Date of airing: September 28, 2005 (UPN)
Nielsen ratings information: 3.29 million viewers, 2.1/3 in Households, 1.3/3 with Adults 18-49
written by: Rob Thomas
directed by: John Kretchmer
Veronica said it at the end, nothing ever happens accidentally in Neptune, California. And with Veronica almost having kissed the afterlife herself if it had not been for the ghostly vision of Lilly Kane to guide her to Weevil for a little talk that made her miss the bus, you can be guaranteed that she is going to find out who almost killed her, as well as the high school kids who did die in the bus crash. And let it be certain: All the survivors of the crash, including the 09ers who took the limo back home, as well as Veronica, are suspects in this case, if it ever turns into something resembling murder. Great, once more, Duncan and Weevil will be getting their very own folders on Veronica’s laptop as she is investigating the crash that should have taken her life. What a lucky Veronica that she already investigated those two deeply during the previous season, so she should be quick in exonerating them.
It is also probably a good thing that this episode started the season not only with one case for Veronica to investigate over a few more episodes, but with two. While the bus crash could coincidentally be a simple accident and therefore be revealed as such after a couple of episodes, at least Veronica still has a murderer to catch, and with Felix’s death, she even has to investigate in circles she does not want to find herself in. Not to mention that not even Neptune's police department was most likely not interested in investigating the death of a Latino gang member, so Veronica has essentially free reign in her investigation, as the cops will not stop her. Plus, with Logan's involvement in Felix's death, things will get personal for her, but when is it ever not personal for the now 18-year-old woman?
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| Mrs. Casablancas likes to wrap boys around her finger. |
The second season starts in an interesting fashion. Two major cases, one major boyfriend reveal, one kid having an affair with the mother of two boys, and Veronica is very much in the middle of it all. Okay, maybe not in that sexual relationship between Kendall and Logan, but Veronica has been at the center of attention during this episode, and from all sides that is. The 09ers were eyeing her to become their newest member, and the PCH gang was eyeing her because the feeling of betrayal runs down their spines, even though there is not even a reason for the PCH gang to dislike Veronica, considering the only member who had a solid relationship with her has always been Weevil.
That could make things interesting for the next few episodes
though, when Weevil really is getting pushed out by whoever killed
Felix (the murder being step one of a hostile takeover of the gang), and Veronica is pretty much the only one able or ready to help him. But does Veronica even have an interest in helping Weevil here? She
might go with camaraderie and previous friendship, and because Veronica has never been a bad
person, but there is not an incentive for her to even go after
Felix’s killer, since the prosecution could not pin the murder on Logan at all. Veronica has nothing to do
with the murder now, and Weevil does not believe that Felix's demise is the
beginning of his push out of the club – yet. Something else needs to
happen for Veronica to tackle Felix’s death, and considering how dark
and screwed up Neptune sometimes is, whatever happens will happen very
soon, and Veronica will have been pulled back in for real.
The narrative of the episode was working well. In the flashbacks, she is dating Logan; in the present time, she is dating Duncan. Both relationships have been separated well enough to make both a surprise. I was not expecting Logan to be her boyfriend during the flashback summer months, even after what happened after Aaron’s arrest and Logan’s near death at the hands of the PCHers. But there they were, having a wonderful relationship – at least up until a certain point. And when Duncan was revealed to be her present-time boyfriend, I was surprised once more, because I did not think that Veronica and Duncan would go there after what happened between the two.
It is a sign though that the rape backstory during Shelley Pomroy's party (her name conveniently getting mentioned during the episodic investigations) has been dropped entirely by the writers – Veronica succeeded in forgetting that she was raped, and that it was consensual sex at the party (which is still a troublesome storyline in general – the writers should not have pretty much retconned the sexual assault), and none of the worry or fear she developed after the end-of-the-year party has now vanished for the sake of never having to think about rape again in this show. Still, the writers managed to fire up the season with a two-tiered storytelling, with both the present time and the flashbacks telling two different stories. That was entertaining for this episode, but I can only hope this is not going to be a regular thing for the remainder of the season.
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| For this ride, Weevil wears some blings on his earlobes. |
In hindsight, Veronica’s case of the week seemed like it was filler. Something to fill airtime with and to remind the audience that she also likes to solve a few cases here and there, when time allows it and she does not have too much homework to do (does she ever do homework, or study for exams, or prepare an actual project with some of her classmates?). The premise of the failed drug tests seemed a bit dumb, but I would have said the same if the story of Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman paying to get their kids into respective positions at their colleges had been a fictional story, and that stuff turned out to be real life, so I can kind of accept that shareholders of a company would fake drug tests to give their own kids a starting spot in their athletic fields. It turns out that this premise has always been part of worlds with rich white people and their kids. Your kid did not get a starting position in their athletic team? Well, better pay up and someone will guarantee a starting position within days. The college admissions scandal did show that the real world does not have someone like Veronica Mars who solves those cases in the off time, which is a shame.
