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3.1 Welcome Wagon Mac: "It's like we never left Neptune High." Veronica: "It's exactly like we never left Neptune High." Very, very busy episode. But it wasn't overwhelmingly dense, like "Normal is the Watchword." I suspect it was intended to be more new-viewer friendly, and it probably succeeded. The discomfort and paranoia level at Hearst was much like Neptune High. (What a surprise.) Veronica solved her first mystery: the "Welcome Wagon" ripping off Wallace's new roommate, Piz. And she also solved Professor Landry's silly Murder on the Riverboat Queen in record time, making her rep pretty much instantaneously. They've also brought back the unsolved rapes and head-shavings from last season's "The Rapes of Graff." There were two victims last season, a third at the rally, and Mac's exceptionally weird and uninhibited roommate Parker was the fourth. I was particularly amused (okay, disgusted) by Dick, masked and nearly naked, with a sex doll at the Take Back the Night rally. It's business as usual in Neptune. Did Veronica see the rapist when she slipped into Mac and Parker's room for the tickets? Keith was already in trouble, and possible mortal danger. (That was fast.) It appeared that Kendall paid Keith a lot of money to get her out of town, get new IDs, and pick up Cormac from prison. Cormac Fitzpatrick was mentioned last season as the man that Kendall did time for. Did he really kill her? (And with Keith's gun, no less?) We didn't see her body, which made me wonder. Veronica and Logan are now sleeping together. That was new, and pretty cool. The Veronica Mars Powers That Be will undoubtedly break them up sometime soon, though, and I even suspect how they'll do it, since the seeds were in this episode. Possible problem one. Logan gave Veronica his Neptune Grand room key, and a promise to be faithful. Good move, considering what happened with Kendall after the Alterna-Prom, and I think Logan is capable of being faithful to Veronica. But he's blowing off classes already, and school just started. He can't do that and still be Veronica's honey, because she's too serious about scholarship. Possible problem two. Dick has just moved into Logan's suite, probably permanently. I knew Dick might melt down; I expected him to be seriously traumatized by Cassidy's death. Veronica can't stand Dick, but Logan feels a commitment to Dick as a friend, and won't be able to let him go. Conflict time. Possible problem three. I wonder if Logan is going to emotionally implode at some point soon. Logan has endured even more trauma than Dick has, after all. And if Logan starts acting out, that could certainly be bad for their relationship. Bits and pieces: -- Major casting changes. Jason Dohring moved up to well-deserved second billing. No more Duncan, and yay. No more Jackie, and no more Cassidy, what with him being dead and all. They added Tina Majorino (Mac) and Michael Muhney (Sheriff Lamb), Julie Gonzalo (was she Parker?) and Chris Lowell (Piz). -- I'm not sure how I feel about those new credits. They're too slick. They're too... orange. I miss the bouncier music and the pencil drawings, because it was fun trying to figure out what the drawings were, and what they meant. -- Veronica, Logan, Wallace, Mac, and Dick are all going to Hearst. Veronica is still living at home, so there will be much Keith. (Yay!) They didn't tell us, but I assume Veronica ended up at Hearst because she indeed lost the Kane scholarship. And because the show has to be set in Neptune, of course. -- Piz was actually rather cool and quippy, like the rest of the cast. (Except Dick.) Piz is in love with Veronica already. -- There were a couple of references to Veronica and Keith's graduation trip to New York, for which he was three days late. There was Sutcliffe Hotel, Spam-a-lot, Magnolia Bakery, the Empire State Building vs. the Chrysler Building. What did it mean? Probably nothing. -- Vinnie Van Lowe was back, on the wrong side this time (working for Liam Fitzpatrick). Darn that Vinnie. -- The ringleader of the Welcome Wagon scam and the junior league criminals was named Donald Fagin. Check your cliff notes for "Oliver Twist" if you don't get the Fagin reference. :) Fagin was also in one of Professor Landry's profiling classes. -- Mac was seeing a shrink about her post-Cassidy issues. -- Deputy Sachs was Veronica's arrest beard. She has someone in the Sheriff's office now, sort of. -- I kept thinking this episode was very long, until I realized it was the first VM I'd seen with actual commercials. That's what I get for discovering the show on DVD. -- In this season's hair report, Veronica went mildly wavy and season five Buffy. She also wore black fingernail polish, for that touch of Spike. Logan's hair was little longer, too. Looked good on him. -- Hair report addendum: teaching assistant Timothy Foyle appeared to be wearing a wig. (He also patronized Veronica twice, and acted like an incredible sexist. Obvious rape suspect red herring?) I thought Piz might be wearing a wig, too, although Dan thought Piz just had bad hair. I thought I'd mention it in light of the whole head-shaving plotline, in case the hair is a Clue. -- Addendum: I'm told that Timothy Foyle is being played by the same actor who played the unlucky Lucky the janitor, hence the wig. Quotes: Logan: "I really shouldn't have pushed for the Clint Eastwood marathon. Now I've ruined you. I didn't think it was possible to make you more butch. Stupid, stupid Logan." Veronica: "College campus. All of your possessions. Where are you from, Brigadoon?" Veronica: "Qu'est-ce que c'est, frak?" Moe: "No Battlestar Galactica fans in the mix, I see?" Me, me, me! My other favorite show. Mac: (about Parker) "If college is a boy buffet, she's got two full plates and a purse full of boys wrapped in napkins." Piz: "A Saturn for a Mars." Veronica: "In Neptune. Yeah, the planets really aligned for this one. Now, move Uranus. Mercury's rising." Okay, but I miss the LeBaron. Mac: "Parker's out somewhere with The Unwashed. I'll tell her that the Needs Hosed Down dropped by." Three out of four stars, Billie |
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