OPEN CASE: VERONICA MARS

Season 1 - Episode 7

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR: Crime & Punishment

by Spring Summers – 10--Nov-04

Genesis 4:9 (The Holy Bible, New King James Version):

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

This episode opens with Veronica worrying about whether a neighbor’s tragedy is her fault. Should she have gotten involved? Did she help, or hurt? Is the result her fault, or is it destiny? And the episode explores the concept of blame and credit, the belief in personal responsibility for ourselves and others, vs. the belief in a fickle (and frosty) finger of fate.

Veronica plans to give Sara a ride to the doctor; Mr Daniels’ co-worker (Lisa) gives him a ride to work and offers a ride home when his car is mysteriously missing; André (hey – isn’t that . . . Parker?) gives his model a ride to the train station. The word neighbor is mentioned several times in The Girl Next Door - and good neighbors are there for the girl (or boy, or man, or woman, or dog) next door. They give you a lift, when you need one. They check on you, when you don’t show up. They run upstairs and save you from your crazed stepfather, when they overhear serious trouble. And when they’re in for a penny, they’re in for a pound: They have the cajones to help you get into trouble? Then they’d better have the cajones to help get you out of trouble. (And Logan, buddy – you had me worried for almost a second there, but my apologies. That’s the last time I underestimate the size of your cajones.)

Good neighbors lend a hand, when you’re tired of playing with yourself. There are many references to what we do to ourselves (“Let’s not kid ourselves”) as opposed to what others do for and with us (“We’re in the middle of a game.”) In particular, there are many masturbation and sexual gratification references in the episode (“Should I let myself slide?”). SEX – a perfect symbol of our overwhelming need for others; a prime example of a drive that forces us to take responsibility for others, and for ourselves – or to ultimately reveal ourselves, like Sara’s stepfather, as a user and abuser.

Our actions have real consequences, for ourselves and others. I pay, you pay - we all pay. Weevil complains that he’s taking undeserved punishment, when all he did was laugh at Logan (and Logan is hilarious, kinda like a not-so-nice Xander.) Veronica asks if she is grounded. And Logan, our resident expert on crime and punishment, walks into the vice-principal’s office, and chooses which belt.

Then Veronica said to Lilly, “What is going on with Duncan, your brother?” She said, “I don’t know. He’s just weird.”

Advancing the season’s Lilly-mystery-arc, familial, as well as social relationships are emphasized in the episode, as everyone is asking the question: “Who’s your daddy?”

· Veronica uses the threat of her father’s law enforcement connections to try to intimidate André.

· Logan uses his father fame to force the vice-principal’s hand.

· André is NOT the baby’s father, and neither is Sara’s boss – the step-father is the daddy.

· That’s Sara’s step-father, not her father.

And OK – I know what you’re thinking: Is Jake Veronica’s daddy? That’s certainly what is being implied, and it surely is what Veronica is wondering, as she zones out while Keith mentions André’s commitment to raising a child that is not his own. But me? I’m thinking big, big mislead, here. “Earth to Mars!” says Keith, sounding way too nonchalant, as he talks to Veronica on the subject of step-parenting, for this to be the BIG SECRET keeping Duncan and Veronica apart. Could I be wrong? Soy-ton-lee! I just hope I’m not wrong, because I didn’t sign on for a soap opera, and it’ll be disappointing, if that’s the answer. (Also, Veronica seems to be younger than Duncan, so – yes, of course, it could still work, but . . . I don’t like it.)

Deliberate parallels are drawn between André and Keith – they both talk about “sleeping through” disruptive events, and they both, in somewhat similar ways, pooh-pooh Veronica’s dramatic “Hitchcockian” presentation of the facts. André seems to have drawn a self-portrait: It’s him, with his hand over his eyes (hands, hands, hands – hand references aplenty, as the ep explores the way we influence each other’s fates, they way we get our hands in.) But still: I’m voting mislead – like the “André is a bad guy” mislead, and like the “Logan is gonna let Weevil take the heat” mislead, and (I think) like the “Weevil was sleeping with Lilly” mislead or maybe like the “Chihuahua named Killer” mislead.

Certainly, as I watch Veronica wander, in the semi-darkness, through the artistic representations in her neighbors’ apartment, I wonder about what André calls her “dark fantasies”: Are her suspicions about the true circumstances of her birth all due to her vivid, colorful imagination – or are they accurate reflections of fact? Like the graffiti on the wall, and the car on the flagpole, one person’s art is another person’s eyesore.

What’s real? Ah – the amazing things we can create with our own two hands: Varying versions of ourselves, each other, our surroundings, our lives, perfect lives, new lives – new stories. And then there is raw reality, the forces of chaos that come to visit us on motorcycles, to force us to admit the truth.

So – did we learn any new solid truths in the episode? Here’s all I’ve got:

· Lilly and Weevil . . . have a connection.

· Jake & Lianne were an item in high school.

· Duncan had a solid, but secret, reason for breaking off with Veronica.

· Keith Mars definitely is a law man who is not at all afraid to use a gun.

And in my vivid imagination, what do I think? I think that:

· Lilly Kane actually IS Weevil’s little sister (don’t ask me how, I just like this theory. Maybe Weevil’s mother – where is she? - worked as a maid for the Kanes at one time? Hey - it could happen!)

· Veronica is Lianne & Keith’s daughter – biological daughter, all the way.

· The secret that is keeping Duncan and Veronica apart is that . . . uh. . . uhm . . . OK. I haven’t got anything on that one, yet.

The brother-sister thing works perfectly as something that would immediately convince both Duncan and Lilly that Duncan & Veronica are a no-go as a couple. And it works perfectly as something that they would hide from others.

But at this point, I want to hang on to my fantasies, and to my higher hopes for this arc, and this series. Rob Thomas is the name of the man who is listed as the “Creator and Executive Producer” of this series. I’ve never heard of him before; I know nothing about him, or his artistry. But still – I hate to underestimate the size of his cajones.

***

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