Anxiously Awaiting Veronica Mars’s Fate
Tuesday’s stand-alone episode of Veronica Mars (“Debasement Tapes”) was significantly better than last week’s public service announcement episode (“Un-American Graffiti”). Maybe the CW allowed more quality because the episode had the draw of guest star Paul Rudd. Unfortunately, the ratings were still pretty bad.
Many viewers are raving about Paul Rudd’s performance, but I actually found him kind of annoying. Sure, I liked the concept of a 90’s has-been rocker: it was a great nod to those of us for whom the 1990s were the apex of rock music. Makes me wonder: are most Veronica Mars viewers late twenty-somethings and early thirty-somethings? But, anyway, Rudd’s character didn’t have much depth—and couldn’t, since he was just there for one episode. Same thing with the “mystery,” which ended up being really lame. Bring back the story arcs, please!
There actually were some connections to previous arcs, with the re-emergence of the Fightin’ Fitzpatricks and Danny Boyd (“O Danny Boyd, the pipes, the pipes are ca-ah-lling . . .”). Plus, Leo came back, which made me happy, especially when Keith reinstated him as Deputy. (Did anyone else notice that he’d lost a lot of weight? His chin looked very pointy.) And then there was the whole Vinnie Van Lowe thing, which looks like it will provide some interesting tension in future episodes. (For you sad people who didn’t watch, Keith Mars’s rival P.I. announced that he would be running against Keith in his previously unopposed race for Neptune sheriff.)
Speaking of Vinnie, because I just recently watched season 2 and this was completely and totally confused when I watched the beginning of season 3 last fall, can someone fill me in on Vinnie’s involvement with the Fitzpatrick/Kendall plot? And please preface your response with a “spoiler” label, since I know some readers have not yet watched season 2.
As far as the romantic plots, as much as I would like for Veronica to date someone who isn’t a rich bad boy, Piz doesn’t seem to have the requisite mental acuity to keep up with her. This problem was nicely foreshadowed by Mac’s realization that her “nice” boyfriend Bronson just didn’t click with her brain the way fellow geek Max did. Ah, if only there were more nice boys with a touch of evil wit. I think I may have married the last one. There certainly don’t seem to be many on TV.
This episode did make me feel sorry for Logan for once—and not because he’s a “poor little rich boy” or because Veronica dumped him. I was indignant that he actually did legitimate work for his business class, and the professor wouldn’t give him a chance. I guess it is kind of like “the boy who cried wolf,” but oh well.
Save Veronica Mars!
Add comment May 10th, 2007