OPEN CASE:  VERONICA MARS

===================================================

Season 2

Episode 15

Written by:  John Serge

"The Quick and the Wed":  Seeing the Whole Picture

 

By Sue

 

Mystery of the Week:

 

The MOTW is a perfect template for the MOTS (Mysteries of the Season).  Like every good mystery we are presented with a table covered in puzzle pieces.  And this is an "expert level" puzzle.  We are not given a finished picture to merely replicate----not even the outline or a border to suggest it's final shape.  We have to make it up as we go along.  Sometimes we'll fit several pieces together only to find that we've hit a dead end and we must actually disassemble parts and start over.  To make it even more complicated there are a number of "extra" pieces on the table, which actually aren't even needed to complete the puzzle.  Trouble is, we won't know until we're finished which ones were unnecessary.  Worst of all, we aren't even sure whether we are constructing one large puzzle or two smaller ones; puzzles that may or may not interlock. 

 

Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh.

 

So how do we proceed?  Follow Veronica's example:  one clue at a time.  In the MOTW Veronica follows each lead:  interviewing Heidi's friends, getting Keith to track and monitor her cell phone and her credit and ATM cards, looking for evidence and a paper trail, revisiting the site where she was last seen.  As she proceeds she draws some tentative conclusions, which later turn out to be incorrect.  But this is the nature of problem solving.  You have to come up with a tentative hypothesis to test and see if the pieces fit together to support your guess.  Otherwise you are dead and unmoving in the water: paralyzed, not by an absence of evidence, but rather swamped by a tidal wave of information almost too large and complex to sort into meaningful connections.  Yes, we've previously criticised Veronica for jumping to conclusions before examining all the evidence but, as in puzzle building, you have to start somewhere.  And Veronica is learning to be a bit more cautious about acting on her early assumptions.  When she and Wallace locate Heidi's "abandoned" car Wallace asks, "What am I going to tell Jane?"  To which Veronica very sensibly replies, "Let's not freak out until there is something concrete to freak out about."  Too bad Keith didn't investigate the explosives further before sharing the information about the explosives with Sheriff Lamb.

 

It's a thin line between jumping to conclusions and testing a reasonable hypothesis.  It certainly looked as if Nick had contacted Heidi and she has left Paul to go off with her ex.  Of course once Veronica discovers find out that the fax wasn't sent by Nick, that the broken wineglass is entirely irrelevant and harmless, that the text messages couldn't have been sent by Kim because she lost her phone, that Vinnie is working for the Mann family, and that Heidi was falsely led to believe that Paul had dumped her, Veronica is able to re-evaluate the big picture and bring it into better focus.  It was a great MOTW with a lovely and satisfying resolution and it provides a good pattern for looking at the bigger picture.

 

Now, let's see how this method of mystery solving might apply to our larger puzzles.

 

 

"Jane, that's a torso."  ~Veronica to Jane

 

          If you've never made a habit of re-watching the episodes, now would be an excellent time to start.  After the third viewing I am convinced that nearly every single line had more than one meaning.  Of course, there were the single, double and multiple entrendres.  The exchanges between Kendall and Aaron, Kendall and Cassidy, Veronica and Vinnie, Veronica and Vinnie redux, Veronica and Logan are worth multiple rewinds just for the shear fun of it.  But I'm seriously betting that as the season winds up.... and then down.... and then maybe up again.... we will look back on this episode and say, "Oh.my.goodness.  There it was: the clue we should have seen."

 

          Right now I'm not exactly sure whether we are even seeing a complete torso or just a big toe--and on whose foot?  Pieces, pieces everywhere but never a complete picture.  Still, in the end the torso was covered in a bowling shirt--which led to Vinnie--which really solved the mystery.  Is the rat a bowling shirt or an easily explained second wineglass? 

 

 

"Penises can sometimes be distracting."  ~Veronica to Heidi's friends

 

          This episode is chock full of pretty, shiny distractions.  So many priceless lines of dialogue to consider.  Are they clues?  Signposts?  Foreshadowing?  False leads?  Extraneous pieces?  Distracting body parts?  Much like Heidi's apartment, there is so much stuff strewn around that it's impossible to know if anything is missing.  What might be the shiny giant diamond ring that is so casually introduced at the beginning of the episode and turns out to be pivotal to understanding motive?  Why do I feel like we may have already seen the diamond but unthinkingly dismissed its importance?

 

          The doctor claims he saw three bikers on the bridge and that Logan wasn't in immediate peril.  Wait--- the doctor was never actually on the bridge at all.  So were there really ever three bikers (Felix, Thumper and Hector one presumes) there with Logan at all? 

 

          On the other hand, much like finding the missing camera, Keith's questioning of the auto-detailer provides a solid clue.  It's absurdly unlikely that Terrance would have stored explosives where he knew they would be found.  Far more likely that someone is trying to frame him.  [And just when is Keith going to get actively suspicious of Woody, given that it was his hanger and given Gia's testimony?]

 

 

"Quid Pro Quo."  ~Aaron Echolls to Kendall Casablancas

 

          Aaron wants something from Kendall, and not the obvious---which certainly surprises her.  But what?  As if we don't have enough ongoing mysteries now we are trying to figure out what Kendall was supposed to be collecting from the shower drain of Duncan's bathroom.   And what about this little gem of an observation on Veronica's part:  "By the looks of it I'd guess it was the elder Mr. Mann who commissioned the background check, but it was his son who couldn't live with the information."  Has the elder Mr. Echolls commissioned some background information that will prove difficult for his son to live with?

 

          Who else is looking for Quid Pro Quo?  Cassidy and Kendall are both playing one another.  Who is really in control?  What is Cassidy's game?  Is he the player or the played?  Not just in regard to Kendall but with respect to the Neptune real estate market.  Logan is making an exchange with Dr. Griffith, but will he be willing to live up to his half of the bargain?  Keith keeps feeding information to Sheriff Lamb, but doesn't seem to be getting any consideration in return.  Is Logan going to ask Veronica for help again?  If so, what will she require as quid pro quo?

 

 

"If it isn't the puppetmaster."  ~Veronica to Vinnie

 

          As far the MOTW went, Vinnie turned out to be the "puppetmaster" --- faxing Heidi the band's flyer and leaving fake text messages.  And just how wonderfully delightful is it to see the writers' update the arsenal of basic P.I. tricks to the fit 21st century technology?  Replacing the old "rub a pencil over a used notepad to highlight whatever was written on the missing page" with "if this fax machine has storage capabilities."  And text messaging from a known phone number is so much easier than trying to fake Kim's voice on a message machine.  Veronica is right about Vinnie's mad detecting skills. 

 

          But who the heck is the puppetmaster in the larger mysteries?  Who is manipulating the incorporation vote?  Why?  The land deals?  Is it really Cassidy?  As asked above is he the player or the played?  Kendall?  Is working abroad Dick Sr. really behind much of the action?  How many threads is Aaron controlling from prison?  We haven't seen much of Woody but there seem to be a lot of clues pointing in his direction.  Are they merely red herrings?  Is there more than one puppetmaster?  Where does the PCH gang fit in?  The Fitzpatricks?  Is it a conspiracy?

 

 

"Cold feet honey.  It's always cold feet."  ~Keith to Veronica

 

          In the end it did turn out to be about cold feet--Paul's not Heidi's.  I can't help but wonder if any of the other players (dare I say co-conspirators?) will get cold feet?  Looks to me like Logan may already be experiencing some remorse with regard to both his bargain with the not-so-good doctor to stay away from Hannah and also in regard to his behavior toward Hannah.  Did they have sex?  In my mind this is unconfirmed, but Logan's conscience is clearly making a somewhat rare appearance.  Logan is getting hit from all directions with accusations and reminders that "nobody likes you" and "jurors love to convict smug rich boys."  Even Veronica tells him that he has sunk to new depths.  He tries to pass it off as jealousy, but I'm pretty sure that the remark is pure defense mechanism because he clearly agrees with her.  Dr. Griffith's prediction that "someday that smirk is going to get wiped off your face" pretty much plays out before the door even closes behind him. 

 

Did Curly get cold feet regarding his role in the bus crash?  Was that why he had Veronica's name written on his hand?  Will Cassidy get cold feet about his land deals, or will he get burned?  It's hard for me to imagine Aaron, Kendall or Dick getting cold feet over any action and anybody who would deliberately murder eight people (potentially more) has a heart frozen so solid their feet are hardly an issue. 

 

 

"Don't you want to see how it ends?"  ~Dick to Logan

 

          As we try on theories for size and see how the puzzle pieces fit into each new hypothesis I find Veronica's observation to be highly relevant:  "That guy's too big.  That guy's too small.  That guy's--not a guy--just in need of a good stylist.  That guy looks just right."  I'm not sure if my theories are too small, too big, or really just in need of a good stylist but I can't wait to see what Rob Thomas comes up with that will be just right!

 

                   *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

 

The Quick (with a Quip):

 

Kendall--in every single scene.  She brings the snark equally with Cassidy and Logan.  And her scene with Aaron is priceless.

          Cassidy holds his own with Kendall.

          Lamb:  "Well, if Veronica saw them:  I mean, that's like Moses bringing tablets down the mountain to me!"

          Cliff lays it out for Logan:  "With good behavior (beat) should you be able to muster some."

          Vinnie, Vinnie, Vinnie.  Vinnie and Veronica are pure gold.

 

 The "Wed"

 

          Okay, so nobody actually got married by the end but there were a number of notable couples:

Heidi and Paul:  marriage derailed.

          Heidi and Nick:  together again?

          Logan and Hannah:  Beauty and the Beast?  Did they or didn't they?  She defends him mightily to her mother:  "You don't know him.  They don't know him.  I know him."  Sadly, dear, I don't really think you do.  But Logan is touched---and guilt-ridden.

          Logan and Veronica:  It's complicated.

          Kendall and Cassidy:  Her delightful packaging is a means to outwitting her adversaries.  Are they colleagues or adversaries, and who really has the upper hand?

          Kendall and Aaron:  What can you really say but:  CK+AE4EVR!  (or maybe HH+CC4EVR).  Yowza!

          Wallace and Jane:  Cute, sweet, bland. 

          Keith and Lamb:  Not that way, sillies.  But they are definitely a pair!

          Keith and Veronica:  slowly rebuilding the trust.  It was nice to see her asking him for help.

 

and the Dead

 

Lilly---previously dead

Felix

Bus victims**:  Driver Ed Doyle, Journalism teacher Ms Dumas, PCHer Cervando Perez, Gay Teen #1 Marcos Oliveres, Gay Teen #2 Peter Ferrer, Rhonda of the cell phone message, Meg, one unnamed student.
Curly Moran

 

And those not yet dead but definitely in peril of some type of penalty:

Terrance---shot, in surgery, about to be arrested for multiple murders, his career is likely dead.

          Aaron----soon to be on trial.

          Logan----also soon to be on trial.  Emotionally wrecked.

          Veronica----will she be in peril as the season progresses?

 

 

Back to the Beginning

 

 

And, for future reference, a summation of the points RT thought were important enough to re-emphasize in the extensive previouslies:

 

·        Lilly is murdered.

·        Aaron committed the murder.

·        The videotapes of Aaron having sex with Lilly are stolen from the evidence room.

·        Keith observes re Logan stealing the tapes, "For a guy who says he hates his father, you sure did him a huge favor."

·        Logan is on the bridge.  He kicks Weevil and is then beaten by the PCH gang.

·        We see the face of the witness (not the doctor) and Felix's body.

·        Logan in bed with Kendall.

·        Dr. Griffith goes to Sheriff Lamb and claims to have witnessed Felix's murder.  [Hmmm....he's going to have more than the Fitzpatrick gang to deal with is he recants his testimony.   And, where is the actual witness?]

·        Logan tells Veronica Dr. Griffith was never on the bridge:  "I lied."

·        Logan tells Hannah about her father's false testimony and connection to the Fitzpatrick family.

·        Dr. Griffith threatens Logan; Logan wants him to recant.

·        Woody explains his political plans:  "I promised a cleaner, safer Neptune.  Know how I'm going to get there?  Incorporation.

·        Keith replies to Woody, "that's not a town, Woody.  That's a country club."

·        Woody addresses the journalism club at the ballpark.

·        Woody set up the field trip. [Whoever set up the bomb on the bus had to know about the field trip in advance.]

·        Dick Sr sends a limo at Little Dick's request, due to smell of the bus.

·        Veronica misses the bus.

·        Veronica and Weevil arrive at the bus crash site.

·        Lamb questions Veronica about Curly Moran, because her name is written on his palm when his body turns up beaten to death.

·        Veronica realizes that Curly knew Aaron Echolls and knew about sending vehicles over a cliff.

·        Terrance Cook is accused of setting off the crash

·        Keith takes Terrance's case.

·        Veronica questions Keith's motive for helping Terrance.

·        Keith points out Terrance's possible motive---killing Ms. Dumas.

·        Gia tells Lamb that her father told her not to take the bus; Keith also hears this evidence when he steals [borrows?  Has he returned them?] the evidence tapes.  [Why has this info been largely ignored thus far?]

·        Veronica thinks the rat is a message to her and she was the intended victim of the crash.

·        Keith disagrees and thinks the rat's only purpose was to smell---thereby driving "anyone who could afford another ride off the bus."

·        The PCH gang turns on Weevil.

·        Weevil accuses Thumper of murdering Felix.

·        Thumper blackmails Weevil with video footage of Weevil beating Curly--who has turned up dead.

·        Cassidy enlists Kendall as a figurehead front for his knew real estate company.

·        Veronica finds explosives in the hangar where Terrance keeps his cars. [Which belongs to Woody.]

 

 

There are your puzzle pieces, people.  Good luck putting together the big picture!

 

 

**Special thanks to Rae of The Soulful Spike Society for supplying all of the bus crash victims' names for me.

______________________________________________

 

Please join in the discussion of this review at the Soulful Spike Society Message Board. Go there NOW!

If you enjoyed this review and are reading it from outside the Soulful Spike Society website (www.soulfulspike.com), then click the logo below to access the S3 in a new window. There you will find more great reviews, analyses, fanfiction and a link to our marvelous message board.