her voice was due to concern over his condition. Rob Thomas has spoken.

 


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