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« Hi Fi
Veronica Mars: Initital Take
I LOVE Weevil and Wallace. I was floored that Paris Hilton was in the second ep and actually was decent. Hate Logan, with a passion. Troy is good. Love the dad. Intrigued by the mystery.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:16 PM
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I love Weevel, Wallace and the Dad too, but I LOVE Logan. You've already met Troy? For some reason, I thought he wasn't on for quite a few episodes. I guess he was in the 2nd episode now that I think of it. Paris knew him, so that would make sense. There is a show coming in a few weeks called Flashpoint and the dad is going to be in that show. I can't wait for you to get into the show a little further.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:24 PM
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Whooo!
Yup, you've pretty much got it on the nose. One of the best parts of the series is the relationship between Veronica and Keith. I'm also very fond of Wallace and Veronica ("Veronica Mars, you're a marshmallow!").
Weevil is another one--I remember being somewhat ambiguous about him throughout. But he's an awesome part of the show.
It's funny to watch Troy on Smallville--to me he'll always be Troy! 
And I should just say--I was very surprised by Paris Hilton too. Mannie insists she was in only one episode, but it felt like at least two to me. Go figure.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:25 PM
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Oh, what do you think of Veronica? And are you glad I tripple dog dared you? Would you recommend the show to the others? And finally, who do you think killed Lilly? I promise I won't tell you if you're right or wrong, I just like to know if people think the same as I did.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:25 PM
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Should I post the pilot Rewatch blog already, or wait a few days? Fee, Rap, anyone else who's planning on first-watching soon?
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Jun 30, 2008 3:26 PM
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Mannie: I adore Veronica. I think Duncan accidentally killed Lilly or at the very least witnessed his dad doing it. Yes, I plan to recommend the show to others, specifically Eric.
Famin: Post away baby!!! I'm going to plow through Season 1 pretty fast. 
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Jun 30, 2008 3:29 PM
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Hi Fi!
I initially disliked Logan as well, but by season two I was a huge Veronica/Logan shipper. (I won't say more to avoid spoilers.)
Season 1 of Veronica Mars is all kinds of awesome. I'm happy you're checking it out. I think you'll like it... a lot.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:31 PM
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Whooo! Okay, I'll do it when I get home. No wait, can't do it tonight, I'm going to see Salman Rushdie. It'll have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest.
Mannie: I adore Veronica. I think Duncan accidentally killed Lilly or at the very least witnessed his dad doing it. Yes, I plan to recommend the show to others, specifically Eric.
I think I had a similar theory when I was watching the first time. Of course, my theories kept changing throughout with each episode!!
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Jun 30, 2008 3:32 PM
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Me too Famin. I just searched thru the communities to see if I could find where we did the Veronica Mars Rewatch and it's so impossible to find. I'm still looking though.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:34 PM
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If you find the pilot before me, feel free to repost it. I suppose it can be reposted from the site and I don't need the Word file, but it's much easier to find the Word file!
Check out my blog from last summer. That should help.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:37 PM
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Here it is Famin:
The Great Veronica Mars Re-Watch (Season 1)
I figured it was time we had a re-watch of Veronica Mars. It was the only way to deal with losing the show. Plus, I had to hear the original theme song one last time. Ready? (Sing along if you know the words!)
A long time ago, we used to be friends, but I haven’t thought of you lately at all.
I didn’t start watching the show until about halfway into the first season, because it was on at the same time as Lost. But once I did, I was kicking myself for having missed out all this time. A strong, witty, smart protagonist, snappy dialogue, and complex mysteries--I really don’t ask for much more out of a show, even though this show delivers much more than I had could have expected. I’m not being sappy when I say this show really taught me to be more observant, remember details, hone my deductive skills, and to expect more than the ordinary from the television I watch. Veronica Mars raised the bar for me, and it’s been very difficult to go back to shows that are only the ordinary kind of good.
The extended pilot episode is so chock full of information to set up the rest of the season that I don’t really know where to start. So, I’m going to just do a brief recap of the episode and then fill it up with quotes, because the dialogue and voiceovers are really the only way to tell this story.
Spoiler Warning: I couldn’t figure out how to write up a recap without spoiling some of the episodic mysteries. I’ll do my best not to spoil the season-long mysteries, but keep in mind that I may spill some of the things you learn in this episode. Read with caution if you haven’t seen it already.
The pilot is so perfectly crafted--every scene segues into the next seamlessly. Every episode has at least one (sometimes two) episodic mysteries, which are wrapped up by the end of the episode; but they also feature one or more season-long mysteries, that we continue to get clues throughout the season, until the season finale which wraps it all up. The pilot sets the entire season up.
We learn that Veronica Mars is a whip-smart high school girl who helps her father out in his private detective business. The series opens with a scene of Veronica staking out Jake Kane at the Camelot motel, waiting for a chance to capture his indiscretions with her digital camera with the zoom that’s half as big as she is.
We learn that she is very skilled at using fake accents, fake personas, excellent computer research skills, and a rapier wit to get what she needs to solve the mystery. We learn that she’s cynical about love and life in general; she’s smart and does well at school; she used to be on pep squad but now she generally expects the worst of people; and that she puts up a hard, brave front to hide the vulnerable little girl she really is inside. This voiced-over line sums it up best: “If it’s you having the motel tryst, make it quick. The girl across the street may have a calculus exam in five, no, four hours and she can’t leave until she gets the money shot.”
We meet Neptune, Veronica’s beachfront Southern California hometown, where “you’re either a millionaire or you work for one.” We find out that Jake Kane, who invented streaming video, employs half the town at his software company. We find out that Keith used to be sheriff and Veronica used to be very popular even though she wasn’t rich; with Lily Kane as her best friend and Duncan Kane as her boyfriend. We find out that that was all before Lily Kane was murdered. Veronica and Keith became outcasts when Keith, as sheriff, accused Jake of killing his own daughter. Keith lost his job and the arrogant and not particularly competent Sheriff Lamb replaced him. Keith took up work as a private detective and Veronica made a choice to stick by her father, against the town, thus cementing her outsider status.
We meet the main characters who populate or pollute her life: Wallace, Weevil, Logan, Duncan, Cliff, Sheriff Lamb, Backup (1.0), her mom Leanne, Keith, and, of course, Lily. It’s so weird to see these characters as we first met them--since by Season 3 they had changed so much. Was Logan always such an ass? Yes, yes he was. Was Wallace really such a dork? Yes, yes he was. Wow, look how great Weevil looks before Francis got sick! Duncan was certainly a lot cooler back then and less wooden. (Does everyone go through this when they write a re-watch recap?)
We meet Wallace as he’s tied up to the school flagpole, naked, with the word “Snich” (sic) painted on his chest. Weevil and the PCH biker gang have put him there, to punish him for, well, snitching on two other PCHers. The entire school points and laughs at Wallace, but Veronica is the only one with the courage to cut him down. Wallace, later, comes to Veronica for help--this is one of the episodic mysteries--and this sets up the beginning of a friendship that is the cornerstone of the show. By the end of the episode, she’s also managed to make Weevil and the PCHers indebted to her as well.
We find out that Lily’s last words to Veronica were, “I have a secret,” before she was found dead by the side of the pool at her house, with Duncan rocking in a catatonic state and Jake and Celeste crying. Veronica is determined to figure out who, how, and why. (This is the first of the two season-long mysteries.)
We find out that Duncan and Veronica used to date until he decided to end things and she doesn’t know why.
We find out that Logan Echolls is Duncan’s best friend and he and the ‘09ers all loathe Veronica. We also find out that Logan is an ass. Veronica in voiceover: “Every school has its obligatory psychotic jackass. He’s ours.”
We find out that after Keith lost his job and the town turned against him, Veronica’s mom Leanne left them, leaving behind a unicorn music box and a note saying she’d be back for Veronica. Veronica’s take: “The loss of status and income was too much for Mom. But Dad wouldn’t be run out of town and neither would I.”
We learn that Veronica kicks ass, but not with her fists (though sometimes with her stun gun), but she’ll turn the tables on you before you even realize you’re in a restaurant. (Okay, I’m definitely not as witty as she is.)
We find out that photography is Veronica’s hobby and her room is lined with arty photos she’s taken. (I don’t know why this was never further explored in the series.)
We find out that nothing is really what it seems in this town. Veronica is following Jake Kane around on what she (and we) thought was a open-and-shut case of infidelity. Veronica doesn’t get a glimpse of the woman Jake came to see at the Camelot motel, but she does take a picture of the license plate. When she shows her dad, he gets upset and tells her to drop it. Of course, Veronica can’t do that. So, she gets someone to look the license plate up for her and finds out that the car is registered to …Leanne Mars. Wha...?!
We learn that during the summer after Lily died and her father lost her job, that is after she was made an outcast, she went to Shelly Pomeroy’s party, where she was drugged and raped. “You wanna know how I lost my virginity? So, do I. …I don’t know who handed me that drink. I wish I did. Turned out it was your basic rum, coke, and roofie.” When she wakes up in a strange bed missing her underwear, she gets up and goes straight to the sheriff’s office to report the crime. Sheriff Lamb’s snarky response: “Is there anyone in particular you want to arrest or should I just round up all the sons of the most important men in town?”
We find that Veronica won’t rest until justice is served and she gets revenge.
And the final scene of the episode is Wallace flying a remote-control plane on the beach--which we get to see again in one of the final episodes of Season 3.
Quotes: Note: I didn’t pick these quotes because they were particularly witty or funny (though some are), but more because they really illustrate the characters.
Weevil to Veronica: Car trouble, miss?
Sheriff Lamb to Wallace: You need to go see the Wizard. Ask him for some guts.
Cliff: I make no apologies. I like this case. It’s tawdry.
Celeste Kane to Keith: I hate to come to you but I know that if anyone will be dogged it’ll be you.
Veronica’s voiced over response: Sure she’s a bitch, but can’t you blame her after Dad tried to send her husband to jail?
Weevil: The only vandalism that happens in this town goes through me.
Weevil to Veronica: If you get lonely out here, remember, Weevil love you long time.
Keith to Veronica: And Veronica, when you go after Jake Kane, take backup.
next scene: Veronica on stakeout with her dog Backup (1.0).
Vice Principal Clemens: Veronica, why does trouble follow you around?
Veronica to Wallace: This is my table.
Wallace: And what a fine table it is! What do you think it’s made of? [Knocks on plastic picnic table] Oak?
Keith: I used to be cool.
Veronica: When?
Keith: ’77.
Keith: No sack dinners tonight! Tonight we eat like the lower middle class to which we aspire!
Wallace: Suddenly, I feel like I’m in a scene from The Outsiders.
Veronica: Be cool, Soda Pop.
Veronica: These questions need answers. That’s what I do.
Wallace: Underneath that angry young woman shell is a slightly less angry young woman who is dying to bake me something. You’re a marshmallow, Veronica Mars. A twinkie!
Of course she is. That’s why we love her.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:39 PM
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I don't know where best to post them because they'll end up moved back to the blogs. I wish we had a place just to post the rewatch and people could go at their own pace. Hmmm, let me see what else I can find.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:41 PM
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Could you post one blog, with links inside to each of the rewatch blogs? One stop shopping.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:46 PM
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Thank you Mannie! Reading this over I realized (1) how much I love Wallace's line, "And what a fine table it is! What is it made of? Oak?" and (2) our ReWatch blog is chockful of spoilers from not only Season 1 but also Season 2 and 3.
Maybe we need to edit out spoilery stuff? What do you think?
Also, it might be good to include the link to the original blog because for me the best part was all the comments! You guys remembered a lot of great lines better than I did.
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Jun 30, 2008 3:50 PM
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Famin: Thanks for the heads up on Sports Night's 10th Anniversary DVD set. I lent out the first volume of my original set to a friend and never got it back so I'm ordering this one!!! Woo-Hoo!!
I'm just finishing the 3rd ep and I want Veronica with Weevil, not the preppies! Even if the one preppy is nice!
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Jun 30, 2008 4:24 PM
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