Date of airing: February 8, 2005 (UPN)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.97 million viewers, 2.0/3 in Households, 1.0/3 with Adults 18-49
written by: John Enbom
directed by: Steve Gomer
It might have taken the writers less than 13 episodes to realize what the show is about and what it should look like throughout its lifetime, but it took me 13 episodes to realize that Rob Thomas’ writers' room also likes to employ similar endings to both the A and B story in the same episode. One story might affect the other, either intended or in an accidental fashion during the breaking and writing of the episode, and the other story might even give you the outcome of the first story before its conclusion comes around.
This episode was quite noticeable in showcasing that Bone’s story of his missing daughter, and Logan’s story of his missing mother could not be more difficult on the outside, but are pretty much the same when you dig into those cases, talk to the family members, and realize that Lynn Echolls and Yolanda Hamilton lived similar lives, and they had the same thoughts of getting the heck out of that life as quickly as possible. They even could be convinced to return to their life if the patriarch in their families would just quit being such a manic asshole all of the time. It took me until this episode to realize that the writers like to give both stories of the episode the same feel, and while that might not have happened in every episode of VERONICA MARS yet, it was certainly a great feeling to have this narrative form exploited here, as it is a great way to showcase that you do think about what you write for television, and how it is being perceived by the audience.
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| If you see the finger, you know this situation is serious. |
I am unable to call this hour a filler episode, because it really was anything but, even if it kind of was, as none of the major storylines of the season found any kind of development if you exclude the predictable fact that Lynn most likely faked her suicide. Veronica and Keith did not think about moving forward with the Lilly Kane murder (with Lilly in this episode's flashback no less), Veronica has not been thinking about her missing mother lately (with her cases being all about missing people in this episode), and the two Mars PIs very much live their lives in Neptune, California like they are just about to make the next buck and survive for another month with rent and taxes paid.
That is what makes the episode so filler-like for the Mars family, but on the other side of town, Logan’s story is being developed with each episode, and with each hour he gets into emotional trouble, I know a little more about his mental state, and how close he might be to dropping straight into a black hole of anger and disgust towards humanity (or maybe just his father). That might have actually happened if it were not for Logan’s (not so surprising) realization that his mother did not kill herself, and that she just escaped from her terrible life with Aaron. It is not surprising because I saw that story coming from a mile away, as I was watching Keith and Veronica investigate Yolanda’s disappearance, and with every scene I started believing that Yolanda was not kidnapped and that she just bolted, like I believed that Yolanda’s brother was on the outside of everything, but knew exactly what was happening with each member of his family (which is why I believed he might have been in on Yolanda’s happy escapist disappearance, or at least knew where she was as the siblings probably talked online every once in a while). And with those thoughts, I also started believing that Lynn faked her death, just to get away from her abusive husband, and it is not like I developed that idea for the first time in this episode.
But yeah, Logan is extremely close to a mental breakdown, and the only thing keeping him above water at this point is the fact that he believes his mother is still alive. If she was dead for real, this would have been it for Logan, and he would have kissed his butt goodbye in a similar fashion Lynn did – maybe not by jumping from a bridge, but maybe by looking into the barrel of a pistol or a shotgun. I am almost happy that Lynn seemed to have faked her suicide, otherwise, Logan’s story would have really turned into a black hole, and I am not so sure whether the show was able to handle that kind of dark and stormy storytelling halfway into the first season, at the same time, UPN was so desperate to get viewers to the network before the ultimate shutdown.
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| Logan is starting to lose his mind. |
That Logan would search for Veronica and ask her to find Lynn was also intriguing. I said it before, and I will say it again, Logan and Veronica have something in common they can bond over: They lost a dear friend (Lilly), they do not seem to be quite popular at school (no one looks to care much about Logan, maybe with the exception of Duncan), and both their mothers have now disappeared by running away from their previous lives. Now more than ever, Logan and Veronica could be best friends, and this after they have hated each other ever since the Lilly Kane murder.
And finally, Veronica says "We used to be
friends... long time ago," right before the title intro pops in and The
Dandy Warhols start singing "A long time ago, we used to be friends..."
Someone in the writers' room was hungry for that joke-y reference to the
show’s intro song, and I loved it. It was a silly little joke, but it
fits well, and it proved that the theme song was properly
chosen, and "We Used to Be Friends" does, in fact, give you a sense of
what VERONICA MARS is about as a television show. Veronica was friends with a lot of the characters a long time ago.
