So I finally got to watch the new Veronica Mars yesterday. So nice to have a new episode. So now I must write a review before I pollute my mind with what everyone else is saying about it. This review has spoilers, for this episode and the season mysteries of season one and season two; plus spoilers for the first arc in season three. Basically, anything that's already aired, nothing that is yet to air.
Generally, I liked it. I thought the acting was better even than usual -- I find the acting on VM generally really good (my dad thinks it's shit; shows you what he knows) but the regulars this week were really excellent, particularly Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring. The latter did a really good job making his depression interesting; he seemed completely broken up but without chewing scenery, going too far, or not giving us enough. (In other words, not Mr. Billowy Coat King of Pain, to quote from Buffy.) Kristen Bell, I think, also did really well, especially in her scenes at the end, the conversation with Piz and the reunion with Logan. I was going to say I wish she'd given us more to show her feelings throughout the rest of the episode, rather than just the one brief scene at the food court, but thinking about it, there was something missing -- some energy, some perkiness, maybe -- that's usually present in her portrayal, that was missing, probably deliberately. And the character of Veronica is not as open or emotional as the character of Logan. (We've seen Logan freak out emotionally -- sometimes at Veronica -- while Veronica's reaction has been to shut down. E.g., their relationship at the end of season one, and even earlier this season, with the affair of the bodyguard.) So Veronica's reaction was perfectly in character, although Logan's was more fun to watch.
I got very, very involved in the Mac storyline, too -- I think Tina Majorino does a fantastic job. I like her new boy, and I really liked the way that Mac believed him about the week's mystery and that was what lead her to trust him in their personal relationship. I actually thought it was handled relatively subtly, which is rare for TV (no moment where Mac looked in the mirror and saw into her own soul or anything); that made me like it more. Mac and Bronson were cute enough that I really could have done with them just seeing each other and flirting for a couple of episodes before the payoff. It didn't feel out of character like this, and it wasn't exactly rushed, but it could have been longer and I think I would have enjoyed it as much or more. I am going to be wicked pissed when he goes evil in a couple weeks. (That's not a spoiler, that's just my theory.)
The Parker-Mac-Veronica dynamic was also really really good, especially when contrasted to the Chip-Logan-Dick dynamic. Since both groups were basically doing the same thing, it was nice to see the ways they were supportive of each other, and how different girls and boys go about handling stuff like that.
The actual mystery.... eeeh. Okay, the monkey was cute. But I feel like the mysteries this season have been a little disappointing. Not in that they don't make sense, because they do, and they're fulfilling, and all that. But maybe because I've been watching the show for two and a half seasons, it's much harder for me to be surprised by the culprit. It was a problem I had with the conclusion of the rape arc too -- not that I predicted it was Mercer and Moe, per se, but I did predict it was two people, and Mercer and Moe were both on my suspect list. So I wasn't particularly surprised, either by their identities or their cooperation. Compare that to the reveal about Aaron Echolls at the end of the first season -- I was really careful not to be spoiled ahead of time, and I was surprised and delighted, because it was unexpected and made perfect sense. (Beaver in season two was a little too far on the unexpected end of the spectrum; Mercer and Moe were too far on the made sense side.) A lot of the standalone episodes in season one did the same thing for me -- Clash of the Tritons, Betty and Veronica, and Like a Virgin come to mind; there were a couple in season two also -- Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough, for example.
This episode didn't do that as well in my opinion. Part of that is that the show is two and a half years old, like I said -- when you read a lot mysteries by the same author, too, you sort of see where they're going after awhile (or so my mom tells me; it's only ever happened to me with Harry Potter). I imagine the creators work really hard to try to keep the audience on their toes, and it's certainly not like some shows (Angel) where you can predict where it's going right from the beginning. I just so loved being surprised in the first couple of seasons, and I really miss that. You start thinking like the creators, and there's only a certain number of people it could be... oh well.
As a side note, I can see -- based on what we know about Mac's parents from Silence of the Lamb -- that her first pacifier might have been jerky. But (like everyone else on the internet, I'm sure) I don't know why she didn't mention that she's a vegan. Okay, it's possible that her mom got it wrong in the earlier episode; Mac might be a vegetarian or not partake in certain kinds of meat, which she might not have mentioned, either out of shyness or self defense (people make fun of the way I eat all the time, so I don't tell them about it unless they're cooking me dinner). Still, it was a really weird moment.
Also weird was the way both Parker and Chip Diller seemed to sort of shrug off their assaults from the last arc. I really don't want to say one thing or another about how people cope with that kind of thing, obviously everyone is different. But as a viewer, it felt a little -- strange, that we got mentions of both of them, but both characters sort of refused to really engage it. However, possibly that's very realistic, I don't know. And it's definitely better than the creators pretending they never happened, now that the arc is over. I guess I'd believe it of Parker, but I wish the actor playing Chip had put something extra into his performance at that moment, to show he was shrugging it off for the benefit of his friends, or at least that making jokes about it was difficult. However, it's possible he did, and I didn't catch it (youtube is great, but not exactly high definition).
Those are my thoughts. And, let's see, current prediction about who killed Dean O'Dell: Landry, working in cahoots with a maintenance guy or office aide.
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