In the second episode of the second season of Veronica Mars, HOW IS THIS SHOW REAL. HOW. If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Veronica Mars.
SWEET BABY GANDALF, THIS WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD.
- I can’t say I had any fears about season 2 of this show being disappointing when compared to the first one, but if I did? Then they’d already be put to rest by now, because these two episodes of season 2 are SO SATISFYING to watch. It’s clear that the bus crash is going to play a huge part in the arc of this season, and I think it’s spectacular that the writers have found a way to keep this show going in new directions.
- LIKE THE DIRECTION WHERE MEG SURVIVED. OH MY GOD, I WAS SO RELIEVED. MEG IS ALIVE MEG IS ALIVE.
- And christ, the exploration of guilt, fault, and blame in this episode is TREMENDOUS, and it’s one of my absolute favorite things about “Driver Ed.” Veronica ponders her own guilt over Meg’s injuries, while Jessie struggles with the uncomfortable implications of the claims that her father, the bus driver, committed suicide.
- And then there’s Jackie Cook, who… y’all, I’m gonna do it. She reminds me SO MUCH of Cordelia Chase. I CAN’T HELP IT. I know Charisma Carpenter is in this show now, but LOOK. We’ve got a rich and privileged daughter who knows she can manipulate others through her looks and her hidden charm, and there’s so much potential for growth, and JESUS I CAN’T HELP BUT LIKE HER.
- I hate Sherrif Lamb. I hate him today. I hated him yesterday. I shall hate him when the molecules that comprise his body finally stop existing. And you know, I really don’t think he is all that much of a caricature, either. I think he represents the worst of law enforcement. Well, all in one person, yes, but as someone who has had absolutely abysmal interactions with folks like the lovely LAPD, I think it’s important to have a character like Lamb who doesn’t defend the law or seek to help victims. His ego comes first. His pride comes first. And it’s damaging. He’s the one who decided it would be perfectly fine to leak the idea of Ed Doyle committing suicide by running through some standard ableist bullshit about mental illness and equating that with suicide. He’s the one who refused to consider the fact that the evidence did not support such a conclusion either.
- Hate him. Hate him
- And I love love LOVE Jessie. The actress who plays her – Ari Graynor – is a goddamn treat to watch. Jessie has to navigate at the grief of losing her father, the fear she has of her mother (it was implied that their mother was kind of verbally abusive), the rage she feels towards Sheriff Lamb, and the bewilderment she experiences when the truth of her father comes out by the end of the episode. It’s nice that Veronica agrees to help her after seeing that the 09ers are going to be their usual bullying selves with Jessie.
- Okay, Woody Goodman is kind of charming, isn’t he? Which makes me weary because this is Neptune. There aren’t that many genuinely nice people, but I’m also excited by the idea of Keith becoming Sheriff again because RIGHT? RIGHT? Oh god, how adorable is it when Veronica asks Keith to run to protect her? I just can’t even fathom not having the Keith/Veronica pairing in my life because they’re the best father-daughter relationship EVER.
- KEVIN SMITH HOW THE HELL. WHAT. WHAT.
- But you know, I’ll re-iterate what I said in the video: Kevin Smith works perfectly as Duane, the kinda-scummy and creepy convenience store clerk who takes advantage of a tragedy to make money and…hit on girls. Ew.
- However, I love Veronica’s justification to her father as to why she’s going to investigate Ed Doyle: Jessie just wants understanding. And both Keith and Veronica understand that feeling, right?
- Oh gosh, I’m going to need SO MUCH MORE from Terrance and Jackie, as the one scene they have together is FULL OF SO MANY THINGS. So, her mother lives in New York? But something happened and Jackie got sent to Neptune? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE I need to know everything.
- I am also completely and totally onboard the Wallace/Jackie train, and I’ll stay aboard until it pitches off a cliff in a fiery explosion because WOW. WOW. So much tension, so much attraction, and both characters just do these things with their faces and it is such a pleasure to watch. Wallace in particular is just relentlessly adorable here, but it’s also satisfying to see him grow as a character. In “Driver Ed,” he decides to take on a case himself. BY HIMSELF. AND HE DOES EVERYTHING BY HIMSELF. He picked up so many things from Veronica, and we get to see them enacted in this episode, and it’s just so incredible.
- Wow, the whole Logan/Kendall thing? Just…super weird, kind of gross, and mostly sad? God, that boy is a hot mess. A HOT MESS. I mean…god, I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT TO SAY. This can’t go well, and they both know that this is wrong, and they both are going to RUIN EVERYTHING once the rest of the Casablancas family finds out what’s going on. This is Neptune, y’all. This cannot remain a secret. And there’s also some weird tension between Dick and Logan? That scene in the shooting range is just so STRANGE, y’all. What’s going on here?
- I also noticed that Beaver is kind of the black sheep of his own family, isn’t he? Left out, ignored, treated differently…hmmm. HMMM.
- I know I’ve said this before, but it’s just so entertaining to watch Veronica at work. She so deftly figured out that Ed made a phone call at the gas station, and then manipulated Deputy Sacks into giving her access to a Neptune PD phone, and SHE IS MY HERO. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. She just wanted a job to be closer to Lamb and HOW CAN YOU HATE HER. PERFECT. PERFECT.
- Wallace getting hit on by Jane: pure comedy. He clearly didn’t expect that.
- I was a bit confused by Lamb bursting into Jessie’s apartment and saying that suicide was a crime. It’s actually not in California? We’re one of the states that doesn’t have a law like that; you can only be charged with aiding and abetting a suicide here.
- Anyway, I hate Lamb. Just needed to say that again.
- Did I miss who Cervando was? Did he die in the bus crash? I can’t remember ever meeting him, so all the mentions of him were super confusing.
- Let me talk about one thing in this episode that is just…god, it’s handled so great. When Sheriff Lamb finds Ed’s suicide note, Jessie is understandably upset. But I love that she goes to great lengths to try to explain to her brother that their father was sick, that depression is a type of illness that’s a bit hard to describe to folks who don’t have it. That little moment meant the world to me, y’all, because Jessie (and by that logic, the writers) dealt with the subject with tenderness. She was still upset, of course, but she knew that blaming a person for their own depression wasn’t fair at all.
- Wallace tricking the reporter = a thing of beauty. HE’S LEARNING. Also, when did he get a job at the Sac-N-Pac? Over the summer, I assume.
- Holy shit, I am constantly amazed by the willingness of the writers to give their characters such uncomfortable (but honest) scenarios. Having Jessie meet Carla was bold as hell, but you know what? They made it work. It was a chance for Jessie to get some closure and for Veronica to come to an important epiphany concerning Duncan. Jessie knows her father didn’t kill himself and that there’s more to the case. For Veronica, though, her attraction to Duncan was most likely marred by their complicated sexual history. So I like the idea that she decides to have sex with Duncan on her own terms and with both parties completely and honestly consenting. That is awesome.
- What’s not awesome? The fact that that was totally Logan and Kendall having super loud sex nearby. 🙁 🙁 🙁
- HOLY AWKWARD I SWEAR.
- Beaver is going to find out what’s going on, too, and this will only get MORE awkward.
- Can we also definitively state how awesome it is that Sheriff Lamb’s asshole nature is what inspires Keith to run for Sheriff again? Because that’s fantastic. He can’t let that jerk be Sheriff any long. I’M SO EXCITED.
- AND THEN THERE’S ANOTHER DEAD BODY, AND IT’S THE GUY FROM THE VIGIL EARLIER IN THE EPISODE, AND WHY DOES HE HAVE VERONICA’S NAME ON HIS HAND!?!?!?!?!?
- THIS GODDAMN SHOW. STOP IT.
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