In the nineteenth episode of the second season of Veronica Mars, Veronica, Weevil, and Keith all pursue possible leads concerning the bus crash and the Fitzpatricks, learning just how deeply entwined everything is. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Veronica Mars.
Y’ALL, THIS IS SO DENSE AND CHALLENGING AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
- Oh my god, this conspiracy – and that’s pretty much what this is right now – is just so detailed and layered, and we’re simultaneously about to reach something huge. Paired with “Plan B” and “I Am God,” the show has hit this beautiful, serialized stride that I can’t help but love. I am woefully unprepared, and IT’S SO EXCITING.
- Jesus, I didn’t even realize that the cold open concerning Veronica’s testimony against Aaron Echolls was a nod to what was to come: AARON ECHOLLS IS DISMANTLING THE CLEAR EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM THAT PROVES HE IS A MONSTER. And he’s doing it behind bars and this is not okay in every universe. Fuck, the lawyer asked if Veronica was still in contact with Duncan. no NOPE NOPE. His fucking Oscar has Duncan’s hair I HATE YOU. NO. NOPE.
- Oh my god, Dick and Beaver’s insurance was a TAX SHELTER FOR DICK, SR.
- This just keeps getting better, I swear. So now Kendall has a clear motive for wanting her sons-in-law to die, and this is only the start of it.
- I think this show has done a fantastic job of showing us how surreal it is to be Veronica Mars. How many times have we seen some random student staring at her, too shy to approach her to ask for help? This is her life, y’all.
- There’s some continuity for Mac here, too, as she reveals that she was using a cell phone interceptor to spy on Cassidy, which unfortunately doesn’t tell her why Cassidy acted so strange with her. Yeah, I still don’t have a theory at all.
- Veronica has theories! After awkwardly setting up Mac to go to the prom with Vince (HOW DOES THIS SHOW KEEP BRINGING BACK SMALL CHARACTERS? Veronica Mars, you’ve ruined my perception of all other shows, I swear), Veronica realizes that Weevil has a motive and the means for the bus crash. It would explain the timing of the bomb, the location of it, the reason Weevil was following on his motorcycle, and the use of the dead rat that would have gotten the 09ers off the buss. Even though I didn’t believe this was the answer, I couldn’t deny that we now knew that Weevil was willing to murder someone for turning on him.
- UGH IT HURTS.
- I’m always validated by people who don’t know cars because I KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT THEM.
- Anyway, Veronica gets an (initially) unrelated case from a student named Harry, whose dog was intentionally killed by someone driving a green Plymouth Barracuda. Yeah, initially unrelated. GOOD GOD.
- And then there’s a very nice, full-of-emotions subplot involving Jackie, her future, and Wallace Fennel. It’s sad to see how Jackie’s entire life is falling apart because of her father’s legal indiscretions, and yet, she pushes on. She asks Veronica to help her get a job, and when she’s working, she doesn’t act entitled or spoiled, and it’s just so GREAT to see a character who was pretty much an 09er change so brilliantly before our eyes.
- Of course, it’s tempered with Wallace’s dogged pursuit of Jackie, which involves him sputtering one of the most offensive things anyone’s said to her. And I certainly understood Wallace’s intention when he said that, but that didn’t negate how TERRIBLY EXECUTED IT WAS. Still, it wasn’t the root of Jackie’s reluctance to date Wallace. She was clearly at a point where she didn’t care about her reputation at all. But in five weeks, she would be in another country. (OH MY GOD, SHE GOT IN THE SORBONNE, THAT IS SO EXCITING.) Why start something that would inevitably end in heartbreak?
- Because sometimes, the journey is worth it.
- UGH I LOVE THESE TWO. Unfortunately, this probably means that Jackie is going to stop being on the show by the end of the season. 🙁
- Anyway, let’s get back to the main plot. Veronica and Keith work together in “Nevermind the Buttocks” more than they usually do, and that’s why the eventual convergence of their cases is SO EXCITING. (Bless that episode title, for the record.)
- While Veronica is tracking down the green Barracuda, Keith is following the increasingly convoluted trail of Kendall Casablancas, neé Shiflett. Who used to actually be Priscilla Banks. WHO ACTUALLY MAY HAVE KILLED KENDALL SHIFLETT IN A CAR CRASH. WHO SPENT SIX MONTHS IN JAIL FOR WIRE FRAUD.
- OH KENDALL. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?
- Meanwhile, Gia’s reveal that someone in the same green Barracuda mooned the 09ers limo sets Veronica on a path to discover its owner: a man who died and left behind a wife. Who is blind and clearly not driving. UM WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Oh, it’s the Fitzpatrick’s car, ISN’T IT? THAT STICKER RESIDUE IS DAMNING EVIDENCE.
- WHY IS THERE A GUN IN THE GLOVEBOX?
- WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON
- Because seriously, it was right around this point in the episode where I was completely lost. What connection did this car have to the Fitzpatricks, and why would they run down a dog? And what sort of con was Kendall trying to pull? As if the writers wanted to confound me further, THEN HECTOR IS ASKING FOR WEEVIL’S HELP. Good god, if Hector is asking for Weevil to come back to the PCHers, then they must be truly suffering at the hands of the Fitzgeralds. There’s a lot of pride at stake here, which is why I’m certain Hector took so long to ask for help.
- At the same time, you can see a similar sense of pride in Weevil. I think he respects Veronica, but that whole machismo pride gets in the way still. When he’s sitting in Mars Investigations, coming as clean as he can about what’s really going on, look at his body language. He doesn’t seem eager or excited. No, he’s reluctant the whole time. But he also recognizes that Veronica is valuable to him, both as an investigator and a friend. So he has to be honest with her about why he was following the bus and what that paddle meant that Veronica found back in “Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough.”
- And then… christ. Y’all. Y’ALL. I’m not gonna lie: When the big twist happened in the midst of this episode, I got EXTREME flashbacks to the end of season one, and I think it’s intentional. I think we were meant to recall Keith’s struggle with Aaron Echolls, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that Kristen Bell’s acting here was emotional continuity for her character.
- Because Veronica traced the Barracuda to a house THAT KEITH MARS HAD ALREADY BROKEN INTO. oh my god HE WAS IN THE FUCKING HOUSE.
- THE CAR IS DRIVEN BY LIAM
- WHAT THE FUCK KENDALL HAS A SECOND HOUSE
- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- HOW IS THIS SHOW REAL, I SWEAR.
- That whole fight scene is so goddamn unnerving, y’all.
- And it’s followed by yet another example of the fact that Veronica and Keith are the best father/daughter unit in the history of the universe. That tender moment when he touches Veronica on the head… JUST STOP IT.
- Or how about Mac and Veronica and Keith being cute together? Did that ruin your day? IT RUINED MINE.
- I think this show has the highest occurrence of fictional characters I wish I were friends with. Damn it.
- WEEVIL. WEEVIL. CAN WE TALK ABOUT HE CAME TO THE RESCUE OF THE PCHERS BY ESSENTIALLY BLACKMAILING LIAM FITZPATRICK AND THEN HE WALKS AWAY FROM BOTH GROUPS? That’s one of the baddest power plays I’ve ever fucking seen, y’all. He told the Fitzpatricks that he has vital information that could sink them, and he told the PCHers that while he helped them this one time, he’s not interested in running the gang anymore.
- WHAT A BOSS.
- Then there’s Kendall, who was a Fitzpatrick accomplice the whole time. I admit that I am kind of impressed with her character because… shit, how much lying has she done? Is the whole airy rich girl thing a ruse? What’s she really like behind the mask? HOW MUCH OF HER IDENTITY IS A DISGUISE? Y’all, I’m totally digging the direction this character is headed. Well, obviously I want to see more of Charisma Carpenter at all times, but this reveal makes her so much more fascinating! Not that I like her as a person, as she’s helping to get Aaron Echolls off. NOPE. NO.
- The end to “Nevermind the Buttocks” is kind of sad to me. Veronica is a big fan of giving people closure (which includes herself), and yet she lies to Harry about the death of his dog specifically so that he won’t go try and kill Liam Fitzpatrick. (With a bow and arrow, for the record. You aren’t Katniss, dude. Put that shit away.) The truth is an important thing for Veronica, but at what cost does it come? What will learning the truth about the bus crash bring to Veronica’s life?
- BLESS THIS SHOW. I’m so excited to finish this season NEXT WEEK.
The commission for “Nevermind the Buttocks” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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