Veronica Mars may be the smartest soap opera ever created. Now before you all post on your Veronica Mars message boards and tell everybody there I suck and how dare I say such a thing, please at least finish this paragraph. Of course the show is much more than a soap opera, and I only compare it to one because of the way it has been able to handle the often conflicting love interests of so many of the main characters, work them in as determining factors in the story lines, build romances and breakups that break our hearts, yet still not have to depend on the status of any two individuals on the show being "together" to keep the fans happy. Bravo, writers, bravo.

Even though Lilly Kane was deceased, her interest in boys trumped all other discussions of love interests. That is not to say that what happened to the others wasn't important, but since Veronica's existence was often defined by the aftermath of Lilly's death, and by extension the aftermath of Lilly's promiscuity (although we obviously have to lay the blame on Aaron Echolls for most of it), I just don't think it's that big of a discussion. With Lilly at peace, Veronica takes center stage, and it's her relationship with Duncan that is causing lots of problems. Although Duncan had Meg and Veronica had Logan, I don't think you can blame Duncan and Veronica for getting back together. Their entire breakup was based largely on the fact that Duncan thought Veronica was his sister. When the paternity tests came back saying otherwise, how could people not understand why they wouldn't want to try again? It's like when your favorite sports team gets rid of the veteran because he badmouthed you, but you know you were always made for each other and they keep coming back. It hurts to see them with somebody else, that's why everybody hated Jerry Reinsdorf until about a month ago.

Despite all of this, there are still lingering feelings of guilt over the whole thing, especially concerning Meg, the sole survivor of the bus crash and the girl who seemed a perfect fit for Duncan as Veronica fell for bad boy Logan. Ironically, it was Meg's jealousy over the entire thing that kept Veronica from possibly falling to her death along with the other kids, but that doesn't mean Duncan and Veronica don't feel guilty about the whole thing. Duncan spent many days visiting Meg before Veronica ever found out, and now he is having dreams about Meg and Veronica. In the opening sequence, it is Meg the angel vs. Veronica the bad girl, and only Duncan can save Meg. From what, we don't know, but she says only Duncan can do it. This leads Duncan to go to his room, where he is debating whether or not to open a letter addressed to Meg from Chris Talley of Seattle. Does he knowingly open a letter intended for somebody else (even though Meg's sister gave him a bunch of her personal things), or does he open it and try to heal this subconscious wound? Duncan opts for the non mail fraud, Susanne Sommers method of healing and just leaves it alone.

As much fun as all that sounds, and despite devoting 500 words to it, Duncan's dream was not really the main focus of the episode. But with all my newfound Mars knowledge, I'll have to pontificate every now and then. No, the real issue with this episode was another part of the bus crash. The parents of one of the victims, Marcos Oliveres, were being harassed by somebody, and not in the funny, leaving bags of flaming dog shit on the porch type of harassment. This was real torturous stuff like leaving small toy buses around their house as well as leaving fake messages on their answering machine. While the Oliveres family isn't sure who is doing it, they happen to be the only family of bus crash victims who are suing the school district instead of taking a settlement. They believe the school district is harassing them and wants Keith Mars to get the proof.

While her father was busy with that case, Veronica was busy helping Logan. He had asked her to investigate the man who said he witnessed what happened on the bridge when Logan was found beaten and Felix was found dead. Veronica discovered that the doctor had once been reprimanded for performing an illegal procedure on somebody, and although we can't quite be sure if the investigation into this illicit tummy tuck or rogue face-lift would lead anywhere, Veronica and Logan decide to find out.

Posted by J-Unit on November 29, 2005 2:37 PM