Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Veronica Mars: Return of the Kane

Veronica: "Let's see. On the one hand, we have the hot-cold ex-boyfriend and heir to the status quo. On the other, the potentially duplicitous new friend, and champion to the disenfranchised."

Class warfare, pun definitely intended.

Our first glimpse of superstar Aaron Echolls was so indicative of his character: pandering to his fans, and (worse) forcing Logan to pander as well. Followed by Aaron doing an ad for a student election so that the rich kids could keep their privileges, which was an outright weird thing for a parent to do.

Logan is an angry and unhappy young man. Some of the things that he does are outright despicable. But now we know why he does them. What sort of example has he grown up with? When Aaron discovered that Logan was into, of all the disgusting things, skid row boxing, what did he tell his son? "Never embarrass me again." If narcissism were an Olympic sport, Aaron would win a gold medal; image and money appear to be much more important to Aaron than his son. And I haven't even mentioned the vicious corporal punishment and verbal abuse. Top that off with his girlfriend's murder. Poor Logan. This episode made me want to hug him.


Aaron Echolls made Jake Kane look like father of the year. Jake may be too pushy, but I came away from this one thinking that at least Jake really cared about Duncan and was trying to do what was best for him. Duncan also showed that he had integrity: using his unwanted new position as student council president to make the whole Pirate Points system a fair one was unexpected and very cool. This was the first time I actually liked Duncan. In fact, considering what we saw of them here, I find it hard to believe that either Duncan or Jake could be responsible for Lilly's death, unless it was some sort of accident.

We had another visitation from Lilly's ghost, doomed to walk the earth and dispense fashion advice to Veronica. How could Lilly's shoes be at the crime scene and in Abel Koontz's possession at the same time? Koontz is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, and he clearly didn't do it. Veronica had better solve the case before the poor guy dies.

I love the way Veronica throws herself into righting wrongs, like the stolen student council election. It's like when it comes to school, teachers and principals, she has no fear. In other areas, though, she is still vulnerable. I really liked Veronica's former pep squad buddy, Wanda Varner, and her outrageous attitude... at least until the less cool person within was revealed. With friends like that, Veronica sure doesn't need any more enemies.


Bits and pieces:

— What struck me during the homeless shelter scene was that Logan is a darned good actor. Aaron Echolls, in discussions for a ten figure picture deal, had a hard time concealing his true emotions. But Logan gave a very convincing performance as a repentant teenager who loved his father. Which he most certainly was not.

— Veronica was rummaging through her father's safe without permission. Not any more. I mean, he's a detective. Did she think he wouldn't notice?

— This was an episode about fathers. We learned that Wallace's father is dead.

— Another Mad magazine reference: "Spy vs. Spy."

— Veronica's locker was searched again.

— Wanda heard that Lilly Kane and Weevil were an item. That would explain his tears at her memorial. It also makes him a suspect in her death. Although the whole thing with Jake Kane's employee taking the fall makes zero sense if Weevil did it.

— We got a contrast between teachers Mrs. Donaldson, suck-up to the rich kids and a fan of the status quo, and Ms. Mallory Dent, who came out looking pretty darned cool.

— Madison Sinclair was the culprit who fixed the election.

Quotes:

Re: Dessert for dinner night.
Keith: "You know, if Child Services finds out about this, they will take you away."

Veronica: "I want to find out who this kid is and what room he voted in."
Wallace: "Yeah, and I want a statue of myself in the main lobby, holding a musket and staring down danger."

Jake: "If you're happy and committed to driftwood carving, be the best driftwood carver you can be. (pause) After you've graduated from Stanford. Law school. Summa cum laude."

Veronica: "You know, they only chose the word 'narc' because it would hit closest to home with your constituency."
Wanda: "I shouldn't find that comforting, but I do."

Wonderful episode. Four out of four stars,

Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

4 comments:

  1. This turned my opinion of Logan the first time I saw it. Poor Logan, he goes through a lot through the season.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So first, of all, I got the driftwood speech a lot when I was younger. Do what makes you happy, as long as you go to an excellent college, do well there, and maybe stick around for a graduate degree.

    Secondly, I grew up with a lot of spoiled ass rich kids (and am I bit of a spoiled ass rich kid myself, but don't tell) and Logan's dad doing the school election ad was perfectly in line. You would not believe the things the "popular" kids' parents did in middle school and even grade school to keep their sub par spawn on top.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The whole final scene between Logan and his father made me, literally, faint. I had to turn it off and catch my breath. The abject cruelty of what was happening was beyond horrible; but, even worse, Logan's mother sits, drinks and lets it all happen. Ugh.

    On the other hand, why does Logan himself continue to allow it to happen. Surely, he is now old enough, big enough, and strong enough to stop it. The passivity of his picking out the belt and lifting up his own shirt really unnerved me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "I'll get some puffy paint and an Avril Lavigne CD, and it'll be just like our pep-squad days"
    "Awesome!"
    Wanda strikes this exaggerated pose and Veronica laughs, then she immediately says "OK don't do that" and it made me laugh hard because I thought it was just me or unintentionally embarrassing but she was right there with me lol. This show sneaks in its sharpness sometimes.
    All I kept hearing about in regards to this show was Logan this, Logan that. I do not get the appeal at all and felt some cruel satisfaction from seeing him disciplined by his dad. He's such a jerk.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.