Season 2

Episode 4

 

Green Eyed Monster: Your ass is mine

By Spring Summers – 21-OCT-2005

 

Jealousy. It can make people crazy; it can make them panic; they can be blind with it. We see both ends of the spectrum in this episode – from Julie’s blind certainty that Colin is cheating on her, to Wallace and Veronica’s blind faith that Jackie and Duncan are NOT doing the same to them. And in between, we have Jackie’s upset when Wallace chooses Veronica over her, Keith’s suspicions about Alicia’s ex, and Logan & Veronica’s testy, tense and jealousy-flavored encounter with each other.

 

Jealousy starts when a relationship progresses to the point that a feeling of possession begins to take hold. Over and over in this episode, the word “mine” is used, and people talk about what belongs to them. Here are some examples among many:

 

  • Does the sheriff’s office belong to Keith, or Don?
  • Jackie jokingly announces to everyone in the high school hallway that Wallace belongs to her.
  • Alicia is not Keith’s old lady; she’s his special lady friend. But either way – she’s his.
  • The house belongs to Nicholas Cage, not Colin.
  • The earring belongs to Weevil.
  • Nathan tells Keith that Alicia “has something of mine.” And what would that be? None other than Wallace. Wallace, it seems, belongs to Nathan.
  • Duncan mentions the “Kane legacy” and Meg’s sister Liz reminds him that he is the son of a computer tycoon. He belongs to the Kanes.

 

But, my fellow Martians, I believe there is more going on here with Duncan and Lizzie. Meg, I think, is pregnant, or was pregnant and had an abortion. Why else would her parents want to “pull the plug” (as sister Liz says) if they read what is on her laptop? It fits with over-protective and apparently Catholic parents (notice Liz’s Catholic schoolgirl outfit, and mention of Irish Catholics later). A preggers Meg also fits with Meg’s extremely hurt and angry behavior earlier this season, the strange and secretive way Duncan is behaving, and the clues in the “continuing the Kane legacy” mention. And did you notice this? Right after Veronica compares Duncan and Colin by saying that they are both men she “failed to seduce,” she tries to gain a better understanding of Colin by looking at his “browser history.” And what’s in his browser history? Well, lookie there. It’s a genealogy site. And I’m thinking Duncan’s “browser” shows some past hits on a “genealogy site” as well. I’d bet my bottom dollar.

 

And speaking of bottoms, let’s get back to jealousy. Yes, it makes an ass out of most of our characters in this episode. And the views and mentions of the figurative assitude are reinforced by literal assitude. Take a careful look and listen:

 

Look:

 

  • Alicia’s ass wiggles in the forefront of the shot, as she gives Keith a ham sandwich.
  • Jackie slaps Wallace’s bottom.
  • Jackie’s butt threatens to fill the screen, as she climbs onto Wallace’s lap.
  • Veronica nearly gives us a Dan Ackroyd/refrigerator repairman ass-crack moment, as she squats down, in her short, low riding skirt, to take the air out of her tire.
  • Wallace grins as Veronica sticks her behind in the air, while she bends down to look into the car’s side mirror and tries to tempt Colin into making a move on her.

 

Listen:

 

  • ALICIA (to Wallace): “I’m not just smacking the ass of some D&D geek, right?”
  • NATHAN (to Keith): “You’re gonna be pulling that camera out your –“
  • WALLACE (to Veronica): “When you assume, you really just make an ass out of you.”
  • WALLACE (to Veronica): “Just go Lolita his ass. Lemme do my thing.”
  • LOGAN (to Veronica): “What conspiracy theory have you pulled out of your ass this time?”
  • MAC (to Liz): “You must have some nosy-ass parents.”
  • KEITH (to Don): “I’m thinking I might have a boot for you too. Any ideas where I can put it?”
  • KEITH (to Veronica): “Can you file this under cases I don’t have time for that my disobedient daughter can take behind my back?”

 

Everyone is worrying what’s going on behind their backs, and being real asses about it. Yes, - there is booty, booty everywhere, yet nary any booty to be had, as jealousy cools our hot relationships way, way down.

 

Possessiveness, the idea of belonging to or possessing others, is emphasized with continual shots of circles. (The ep opens with a shot of a circle, and there are many other views of circles - even if you don’t count the ass shots). We see donuts and tires and tire boots and hair rollers; we hear about Weevils hoops. This is also reinforced by the mention of social circles. Groups to which we belong, and on which we hang considerable portions of our very identities, are mentioned frequently:

 

  • The middle class/the lower middle class
  • Social betters/09ers
  • Irish Catholics
  • Jews/Hebrew
  • Foreign men
  • Scottish
  • Latin
  • Chinese food

 

Mr Pasqua is stuck in Mr Pastorelli’s file, where he doesn’t belong.

 

Much talk of money, gifts, sweets and temptation also remind us of the sorts of things that buy and sway our allegiance, that begin to give us that sense of possession that can overtake our senses, get us running on pure deep-green emotion, and cloud our reception. Note the images about “reception” and people having trouble with receivers. Here are some examples:

 

  • “Reception” says the sign on Veronica’s desk at the start of the episode.
  • We get a close up of a phone receiver in Veronica’s ear. But listen closely: All she’s getting is a dial tone. Veronica, Veronica, Veronica. You’re never gonna get the message that way.
  • Wallace, Veronica’s partner in blind faith, is also seen (outside Nick Cage’s house) having trouble with the receiver for the mic that Veronica is carrying. It crackles in his ear; he’s not sure what’s going on. He makes an ass out of himself because he’s so clueless due to the poor reception.
  • Note that Julie’s last name is “Block,” and Veronica says to her at one point: “Have you gotten there yet?” In other words: “Is it getting through, Ms Block?”

 

There’s loads of geometry in the episode, with the mention of trig, the various triangles, the circles, and then the straight lines: The straight lines of the track that Colin is running on, the vertical stripe on the side of his sweat pants as he runs, the subtle vertical lines in his blue shirt as he stays straight and true blue to Julie (while Veronica does her best dirty school girl), and the very, very similar shirt Logan is wearing, when he encounters Veronica in the sunshine outside the school.

 

“Right place, wrong time,” Veronica tells Julie when Julie first comes into Mars Investigations on a Sunday. There is a lot of talk about time, of people being late and such, and Logan shows us his watch. We’re getting some kind of clue or foreshadowing here, I think - about the bus-mystery, maybe. Or maybe it’s just in reference to the folly of waiting until it’s too late, the way Julie does, due to her own fears and insecurities. She “finally gets there,” to the “right place,” when she opens that box from Veronica, but: wrong time. It’s way too late. And there’s an obvious parallel being drawn between Julie & Colin and Veronica & Logan, and it’s not just about the matching blue shirts. Like Julie with Colin, Veronica keeps accusing Logan of evil, because of surface indications and her own fears. Will she dig deep enough, soon enough? Does she need to buy a Gold Plan?

 

Near the end of the episode, we hear Veronica, in a voiceover, tell us that we all want to be loved for ourselves. Of course, step one in achieving that goal, is being yourself – showing others your true self. Know you’re gorgeous without needing to hear it from others. Know you’re clever even when you’re told by Dad, who’s taking his anger at someone else out on you, that you aren’t half as clever as you think you are. Know who your daddy is; know who your friends are. Know yourself; show yourself. Then, you can be loved for yourself.

 

This is an episode is full of costumes and cover-ups. Listen to Duncan say yes to the masquerade: “Costumes yes. Props no.” But Veronica tells Weevil, that really, you should always wear your good underwear. So true, Veronica: The bling shouldn’t conceal any nasty surprises below. What’s under the clothes doesn’t always match the tailored look on top, does it? And when your receiver’s on the fritz, it can be a real challenge to notice the questionable underwear. But I’m going to rub Weevil’s head, and wish Veronica good luck.

 

***


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