Veronica Mars S02 Wrap-Up Post

Sweeney: Going into this project, my big fear was that it was going to taint my relationship with my most beloved show. Here is one of the few things I had been a true fangirl for long before the blog and if our critical consumption has taught me anything, it’s how tenuous those media relationships can be when placed under scrutiny.

So far I can say that I’m pleasantly surprised to find that it holds up. There’s a lot that’s wrong with the show, but they are failures that seem to have arisen mostly out of overshooting – the show is ambitious and when it stumbles, it’s almost always because it tried to do too much. I respect that. This season is a prime example of that. There was a lot going on and in a few places, that meant that potentially compelling stories got trampled in the noise. Jackie’s story, for example, is one that I love as an idea, but whose ending got ham-fisted placement in places where it felt incongruous with the other big story elements at work. There are plenty of similar examples.

Still, even when the show struggle to reign itself in, watching the mystery unfold is exciting – especially with the glorious gift of knowing the future, when you can spot the seeds being planted. In that respect, maybe that’s some of how I forgive the show its problems – the fact that so much is going on means that every rewatch always leaves me with new things to spot. This season is certainly not up to the level of the first, but I enjoyed going along for the crazy ride it took us on.

Before I get to the rankings, obligatory SEASON’S OVER! gif-celebration:

That out of the way…

1. Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough – The biggest takeaway of this rewatch, for me, was how much I love Jackie and this episode is a big piece of that. Every minute she spends on screen is golden, and the rest of this episode is great, too.
2. Rat Saw God – Recurring characters FTW.
3. Normal is the Watchword – I loved this premiere. I can’t tell if there’s some degree of partiality towards the episode because its title is one of the ones that has always stuck with me, but this episode does a great job of setting up the twisty, turny season ahead.
4. Not Pictured – I know there is some debate over the resolution and the decision to make Cassidy the killer, but I’m on board. This is another thing that’s hard for me to assess because I’ve seen the show so many times and picked out all the, “Huh, Cassidy’s fucked up,” moments. In any event, this episode was jam-packed and did an impressive job of juggling all! the! things!
5. Happy Go Lucky – I’m doing a deeply unfair thing and penalizing a fantastic episode for the unpleasant feelings it made me feel. This episode deserves a better ranking than this, but fuck is it painful and punishing it in the rankings is the only way I can get back at it for the suckerpunch.
6. I Am God – This dream sequences got mixed reviews, but I was and remain a fan.
7. Look Who’s Stalking – There was a time when this was one of my all-time favorite episodes of this show. Have I mentioned that I don’t actually like being the I’ve-seen-this-a-million-times watcher? I experience too much cognitive dissonance. Regardless, “I Heart the Bells,” will always give me feels and “I thought our story was epic, you know?” will forever be an iconic moment.
8. Ahoy, Mateys! – Intense episode is intense. Lots of incredible moments in this episode.
9. Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang – I adore this episode. Dandy Warhols! Veronica taking down the man!
10. Plan B – WEEVIL.
11. The Rapes of Graff – I went into this unsure of how I felt about it and I came out still conflicted, and partially that’s because we have more Hearst to discuss.
12. Driver Ed – I loved the way this episode dove into the bus crash in a way that had very little to do with major plot advancement and more to do with the real, human consequences of the thing.
13. The Quick and the Wed – AWESOME SISTER TIME. One of my favorite S2 mystery-of-the-week cases, mostly because I want Heidi to be my big sister.
14. My Mother, The Fiend – I like when Veronica gets things wrong but this was probably one of the least interesting examples of the show pursuing that. But I loved the Willow/Cordelia scene too much for words. <3
15. One Angry Veronica – BAMF GRANDMA. <3 <3
16. Rashard And Wallace Go To White Castle – Fun episode where everybody had fun things to do, though ultimately outshone by a lot of other glorious episodes.
17. Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner – Lamb’s humanity and that ending just gut me. One of the things this show tends to do well — and in particular throughout this season — is portray the, “Sometimes shit is deeply, unforgivably un fucking fair,” card in ways that are emotional and believable. Even when there is a fair bit of contrivance to get to that point, that particular conclusion is one they tend to do very well and it never fails to stomp all over my emotions.
18. Versatile Toppings – This was a #meh episode, dragged down by Kristen Cavallari and some trite handling of its subject matter. Those two complaints are related.
19. Green Eyed Monster – Good case of the week meets important life lessons moments for V.
20. Nevermind the Buttocks – Another one that I’m penalizing for giving me gross feelings, but also this episode didn’t have a whole lot else going to redeem it. There’s a little too much going on in the build to the finale with very little to focus in on.
21. Blast from the Past – Fantastic Wallace moments are about the only things I particularly enjoyed in this episode.
22. Donut Run – I have such confused feelings about this episode. I never really gave the babynapping plot a whole lot of thought and if you’d asked me before this rewatch, I probably would have ranked it pretty high and then I tried to stick it in a few above the bottom out of respect for my prior self but then I couldn’t justify ranking anything above it, so here it sits. Womp. Awesome soundtrack contributions, though.

 

 

Marines: Whenever I talked about Veronica Mars prior to this project, I would always say that Season 1 was on my list of best TV of all time. That didn’t change with rewatch, but what did was my appreciation for season 2. I think this worked a little better for me the second time around and I would guess it’s because I knew all the big reveals. Season 2 is very plot heavy. I mean, you’ve got a bus crash, the Aaron Echoll’s thing, Kendall and Big Dick, Woody Goodman, Terrance Cook, Weevil and the Fitzpatricks, Duncan’s baby, and just all these little threads throughout the season. And they all go somewhere. They all feed into the story in ways that really go to show that this season was carefully planned.

The problem, though, is that it can get a little confusing or overwhelming. The big mystery, the bus crash, gets put on the back burner as these other things get developed and it feels a little strange. There are so many things going on that a few big developments happen completely off screen, like Meg’s death, Veronica’s reconciliation with Jackie and Terrance being shot while breaking into ANTM Journalism Teacher’s house. It’s possible that it becomes a little too much.

Last season, the central mystery was the murder of Veronica’s best friend. We take a step back in the personal department with the bus crash. Sure, Meg and few classmates were on it, but it never feels as important to Veronica as the Lilly thing (duh) and therefore, it doesn’t feel as important to the audience.

I also think a huge part of this vs. last season is Veronica’s social isolation. Her fall from grace and often self-imposed isolation were central to her character and to the plot. Here, it’s a little unsure where we are with that. Veronica is dating Duncan and solving mysteries for her peers and the whole thing doesn’t have the gravity it did in S1. That was a central theme, and here in S2, there doesn’t really appear to be one.

Still, it had some great moments and I loved that while Woody Goodman was an awful human being, he wasn’t the end-game villain. It became clear while trying to rank these that many of them landed so close together on the, “just good” scale, with only a couple of exceptions. It seems that most of them could be summed up by saying, “good with a few A+ moments, one or two loose ends.” Also, breaking up this season episode by episode makes it easier to pick at those loose ends. When you consider the story as a whole, it seems better. It really speaks to how serialized the show became this season, for better or for worse.

1. Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough – A super memorabale case of the week, some development with Logan’s case, Veronica showing up her awful teacher and Jackie being humanized. Fantastic all around.
2. Rat Saw God – SEASON ONE CALLBACKS! Clarence Wiedman and Abel Koontz make a come back, Logan and Cliff share scenes, and Keith loses the sheriff’s election, all in one great episode.
3. Happy Go Lucky – Such a great and heart breaking and sad and ALL THE FEELS pre-finale. I actually dreaded re-watch, but only because I remembered how much it impacted me the first time around.
4. Not Pictured – I know, I know. It’s kind of messy in its close all the threads story telling, but its just so mile-a-minute with the reveals that, whenever I’m looking back on this season, I feel like moments from this episode are what will come back to me first.
5. Blast from the Past – Kind of uncomfortable to watch, but hot damn if Jackie didn’t fool Veronica right and good. The whole psychic thing, plus the confrontation at the dance was admittedly very teen soapy, but I liked it anyways.
6. Normal is the Watchword – Not only is that “who’s at the door” cliffhanger answered (Logan! …but he’s not her boyfriend.) but the episode ends with the bus crash and Veronica Mars, back in the game. It was crazy and a really good start to the season.
7. Ahoy, Mateys! – I think this goes here. Again,  a of these are all so consistently good that this is hard. This had A+ Mac and Veronica time, though, and that terribly great scene where Veronica is stuck at the River Styx and Logan comes to her rescue.
8. Plan B – I liked that this episode felt like a turning point in the season, and WEEVIL! but this isn’t higher because of a few contrivance-y moments in getting us there.
9. Look Who’s Stalking – Fan of Logan and Veronica or not, this had both this show’s iconic declaration of love and then a direct kick to the gut. It was a little awkward in it’s head to the finish line, but still had lots going for it.
10. The Rapes of Graff – Rewatch improved this episode for me a ton.
11. Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang – Another good episode that only suffers because I didn’t love the whole, “THE BUS CRASH IS ALL ABOUT ME!” turn.
12. I Am God – No secret that I’m a sucker for dream sequences on TV and I loved the insight into V’s anxiety this gave us.
13. Driver Ed – My complaint about the bus crash was that V was too removed from it, but here was a good chance to humanize it all, by was of Ed and his daughter. I couldn’t stand Jackie’s introduction, though, dropping this a little in my esteem.
14. The Quick and the Wed – Another good, standalone case of the week, while all around Veronica all the various plots thicken.
15. Rashard And Wallace Go To White Castle – Another a-ha! reveal in that Jackie finally was at least useful if not likable. So, that.
16. Versatile Toppings – Some really great continuity porn are brought down by Kristin Cavalari’s bad acting. Womp.
17. Nevermind the Buttocks – I.. don’t actually remember much about this episode. Nothing good or bad.
18. My Mother, The Fiend – While I loved that Clemmons totally set Veronica up, and the little Buffy reunion, the bathroom baby thing was a little out there.
19. Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner – This episode was a little strange, but man will I never forget that single moment Don Lamb showed some humanity.
20. Green Eyed Monster – A standalone case of the week, which was cool, but the fiance trying to prove her boyfriend bad wasn’t a particularly good one. Mostly, what we have here was not badly done, but just set-up.
21. One Angry Veronica – The jury duty stuff wasn’t terrible but not only did I not buy/also hate Leo stealing evidence, I did not but/also hated Meg dying but her baby surviving. MEH.
22. Donut Run – I actually can’t take that there was a baby-napping plot line. I forgot about it until this moment, for obvious reasons. Good on this episode for how the reveal was done, but I wish the reveal were something other than BABY-NAPPING.

 

 

Democracy Diva: I have none of the re-watch feels my fellow Snark Ladies have, because Diva Snow and all, but much of what Mari said rings true for me. The amount of increasingly-insane and hard-to-justify plot that got thrown at me this season was INTENSE. It was often overwhelming and confusing, though occasionally brilliant and emotional. Overall, it didn’t flow for me as well as the first season. Season 1 always left me surprised, but rarely drowning in an ocean of plot lines. As per usual, there were a few episodes I loved and a few I hated, and most of the ones in-between could all be ranked interchangeably.

I still think the Cassidy storyline didn’t have an arc that really developed over the season, making everything in the finale feel hard to follow. Woody was a creepy villain if there ever was one, but not an enjoyable one to watch. But overall, it was still a very strong season, even though it didn’t keep me as glued to the screen as the first one. And I’m still wondering if Keith and Veronica will ever truly hold themselves responsible for the epic amount of privacy-invading and law-breaking they do in the name of crime-solving. I’m not saying I want to see them in jail, but recognition that they’ve done some REALLY fucked-up shit this season would be helpful.

But for someone who only ever wanted Aaron Echolls to burn in the hottest, most horrific hell – that plotline could not have ended in a more magnificent way.

1. Happy Go Lucky – All Diva Snow ever wanted was some Aaron-murdered-Lilly resolution, and here it finally comes. An amazing pre-finale.
2. Not Pictured – There were just a few too many logic leaps in the Beaver plotline to make this a perfect finale, but the Aaron Echolls resolution was everything I could have wanted and more.
3. One Angry Veronica – An amazing jury duty story line featuring BAMF Grandma. RIP Meg, but may her vampire slayer baby live on to fight the forces of evil.
4. Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough – JACKIE FEELS.
5. My Mother, The Fiend – WILLOW-CORDY BITCH-FEST. Minus points for prom babies, bonus points for Willow ratting out the world’s worst principal, Clemmons being a genius who used V’s snooping powers, and the oh hai, Meg is pregnant reveal.
6. Rat Saw God – Election Night was intense and the story unfolded in an interesting way. And I lived for the moment when Cliff called Logan an arrogant jackass for not lawyering up. Plus: Joss Whedon and Kim from ANTM, and Clarence Weidman dangling people out of windows, and dead rats.
7. Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang – I liked watching Veronica FBLA the shit out of a major corporation’s real estate fraud. Big Dick escaping, as well as some Dandy Warhols fun – this was a fun episode with a mic-dorp ending.
8. Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner – FUCKED UP SHIT, but I TOTALLY CALLED THAT, and I’m still really proud of it. Plus, Lamb character development, and, Krysten Ritter was fun! Heartbreaking episode, but a solid one.
9. The Quick and the Wed – I want to sing karaoke with Heidi. Heidi, Cliff, and Vinnie in one episode? FUN.
10. Look Who’s Stalking – Jason Dohring TORE SHIT UP, acting-wise. This episode showed us all the moving pieces leading up to the finale, but didn’t really blow my mind.
11. Ahoy, Mateys! – Lucas Gabreel on coke. An Irish gang almost kills Veronica. Logan almost dies. This was extremely intense.
12. Plan B – Weevil feels.
13.  Blast From The Past – Only ranked this high because PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE SCENE FOREVER AND EVER. And Wallace and Veronica finally had the heartbreaking confrontation they needed to have about their friendship.
14. Versatile Toppings – If Kristin Cavallari could act even a little bit, this would be ranked way higher.
15. Green-Eyed Monster – the girl from the Legally Blonde musical + a Scottish Jew? I was on board, til Elle Woods ruined everything and Meg’s parents were terrible.
16. Normal is the Watchword – The twists and turns left me feeling a bit jerked around. I was very surprised but not at all pleased by the Duncan reveal. Ten extra points for, “Don’t worry, Dad, I swear you’re gonna like these guys.” More bonus points bonding with the Snark Ladies over our extensive knowledge of ANTM for the first time.
17. Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle – Logan/Weevil buddy cop comedy forever and ever.
18.  I Am God – Weird dream sequences left the Snow very confused.
19. Nevermind the Buttocks – Minus points for the legal system slut-shaming Veronica. Bonus points for Weevil’s Maybelline lashes.
20. Driver Ed – I immediately did not trust woody, because my instincts are awesome. Mostly, this was info-dumpy/moving puzzle pieces around that I did not yet really understand.
21. The Rapes of Graff – STOP FUCKING TASING PEOPLE VERONICA. Also, Hannah is stupid, and colleges are terrible at dealing with sexual assault. Hard to watch and not in a compelling way.
22. Donut Run – Too many plot holes and WAY too much jumping to the nuclear option. And Teddy Dunn really can’t carry an episode.

Next time on Veronica Mars: The gang’s all going to college in S03 E01 – Welcome Wagon.