OPEN CASE:  Veronica Mars

 

 

 


VM 3X01

Aired: 10/03/06

 

Welcome Wagon: All Aboard!

Review by Fotada

 

 

 


Veronica, in voice over: “New school, fresh start. How about you try not to piss anyone off this time around?”

 

College. A good place for a fresh start. A place to try new things, explore new avenues, have fun, and meet new people from different walks of life. It’s where we can discover where we’ve been, where we are, and most importantly of all, where we’re going.

 

 

Where We’ve Been

 

We have to let go of old things, whether it be our LeBaron, our ex-boyfriend’s clothes, or even our familiar opening credits. J  We can’t live in the past. If you use phrases like “Hot dog!” Keith, don’t be surprised if you get mocked. But—we can learn from experience. Veronica should know better than to argue with her father about architecture, because he’s been around a bit longer than she has. So don’t mock your elders, Veronica. Your “Boo ya!” is just as silly as Keith’s expression of excitement and enthusiasm.  

 

 

Where We Are

A continuing theme on Veronica Mars is that of appearance. Things aren’t always what they initially seem. Take a closer look—peel back the layers, think outside the box, dig a little deeper. These phrases are cliché for a reason—they’re important.  In short: don’t rush to judgment.  In the past, Veronica has been accused of doing just that.

 

When we only take a quick glance we might think--

  • Parker looks kind of like a slut
  • Colin Farrell looks kind of like Logan
  • Wearing that blue argyle shirt, Piz looks kind of like Duncan
  • The junior co-ed looks kind of like the thin version of the Welcome Wagon con artist
  • The view from Chrysler building looks kind of like the view from the Empire State Building
  • The teacher’s assistant, Tim Foyle, looks kind of like Lucky (heh)

 

While it’s important to take time to get to know someone, appearances are still important, particularly to young college students. Beauty might be only skin deep, but first impressions do matter. When studly Prof. Landry admonishes students not to miss his class, Veronica’s class mate asserts, “Skip class? I’m going to staple myself to the floor.” Veronica purrs in agreement. Piz jokes that he didn’t want a room mate better looking than he is. He also mocks Veronica’s detective abilities until he sees how attractive she is. Donald Fagan describes the girl selling the guitar as having a “pretty smokin’ bod.”  Piz and Wallace eyeball sunbathers under the pretense of playing hacky sack.

 

Another continued theme of the series is trust. Veronica has been let down by people and circumstances, and she doesn’t put her trust in others very easily. But before Duncan dumped her and before Lilly was murdered, she was probably a lot like Wallace’s new room mate, Piz. Piz is a lover, not a fighter. He’s from Beaverton (*cough*), a quaint suburb filled with salt-of-the earth people. By being too trusting of people, he left himself vulnerable to the Welcome Wagon con. Parker, Mac’s new room mate, also appears to be too trusting. After knowing Veronica for like, 8 seconds, she calls her “sister” and announces, “Mac’s friends are my friends.” Like Piz, she’s a lover.  As Mac explains, “If college was a boy buffet, she has two plates full and boys wrapped in napkins in her purse.”  She left herself vulnerable to the serial rapist.

 

Note: I want to make clear that I don’t think a flirtatious, exuberantly friendly girl is “asking for it” if she gets raped. I theorize that it’s being used as a device to add to the rape mystery. If the rapist targeted studious girls who spent all their time in the library, it wouldn’t take much to solve, and frankly wouldn’t be a very compelling case. But because the rapist is taking advantage of girls who like to party, and who have been seen in the company of several men, the case will be more difficult to solve. I don’t believe Rob Thomas is attempting to use this arc to wag his finger at anyone, I think it’s just an aspect of the story being told.

 

Back to trust issues. It’s not just college students that have their trust betrayed.  For a healthy fee, Keith decides to put his trust in Kendall and her boyfriend Cormac Fitzpatrick, and help them escape the law. Cormac says, “Kendall’s always been a good judge of character. She knows who she can trust and who she can’t.”  In fact, Cormac soon proves this statement as false when steals Keith’s gun and shoots Kendall, apparently in cahoots with his brother Liam. Cormac reveals his true self and confess to Keith, “Guess Kendall wasn’t that great a judge of character after all.” Frighteningly, Keith has left himself vulnerable to a dangerous, two-timing ex-con.

 

Don’t assume the worst of people – but don’t assume the best, either. Follow your common sense. Listen to your inner voice. Stop and ask yourself some questions:

 

  • I’m a private detective and Vinnie the slimeball is my chief competitor. Should I let him mess around with my briefcase?
  • I’m a single dad going out of town. Will my college age daughter send her boyfriend home by midnight?
  • I’m a junior in college, and there’s never been a Welcome Wagon on campus before. Should I not be surprised there is one this year?
  • I left everything I own, including my prized guitar, packed in my car. Is it safe to leave it unlocked and unattended?

 

 

Where We’re Going

 

It’s always a risk to put our trust in someone else, even when it’s someone we care about. Veronica clearly cares for Logan, but I’m still not sure she trusts him. And because Veronica wants college to be her fresh start, she is conflicted about her continuing relationship with him. She asks herself, “Aren’t you the girl who laughed at those idiots who tried to take their high school romances with them to college?” I think Veronica might be forgetting one thing: college is also a fresh start for Logan, and he is clearly on a path of discovering what kind of man he can be. He’s ready to take his relationship with Veronica to a new level, and even more surprisingly, he’s ready to be a real friend to his BFF, Dick. I think if she gives Logan a chance, she’ll realize she’s not such an idiot for being with him.

 

Speaking of Dick, it’s interesting how much he has in common with Parker. Both are pretty and blonde. Both eager puppies ready to hump someone’s—anyone’s—leg. Parker is the good-time girl, a veritable Welcome Wagon. She’s “ready to rock.” She strips off her shirt in front of strangers, she dances with abandon. Dick? He breaks up a rally wearing nothing but a tiny Speedo and does the rump shaker with a blow-up doll. But whereas Parker is a friend to all, Dick is his own worst enemy.

 

By the end of the episode, Parker has been drugged, raped and shorn of her hair. She’s going to need Veronica’s help. Dick has been kneed in the balls, beaten up and kicked out of campus housing. He’s going to need Logan’s help.

 

College. A good place for a fresh start. A place to try new things, explore new avenues, have fun, and meet new people from different walks of life. But it’s also about something else. Something that’s on the tip of my tongue…hmmm…let me think about it for a sec. Frak, what was it? Ah yes! Learning. College is a place to go above and beyond the three R’s. We learn to think outside the box—like Veronica does in her Criminology class. Her class must solve the case of “The Murder on the Riverboat Queen.”  Veronica recalled that it was a popular board game. She also listened to what wasn’t mentioned—there was no rule made that students couldn’t use the internet to get the answer. She rightly assumed that fans of the game would have created discussion boards to discuss spoilers, and she could use them to her benefit. Finally, the professor gave a tell when he said “he” instead of “she,” which confirmed her answer.

 

So what have we learned from Veronica? Gather clues from our surroundings; build on information we already know; add in the information we glean as you investigate; and use a little deductive reasoning. Trust our instincts. And if something seems suspicious, take the time to look beyond initial appearances.

 

Questions for the anal-retentive:

 

  • Is Logan living in the same penthouse as where his father was shot?
  • Has Veronica quit working at the Hut?
  • Does Logan ever use toothpaste when he brushes his teeth?
  • Why does Keith drive a crap Taurus while Veronica gets to have a brand new Saturn?

 

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