Season 2

Episode 6

 

RAT SAW GOD: Fire and Ice

By Spring Summers – 12-NOV-2005

 

Whew. What an episode. I loved the return of Clarence and Abel and Aaron and especially Cliff (what a great character, and what a wonderful actor) and the references to last season’s events. And I adored Joss Whedon’s role as a troll. Too cute! I watched the ep several times, just for the fun, but I also tried to let the underlying themes sink in. It was challenge. Usually, an episode’s title will give me a big clue about the ep’s main thrust, but . . Rat Saw God?

 

It took 2 seconds of web-searching to find out that series creator Rob Thomas wrote a book with a very, very similar title: Rats Saw God. And I learned that it was set in high school. From the summaries I found, I also discovered that the book had coming-of-age themes similar to those we see weekly on Veronica Mars: Identity issues, the tribulations of young love, parent problems. But that doesn’t help much in understanding the title. It just begs the question: What did this title mean in the first place? And here’s all I’ve got for you, here’s the note it hits for me, here’s what it makes me think of:

 

From The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (1881-1906):


ART (n): This word has no definition. Its origin is related as follows by the ingenious Father Gassalasca Jape, S.J.:


One day a wag – what would the wretch be at?

Shifted a letter of the cipher RAT,

And said it was a god's name!


So – art is just “rat” with a letter shifted, and furthermore, it then becomes a god’s name! And for some reason, Veronica, when she lies to her father about her whereabouts, decides to tell him she’s shopping in a “funny little art gallery” downtown. We watch Veronica set up an art display. In Thomas’ novel, the protagonist is part of a group calling themselves “Grace Order of Dadaists” (GOD – with the “D” in God’s name standing for Dadaist.) Ah, that all important D:


VERONICA: “Some of us were going to see the Stained show.”

DOUGLAS (our favorite car rental guy, later in conversation): “But I can get you a Regal . . . which would be a great way to see Stain.”

VERONICA: “Duh. Stain-duh.”


Duh-duh. Da-da! What’s Dadaism? It’s non-art art; it’s nonsense sense; it’s meaningless meaning; it’s the non-answer answer to everything. Its spirit is one of rebellion. It flies in the face of the status quo; it ignores rules and limits; it rallies against established realities. It parades emotion ahead of intellect. It is relativism in the extreme: Nothing matters – the only Truth is the one the viewer perceives. One thing, one answer, is every bit as good as another. Dadaism celebrates the role of chaos over order in creation – of the elemental breakdown of Fire, over the crystalline formation of Ice.


So – what’s this got to do with our episode? Well, we can note the presentation of both fire and ice images in the episode – Logan’s house is aflame; Veronica finds a dead body in the ice machine. But it’s more than just that: The whole episode is about what matters. Like Dadaism, this episode asks: Does anything matter? It asks us in particular if Truth matters, as we watch Veronica tell a compassionate lie to the dying Abel Koontz, and Aaron Echolls wonder what a jury will believe. But unlike Dadaism, this episode doesn’t give us a “no” answer. It doesn’t give us any answer at all.


VERONICA: “The killer, his name is Carlos Mercado.”

CLARENCE: “Good. Some of the marked bills showed up at a Caesar’s Palace. Now we have a name, and a place.”

VERONICA: “All you need. But he’s a diplomat’s son, Clarence. He’ll be extradited to Argentina.”

 

A name, and a place - is that all you need? Listen to this episode and you’ll hear it over and over and over: References to WHO you are and WHERE you are, references to NAMES and PLACES. Here’s just a taste of what I mean:

 

  • WITNESS: “Are you the sheriff? . . . I’m the one that made the anonymous phone call.”
  • LOGAN: “I’m a total piece of crap.”
  • GIA (to Dick): “You don’t even know where your dad went?”
  • VERONICA (to Gia): “I guess that makes you Neptune’s first daughter.”
  • ABEL: “Veronica Mars. VERONICA: Abel Koontz?”
  • VERONICA: “Hi. Are you Mike?”
  • MIKE: “I don’t know where she is. The last place I saw her was in Ibiza.”
  • LOGAN (to Cliff): “Where were you?”
  • CLIFF (answering the phone): “It’s Cliff.”
  • AARON (to Logan): “What are you doing here?”
  • CLARENCE (to subordinate): “Where have you been?” (to Veronica) “What are you doing here?”
  • DUNCAN (to Veronica): “So which is the better place? Chasers or Seńor Shrimp?”
  • STACY (the car-rental girl, to Veronica): “OK. As of two days ago, they were right here.” (Points to place on map.)
  • BLONDE GIRL (on the video link): “Are you Veronica?”
  • KEITH (to Veronica): “Where are you? Where are you right now?”
  • AARON: “Why did you come here, Keith?”
  • KEITH (to Aaron): “You’re the one who’s gonna pay for it.”

 

Everyone wants a name, and a place to call their own. All our characters are struggling, like Wallace, to find themselves and their places. But after you do all that work, does it even matter who you are? Where you are?

 

  • Keith tells Veronica to go ahead to the party; he’s got Cliff to keep him company, says Keith. Cliff will do.
  • Amelia left Mike stranded. She had $3 million to keep her company, says Mike. The $3 million will do.
  • Cliff doesn’t care if Veronica refreshes his drink with gin or some other alcohol; he’s not particular. Any drink is as good as another.
  • Dick tells Logan it might as well have been Logan having an affair with Kendall – it was either him, or the cable guy. Logan will do.
  • There are two references to twins: The Bush Twins, and The Olsen twins – a girl, and a spare. Do you suppose it matters, to Logan, whether Mary Kate or Ashley is to his left, or right, in that Olsen twin sandwich?
  • Cliff got two, no doubt interchangeable, suits for $500.
  • Veronica misses Wallace, but she does all right alone, and then with Clarence as partner, doesn’t she?

 

And listen to car rental agency manager Douglas, yelling at his subordinate, Stacy:

DOUGLAS: “I’m here. I’m doubly here. There’s two of me. I’ve got places to be. I want you to lock up and take care of those files.”

 

There’s two of him! (VERONICA, to Clarence: “No need to call yourself to escort me out.”) All the references to adequate substitutes and twins and My Three Sons (wacky sitcom family, Fred MacMurray, Douglas, Mike, Chip!) are a repudiation of the accepted and highly valued tenets of individualism. You aren’t unique or uniquely needed – it doesn’t matter what you choose, or who you are, or what you file away, or if anyone really, really likes you. Pick out whomever you want, at the Gas ‘n Sip. Logan’s casa es Weevil’s casa. Duncan’s place is Logan’s place. Duncan’s clothes are Logan’s clothes. Amelia’s boyfriend is on the left. No, wait - he’s on the right! I am you. You are me. If it’s not you, it’ll be the cable guy. Do you remember which one was Thelma, and which one was Louise? And:

 

  • People translate for each other. (Douglas translates German into English; Logan “translates” Spanish into English.)
  • Together, Aaron and Cliff get through to Logan about getting a good lawyer. (LOGAN: “You’re kinda winning me over.”)
  • Twice, there is a mention of a “gun to the head” as a means of influencing others. (Amelia’s friend Dawn says she practically had to put a gun to Amelia’s head to get her on the Booze Cruise; Logan says he wouldn’t live in Weevil’s roach motel of a family house, even if someone put a “gun to his head.”)
  • Abel pleads with Veronica to help him. He gets through to her by begging.
  • Veronica flatters and tricks cooperation out of Douglas and Stacy at Lariat Car Rental.
  • Clarence forces Mike’s cooperation with violence and threats.

 

Lines and individual borders blur – people invade each other’s spaces, they intrude – they poke and prod at each other and influence one another. Look how easily Keith can get to Aaron. And there are frequent references to family ties (e.g., Logan is a chip off the old block, and Veronica and Keith are “so close,” per Don), and to sex and sexual images. It all serves to further underline the kind of meshing that connects all our dots, and blends us into an indistinguishable whole.

 

The “what matters or doesn’t” theme is further hammered by the constant reference to numbers and prices and value and what our characters have earned and can afford – the 10 to 15 years, the expensive lawyer vs the public defender, what Cliff owes Veronica and vice-versa, the chintzy t-shirt you get in Europe or at Seńor Shrimp, the too pricey Buick Regal, the $30 rooms, the $200,000 bail, and Logan’s ability to buy Weevil’s grandmother’s house.

 

I mentioned earlier that the episode doesn’t provide us any answers, about what matters (if anything), or about whether the world should end in fire, or in ice. The Dadaist images of relativism and randomness are juxtaposed against images of the significance of individuals (“I’m the one,” “you’re the one,” “that doesn’t sound like you much,” learning, self-improvement, and being alone references), established prices and values and individual power (as mentioned above) and the importance of social structure. We get several references to paperwork and what’s official. People say “sorry” and “thank you” and “excuse me,” over and over and over in this episode. I won’t bore you with a long list here – I’ll just give you this one example, and ask you to listen for the rest:

 

KEITH (making the post-election call to his successful opponent): “Just good race and all that- the usual pleasantries.”

 

And Don actually sounds sincere, later, when he tells Keith he was sorry he missed the traditional call. They are rivals and little love is lost between them, but both lawmen genuinely believe in, and respect, the importance of custom and social order. Even Logan – ever the iconoclast, the boy with the combustible house and father - insists that Deputy Sachs do him “the courtesy of making it all official like.” (And oh – I just have to comment here on a line from a Veronica voiceover. The voiceover occurs right after Veronica tells Gia what she thinks of Dick – Casablancas, that is: “Dick is just Dick.” It’s about the Deputy as he arrives at Gia’s party: “Deputy Sachs? Now that’s ballsy. Busting the Mayor’s kid’s party on election night.” Yes, I must agree. That’s some ballsy Sachs!)

 

And later, Logan chooses logic over emotion, when he decides that he shouldn’t gamble his life on a public defender – much as it would feel good to do spite his father. The dictates of traditional wisdom prevail.

 

Comments by Dick (“Is it now a crime to kill a Mexican?”), and by Weevil and his buddies, further emphasize the significance of a different kind of social order – not the structure provided by laws and etiquette, but the artificial construct of social classes. The PCHers grumble about the way Logan’s money and “white boy” status have allowed him to “walk.” So on top of the images that suggest the very real need for everyday niceties, we have the suggestion that established hierarchies are not always of the good, and rebellion –fire, in fact- is required for a meltdown. “I’m officially calling life unfair,” says Veronica, when her dad loses the election.

 

We don’t get any philosophical answers, we’re just examining the questions. Does anything matter? Is the individual illusion, or important? Is there such a thing as objective Truth? Does it matter, what the Truth is? (KEITH, to Aaron: “I don’t care if you’re behind the crash, or not.”)

 

And the same can be said about the practical answers – we don’t get any in this episode, we’re just looking at the questions. But I’m going take some guesses at some of those answers, anyhow:


1) Did Aaron actually kill Lilly? Or did Duncan kill Lilly? Or?

 

My guess is that Aaron killed Lilly. That’s a great story Aaron’s thought up about Duncan, and really, it’s quite a believable story. But I still vote for Aaron as the murderer, for the same reason Logan didn’t believe him – if he is so innocent, why did he go after Veronica and try to kill her? Not only did Aaron’s extreme reaction to Veronica’s discovery of the videotape suggest that he was guilty, but it also demonstrates that he’s perfectly capable of murder.

 

2) Was that really Amelia in the ice machine?

 

My guess is yes, that was Amelia. Why? Because of the way the motel clerk reacted to Veronica’s call, when she phones to ask about Amelia’s boyfriend. As soon as he realizes who is on the phone, he says: “Holy crap! You know the cops –,” and then Veronica cuts him off with, “I know.” Now – why would the clerk make an immediate connection between Veronica and the body in the ice machine, unless the body was Amelia? If it had been anyone else, why would he even mention it to Veronica? (And let me add how much I loved the motel clerk portrayal.) Amelia could have a twin or something, but ooook. That would be way too cheesy.

 

3) Did Aaron have anything to do with the bus crash?

 

My guess is no. Obviously, it was deliberate murder. But I don’t peg Aaron as someone who would kill who knows how many kids, and possibly even Logan, just to take out Veronica. Surely, he, or a hired gun, could come up with a simpler, narrower plan. My bet is that this crash has something to do with Woody Goodman. What it has to do with Woody - well, I have no idea. But the crash happened after the kids said goodbye to Woody, and he is one shady character.

 

Well, I’ve written many words here, but I still haven’t really, completely explained my theory for this episode title – Rat Saw God - have I? OK, here ya go: Rat? That would be a reference to art – “rat” with one letter shifted. And so, we’ve got – Art Saw God. The art in question? The episode itself, of course. The God, then? Well who else would the God of Veronica Mars be, but its creator, Rob Thomas? Hmmmm. But Rob doesn’t make an appearance in the episode, does he? Joss does. Heck – Jenna/Barbara, Mary-Kate/Ashley, Rob/Joss - what’s the difference?

 

***


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