OPEN
CASE: VERONICA MARS
By Sue 28-NOV-2004
LIKE A VIRGIN
Season 1 - Episode 8
Previously
in The Soulful Spike Society reviews of Veronica Mars:
Episode
1.2, Credit Where Credit is Due:
"...credit is often doled out based on one's reputation rather
than the actual facts. Reputations loom large throughout the episode."
--Sue
Episode
1.3, Meet John Smith: "All
the images of fakery, and in particular the stunning surprise which awaits
Justin about his father, suggest that labels and outward appearances can
mislead. I note that the young Veronica is far from perfectly observant or
perfect in her interpretations."
--Spring Summers
Episode
1.4, Open Case: "This episode is all about impersonation. Everyone
is playing a part. Characters are both duping and being duped." --Sue
Episode
1.5,You Think You Know Somebody:
" ...we learn that a discriminating look at a person’s
history can provide the information you need to get to know somebody. I mean,
it’s no wonder (e.g.) that when it comes to Troy, Veronica is trying to
'believe lies for her own good.' "
And,
"...we are looking at identity, at the characteristics that define us, and
at the difference between the image we try to project, and how others actually
see us." --Spring
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Episode
1.8, Like A Virgin
Whoa! Veronica Mars not only has a
hum-dinger of a plot arc in the ongoing story of "Who Killed Lilly
Kane?" (now being doubled-featured with "Who is Really Veronica's
Daddy?"); but the show is developing a universal theme as
well. Episode after episode deals with reputations: what you see on the surface versus the
underlying truth.
Even
the promo aired immediately preceding the episode contains the voiceover: "Reputations are being
trashed..." And look at the quotes from reviews of earlier
episodes--rife with references to misleading reputations and the need to look
deeper, more closely at the people and events around Veronica.
Lilly's
Murder Arc
Let's
begin at the ending and examine Abel Koontz' startling "revelation,"
confirming what has been hinted at the past few episodes: Jake Kane is Veronica's father. The meeting at the prison is set up by just
a few short scenes interspersed with the stor(ies) of the week: Veronica and Cliff the lawyer; Veronica
types the bogus letter (for which she clearly did her homework) and
incorporates the picture Wallace took; Veronica gets a phone call from the prison. Finally, at the prison, Koontz briefly toys
with Veronica, but it's clear he not only knows who she is, he has also
prepared for this confrontation. Koontz
apparently harbors very real malice towards Keith Mars when he asks Veronica,
"Are the product of a schlubby sheriff, or the king and queen of the
prom?" Does Veronica believe
him? She is certainly shaken by the
revelation. Given everything we've seen
Veronica suffer through, this is the first time we've seen her breakdown
emotionally. I'm pretty sure, though,
that once the emotional wave passes Veronica will investigate this accusation
thoroughly and clear-headedly; not resting until she has proof--one way or the
other. The emotional reaction may be
primarily at having her recent suspicions and fears put into words. Does she trust Abel Koontz? Of course not. There is a lot we don't know about Koontz and his motives, but
one thing is clear: he is a liar. Veronica hasn't forgotten that.
Do we
believe Koontz? Not me. Not without evidence. It seemed pretty clear that Koontz knew who
Veronica was and was prepared for her visit.
Was telling her the story about her parentage his idea, planned by
whoever is controlling him, or is it the truth as he believes it? Only time will tell. Having compared Veronica Mars to Buffy,
Nancy Drew, and Twin Peaks I'm going to add X-Files to the list if
only to borrow two of its catch-phrases:
"The Truth is Out There," and "Trust No-One."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
episode itself stuck me as a bit of a "filler episode." There was no new information pertaining
directly to Lilly's murder. In fact,
Lilly makes no ghostly appearances at all and there are no flashbacks. The confrontation between Veronica and
Koontz centers on the secondary mystery of Veronica's parentage. The bulk of the episode is concentrated
around the rather mundane question of "who posted the false purity test
scores?" A large number of new,
probably temporary, characters were briefly introduced and are unlikely to ever
be seen again. I have to admit that
meeting new characters on a weekly basis just to have them disappear unsettles
me. The tight knit nature of the Buffy
cast and BtVS' repeated use of the same recurring characters was one of my
favorite devices. Not only were major
characters missing this week, but also I keep looking for the return of the
nasty sheriff and Olga. And what
happened to Georgia?
Of
course, I have no insider information or direct line to Rob Thomas' mind, but
it almost seemed to me that this episode was shoehorned in after he learned the
show would be extended past its original 13-episode run. As if he had his story planned for 13
episodes and now that he has more time to work with he gets to string things
out a little more slowly. To be blunt,
it felt a bit like padding to me.
Remove the few minutes related to Koontz and the episode could have been
filmed (and aired) at almost any point during the season. There is no Lilly, no Logan, minimal Duncan,
no Weevil, no Ms. Dent, no Jake, no Lianne, and no flashbacks. I've noticed discussion about the episode
has been minimal and am unsure whether that is a result of the holiday, or
others feeling, like me, that there was less "meat" to chew on this
week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's
look at what the episode did contain:
not one, but two Stories of the Week.
And both are concerned with reputations!
The primary story focuses on the sexual
reputation of Meagan, Veronica's "friend of the week." How easily her reputation is destroyed; how
quickly her friends turn against her.
Parallels to Veronica, much?
Even her boyfriend, who "loves" but clearly doesn't trust her
and should have the most first-hand evidence of her real-life sexual mores is
immediately swayed by the bogus internet posting. Why would they automatically believe something just because they
read it on the internet? Surely the '00
generation is a bit more cynical than that!
So,
person or persons unknown for reason or reasons unknown posts false results to
an internet based purity test to imply that good-girl Meagan is really a
slut. Veronica has to size up the
various suspects and possible motives.
The suspects include Meagan's not-so-pure younger sister Lizzie,
Meagan's performance/audition competition Kimmie, other snotty girl Pam, and
the boyfriend Cole. While there are a
few red herrings designed to point to Lizzie, we also see her vigorously
defending her sister. Pam is a bit of a
non-starter. Cole had no motive and
besides which the lie is equally as embarrassing to him given that Meagan
wouldn't go to second base with him but had (supposedly) slept with someone
else. All fingers point clearly to
Kimmie. The motive seems to be jealousy
and the key to finding direct evidence is finding out who had access to the
personal computer passwords. Since all
roads lead to the gorgeous French I.T. guy that's where Veronica focuses her
attentions.
In
a sequence that seemed a bit more random luck than is usual, Veronica just
happens to log on at the same time someone else is using her ID to send a fake
email to Duncan. Via more random luck
she discovers that the culprit has been IM'ing with "Froggy" (would a
Frenchman really give himself the screen name "Froggy"?)
Tailing
Froggy and catching him in a compromising position with Kimmie solves the
mystery and gives Veronica the ammunition to force a confession. The confession in turn provides nice video
to indict her to the entire school, as well as additional information on Pam's
vendetta against Veronica. In the end
Meagan is more grateful to Veronica for her advice to get tough, than her
actions in getting even. Both Meagan
and Mac also go out of their way to assure Veronica that she does have friends
at Neptune High.
There
is a secondary "story of the week" involving Wallace's mom and her
creepy boarder.
Given
all of the regulars who were missing from this episode, it was reassuring to
see Wallace and continued growth in the close friendship between Veronica and
Wallace. Unfortunately, Wallace's mom
is basing her opinion of both Veronica and her father on rumors circulating at
Jake Kane's factory. (Well, there is
also the small matter of walking in on Veronica just as she is flashing her
(horrors) sports bra at Wallace.) She
tells Wallace, "I've only heard bad things about the Mars
family." She appears to trust
vague rumors rather than her son's opinion, or pursuing the option of getting
to know Veronica herself.
Her
attitude is so ingrained that she rejects Keith Mars' overtures to help with
her boarder with barely any consideration.
Keith is willing to comply with her wishes until Wallace turns up to
spend the night with a flimsy excuse about exterminators. When Keith runs the boarder through his
computer he discovers a man with a very bad reputation--deservedly. At that point Keith gets tough. He doesn't seek permission but simply acts
decisively and kicks the boarder out.
Nor does he try to hide his actions from Wallace, pulling Wallace's keys
from his pocket to return them.
In
the end, Mrs. Fennel revises her estimation of Keith based on his actions
rather than his reputation as dictated by those who hate him. Presumably in the future she will extend
this courtesy to Veronica as well. One
by one both Keith and Veronica are making new friends and forging new
reputations among the citizens of Neptune.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notable
quotes:
Veronica: "Sometimes people find it very
difficult to say no to me."
Veronica: "I'm usually so passive..."
Duncan: "Meg was one of those Brittany
Spears' versions of a "good" girl.
Lizzie: (observing, as any sibling might): "She's my sister, I may not like her,
but I love her."
Veronica: "You get tough....you get even."
Stupidest
line--Kimmie: "Why are you doing
this?"
Random
Observations:
High
school kids can be so incredibly cruel.
The prank with Veronica's clothes in gym class as well as the
"slut-sneezing" and the titters at Meagan's Cabaret audition. Sunnydale High had its pack of hyenas;
Neptune high is filled with them.
Meagan's
relationship with Cole ("I think it's sexy we decided to wait") is
the second example we've been given of a teen-age male who is not, actually, all
about sex. ("I'm a 17 year old
male, looking at linoleum makes me want to have sex."--Xander) We also know that Duncan was a virgin, at
least at the time of last year's homecoming dance. This is note-worthy, mainly because it is an unusual trait to
find highlighted on a "teen show" and has been done, I think, well
within context without that "preachy" feel.
On
the other hand, how many episodes (out of 8) has the plot revolved around sex?
Even
privileged Neptune High can't find a computer teacher to hire and is using a
P.E. teacher to substitute. (I'm
assuming he coaches something.)
At
least some of the animosity toward V is based on recent history (bong in
Logan's locker; classmate's parent's breakup), not just the Mars/Kane
confrontation.
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.
