“It’s exactly like we never left Neptune High.”
Those words, uttered by any other character on any other TV show, might prove to be flippant, a throw-away remark.
But when they’re spoken by Veronica Mars in Episode One (“Welcome Wagon”) of Season Three, count on them being neither flippant nor throw-away.
Poor Veronica. In Season Two, all she wanted to do was get back to something resembling normal. Nothing doing.
This season, she figures that she’s graduated from high school, going to an entirely new school filled with new people. You’d think that would mean she could start fresh, where hardly anyone knows her infamous past.
Wrong again.
Shortly after matriculating at Hearst College, she’s got a whole new host of people who hate her guts: the Pi Sigs, the Theta Zetas, the Lillith House psychos feminists, Tim the TA.
Yep — as she tells Mac, it’s exactly like they never left Neptune.
Last week concluded the first of two mystery arcs this season. I was a little skeptical at the plan of mini-arcs instead of a season-long mystery, as had been the case in Seasons One and Two, but I did understand the reasoning: if there were mini-arcs, it would allow new viewers to get caught up much more easily, and also, with this plan, there would be no repeats during the mini-arcs. The CW’s decision to order 20 episodes rather than the standard 22 put a crimp in the three mystery arc plan, and so Rob’s decided to continue with the original Mystery #2 as planned, and have the remaining four episodes stand alone.
The Hearst Rapist: The first mystery was actually set up last season in “The Rapes of Graff,” when Veronica and Wallace visit Heart College. There’s a guy who preys on unsuspecting coeds, spiking their drinks with GHB. They wake up having been raped and with their heads shaved. Veronica gets involved because a guy from her past, Troy Van Der Graff, is accused of being the rapist. She initially suspects the Pi Sigs — and Chip Diller — but by the end of the episode, all she’s discovered about them is that they’re utterly despicable.
Veronica, Mac, and Wallace arrive on campus to find tension between Lillith House and the Pi Sigs escalating at a fever pitch, and by the end of the episode, she’s drawn right back into the Hearst Rapist mystery when Mac’s new roommate, Parker, becomes a victim.
I really thought the whole story played out very well. I did suspect Moe in the beginning, but as seems to be the general consensus, nobody really thought him capable of master-minding the entire nefarious scheme. Rob did a little ingenius misdirection when he served Mercer up as a prime suspect, thanks to Parker’s hazy recollection, only to have Veronica herself prove his alibi. And then when he was in jail when Veronica was attacked, well, I kind of dismissed him altogether.
I should’ve remembered that this is Veronica Mars, after all, and paid more attention to the B storylines. Mercer and Moe both participated in that whole psychological prisoner/guard experiment that Wallace and Logan participated in, and it was during that time that Mercer exacted his control over Moe. I did wonder at the seemingly awkward mention of Horshack and the other guy a couple episodes ago.
“Spit and Eggs”: All I can say is an emphatic WOW. This episode had me on the edge of my seat the entire hour. I liked the gimmick of starting with a bloody Veronica running through the halls, desperately trying to find help, and then flashing back to two days prior. That just upped the tension.
Somebody — supposedly the rapist, but more likely it’s one of the Lillith House chicks — has placed an ad in the newspaper warning that “he” was going to strike again at the big Pi Sig party that night. Parker and the others at Take Back the Night are handing out these little coasters that can detect the presence of any drugs in drinks, and Veronica collects a few and enlists the help of Wallace, Mac, and Piz.
(By the way, Mac’s “Ask me about my STD” shirt was frakking hilarious.)
Veronica spots Mercer talking to Logan, and then he leaves, presumably to host his radio show. Remember, it’s been previously established by Piz (and verified by Veronica) that his show is live, and a call-in show, which means he’s got to be there the whole time. It’s not until later, when she hears the glitch in the tape over the speakers, that she realizes he’s taped the entire thing.
Wallace, Piz, and Mac find someone’s drink that’s been spiked with GHB, and Logan offers to drive them to the girl’s apartment. Turns out it was the girl’s sister who’d borrowed her ID, and she was, in fact, on her way back to her dorm room. Veronica heads for the dorm, calling in a bomb threat as she does so, but Sachs ignores it, and Veronica has no help.
She and Mercer fight, and she manages to stab him with a glass unicorn horn, and then we’re right back where we were in the beginning — her stumbling through the halls, looking for anyone to help her. She collapses outside Piz and Wallace’s room, and that’s when Moe finds her. It’s not until after she’s already ingested some of his GHB-spiked tea (while he’s supposedly calling for help) that she spots the pictures proving his connection to Mercer, and she realizes what’s happened.
Thank God for Parker’s presence of mind in giving Veronica the rape whistle, because God knows what would’ve happened to her if she hadn’t had it.
Logan and Veronica: I’m still torn. Logan and Veronica have had a number of romantic and/or angst-filled moments (usually accompanied by really good music) over the past couple of seasons, but realistically, I still don’t think he’s the best guy for her. Not now.
The break-up was sad, but I felt more for Veronica. Insisting to Mac, Wallace, and Piz that she was fine, only to completely break down, alone, in the shower, was heart-wrenching — and completely keeping in character.
Veronica doesn’t trust. She hasn’t had any reason to. Everyone she’s ever trusted has stabbed her in the back in some way. And Logan? He’s done it more than once.
I know. It’s easy to get caught up in Jason Dohring’s brilliance, in his hotness, in his soulful eyes, in the heart-breaking background of a character who’s been pretty much abandoned by everyone he’s ever loved, too. But don’t forget all the crap he’s put Veronica through. I don’t care how dreamy he is — when someone’s done to you what Logan’s done to Veronica, it’s kind of hard to all of a sudden trust him beyond all reasonable doubt.
Veronica and Piz: I’m not sure if there’s ever going to be anything romantic between Veronica and Piz, but I can’t say that I’d be entirely against it. Someone like Piz is exactly what Veronica needs right now if she’s to learn how to trust someone. He’s unassuming, sweet, funny, and what’s more, he’s from a completely normal background, sans any closet-lurking skeletons. As far as we can tell now, he has no predilections towards gambling, alcoholism, hosting bum fights, smashing up cars, hooking up with his friends’ step-mothers, or any of Logan’s other hobbies.
Really, I’m just glad that Veronica’s got Piz — and Wallace, Mac, and Parker — around right now as she copes with yet another tragedy in her life.
How that girl’s still able to function without the use of any psychotropic drugs is beyond me.
Poor Dean O’Dell: So it looks like the dean’s murder will be Mystery Arc #2. Obviously it’s not the professor or Mrs. O’Dell, because that’s way too obvious. It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out. New episodes return in February. (I think.)
Anyway, a most excellent start to the new season, and I was beyond psyched to hear that “Spit and Eggs” garnered the highest ratings ever for both the show and the network.
And it goes without saying that Kristen Bell is a genius. Yes, I am a broken record. And I’m okay with that.
