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Veronica Mars: I'll Know What You'll Do Next Summer

Mac: "So. Pizneyland is the happiest place on earth?"
Veronica: "Happy enough. There's no roller coaster, but I think I can do without the adrenalin and nausea."

Summer internships are trumping budding romances. This may be a good thing.

The "Soldier of Misfortune" plot was very good, and I didn't see the end coming. I knew something had to be wrong: that either Apollo or his wannabe dad were lying. It was a fun twist that Apollo was playing Veronica, and I liked that they surprised us and gave us a happy ending. It even got to me, just a bit. It certainly got to Wallace, who may be off to Africa for the summer.

The B plot showed that Piz really doesn't mean much to Veronica, despite the saccharine cuteness of their cuddling on the couch. (Dan, who stopped watching VM after its lengthy hiatus, passed by while that scene was on and made gagging sounds.) Piz was ready to give up the better internship to stay near Veronica, and if Veronica cared even half as much about Piz as she did about either Duncan or Logan, she wouldn't be completely over the moon about her upcoming summer at the FBI.

You can tell the season, or possibly series, finale is approaching when dropped plot threads come out of the woodwork. (Is that a mixed metaphor?) Kendall, Dick Senior, and the sleazoid Fitzpatricks have all returned to join in the fun. I've always wondered about what really happened to Kendall. Not so much about Dick Senior. Although I must admit that this is the first time I actually felt empathy for Dick Junior, who has a soul, after all. I've always wondered.

No empathy for Logan this time, though, at least not from me. His childish reluctance to give up his hedonistic summer plans to spend time with Parker just emphasized that like Veronica, he doesn't care all that much about his current honey. And our theme was repeated with Mac, who has emerged from the black hole of new love only to realize that Max has absolutely no interest in a college education and a real career. Who wants to get seriously involved with someone who is pursuing a career in cheating?

Bits and pieces:

— The plight of child soldiers in Africa is truly horrific. The cast did a public service message afterward for InvisibleChildren.com.

— I thought Vinnie being sheriff might be fun, but I've changed my mind because his commercial made my skin crawl. Lamb was incompetent and corrupt, but he wasn't outright evil.

— The fact that Parker is supposed to be wearing a wig still bugs me. In this episode, it was glaringly obvious that she wasn't. Continuity, people. Lack of continuity throws people out of a warm bath of belief suspension into a big tub of ice water.

— Veronica is now officially a PI. And she did it with a grade two points under Keith's, who probably took his test after being a sheriff for many moons. When you think of it that way, her score is still very impressive. But Keith will never let her live it down.

— Parker's parents. Bleah. I think she liked shocking them with Logan. Not good for Logan.

— The actor who played Apollo Bukenya was just excellent. (Note from later: Nelsan Ellis from True Blood!) (Note from even later: Nelsan Ellis died way too young from heart failure at 39. So sad.)


Quotes:

Keith: "I was so fond of you when I was a private detective."
Cliff: "Then I hope you'll understand why you shouldn't expect my vote in the upcoming election?"
The relationship between my guy Cliff and Sheriff Keith has gotten acrimonious. If only for this, Keith should go back to being a gumshoe.

Logan: "I really think they liked me."
Parker: "Yeah. I don't really think you survived the Googling."

Mac: "I'm getting lost in the sex, nap, eat, repeat loop. I'm in the porn version of Groundhog Day."

Kizza: "You're just a girl. You're a teenager."
Veronica: "A girl, a teenager, and a private detective. I'm a triple threat. It barely fits on my business card."

For a "message" episode, this was pretty good. Three out of four stars,

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

6 comments:

  1. I just watched this episode today.
    And I just wanted to post one small comment on one of your points:
    "The actor who played Apollo Bukenya was just excellent". I don't know if you know this, because it's hugely possible that you don't, giving in the fact that VM aired way before True Blood, but that guy was our one and only Lafayette. And the actor's name is Nelsan Ellis.
    Just wanted you to know that.

    In other news I mostly agree with your comments. :)

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  2. I absolutely did not know. Thank you so much for posting this, Mike. Yay for Nelsan Ellis. He's hugely popular with True Blood fans, and deservedly so.

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  3. The main plot was excellent, I was also pretty moved in the end.
    Veronica doesn´t care much for Piz as we can see by the conversation between her and Mac that billie has in the beginning of the review. She is just content with him, nothing more. And btw, is Logan a rollercoaster ride?
    That whole talk between Keith/Veronica about their test was just golden.

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  4. Someone beat me to the Lafayette comment! That actor's awesome.

    Another random note: when Keith is handing out assignments to the deputies, he calls two of them "Kitsis" and "Horowitz." Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis were writers on Lost; they also created Once Upon a Time (long after VM ended, of course).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Keith: "I was so fond of you when I was a private detective."
    Cliff: "Then I hope you'll understand why you shouldn't expect my vote in the upcoming election?"
    The relationship between my guy Cliff and Sheriff Keith has gotten acrimonious. If only for this, Keith should go back to being a gumshoe.


    I just had to throw in my two cents about this: Cliff's comment, I believe, indicated that, like the rest of us, he preferred PI Keith to Sheriff Keith...

    ReplyDelete
  6. The public service message frightened me :( It's been a very long while since my TV friends broke the 4th wall and spoke directly to me... I kept expecting one/all of them to suddenly relay my social security number in a disturbing monotone. They need to do trigger warnings for this kind of stuff

    ReplyDelete

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