Veronica Mars S01 E07 – That Guy

Previously: Lillyback dispensed fashion advice. Duncan became class president.
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The Girl Next Door

Sweeney: Night time. Police and ambulance surround Veronica’s apartment building. I know our schedule hasn’t been super consistent, but you may remember that we were just discussing the way that this show is self-aware of and addresses Veronica’s meddling. She begins this episode by asking that very question. Would tonight have been another dull night in the apartment complex if she hadn’t met this girl and gotten involved? Her reverie is interrupted by paramedics trying to wheel a body past her. “Is it my fault a horrible crime played out its final chapter here, or is what happened inevitable?” She looks across the courtyard at Papa Mars.

COME ON NOW, SUGAR!

A title screen tells us that we’re jumping back a week. Veronica’s carrying clothes down to the apartment complex laundry room. The place has a nice ocean view, which it makes it seem like it’s maybe not that Poor Kid Central.

Lorraine: Saaaame thoughts. I live 10 minutes from the beach, and I know how much even little apartments cost that close to the ocean here. Mars Investigation ain’t doing too bad.

Democracy Diva: All I could think was, “This is where the POOR people live? I’d be pretty fucking happy to live there.”

Sweeney: It’s decided. Snark HQ is setting up in the white-poor part of Neptune. We’re running a side-job investigating fictional crime because it seems to pay well enough.

She runs into a very pregnant pre-fame JESSICA CHASTAIN. (D: My notes read, “JESSICA CHASTAIN AND HER PERFECT DISNEY PRINCESS HAIR ARE HERE!”) Jessica Chastain realizes that she owes Veronica a Snow Patrol CD. They talk about how embarrassed Jessica is that Veronica can hear them fighting. Her boyfriend thinks she’s got a thing with her boss and now her diary is missing, so she’s afraid that he stole it. Veronica snatches up Jessica Chastain’s bitty little dog and it’s cool because Jessica Chastain says he lives for the applause-plause. Or the attention. Same same. Jessica Chastain asks if Veronica wouldn’t mind giving her a ride and hand-holding for her next doctor’s appointment and V’s totally in.

Neptune High School for Class Warfare Studies. Vice Principal Clemmons asks Logan for a word and he responds, “Anthropomorphic. All yours, buddy.” Because rich kids can sass principals.

No really, Clemmons is asking Logan for a favor – Shitbag Echolls donated some boots he wore in a movie for a school auction but has yet to actually hand over the boots. “I’ll have my assistant call his assistant,” Logan says before walking away. Clemmons has a face that says, “I fucking hate my job/life.”

Diva: Logan makes a “These boots were made for walking” joke and I’m all, don’t think you can win me over with Nancy Sinatra references, Logan. It will not work.

Sweeney: He’s giving it the old college try, though.

Plot Device Journalism Room. Tamara Portier / Ms. Dent is being pestered by a gossipy “middle aged” woman discussing old classmates like Jake Kane who, in spite of his billionaire computer mogul status was pretty slow in typing class. I’m also saying “middle aged” because she’s supposed to be the same age as Veronica and Duncan’s parents but if that’s the case, time has not been kind to her.

Lor: Um, I did not even get that she was supposed to be middle aged. Huh. Maybe she was left back a grade or twenty.

Diva: I went into a whole tantrum about how this lady, having graduated high school in 1979, would be only a year or two younger than my mom, who in 2014 looks younger than this lady did in 2004. BULLSHIT OLD LADY CASTING IS BULLSHIT. I’m so glad this bothered everyone else too.

Sweeney: Ms. Dent pawns AARP Gossip Girl (D: A+) off on Veronica. At first Veronica resists the request to help set up this class reunion photo display, but Ms. Dent holds up the 1979 yearbook and Veronica tries to be nonchalant as she acquiesces. Veronica’s first job is scanning photos and keeping AARP Gossip Girl far away from Ms. Dent.

Veronica Monologues as she flips through the yearbook that somewhere amidst the superlatives is her mother, “Most likely to disappear off the face of the universe.” (L: Convenient!)

In another classroom a test is being given by a total That Guy. Apparently his credits include Supernatural, so that’s fun. Weevil looks around and Logan accuses him of trying to cheat off him, but in a super racist way – “Didn’t they teach you manners in ESL?”

Diva: This gif confirms my belief that Weevil gestured at the Asian kid as the “somebody smart” he’d be cheating off of. #thatsracist

Sweeney: Mr. That Guy is an asshole and gives them both an insta-fail for this. Logan makes a sassy comment about his lack of sexytimes and Weevil laughs. Mr. That Guy makes more racist comments about how Weevil’s going to be pumping Logan’s gas one day and gives them both detention. Poor Weevil. I had a corner seat for a while in the 4th grade and I once lost my shit on two of my friends after having to write my name on the board for the milliontieth time because those assholes wouldn’t shut up. I know that feel, Weevil.

Lor: I’m also really upset at Mr. That Guy for leading me to a Tumblr search that lasted way too long, all for this:

Diva: Since that’s maybe the greatest gif ever, I’d say your Tumblr search was time well spent. 

Sweeney: Detention. Logan’s playing solitaire while Weevil rants about the bullshit situation. Logan talks, they both fail. Logan was a dick and Weevil merely laughed and they both got the same punishment. Weevil asks Logan how he and his friends don’t make themselves sick with all their unchecked privilege. PREACH, WEEVIL. PREACH. Logan does as those with unchecked privilege often do and groans in annoyance at being asked to acknowledge said privilege. Weevil switches up and asks Logan if he “likes playing with himself” or would rather “make things interesting.”

Cut to later when they are playing cards with a pile of cash on the table. Weevil mocks Shitbag Echolls’ acting and Logan’s in one breath.. He also tells Logan that he promised his grandmother he’d finish high school and he doesn’t break his promises. Mr. That Guy breaks up the fun, because detention isn’t party time. “Well that would explain the absence of balloon animals,” sasses Logan, once again getting both himself and Weevil into trouble. Mr. That Guy ups their detention sentence to the whole week in order to teach them both respect. Logan’s face says he almost maybe kind of sort of understands the problem with this situation. He didn’t seem to get it with his sick little bum fighting ring, though, so I’m not holding breath.

Lor: I love that Mr. That Guy leaves again. This guy is supervising detention wrong.

Diva: Until Mr. That Guy walked in, I was all, really? A detention with two students and no supervisors where students can gamble without fear of repercussions? This is approaching Pirate Points levels of what-the-fuckery. Also, I know I’m supposed to be on Team Weevil and not Team That Guy, but these kids are being total assholes and are somehow SHOCKED that the teacher is mad at them for gambling IN DETENTION. Am I an old lady for sympathizing with Mr. That Guy over the students?

Sweeney: Probably, yes. OLD LADY. Mostly, I hate Mr. That Guy for not recognizing that aside from the gambling, Weevil’s getting punished for Logan’s bad behvaior.

Mars Apartment Complex. Jessica Chastain and her boyfriend are fighting. Veronica wakes up to the noise of her screaming. The next morning at breakfast she asks Papa Mars if he heard anything the night before like, perhaps, the sound of a falling body. He mocks this description and suggests that she’s just paranoid.

Upstairs, she knocks on Jessica Chastain’s door because it’s time to take her to that doctor’s appointment. She peeps through their window and sees that the place looks trashed and Puppy Gaga (L: A+) is sitting on the table barking his little head off.

Plot Device Journalism Room. Veronica leaves Jessica Chastain a message before getting into her Missing Mom Yearbook Reverie. She mocks the assholes who say that the high school is the best years of your life because those assholes deserve to be mocked. Flipping through the pages she sees that the prom king and queen were none other than Jake Kane and her very own Missing Mom.

In the boys bathroom (which is clearly the same set as the girls bathroom) Weevil and Felix Tombs are discussing Weevil’s sentence to extended time in the presence of Logan’s privilege. Felix jokes that it’ll be hilarious when Logan finds out that Weevil fucked Logan’s dead ex-girlfriend and Weevil promptly tells him to shut the fuck up because it wasn’t like that. Also because that’s just majorly fucked up. Felix doesn’t get it.

Diva: I completely misunderstood this moment and thought Felix was joking about Weevil having sex with Veronica, and Weevil was being all, no, that’s not what’s going on at all. I thought it was an “I used to objectify Veronica like my friends do, but now I’m growing as a person!” moment. Now that I know they were talking about Lilly, what happens later in the episode make a hell of a lot more sense.

Sweeney: I appreciate the way you’ve worded your interpretation, though. Points for that.

Hallway. Veronica spots Duncan and shares her discovery. She asks if he knew that their parents had been a couple. He shrugs awkwardly and unconvincingly insists that he did not know. This sends Veronica into a dewy Lillyback to when he abruptly broke up with her. Veronica asks Lilly what’s up – saying that he just abruptly stopped talking to her rather than actually calling it off. Lilly makes some masturbation jokes and Veronica tells her to focus and get serious. Lilly insists that Duncan’s just going through a phase because they were meant for each other. She agrees to talk Duncan, though, adding, “You know, I don’t know what you people would do without me,” for that nice ominous touch.

Diva: It should be mentioned that Flashback!Lilly is wearing a clownish tunic that she somehow looks astonishingly fabulous in. Something about that big-boobs-to-teensy-waist ratio makes her look gorgeous instead of like the circus tent that the rest of us would look like in that awful thing. 

Sweeney: High School for Violating Child Labor Laws. Mr. That Guy has Logan and Weevil washing his car. Logan makes fun of Mr. That Guy’s car and points out that this is probably illegal, but Mr. That Guy counters that he caught them gambling. Swell dude.

Diva: Still on Team Mr. That Guy. Rich kid making fun of a teacher’s shitty car? NO SYMPATHY FOR YOU.

Sweeney: Jessica Chastain’s Day Job. Veronica’s poking around the clothing store where Jessica Chastain works for info on where she is. Her boss has no idea, but adds that Jessica Chastain’s douchey boyfriend might know. (Her boss’s credits include: “stoner” in Beer Bad.) (Lor: Dear God. Doesn’t that shit clear off your record after seven years or something? It should.)

Diva: I didn’t understand how anyone thought Chastain’s Boss was involved in any of this, since to me, he was so clearly gay. I had a whole “too gay to function” Mean Girls reference planned and everything. But apparently that’s not what this episode was going for? I don’t know, you guys. I’m off my TV game today.

Sweeney: HE SEEMS WAY GAY. I didn’t address it because they’re trying to suggest that he’s got the hots for Jessica Chastain and, I mean, she does have that Disney Princess hair and maybe that’s enough. You’re not the only one who got that read, though.

Douchey Boyfriend Art Studio. Because I’m IMDBing err’body, I have to point out that Douchey Boyfriend was on Dawson’s Creek! (L: He’s also PARKER ABRAMS from Buffy. Douche Boyfriend just got douchier.) (D: I KNEW he was from Buffy, I just couldn’t see beyond that very fake-looking mustache to figure out who he was!) (S: I literally IMDBed him to figure out how I knew him and somehow missed that. SLOPPY. I’m sorry everyone, I failed.) Anyway, he’s not worried about Jessica Chastain’s disappearance because running away when things get rough is a thing that Jessica Chastains do. Veronica asks for info on their fight, saying that she overheard that Jessica Chastain’s mother didn’t know she was pregnant until Douchey Boyfriend spilled the beans. Jessica Chastain freaked and ran off because her mother wants to come be with her. Veronica tries to scare him with her dad’s law enforcement background, but he’s not biting because he’s got shit to do. That comes in the form of a model he’s painting. Said model was on Angel forever ago. Her name was Myrna and she had awesome blue hair which may or may not have been related to how she helped the Fang Gang in the immediate aftermath of Connor’s return. (Too bad she didn’t help by sending him back.)

Veronica gets very indignant about the nude model thing. It’s actually a pretty classy painting of the lady’s back, but I appreciate V’s indignation because it’s a very high school reaction and I mean that with as little condescension as possible. Simply that I think a high school girl would have way more reason to be wigged out by this, you know?

Mars Apartment Complex. Veronica hears Puppy Gaga barking and decides that since dogs are nature’s psychic detective, this means she has the corroboration she needs. LOL, girl. You’re not helping the, “You’re paranoid” argument. (Diva: Also, SOMEONE LET THIS POOR, PERFECTLY TRAINED DOG OUT TO POOP ALREADY!) Veronica does a little B&E. She finds Jessica Chastain’s cell phone still plugged in and a gun in an open underwear drawer. Just as she finds the gun, Douchey Boyfriend is returning.

After a Not Break she hides in the bathroom, still holding Puppy Gaga, who barks. Deciding to roll with it, she flushes the toilet and comes out, insisting that she just came into the apartment to comfort the barking dog because it was distracting her from studying. He insists that he never leaves his door unlocked, but Veronica says Jessica Chastain must have done it, but she says it very suggestively, to imply that he knows this is impossible. He tells her (rightly) to stay the fuck out of his business. And also his apartment.

At school the next day, Veronica asks AARP Gossip Girl about her mom. She says Veronica looks just like her. When pressed on the subject of Lianne and Jake, she says that they were “the” couple and was sure they’d end up together, but it worked out for the best or else Veronica wouldn’t exist. Veronica monologues herself into a Lillyback, noting that she had been part of a perfect couple herself. “It’s amazing how fleeting perfection can be.” The day after the previous conversation Lilly has changed her tune and is telling Veronica to just let it go and that she and Duncan weren’t made for each other after all. Veronica asks what’s so horrible that Lilly can’t tell her. Lilly asks V to trust her, and insists that she just deserves better.

Prequel to Buddy Cop Movie Detention. Mr. That Guy is explaining that their new assignment is to alphabetize his book collection. Weevil climbs on the desk and starts throwing books on the ground. I’m so torn because I love Weevil and hate Mr. That Guy, but I think my love of books trumps either of those feelings and it gives me a sad to watch books being thrown about like that. STOP IT, WEEVIL. He does, because he’s got a plan to deliver some poetic justice to Mr. That Guy.

Lor: These are the scenes slash fic are made of. Look at that come hither pose.

Diva: I literally wrote in my notes, “If this episode doesn’t end in Logan and Weevil banging each other, then this was a REALLY FUCKING WEIRD LINE to throw into that convo. ” 

Sweeney: That day, he goes out to his car to find it not there. His spot is actually has his name painted onto it. Rich public schools are really big on wasteful spending, it seems. (L: Or, that was done by some other delinquents in detention. FREE LABOR!)

Mars Apartment Complex. Veronica comes home and spots Jessica Chastain’s parents saying goodbye to Douchey Boyfriend. She gives them her father’s card, saying that he’s really good at finding missing people. (Excepting a certain missing person she wishes he would find.)

The next day Mr. That Guy is arriving at school thanking another teacher (V’s English teacher, I believe) for the ride when they spot a commotion at the flag pole, where all good commotions occur. He clears the students out of the way to find that his car has been perfectly planted in the middle of it. He barks at them all to go to class.

Diva: I actually am really sad for Mr. That Guy, whose insurance surely does not cover intentional acts of PUTTING A FLAGPOLE THROUGH A CAR. But mostly, I still don’t understand how any of this was physically possible.

Sweeney: This prank remains one of the show’s greatest mysteries for me, in spite of the half dozen times I’ve seen it. I DON’T GET IT, SHOW. I DON’T EVEN GET IT.

Clemmons flags Weevil down in the hallway, insisting that they have a witness to his “artwork.” (Weevil says Mr. That Guy simply has a drinking problem.) He gives Logan a “we’re bros now” head nod as he gets carted into the vice principal’s office. This seems like the sort of thing that would be taken to the actual principal. Clemmons wants to know who helped him and Weevil says that they should ask their witness. Mr. That Guy is furious that Clemmons is allowing himself to be sassed by a POOR kid. He gets in Weevil’s face, looking like a fucking idiot. Clemmons doesn’t press the issue and cuts directly to informing Weevil that he has been expelled and his grandmother has already been notified.

At lunch Duncan is musing that he didn’t even know people got expelled from Neptune Academy for Class Warfare. Dick Cassablancas aptly chimes in, “Well, not our people.” Logan, having actually interacted with a poor person, is now very uncomfortable and displeased with this revelation of his astonishing privilege. Dick is still a dick: “If he starts selling oranges in front of my house, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Diva: Oh, is that who that was? I’m starting to think I might have watched an entirely different episode of television than you guys. 

Sweeney: Mars Investigations. Jessica Chastain’s mother is saying that Jessica Chastain was a super sweet girl until senior year when she became super distant. Mama Chastain thinks Jessica was mad at her for remarrying and adds the judgey comment that Jessica Chastain attracts “troubled young men.” Stepdad Chastain defends her, saying she’s not that bad. Papa Mars promises to do his best to find her.

Diva: “Stepdad is a bit of a creeper,” I noted during this scene, in what will later turn out to be the biggest understatement of the century.

Sweeney: Well there you go! TV points for the Snow!

Later, Veronica is trying to get Papa Mars to lean on the boyfriend. He tells her that she needs to back off this case because he’s pretty confident this one isn’t going to end well. He tells her to prepare herself for that.

After a Not Break she informs us that Papa Mars agreed to let her help in a stay-away-from-the-boyfriend capacity. She calls Jessica Chastain’s doctor and asks for over-the-phone test results, which they apparently give her. I dearly hope they got a social security number or something from the parents to justify this egregious HIPAA violation. (D: I may have broken my capslock button during this scene.) Said test results were DNA test results which confirmed that Douchey Boyfriend isn’t Jessica Chastain’s baby daddy.

Vice Principal’s Office. Logan comes in to tell him that he’s pissed off. He’s furious that Weevil is getting all the credit for what happened to Mr. That Guy’s car and is now a mega bad ass for it. Clemmons says he can’t just get away with it. Logan sighs that he didn’t think he could, and kicks his feet up on the desk, revealing a tacky pair of black boots with red stars. Clemmons gets Ethical Dilemma Dollar Billz in his eyes as Logan asks what kind of punishment he’s looking at.

Diva: All I could think of was Ted Mosby’s red cowboy boots:

Sweeney: A+

Jessica Chastain’s Day Job. Beer Bad doesn’t get what Veronica is asking. He says he’s definitely not her baby daddy (D: BECAUSE HE’S GAY!) but suggests that the guy who raped her might have been. Because, you know, that’s totally his information to share. Beer Bad says that the rape is one of the reasons she left home. When V asks if Jessica Chastain told him that he awkwardly answers in the affirmative and says he’s got to get back to work. Veronica is about to leave and then realizes that Beer Bad is the one who stole the diary. He asks if she realizes that she’s paranoid. “I know. Everyone reminds me. Doesn’t mean I’m not right.” She demands he hand it over, but he refuses. She places a call to someone who has some free time on their hands.

A bit later she’s sitting outside the shop on her car’s hood. Weevil and the PCHers roll up. He fist bumps Veronica before they all go into the store to terrorize it. It actually looks like heaps of fun. A good way to let off some class warfare steam. Veronica comes in and repeats her request for the diary.

Lor: This entire scene was fun. The way the music cuts and camera zooms in when she says, “guys!” and then follows it up with advice on wearing white after labor day? A giggle worthy moment. Plus, the fistbump of solidarity between Veronica and Weevil is my fave.

Diva: SO MUCH FUN. That little fistbump was everything.

Sweeney: That night, Papa Mars is doing his spy thing. He sees Douchey Boyfriend with Myrna, loading suitcases into the trunk of his car. Papa Mars follows them to the train station where he informs Douchey Boyfriend how shady it is to skip town while Jessica Chastain is MIA. Douchey Boyfriend says he’s not skipping town so much as dropping off his friend. Myrna ain’t got time for this shit. Papa Mars thanks them for humoring him and adds that he’ll be waiting for Probably Wrongly Accused Boyfriend when he returns.

Lor: But… but.. he’s Parker Abrams.

Sweeney: We Don’t Even Try To Hide Our Class Privileging Treatment High School. (D: LOLFOREVER.) Clemmons explains to Logan and Weevil that their punishment for the car thing is to paint over the massive graffiti, and it’s going on their permanent record. He adds that they are lucky to not be suspended or expelled and Weevil asks if it’ll be noted that he was un-expelled. They start painting and Logan spots a Lilly tattoo poking out of Weevil’s shirt, just under his armpit. He asks why the fuck he has that and they get in each other’s faces, with Weevil asking if Logan really wants to know. However, because Weevil is a bad boy with a heart of gold and also because “it wasn’t like that” he lies and says it’s because Lilly is his little sister’s name.

Lor: Lilly with two l’s. NO ONE BUYS THIS, WEEVIL.

Diva: Well, I almost did, because I didn’t understand the earlier scene about Weevil and Lilly having slept together. But even I  knew he was lying about something because,  you know, he was all shady-looking about it. #badatTV

Sweeney: Mars Investigations. “I guess if you keep a diary you have to consider the possibility that someone could find it and be privy to your every intimate secret. At least, that’s what I told myself as I pored through [Jessica Chastain’s] private thoughts.” She finds that Jessica Chastain only wrote about the aftermath of the rape, including running away and sleeping in her car. She finds a fantastic drawing of a spot in town she identifies. The VO continues as Veronica goes to that spot, explaining that Wrongly Accused Boyfriend was pretty much the only good thing that Jessica Chastain had going for her. Veronica spots the car with Ohio plates and not long after, Jessica Chastain herself, with a new sketch book. Veronica explains that her parents are there and worried. She sighs that she’s going to miss all this.

Diva: I had been worriedly thinking it for awhile, but it was around this point that I realized for sure what had happened to Chastain and who had done it to her, and it was heartbreaking watching Veronica try to figure out the truth.

Sweeney: The whole thing is utterly heart-breaking. Mars Apartment. Papa Mars comes home and says he’s very impressed but when asked if she’s got a future in the biz he says she’s got, “a future as a highly paid, Ivy League educated executive of some sort, who never thinks about private investigation again in her perfect life.” (There’s a movie coming out that says it doesn’t work out quite that way, Papa Mars.) (L: And everyone but him is happy about it.)

Runaway Apartment. Wrongly Accused Boyfriend tells Jessica Chastain that her parents came all this way so she should probably go talk to them. He takes the dog out for a walk to give her the freedom to do that.

Mars Apartment. Veronica says she still doesn’t trust the boyfriend. Papa Mars says he does, since he knew about the DNA test and didn’t care. V thinks that’s freakish, but Papa Mars, with his wisdom and years, figures it’s more a testament to how much he loves Jessica Chastain. “A man’s gotta be pretty committed to a woman to agree to raise another man’s child.” Veronica has a big intense connect-the-dots moment as he’s asking who the father was.

Diva: I actually thought this moment was not about the Chastain case at all. I thought Veronica was having a horrifying thought that Keith might have been talking about HIMSELF. The earlier reveal of Jake Kane and Lianne having been in love in high school (and this being a complete surprise to Veronica, and Duncan’s weird, evasive reaction to the news) made me think that, during this moment, Veronica was worrying that her dad agreed to raise her knowing she was actually Jake’s child, and thus even worse, THAT VERONICA DATED HER HALF-BROTHER. (True life: I might be as paranoid as Veronica. Or incest plot lines have ruined me forever. I BLAME YOU, GEORGE R.R. MARTIN.)

Sweeney: You’re not wrong. I think it’s absolutely meant to be both. It’s a long moment that gives the viewer plenty of time to make sure all the dots are joined. In the context of this episode, Keith’s line is definitely meant to suggest to the audience that he knows a thing or two on the subject. More importantly, bringing this up totally balances out your other struggles this episode to move you into the net win column for the day.

In her apartment, Jessica Chastain finally confronts her parents. Back in theirs, Papa Mars is asking why Veronica didn’t tell him that Jessica Chastain was raped. Veronica and Keith hear Jessica Chastain fighting with her parents – Mama Chastain insisting that Jessica Chastain is trying to hurt her. Cut to Shitbag Stepdad tackling pregnant Jessica Chastain, grabbing something to beat her over the head with. (D: He’s grabbing Jessica Chastain’s gun, which he had knocked out of her hand. I specify this only because it makes Keith seem less likely to go to prison forever for what happens next.) (S: While Lor and I detect the shit out of things in our Neptune office, The Democracy Diva will be providing much needed legal counsel to fictional characters. Call us.) Keith fires a shot through the window before he gets a chance. Mama Chastain holds Jessica and they both sob as she apologizes.

Back to where the episode started, Papa Mars comes over to Veronica to talk to her. She asks if this means she’s grounded, but he tells her that he’ll let her slide on this one. You know, because of all the actual trauma. She voice overs that she’s not sure if she can let herself slide. She knows that all she did was bring the tragedy to the surface but adds, “Are some things better left buried?” End credits.

Lor: I thought it was a body bag being rolled out at the beginning of the episode, which was dumb, because it’s white. But in my defense, this dude’s head is wrapped in sheets? So there is some element of misdirection at play. Also, I don’t get why Veronica would be grounded.

Sweeney: Neither do I. There was also a definite fake out with them covering the body’s head. It was a weird ploy to let them use the ominous opening scene and still keep us from knowing who got shot.

Once again we have another thoughtful exploration of Veronica’s “meddling.” Jessica Chastain’s Boyfriend is an interesting foil to Troy. Troy made a completely accurate comment about how V unreasonably assumed he would share all his deep dark secrets right away, but in the end he turned out to be as shady as her gut told her. The boyfriend also told her to back the fuck off, but he was getting a total Toby Edit – which was clearly a, “This is how Veronica sees it,” edit. In the end, he turned out to be innocent. I don’t think she was wrong to get involved, but it’s telling that she’s second guessing herself so much right now. She’s incredibly smart but still quite young and even after everything she’s been through, this is still enough to shock her. She’s not completely jaded just yet. Just yet.

Diva: I still don’t understand what adult steals a journal. I mean, does anyone besides a little sibling ever steal a journal? Unless that journal belongs to someone famous, who gives a shit? And specifically, why did Chastain’s boss steal it? I know they explained it away in like, one line of dialogue, but it still makes no sense whatsoever to me. Seems like the journal was just a device to make us think the boyfriend was at fault, and to contrive the fun Weevil-Veronica fist bump scene, but I’m still very confused as to why this journal theft happened at all.

Sweeney: The diary thing was majorly contrived, though not exclusively for misdirection. It also helped Veronica connect the dots. Theoretically she could have found it during her own B&E session, but that would have made her reading it more invasive. But yes, the diary was a weird plot element introduced solely to cast unfounded suspicion on the boyfriend and then to get Veronica to the truth.

The rest of the episode was fairly solid, though. Jessica Chastain was a fun guest pre-star. The crazy plot that is Veronica’s life thickens. The Logan and Weevil stuff was great. Logan’s still an asshole but it was great that, in the aftermath of the other episode in which his wrong-doing was never really called out for the actual reason it was wrong, we had him actually get it in a way that still felt true to character. (Which is to say that he’s still kind of an asshole.) Weevil continues to be amazing, and I like that his character had some actual development here, too, rather than just being used a fodder for Logan’s big lesson.

 

Next time: A “purity test” is circling around Neptune High and it’s all fun and games until someone makes the results public knowledge in Veronica Mars S01 E08 – Like a Virgin.