VM 2x22 - Not Pictured

[tiggz]

i'm finally rewatching Not Pictured. i had to watch the first five episodes from this season of The Office before i could jump in.

so here goes.

this finale, for me, was so much better than LitB. don't get me wrong. i loved LitB, but i did not like that they made Aaron the killer. i had what i thought was a pretty solid theory that Celeste was the murderer and i was pretty bummed that it wasn't the case. i've pretty much gotten over that because they've sold me on what a creepy mofo Aaron is. i just wanted to throw this out there.

Cassidy being the killer is pretty much the only speculation that i'd seen on my flist for weeks. so him being the killer wasn't that much of a surprise. i do agree that he went from mopey to crazy in .01 seconds. i really wish RT had taken a page from eirefaerie's awesome spec and not made him batshit crazy, but tortured and remorseful instead. however, i'm extremely forgiving when the acting is as good as it was on that rooftop scene. Kristen Bell, Jason (Fucking) Dohring and Kyle Gallner were all phenomenal and i could watch that scene on a loop. seriously, every time i hear KB say "daddy" i want to die.

i think i'm probably the only person who doesn't have a problem with them revisiting the rape storyline. i had a feeling when the doctor specifically asked Veronica if she'd been sexually active in the past one or two years in Look Who's Stalking that they were possibly going to. it just jumped out at me for some reason. so i suppose i wasn't all that surprised to see it mentioned and re-worked a bit. actually, it sort of made me happy in a "i-like-to-see-my-favorite-characters-angsty" way. not to mention that if we get a third season and V's going to Hearst there will be more incentive for her to find the serial rapist.

i fully admit that i'm a bit of a masochistic person when it comes to my favorite tv shows. i want schmoop, but i want angst even more. so if i had a favorite scene from this episode, it would be of Logan/Veronica on the roof or when V wakes up looking for her dad and Logan comforts her once again. yes, the spinny kisses are nice and Veronica and Logan definitely deserve that carefree spinning after the past couple of years, but let's face it. there will come a time in fandom when the spinny kisses just don't thrill us anymore. banish the thought! i know! it's true though. problem free relationships on tv are boring. give me angst with schmoop, please! find a happy medium!

let's do a rundown, shall we?

the bad
- no resolution of the Grace/Mannings/Lamb storyline
- Wallace in Veronica's dream sequence (so sad!)
- the god-awful wig they put Amanda Seyfried in
- not getting to see Logan graduate
- Weevil not getting to graduate
- Corny being extremely one note and not amusing me at all
- Logan not following V right then and there
- Veronica sending a blatant text message that could have been read by anyone (you're smarter than me, remember?!)
- Beav going from mopey to insane-o in .01 seconds
- Aaron's speech in the elevator
- V going to the rooftop...alone
- Aaron/Kendall *gag*
- precious minutes wasted on the Wallace/Jackie storyline (though it at least means she's gone next year)
- that couch scene looks so freaking uncomfortable for V
- Keith standing up Veronica after the week(hell, two years!) she just had

the good
- Vinnie Van Lowe
- the beautiful colors used in the dream sequence
- seeing Lilly again
- Logan being Veronica's boyfriend of choice in the dream
- the Lilly Kane memorial fountain!
- John Enbom and Phil Klemmer graduating
- V realizing that she's no longer a social pariah at Neptune when she's cheered at graduation (except JP! bad JP not clapping for our girl!)
- the final(!) scene between V and Clemmons (i'm really going to miss him next year)
- KB's "a pony?!" exclamation
- Dick's asslap and dance
- Veronica Mars is smarter than...Jackie Cook
- the green lighting in Woody's restaraunt
- Dick continuing to have amusing shirts
- Logan realizing right away when V pulls him aside that there's something wrong
- the entire rooftop scene
- specifically? "daddy" *texts* "he killed my father!!" "he raped me!" "you're not a killer, Veronica." *comforts* "Beaver, don't!" "my name is Cassidy!" *comfort*
- Tina Majorino (her little sob hiccup breaks me)
- Clarence Wiedman! Duncan! ("CW?" "it's a done deal." let's fucking hope so, RT. let's fucking hope...)
- the couch scene symmetry (even with uncomfortableness)
- baby!Veronica and Keith being adorable
- Keith's alive!!!
- Logan/Veronica reconciliation complete with spinny kisses

obviously the good far outweighs the bad for me. it makes me sad to see people who weren't satisfied with the ep. i honestly don't understand where the hate comes from. i guess that's where that saying comes in, "different strokes for different folks".

semi-unrelated, but why have no good icon makers made an icon out of this cap?

for those avoiding negative posts about the ep, this isn't one of them. i loved it. very much so.

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Corny being extremely one note and not amusing me at all

Yeah, as soon as he appeared, someone at our viewing party commented that she hated the actor, and it was possibly one of this worst appearances ever. It was cringe-worthy when I watched it again.

Beav going from mopey to insane-o in .01 seconds

#1 complaint everywhere, I think, even with the people who loved the finale.

John Enbom and Phil Klemmer graduating

Diane Ruggiero, Dan Etheridge, Howard Grigsby, and Mike Weiss also graduated.

Tina Majorino (her little sob hiccup breaks me)

Her "Why?" is a killer.

obviously the good far outweighs the bad for me. it makes me sad to see people who weren't satisfied with the ep. i honestly don't understand where the hate comes from. i guess that's where that saying comes in, "different strokes for different folks".

Yep. I hear you.

or those avoiding negative posts about the ep, this isn't one of them.

Heh. Thanks for the disclaimer.

[faithx5.livejournal.com]

i think i'm probably the only person who doesn't have a problem with them revisiting the rape storyline.

*raises hand* This was my favorite part of the whole episode. :) I loved both that it made the rape storyline work for me in a way that it didn't with just Duncan being the faux-rapist, and that it showed that previous conclusions aren't safe, even conclusions from last season! I've seen people claiming that it retconned ATttD, but ATttD is an open-ended episode to begin with...how can you retcon an episode that is built on multiple, disagreeing, unreliable, unsubstantiated memories? I thought reopening it was brilliant.

Veronica sending a blatant text message that could have been read by anyone (you're smarter than me, remember?!)

This was the thing that bugged me the most. She shouldn't be dumb enough to do that.

KB's "a pony?!" exclamation

That was my absolute favorite. I cracked up.

[cindywrites.livejournal.com]

i think i'm probably the only person who doesn't have a problem with them revisiting the rape storyline.

Oh, no. Not at all. Put me in the corner with faithx5. I thought it was brilliant, and really, it made season 1 work all the better for me. In every speculative conversation I saw, about Cassidy being the bus crash culprit, someone pointed to the fact that he didn't harm Veronica at Shelly's party as some sort of proof of his character. That objection was undercut perfectly by the episode; just that simple thing made the whole thing work. Really, really brilliant. I'm sad for him, and for poor, poor Mac, but I think it was perfect.

i had a feeling when the doctor specifically asked Veronica if she'd been sexually active in the past one or two years in Look Who's Stalking that they were possibly going to. it just jumped out at me for some reason. so i suppose i wasn't all that surprised to see it mentioned and re-worked a bit. .

Great catch, tiggy.

actually, it sort of made me happy in a "i-like-to-see-my-favorite-characters-angsty" way. not to mention that if we get a third season and V's going to Hearst there will be more incentive for her to find the serial rapist.

Another great point.

i fully admit that i'm a bit of a masochistic person when it comes to my favorite tv shows. i want schmoop, but i want angst even more. so if i had a favorite scene from this episode, it would be of Logan/Veronica on the roof or when V wakes up looking for her dad and Logan comforts her once again. yes, the spinny kisses are nice and Veronica and Logan definitely deserve that carefree spinning after the past couple of years, but let's face it. there will come a time in fandom when the spinny kisses just don't thrill us anymore. banish the thought! i know! it's true though. problem free relationships on tv are boring. give me angst with schmoop, please! find a happy medium!

Amen. I thought Logan talking Veronica down from killing Cassidy, and then the way they clung to each other on the roof before and after Cassidy jumped, and then the couch pieta (although the should have used a less uncomfortable pose) and the "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the next morning in the kitchen were far more romantic than the spinny kisses (although I won't give up the spinny kisses, either; I want it all). If you hadn't made your bad and good lists, I'd say I was with you, completely. I'm not with you on some of your bads though, like:

- Wallace in Veronica's dream sequence (so sad!)
- Weevil not getting to graduate
- Logan not following V right then and there
- Beav going from mopey to insane-o in .01 seconds
- Aaron's speech in the elevator
- V going to the rooftop...alone
- Aaron/Kendall *gag

I started to explain why these things worked for me, but it was taking up too much space. I'll just note here that although Weevil not graduating broke my heart, I think it was the perfect touch, and so in character for both Lamb and life on the hellmouth in Neptune.

(Unrelated to the list) From the first time I saw the finale, I've been in the "I love this story, but I have issues with the telling of it," camp. Everything worked for me, but the telling of it in the final hour was rushed and choppy. Until the last couple of episodes, I was inclined to write off most of the pacing problems of this season to the unplanned pre-emption during the Olympics/February sweeps. The week before last, I started rewriting the season in my head, and after the rush-job that was the finale, I realized I can't write it all off to scheduling troubles. That said, each time I've rewatched the episode, I've like the storytelling better, as well. It's grown on me for its own sake, as well as the sake of the overall arc.

I had no idea people were unhappy the way you've described in your post. Is it people in the vm communities, TWoP, or where? Maybe if I read some of the negativity, I'll be able to write my own post. Between VM, and The Office, I'm still too far into my swoon.

[cindywrites.livejournal.com]

Oops. I thought I could delete my first reply with the dropped blockquote tag, but deleting doesn't seem to be an option in your lj. Sorry for the mess.

[carpedi7.livejournal.com]

I actually like the revisting of the rape, it didn't bother me at all. Also Kristen's "A Pony" Line I have rewatched and rewatched and rewatched, along with Dick slapping her ass and the whole sequence after that. I loved the dream sequence with the exception that she and Wallace weren't friends, which made me sad, but I understand that if things would have gone the way they were in her dreams she never would have had a reason to cut him down from the flagpole, I'm glad that at least she subconciously made it so that they met in her dream. I still would have rathered one unsure and tentative kiss rather than the twirly kisses at the end but that may just be me. Bur pretty much, I adored this episode and can watch it over and over and over again. I so hope that it gets renewed and am so glad that you guys got me hooked on it.

[pidgehuss.livejournal.com]

One point that was mentioned somewhere was that it wasn't entirely unprecedented for Cassidy to turn mean and fast. When Mac confronted him about his avoidance of physical intimacy, his reaction and the way he broke up with her was pretty damn mean. Like, cruel. I'm surprised I didn't remember it during the finale, since I'd already come to accept Cassidy-as-killer and had been really upset at the time when he broke up with her. I mean, I remember thinking how hurtful and unnecessary it was, outside of just shame at feeling insecure or unable to perform. So we have seen Cassidy as being extremely hurtful and cruel. Remembering that makes it easier for me to buy Cassidy-as-not-only-tortured-but-also-evil.

[pidgehuss.livejournal.com]

Additionally, he was already primed to act evil. He'd just had another disappointing interaction with Mac, as she gets in the shower, he's gotta be thinking "I will never be normal, never be able to do this." Then he sees V's message and it threatens to uncover him and it's easy to jump from disappointed and frustrated to where he went. (At least, I imagine, not being homicidal myself.) I don't think he went from tortured to evil in no time, he'd shown precedent to be cruel, especially when confronted with his sexual inadequacy. Take that cruelty/frustration from his failed intimacy with Mac and add the threat of being exposed, it's easy to make that jump.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I've seen no one go back to that, but yes, I take that as a pretty good glimpse at what he was capable of and why I don't see it as coming out of left field. I mean, that 'Good luck getting laid'? I remember screaming at my tv screen, THAT WAS SO EVIL! So, there you go.

[pidgehuss.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I wanted to go back and rewatch, but my computer recently went all wonky and I haven't had time to load this season's episodes onto the new harddrive yet. I want to rewatch from when we first saw Cassidy in season 1 to get more clues to his personality, I bet there were lots of little things that point towards him being not okay.

Though his "wow" in ATttD will always, always make me giggle, no matter how evil he is. Technically, he was pre-evil at that point. Hee. "Wow."

[foundserenity.livejournal.com]

Count me as another person who was pleased with the rape revisit. I was always vaguely unsatisfied with the conclusion to ATttD, not to the point where I've been hung up about it, but still. I like this version much, much better, even though it does make things much worse for Veronica.

Dick continuing to have amusing shirts
Hee, the "Kiss Me, I'm Rich" shirt cracked me up. I find Dick's utter lack of irony refreshing.

[foundserenity.livejournal.com]

..."Trust Me, I'm Rich," rather. My bad.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Oh, it makes me happy to see LOVE posts for this ep.

Count me in as another one that loved the revisit of the rape. I know alot of people said it was TOO MUCH to go there, but I think they had to to make it believable. To show this wasn't a new development, he's been affected by this for a while. If they had wanted to tell me that the same guy that left her in the bedroom and didn't take advantage her two years ago was the ruthless guy up on that rooftop? That would have been a big stretch. I'm glad they thought enough about it. And not to mention, it fixes the ATitD mess. Because essentially the way they ended it, with Veronica saying she hadn't been raped (even though I'd beg to differ), when you go back to the pilot, it's a hard thing to discuss, because really she had cried rape. This way, the pilot, she says she was raped, and she actually was. It makes things alot less sticky, without really ruining the great grey of ATitD.

Totally with you on the schmoop vs. angst. Spinning kisses are fun, but I'd take the rooftop and bacon scene over those any day. They were just too lovely in their OMG!SO!MUCH!PAIN!

I've seen alot of people have a problem with the woobie to killer in 0.1 seconds, and it surprises me actually because I thought it worked. And I was a girl who adamantly said it could never be sold to me that a 16 year old kid, let alone Beaver, was responsible for all of this. But this wasn't Aaron Echolls and his ridiculous pride. This was a psychologically damaged kid who had become obsessed with keeping his secret, so much that he literally lost perception of everything else around him. In his mind, he did what he had to do, and didn't think beyond it. Until up on that rooftop. Hence, suicidal Cassidy. In all seriousness, it was him jumping that I thought made it all work for me. Without it, I don't think it would have. But there, I thought we saw the real damage. I really have no words for how Kyle Gallner sold this to me. No words....