Post by Pear on Aug 24, 2014 0:43:49 GMT -5
Well, this episode is fun. The last two cases were good, but nothing special; here, we see Veronica’s resourcefulness and creativity and intelligence at its highest level as she outsmarts everyone she comes across. It’s an episode about disguises, literal and figurative, and the former comes into play with the case: Keith the DEA agent, Wallace the math genius, Veronica the schoolgirl (Kristen Bell, you are killing me here). They make a great team.
The latter, on the other hand, comes into play with the Homecoming storyline. Troy asking Veronica to Homecoming brings up memories of a night in which Logan, Duncan, Veronica, and Lilly simply enjoyed themselves, and it helps to lend more nuance to both Logan and Lilly; whether you find Lilly likable or not, it’s clear that she had no reservations about letting go and being who she was. So, that’s where the idea of a disguise comes in. The tribute video, to Celeste, represents an opportunity to share an ideal image of her daughter, but it simply isn’t who Lilly is. The Homecoming night footage shows a Lilly without any disguise, the Lilly everyone knew, and Jake Kane breaks down when he sees the real her because he knows. And, at the end of the episode, Veronica is able to shed not only her disguise, but also, well, the rest of her clothes; her skinny-dipping is her remembering her best friend, but also her living a little.
GRADE: A-
Episode 5: “You Think You Know Somebody”
Whoa. Goodbye, love interest. This is certainly not what you’re expecting after all that Veronica-Troy build up, but you know what? I love the ballsy move here. It, for one, shows you that the series isn’t messing around, but it also shades in another aspect of Veronica’s character: her difficulty with trust. The title already implies trust issues, and each relationship that gets screen time here–Keith-Veronica, Veronica-Troy, Keith-Rebecca–deals with the issue in one way or another. The series paints Veronica in a harsher light throughout than it did before, even if she’s right in the end, and you get the sense that her ability to shift gears so quickly on Troy is a result of all the crap she’s had to deal with.
At the same time, she’s still a human being, a teenager, and she misses her mom. Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni break your heart when Veronica and Keith argue, and we can sense the pain hanging over each of their interactions; however, we can also sense the affection and the understanding and the appreciation when they share a birthday cake together in the kitchen after Keith and Rebecca break up. Sometimes, when you think you know somebody, you really do.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- “The whole point of going to the dance is going to the dance.” “Good, good. So you won’t mind, then, that I cancelled your reservation at the Four Seasons.” Oh, Keith.
-Weevil’s broken up about Lilly’s death as well.
-Celeste, learn some parenting skills from Keith Mars. Making a big scene in public isn’t going to make your daughter listen to you. In addition, it’s interesting how she only yells at Lilly there; double standard, clearly.
-In hindsight, Troy seems too smooth for his own good, and there are hints of manipulation that you pick up on. Of course, once again, you don’t expect it to all explode in the fifth episode of the series.
