Veronica's weekend plans (taking dog out, renting movie) were eerily similar to my weekend plans in all of high school. Yes, I was boring. No, that hasn't changed.
Hehe, a Nelly joke. Back when Nelly was relevant.
The 09er "secret code" is intellectually equivalent to an elementary student's lazy essay.
Ah, our first introduction to Troy Vandergraff, played by Aaron Ashmore. This is the Ashmore twin commonly known for his roles in television shows such as Warehouse 13 and Smallville. Shawn Ashmore is the one who mainly does movies, like X-men. Do you ever think they say, when something good unexpectedly happens, "Ashmore like it!" No? Okay.
Also, I've always found this scene weird, where they're sitting in the car, watching the party, discussing how they're ready to ironically raise the roof, and then Duncan asks whether Troy is ready to meet everyone. Do boys actually do this? Duncan's delivery of "every last one of them" is kind of creepy. Then again, I've always found Duncan creepy.
And there's Paris Hilton. Apparently the only reason the show runners cast her was because they thought she would up the ratings. Her line delivery, ughhhhhh. Watch how she steps over everyone's lines! Also she looks 10 years older than everyone else.
Oooh, class warfare. I've always wondered why the 09ers chose to party at a beach typically used by the PCHers. Just trying to stick it to 'em, I guess? But wouldn't the police be more likely to monitor this beach? And wouldn't their own beaches be more pristine and to their taste? Anyway, nitpicking.
When I first watched this scene, I didn't get the "box of tissue a day" joke. 2004 me was very naive.
I love the way this scene is shot. The camera angle is slightly above Veronica, making her seem small (well, smaller than usual) and isolated in the shadows. It's a really tense scene between the two of them, establishing how tenuously they respect each other, and how much they don't trust each other. So far, Veronica's only established herself as being separate from the 09ers, but hasn't yet pitted herself against them, necessarily. Time to prove herself. Time to figure out which side she belongs to. And Weevil don't take shit from no one.
I dig this outfit she's in. I had that exact same pink belt in high school! I also like this little chit-chat scene with her father. It seems very organic: the dad objecting to wearing a hat indoors, the daughter being like, whatever dad, but I'll take it off to appease you. It's a tiny moment, but I've always appreciated it. Also digging the blue and green tinted windows.
Great back and forth between Keith and Lamb. The comment about celebrating October 3rd (the one-year anniversary of Lilly's death) is a bit cold, and it's a little surprising Veronica didn't get more upset at his remark. This exposition is a little clunky, but necessary to give us some backstory on how they supposedly solved the murder. We're also tantalized with a little unsolved mystery: someone made an anonymous tip that lead to the supposed killer's houseboat, but they never collected the reward. Dun dun dun. All the Kanes were accounted for at the time of the murder, though...
Ahh I love this shot as the camera tracks Veronica, spinning slowly from her perspective and then switching to Troy's point-of-view. Kind of gives you that whirlwind-y feeling. Appropriate to accompany their initial attraction. Cute line.
Says Veronica, with a cheerful smile, "[The counselor] says I'm disconnected and passionless." Hee.
Paris Hilton, ladies and gentlemen. She's basically being asked to play a version of herself. She is not good at it.
"The optical zoom actually goes up to 71.2mm and it’s good to have the raw file option because you can mess with the images post-exposure without nearly the loss of image quality you’d get with a JPEG file." Camera experts, does Veronica's camera-speak make any kind of sense? I have no idea.
"Wallace, King Kong ain't got nothin' on you!" Great Shaft quote.
Are 90% of identity theft crimes committed by relatives? Someone fact check this, please. No hang on, I'll do it. "A less well known fact is that more than 30% of identity theft victims are scammed by family and close friends of the family." - The Huffington Post. Okay.
"No, I'm here so I can be closer to you. In fact, they're thinking of putting me in your 4th period government class." "We've got computer class 4th period." "Oh, shoot! My loss." Damn, way to simultaneously burn them and pump them for information. She's good. Also, the banter between Logan and Veronica is already getting a bit flirty. Apparently, it wasn't Rob Thomas's original plan to get them together. However, after noticing their obvious chemistry in the first few episodes, he told them to start softening up to each other around the sixth episode to set up their eventual relationship.
"Flat?" "Just as god made me." "Are you always this persnickety?" "Sometimes I'm even persnickety-er." Classic. Aw, and Troy's being charming.
"Friendly advice? Watch her. She'll break the two of you up if she can." Dun dun dun...
Longwave's "Here It Comes." Good surfing/beach-y music.
So it looks like Jake Kane's got sway with the sheriff. Suspicious. Another case of the wealthy getting away with...impound notices...
I like this scene. It shows what was at stake when she chose to stick with her dad above everyone else. It shows that being cast out by her peers was due partly to her own choosing, which I like. It takes guts to willingly remove yourself from your friends, instead of just passively accepting their rejection of you. It shows her strength and loyalty -- characteristics I much admire and are what drew me to this character. It also shows that she still struggles with her decision every day.
"Isn't that already solved? I thought they had the confessed criminal in jail." The look she gives Keith is perfect.
This a cute father-daughter spy scene.
Cute jacket here. Fun fact: One day in high school, I decided to dress all in black like Veronica. It didn't really go over well.
"Should I follow you?" Hehe.
Can I just say here that Kristen Bell has a superb speaking voice? Crisp, clear, inflected, nuanced. It's why the voice-overs never get tiresome. There's also something about the way she speaks that makes it sound like a drawl -- perfect for Philip Marlowe-esque narration.
Chardo, do you not see Logan Echolls standing on a ledge in the middle of the courtyard with a phone glued to his ear, staring at you? Not too bright, these two.
Ah, this is one of my favorite Veronica take-down scenes. So on point. Doesn't miss a beat, doesn't flinch. "Doing you was like doing the dew, and that's all it was."
This scene bugs me. So Letitia Navarrao knew that Weevil was taking the fall for Chardo, and she was fine with it? She's like, eh, he can do some community service, whatever, Chardo was buying me diamond pendants! She doesn't get upset until she finds out Chardo was also buying shit for Caitlin. And then when Weevil gets released, she's all like, "OMG I missed you so much!" Doesn't really paint her in a sympathetic light.
Awww, the beginning of a beautiful friendship, built on owing each other favors. I LOVE their friendship. There's respect, loyalty, and the occasional criminal element.
Hey, it's the first appearance of Dick Casablancas, played by Ryan Hansen. He was originally supposed to be a one-off extra with only one speaking line ("Logan!"), who was hired because of his great hair, but everyone loved him so they kept him on.
OH my god this is one of the worst fake beatings I've ever seen on screen. Nobody's even trying to pretend they're not all just kicking air.
It's not very believable that Veronica waited this long to ask Keith why he accused Jake Kane of murdering Lilly. But, I'll accept it for plot purposes.
Love the way this scene was shot. Not only does it show that she's in a trance, with single-minded focus on the new evidence, it also shows how the truth is slowly leaking out, and everything she thought she knew is just spinning away.
Weird dialogue. Doesn't work for me.
I know everyone ostracizing Paris Hilton is supposed to make us feel sympathetic towards her and draw some parallel to Veronica's own experience, but...it's Paris Hilton.
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