Veronica Mars 2/20: Plot, plot and more plot! (spoilers)

Cafe Society
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It is conceivable that the Prof rented a movie he had already rented from Blockbuster a few days before, so it was still fresh in his mind. Thus, when asked about it, he’d be able to answer accurately. Plus Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was released in 2005, so maybe Prof actually owns that movie and has watched it several times. Thus when he saw it was available on PPV, he figured it would make a great alibi.
Didn’t the Dean first go to The Grand before coming back to his office and drinking the swill?

  • I’m too lazy to type your whole name :smiley:
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Thoughts on the episode:

Wow. Didn’t see Lamb getting rubbed out like that. Somebody fill me in: is “I smell bread” the standard international call sign for “I just got my shit fucked up pretty good, and I think I’m takin’ the big sleep”? Or just some randomness that a doofus like Lamb would make his not-so-famous last words?

I’m working under the assumption that Richard Grieco’s character is now dead, too. Which probably means he’s not a suspect, even though his prints were on the keyboard.

And by the way, let’s give it up for Deputy Sacks and his kill shot. Lamb would have been proud, if he hadn’t been so busy smelling bread and whatnot.

Good to see Sheriff Mars back in the saddle again. I don’t think it will alter the dynamic with Veronica as much as you might think. Keith knows which side his daughter is on, and he’ll overlook her more felonious ways in the interest of the bigger picture.

Speaking of whom, loved Roni’s “Thug Life” tattoo, and her little girl glee at the Cliff’s “Who wants to get out of jail?” greeting. She makes being in the joint fun.

I too think Logan’s participation in the scavenger hunt seemed a little out of character. But that Parker is a hottie, so I suppose it was only natural. He’s moped for quite a while now.

For some reason, I just can’t see Landry being the guy who killed Dean O’Dell. Not that he isn’t capable, and all of his alibis have been a little too pat…it’s just that I don’t get the vibe that he’d care enough to off Cyrus just for Mindy’s sake. If there’s a bigger picture that we can’t see, maybe, but otherwise I just don’t think he’s the guy.

As for the MOTW, I found the whole resolution a bit muddy, too. As most of you pointed out, even with the boy being innocent, they’re still defrauding the insurance company if they know it was suicide and collect anyway. I can’t believe there would be no consequences for that, statute of limitations or otherwise. Oh, and Coach Barry killed himself–there was no one else who shot him. The other guy on the scene was the assistant coach, who was there to make it look like a carjacking to a passer-by (like the other ballplayer). That’s what I got from the whole explanation, though admittedly it’s quite a muddle.

Oh, yeah, and the clothes Weevil found: I have no idea what to make of those. A clumsy setup job on Dr. Landry, perhaps?

All in all, a very good episode, and very promising for things to come.

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From this interview: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/

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Wouldn’t a massive head injury interfere with the operation of the brain’s interpretation of signals from our sense organs? I thought “I smell bread” simply indicated that Lamb’s brain was misfiring.

So, Parker goes swimming. Clearly they’ve dispensed with all pretense that her head was recently shaved, because you can’t go swimming with a wig on and come out with it looking just like wet hair. This is a small thing, I know, but it bugs me.

I thought for sure it was Mac whose ticket would get punched this week, but I’m glad I was wrong. And I was really scared for her when she got into bed with PETA-boy.

Keith looks dorky in that uniform, but I guess there’s no such thing as a plainclothes sheriff.

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As noted in the above post, the line was from an episode of MASH. Charles found a bullet hole in the hat he was wearing and realized that he had dodged death by milimeters. He went on an introspection tour that ended with him at a front line aid station, begging a dying soldier to tell him what he was experiencing. The soldier’s last words were “I smell bread” which in those [del]preachy[/del] oh so profound later seasons of MASH was I suppose a commentary on the futility of war or the foolishness of trying to find meaning in death or some damn thing. So I doubt the writers of VM were trying to tell us that Lamb’s brain was misfiring, instead simply referencing the MASH episode.

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I think that in MASH, the deal is the soldier doesn’t just say “I smell bread” and die, he says something like “I smell bread…home, I’m home” and then he dies. So I think in the end it’s actually about how death isn’t really anything to fear.

I took it as the show’s way of saying Lamb really is gone. It’s too bad, I liked what the character added to the show.

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And as I read in the above post, thank you. But I was trying to find an in-camera explanation. I’ve seen that MASH* episode, but I didn’t think of it when I watched VM; I thought it was brain damage and I think that’s as good an interpretation as any.

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I have to think Keith as Sheriff isn’t going to last long. For one thing, it’ll put a serious cramp in V’s style. Right now, she can use all his fancy PI databases, because she’s his assistant and do it without telling him. But if he’s Sheriff, he’s not going to be allowed to let her use the police computers, and she’s extra unlikely to be able to do it without him knowing what she’s up to. I suspect he’ll somehow decide that the PI business was more his style, especially as they’ve downplayed the ‘we’re eating steak tonight’ cash flow problems of season 1 in the later seasons.

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I think the county commissioner appointed Keith acting sheriff until a special election can be held to elect a new sheriff. It probably would be a few months before the election so they could allow people to file for candidacy and arrange the logistics of the election. They have to hire and train election workers, appoint the polling places, make sure the voting machines and other equipment were available and assigned to each polling place, etc. I once was a precinct chair and election judge and even for a local election, you couldn’t throw it together in a couple of weeks or anything. My guess is that Keith will be sheriff for a brief period – either just through the next episode, after which I believe there is a hiatus until May, or through the rest of the season.

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She was shaved in the beginning of the fall semester. It is now five months later. It grew back.

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Hair grows, at most, three inches in five months. How many inches do you think this is?

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That’s some fast growin’ hair! I didn’t even realize that was Parker.

We haven’t seen the last of the Veronica-Logan misery, have we?

It amazes me that people – even TV people – leave a message on an answering machine (or voice mail) and assume the person got the message!

I thought there was some chemistry – or significant eye contact anyway – between Josh and Veronica, when she was visiting him in jail. But alas, it was not to be.

Do you think Keith will want Veronica to take over the PI business while he’s sheriffing?

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ok - so once it was long enough, she had extensions put in.

the other possibility is that it’s a “hair system” that is glued to her scalp. And yes, I know for a fact, that those things stay put no matter what activity you engage in. And you can wash them and style them and they act like real hair because they are.

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Don’t know what all the questions are about. It’s obvious Parker used some of that fake hair that you spray on with an aerosol can, like they show in the infomercials. Right?

(sound of crickets chirping)

Oh, well. I tried.

I believe along the same lines as cbawlmer: Keith’s acting sheriff until there can be an election. It will be an interesting plot point whether Keith decides to run as a candidate for the permanent position. Remember, he lost a close race in the last election. And I don’t think he’ll just be satisfied with the charms of the PI biz. County sheriff is a pretty substantial position in any of the heavily populated counties of California, and the fictional Balboa County would have to be in that mix, given the location. I say Keith stays for as long as he can, and runs for re-election.

Besides, Veronica doesn’t necessarily need Keith’s PI connections to do her snooping. There are other avenues, and she’s sophisticated enough to exploit those all by herself. (Especially so if she becomes an FBI intern, per Landry’s recommendation.)

Roni seems doomed to fall into Pizz’s lap. Or maybe she should just fly solo for a while.

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There is going to be an end of season 3 cliffhanger - Duncan and baby Lily come back into V’s life…

(I’m just guessing)

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I thought it was just a poignant, obviously pointless thing for him to say. I didn’t take it as something that was supposed to show him as a doofus, just broken.

I was surprised that I found his death quite sad.

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God I love this show.

I was worried last week about where things were heading; my faith is restored.

I agree Keith is only Acting Sheriff for now.

I don’t want Landry to be guilty, but I can’t figure who else it is - though Batando is obviously in the mix somewhere.

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When I stopped reading the Harry Potter books–I think it was after Vol. 5–one of the reasons was, I got tired of certain characters like Draco Malfoy being such cardboard cut-out villains. I felt, since these were supposed to be kids growing up, that it would be far more interesting if Draco had shown a worthwhile streak in him, maybe if at some point he had rebelled against his family’s evil ways. It never happened–Rowling just kept grinding out “more of same,” and that’s one of the reasons I finally said “enough” with those books.

It’s kind of the same thing with Lamb. I know he was there to be a foil for Veronica and Keith (and others), but I always hoped he’d show a little something more than the standard issue doofus stuff that was his usual lot. Don’t get me wrong, I never wanted him to become the hero or anything, and I wouldn’t have stopped watching VM regardless, but it’s always nice when all the characters are given a chance to have some depth. After all, Lamb and Keith go back a ways; Lamb was a deputy when Keith was (originally) sheriff. There must have been some point when they were on good terms. In that sense, I can see why Lamb’s death did have that tinge of sadness to it. He checked out unredeemed, so to speak.

And, just to satisfy the nitpicker in me: it occurred to me over the weekend that, regarding Keith’s status as interim Balboa County Sheriff: if he’s the County Sheriff, his offices should be located in the county seat–which would be in a city, not an unincorporated part of the county like Neptune. I don’t think any of the counties in California have their seat of government in an unincorporated town, even out in the boonies, let alone a major population center like Balboa (really, San Diego county). Meaningless, in the bigger picture, but annoying in that it’s another way this show departs from reality.

OK, so that’s off my chest. Can’t wait for tomorrow night.

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Lamb showed some depth when he discovered the child abuse issues.

Brian

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True, but there was very little follow up. I don’t remember anything happening after that to Meg’s abusive family. It was just a blip, not anything that really fleshed out the character.