Veronica Mars
"One Angry Veronica" was the season two midseason finale and honestly after watching the first episode of this recap, I kind of think that they should have flip flopped them. Let's get into it.
"Donut Run"
Wallace Fennell: "Oh, that's just pathetic. Up! Get up! I came over to see Veronica Mars. Who's this... emo girl?"
Veronica Mars: "Leave me alone. I'm wallowing."
Wallace Fennell: "Not anymore. We're going out. We gotta see a movie or get in a bar fight or something."
Veronica Mars: "I don't want to get in a bar fight."
Wallace Fennell: "Tough. 'Cause you're goin' if I have to drag you. But, before we do, Veronica shower. You smell bad."
Veronica Mars: "You're not helping. You think you're helping, but you're not."
Duncan is not doing great with Meg's death and her parents keeping his baby from him. He and Veronica have a loud, public fight and break up. Soon, Veronica learns that Duncan has kidnapped the baby and is on the run and Sheriff Lamb thinks that she is an accessory. Logan and Weevil work together to try to learn who's working with the Fitzpatrick's.
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| Sad Veronica |
Let's all celebrate because Wallace is finally back! I think his absence these past few episodes has really proven how important he is to the series and to Veronica. You see this a little bit at the end of the last episode when Wallace shows up and comforts Veronica. The heart of this show is Veronica's relationship with Keith and Wallace so when one is missing the show suffers.
Only Wallace could pull Veronica out of her funk when she and Duncan "break up." It's only Wallace who could get away with telling Veronica that she stinks. There's a bond that Veronica and Wallace share that can't really be matched. It's been great to watch them grow and love and support each other. It kind of breaks your heart when Wallace tells Veronica that the reason he didn't tell her the real reason that he came back from Chicago was not because he couldn't get on the basketball team, but because he was involved in a hit and run and didn't report it. He couldn't tell Veronica that he didn't do the right thing because he knew that if she was in that position, she would have done the right thing. Veronica assures Wallace that he is one of the few people she knows that has integrity. We will be checking back in on Wallace's hit and run in the next episode.
Veronica and Keith are the other formative relationship on the show and that relationship has looked better than it does at the end of this episode. Keith has been very serious with Veronica about what helping Duncan and lying to the police and the FBI would potentially mean for her future. But she does it anyway and when Keith finds a hole in her wall leading to the empty apartment next door that has diapers, the look on Keith's face. I don't ever want Keith Mars to look at me like that. And even though he ends up covering for her with the FBI, Veronica has lost Keith's trust and it will take some time to for her to get it back.
I can never tell when I watch this episode if they really want us to think that Veronica is not helping Duncan or they want us to know that she's been helping him the entire time. I think that it is pretty obvious. That screaming fight they have in the middle of the entire student body is such a tell. Veronica would never give her classmates that much ammunition to potentially humiliate her in the future. I do think that this charade gives us some classic Veronica/Lamb moments. I think the one thing about this plot that surprised me was finding out that Vinnie was helping Duncan and Veronica. He was getting paid more by Duncan than Celeste, but still.
We get Xena, Warrior Princess, herself guest starring in this episode with Lucy Lawless as FBI Agent Morris. Her interactions with Lamb are great. I love how she is immediately dismissive of Lamb. He's such an idiot. He really has no idea what it takes to be an FBI agent and I really enjoy watching her dressing him down. There's nothing better than watching intelligent women castrate Don Lamb over and over again. You can tell that Morris really admires Veronica even if she is upset with her for interfering with her investigation and helping Duncan get away.
I don't think it's shocking that they decided to write Duncan off the show. He's just so milquetoast. No matter how you feel about the Logan/Veronica relationship, the chemistry and sparks between them are. undeniable. Even when they say good bye to each other, I don't feel anything. It's clear that the show is angling to get Logan and Veronica back together so they have to get rid of Duncan. Why not send him out of the country with his daughter by dead Meg. I did like the touch of Duncan re-naming Faith Lilly.
As far as furthering the season long plots, Logan and Weevil are working together to try to figure out who is working for the Fitzparticks and who killed Felix. After some twists and turns, some false accusations, Weevil may not know who killed Felix, but he does find out that Felix was dating Molly Fitzpatrick.
Grade: B+
"Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle"
[After Veronica finishes bugging a church confessional]
Wallace Fennell: "Where have you been?"
Veronica Mars: "Nowhere... but if God asks, I was with you."
Wallace speaks to the reporter and tells them what happened with the hit and run. But when the paper is released, the blame falls on Wallace rather than Rashard Rucker. Rashard is being protected by his Uncle Monte because of Rashard's NBA draft prospects. Enter Veronica Mars. Her services are in high demand because Logan and Weevil reach out to her to help them against the Fitzpatricks and part of how she can do that is by... bugging a confessional.
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| Welcome back, Jackie. |
I was just waxing poetic about how happy I was about Wallace being back and I am, but it makes me sad to say that I was terminally bored watching this episode. I will take a Wallace spotlight episode, but I want them to be better than this.
From the beginning of the episode, it feels like everyone is being kind of dumb. In the last episode, Wallace tells Veronica that Rashard had a bright future ahead in the NBA and was already getting deals prior to being drafted. And that he had a protective family member/uncle that was making sure nothing derailed his future. Did they honestly think that Uncle Monte would just let Wallace spill the beans and ruin things? I'm surprised it never occurred to Veronica or Wallace that Rashard would find some way to turn this back on Wallace.
It feels like it's been a minute since we've had kind of a straightforward case of the week. It is kind of nice to see Veronica and Wallace doing some classic investigating. Tracking down witnesses. Veronica masquerading as a driver. Though, again, some of the moves that the duo make in this episode seem a little boneheaded. I can appreciate that Wallace wants to believe the best in people. That he thinks that he can convince Rashard to do the right thing, but it comes across as extremely naive. And it shakes out just the way you'd expect.
We see the return of Jackie in this episode. It makes sense that she wasn't around when Wallace was around. It feels like this is maybe the start of her redemption arc on this season? She works with Wallace and Veronica to get ahold of Rashard's phone to prove his guilt. And it looks like things might be working out for these crazy kids. But then we learn that Wallace maybe isn't ready to get back with her since he reveals he has a date when she asks him out. I'm sure that will last.
I think its a testament to the weakness of the Rashard plot that Veronica has to also help out Weevil and Logan. They are suspicious of the one seemingly good person in the Fitzpatrick family. A man who is a priest. They think he is using his confessional to smuggle drugs. There are some nice comedic beats about Veronica bugging a confessional. It turns out that Father Patrick isn't in on it. Liam shows up. Puts the drugs in a hymnal and Thumper comes and picks them up. I don't think anyone is shocked that Thumper is the bad guy here. But he turns the PCH'ers against Weevil because Weevil is working with Logan and blackmails him with a video of Weevil beating the dogshit out of Curly Moran.
Speaking of, Curly Moran. Keith is back on his bus crash bullshit. I do think it's funny that last episode that Keith is upset with Veronica for lying etc and then the first thing we see him do is make a key card after lying to Inga at the sheriff's office. Like father, like daughter. Keith steals the interrogation tapes and has a new theory about the rat and the crash. Keith thinks it was not to target Veronica, but instead to get the '09'ers off the bus. There's a lot of suspicious things Keith learns. He hears Gia Goodman tell the sheriff that her dad, Woody, warned her not to get on the bus. Then, there's Terrence Cook. Veronica reveals his gambling woes to Keith after she sees a picture of him with Ms. Dumas, the journalism teacher that died on the bus. The episode ends with Terrence being taken in for questioning.
Grade: B-
Next up, Jackie is accused of stealing money from the Winter Carnival and the queer students of Neptune are being blackmailed.
What did you think? Are you happy Wallace is back? Are you sad Duncan is gone? What do you think of the season as a whole now that we are midway through? Let me know in the comments.
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