Mark Watches ‘Veronica Mars’: S04E07 – Gods of War

In the seventh and penultimate episode of the fourth season of Veronica Mars, a clear bomber suspect emerges, but it doesn’t make anything easier for the Mars Investigations team. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Veronica Mars. 

There’s still an episode left, and I’m already so, so stressed. 

I admit that I’m still worried that Penn isn’t the bomber, and given the final scene, I think that Penn is going to prove that he’s really not who everyone thinks he is. But early in “Gods of War,” it felt like he fit the identity of the bomber so well. I actually thought the suspected motive was super strong! He mistakenly believed all the bombs had shrapnel, so in order to stay consistent with the bomber’s M.O., he filled all the subsequent bombs with shrapnel and embarrassed the mayor with the threatening letter and even the limerick. Except… the collar bomb. That doesn’t fit, does it? And his scenes throughout the show have felt so genuine. Was he really behind all of this? Would he really keep up with all this just so he could end up on top? I suppose it’s believable, and it’s not like there’s any doubt over who was responsible for the Sea Sprite bombing and Perry Walsh’s murder. All that’s left is nailing Big Dick (ha!) with the charge, determining how involved Clyde was, and figuring out who set the following ones. 

Which… is still a lot, admittedly.

And boy, does a lot happen from that epiphany of Veronica’s in Matty’s room until the final moments. The chief of police came around to Veronica and Keith, first of all, which felt like such a huge moment after she’d rebuffed the Marses so very many times. It sets in motion the APB, which leads to the raid on Penn’s basement apartment, which then led to the attempt to find Penn, which… whew. I’ll get to that scene in a moment. Throughout this, Veronica and Mars are tested, and not necessarily by the same things. Veronica continues to be tempted by Leo, but that temptation is lessened and she turns it down this time. That really unsettling dream with Wallace in it certainly helped. But I’m glad that Veronica was able to reconsider what she’d been doing and how it affected Logan. Granted, a near-death experience is not the ideal way to figure this out, but at least there was a moment of clarity for her. Again, I thought the writers were taking her down a much darker path. BUT SHE ACCEPTED THE PROPOSAL AND THE LOOK ON LOGAN’S FACE WAS EVERYTHING, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. This could have been so much darker!

Well, I say that, but I’m dancing around the HORRIFYING shoot-out scene at Carol’s cabin. Lord, y’all, why? Why does this show do so much to me? While I don’t think it was quite on the same level, it reminded me a lot of the big climactic fight at the end of season one, at least in the sense that both Keith and Mars were on site, and it seemed real believable that this was not going to end well. I am truly surprised that someone didn’t die during this episode. But I also have to admit that I wasn’t sure if Weevil would come through for Veronica! After everything that went down after the film and over the course of this season, I thought that Veronica had burned that bridge. Not just that, but she kept burning it down every time Weevil tried to reconstruct it! 

And yet. AND YET. When he found out from Claudia that Alonzo was going to assassinate her, he still came through. He still called off the hit. In that moment, Veronica was humbled because she knew that Weevil had her back regardless of the shit they’d put one another through. And that’s fucking powerful, y’all. 

But all is not well, and my heart is CRUSHED by Keith’s choice to retire so that he can take care of himself. Yeah, Keith Mars crying? I would like a return, please don’t ever do this to me again. IT HURTS TOO MUCH. This was his fear! He was worried that his memory would fail at a time when he and Veronica needed it, and I actually don’t think there’s anything wrong with him choosing to take time away so he can take care of himself. Though I’m confused by him being interested in another position. What does that mean? And why would he go from one job to another? 

There are so many threads left to be resolved, though, and I’m so impressed at how well-balanced they are. I think it’s safe to say that Nicole’s story has mostly been resolved. I still don’t think she’s the second bomber, and it’s also quite obvious that she’s done with Veronica after Veronica abused her trust. As for Daniel, both the Carr brothers are dead, and no one seems interested in pursuing the Bitcoin payments, so that might be mostly wrapped up. But everything else? Well, we’ve got Clyde realizing how badly Big Dick screwed him and then setting Alonzo and Dodie (I GOT HIS NAME) on Big Dick by revealing that he recorded Big Dick while the man admitted he was behind the bombing and Perry Walsh’s death. So that’s going to be chaotic. Even worse, Matty, upset that Veronica and Keith pursued Penn’s arrest instead of Big Dick’s has taken matters into her own hands. She Trojan-horsed her way into Big Dick’s mansion, and he caught her on camera, and now I’m worried there’s gonna be a three-way fight between Matty, Alonzo, and Big Dick. 

This finale is going to be a LOT, y’all. 

The video for “Gods of War” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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