PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SPOILER-RICH ZONE. If your diet requires you to dine on television spoiler-free ... good luck with that.

REVIEW ARCHIVES

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Put Back Together and Blown Again



Episode 3.7: Of Vice and Men. Original Airdate 11.14.06

"Veronica is disappointed in Keith for his ongoing relationship with his client, Harmony, who invites him on a romantic weekend getaway. When Veronica retreats to Wallace and Piz's dorm room for some quiet time, Logan seeks her help in clearing Mercer of the rape  charges, but refuses to give her his alibi."

Daniel's Thoughts:

  • Veronica’s annoyed with her dad for having an affair.  So much so, that she’s not living at home.
  • Ok, she’s crashing at Wallace’s while she’s mad at her dad.  But also, I guess she’s mad at Logan, too because she’s not crashing there. Is it because of the Mercer thing?
  • Amanda Walsh is guest starring. I thought she was Riki Lindholme at first, but it’s not.  I actually know her from season 2 of  Dirk Gently. She was really crazy and awesome in that.
  • Piz is staring at Veronica and it’s kinda creepy.
  • New mystery.  Someone’s missing.  Since Veronica just happens to be at the right place at the right time, she takes the case.
  • In the very next scene, Veronica’s hair is perfectly dry and coifed.  She must have seen her hair stylist on the way.  SHENANIGANS.
Before ...  and after two minutes of walking down the hall ...

  • Veronica’s next assignment in criminology is to Plan the Perfect Murder.  What a fun class.
  • So it’s a school day.  Is Wallace still ‘crashing in a motel room to study’?  Ugh, it’s so contrived.
  • Logan just keeps way too many secrets.  Inventing retconned secrets is such a soap opera trope to make things interesting.  This show is better than that.
  • Amanda Walsh (Meryl) opens up the door as if it’s Sully, her boyfriend, but is disappointed that it’s Veronica. But why would he knock on his own door?
  • Oh hey, it’s Ben from Buffy.
  • Wait, Veronica asks Charlie Weber why he’s back early for the weekend.  But she had class today.  Does she have class on weekends? SHENANIGANS.
  • Uh oh, It’s Vinnie.
  • Omg, are we still talking about the Fitzpatricks?
  • Isn’t Kendall dead?
  • Aaaand now Keith is getting blackmailed.
  • Now it’s Friday. Oy.  So Wallace and Sully’s roommate both think weekends start on Thursday, I guess?  I still stand by my shenanigan.
  • Piz: Where am I sleeping?  Veronica: Play your cards right…..the floor!
  • Yikes, I was wondering if Veronica was going to tell Piz about Parker’s rape but I guess it came up pretty organically.
  • Logan asks if Veronica can trust him. And that’s not really the point?  It’s the secrets that are the problem. 
  • Veronica name-checks Jake Kane – which brings back memories of an awesome season 1.
  • Fitzpatricks are invading two story lines….ugh.
  • Vinnie to the rescue – that’s unexpected.
  • “If I hadn’t been in love before, I wouldn’t have believed it.” – OH SNAP, MERYL.
  • Sully is found in the jail cell – they’re going to take him to the hospital because he’s having memory issues and has a bad bump on the back of his head. But….he’s asleep in the jail cell.  If this was a concussion, he could have died… 
  • Uh oh uh oh uh oh.  Veronica’s been roofied.  Fuck.
  • Piz knows what Logan suspects and he doesn’t correct him. 
  • Veronica is smart – she scares off her would-be attacker by setting off her car alarm.  At least she tries to.  The would-be attacker shaves off a little of Veronica’s perfect hair.  Maybe they got spooked off by Logan conveniently being there.
  • Veronica invokes Stan Marsh from South Park.  Heh.




Zelda's Thoughts:

  • Mystery Not!RikiLindhome is confused because every clue they find in the dorm room screams not!herboyfriendSully
  • I kind of love that the final assignment is Plan the Perfect Murder. It sounds like such a cool and not at all actionable creative project.
  • Landry: Veronica I am recommending you for a summer internship at the FBI, aka the Hail Mary pitch for the show’s fourth season.
  • “It’s better for everyone if the secret stays that way, okay? Please have a little faith.” // “How bad does your alibi have to be if Mercer would rather stay in jail than divulge it?”
  • See, this—whatever it is—is at least a more legitimate source for LoVe to fight, for the trust to be breaking, rather than the stuff earlier this season where she was stalking his phone and making them both feel terrible.
  • Wowwww Meryl is convinced that Sully is on the run from sinister forces because he invented a magic laser cannon and I kind of want to be friends with her imagination. Not with her, she seems lacking in self awareness.
  • BenGlory, what is with your Samson hair.
BENGLORIOUS MANE

  • At least Keith, for all that he told Veronica it was his business, not hers, is trying to not go further with Harmony, with her marriage and child.
  • Butttttttt she talks him into it anyway.
  • Aannnnnnnnnnnd Vinnie Van Lowe is at Keith's office and knows exactly who Harmony is … because he photographed their hotel tryst.
  • Wow, he’s been on retainer for the Fitzpatricks, following Keith all this time, to find whatever money Kendall Casablancas left behind. But … isn’t she like … dead?
  • I do have to question, if Vinnie was following Keith, not Harmony, how he was able to know which room to be watching, and to get those photos in time (photos that were clearly taken early in the encounter, since everyone’s still dressed). Keith rushed back to the hotel after his car accident, didn’t he? Naw, you know what? Shenanigans.
  • Ah yes, I was right. This is how Veronica alibis Mercer out of the rapes, with Mercer’s radio schedule. She floats that he could have prerecorded it, but Piz says it’s a call and request show.
  • “Can you leave it alone? Can you trust me?” // “No, I can’t. I’m not built that way.”
  • Veronica really does have magical hair this season, Daniel wasn’t kidding. She wakes up with comically sloppy bedhead (nice touch) and not long after, we see her gorgeously curled tumbling locks.
  • “You’re not that jaded.” // “I didn’t used to be. I had this one shining example that gave me some faith.” Ouch, Mars family. Ouch.
  • Oh damn, Meryl was right to be worried. Sully's phone’s in the River Stix aka Fitzpatrick Land.
  • Jesus it’s awful watching the Fitzpatrick drag Veronica’s body around, slowly suffocating her.
one of my very least favorite scenes

  • And amazingly, Vinnie is there to the rescue, taking a picture and getting him to put her down, let her leave.
  • And Meryl and Sully are reunited at last and it’s very sweet. “Meryl? I was looking for you.”
  • And Keith once more breaks his own heart, breaking it off with Harmony.
  • I fucking hate this. Veronica JUST got Mercer off the hook, and she gets roofied in the cafeteria. Is that to clear him as much as possible in our minds, while also terrifying us because STOP DOING THIS TO VERONICA.
  • I’m wondering though, since her hair gets partially shaved, but she isn’t sexually assaulted, does that mean the shaving happens before the assault? Or is it just a warning for her to keep out of it?
  • But Logan got there in time to prevent more than drugging and a bit of hair loss.
  • “I think we all learned a valuable lesson about faith. You give it to the people you love. But the people who really deserve it are the ones who come through even when you don’t love them enough.” as V wakes up, her two men asleep after keeping watch over her.


Crossfire!

Guest Credits: *lists names*
D: Ryan Devlin. I know that name.
Z: He plays Mercer Hayes.

Part two:
D: *looks up Ryan Devlin’s credits and recognizes most of them*
Z: Is he your Tom Hardy of TV?
D: He MIGHT be my Tom Hardy of TV!


Favorite Lines:

Daniel: Piz: Where am I sleeping? // Veronica: Play your cards right...the floor!
Zelda: "Have you ever heard of Occan's razor, Meryl?" // "Is that a space laser?"


Arc/Continuity:

Neptune Roll Call: Logan, Piz, Sheriff Don Lamb (Absent: Wallace, Dick, Parker, Mac, Weevil)
Recurring:  Harmony Chase, Liam Fitzpatrick, Vinnie Van Lowe, Danny Boyd, Mercer Hayes, Professor Hank Landry, Moe Flater
Buffy Alum: Charlie BenIsGlory Weber
Generally Known TV Face: Amanda Walsh. Fine, Charlie Weber goes here too


Stats:

Dead Humans - 0
Backup Sighting - 0 
Veronica Breaks In - 0
Veronica Tases Someone - 0
Mac Hacks - 0
Who's Your Daddy? - 0
Wallace Does Veronica a Favor - 0
Veronica Wants a Pony - 0
Logan Punches Someone - 0
Dick's Single Entendres - 0
Shenanigans Called - 3
VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 0
VERONICA WAS WRONG – 1 (Sully wasn’t skipping out and avoiding Meryl; he really was in trouble)