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dangermousieI watched Return of the Kane last night. This is yet another ep (like WoC) where the B plot is what makes the ep, no matter how good the A plot is (I love the Wanda/pirate points story, but for me, this ep is all about Logan and Aaron).
Thoughts on rewatch? It's just as great and as hard to watch as it was the first time. In fact, that scene with Logan at the end remains one of the only two scenes in VM that not only make me acutely uncomfortable to watch but also make me peer through my fingers and feel faintly sick. The other one is Dick's behavior to V at Shelley's party (I know they would never do it because they like Dick's secondary character assholish clowning too much, and because I don't see V as telling him in detail about the night unless pushed very hard, but I would love to see Logan finding out about Dick's role in V's rape. He cut Dick dead and told him to get out when Dick only said something about V. If Logan finds out about the party stuff, Dick is looking at some medical attention).
But yes, the scene at the end. Horrible, horrible, horrible. There is so much wrong about it, but oddly enough, it's not the beating itself that is the worst (to me), even though I have problems with corporal discipline in any event, and I am certainly appalled at it being used on a 17 year old (four year old? OK. 17? No way), not to mention that I am still horrified that we see Logan take his shirt off so Aaron is whipping his back which is just...Anyway, there are three things that bother me even more, and here they are in order from most to least:
1. The fact that his mother, his mother is sitting right outside the door, immaculately dressed, not a hair out of place, sipping her drink and looking peaceful and relaxed (probably with the help of various substances) as she listens to the blows Aaron is delivering to Logan, in the next room. That, to me, is the most horrifying thing about the whole thing.
2. The fact that Aaron makes Logan pick the belt. Somehow, if Aaron took off his own belt to beat Logan it would freak me out less. I just find it sadistic, to make the victim pick the method of his punishment. Logan's face in his father's closet just kills me. He is both steeling himself, and is terrified and resigned. And the fact that he is picking the belt like this, no fuss, routine, tells its own terrible story.
3. The reason Aaron is punishing Logan. It's not for anything wrong that Logan had done (bumfights) it's for showing him up in front of people and pledging some of his money to charity (that Aaron can well afford) in a way that leaves Aaron unable to back out. I don't' think Aaron would care if Logan was Jack the Ripper as long as it didn't embarass him or cost him anything.
And this episode reveals and explains so much about Logan. No wonder he is a messed up kid, above and beyond Lilly's death. Look at his family! This ep actually continues the theme of being made so much by our backgrounds and circumstances and how our environments shape us. Logan (unlike Veronica or Duncan) has no signposts about how to be a good human being. He has no role models, he has never been brought up in any way, he has no guidance. He has to learn about being a person on his own. And the fact that he can do that, the fact that Logan, messed up as he is, is the person who takes the gun away from V in NP and who takes such care of her, heck, the fact that he is actually a person, not a psycho of some variety, is pretty amazing. And of course RotK explains so much about Logan's driving need for love: he gets none at home, after all.
His behavior with the veteran bum actually shows he is capable of learning. He is intelligent and can think about himself and be introspective (unlike someone like Dick who will never change because he cannot comprehend things enough to think about wanting to change. He would be uncreative even in crime, actually). He can do, and has done, wrong, but he is capable of changing and repenting and bettering himself. And if and when he realizes he did something wrong, he owns up to it (e.g. telling V about GHB), he doesn't cloud himself with self-delusions. I think Logan is clearer on what he wants, really.
I love love LOVE Harry Hamlin as Aaron. He is just perfect and he both amuses me and freaks me the hell out. That scene where Logan comes home, holding his shoes in his hands? He is terrified out of his wits and during that whole scene with Aaron, you can see him hunch his head in, trying to shrink into himself, become inconspicuous. And his reaction by being pushed by Aaron is (before the end) appears disproportionate but...
Also, I've noticed this time that Aaron has picture of himself all over the house (in the above scene he is sitting next to a portrait of himself). Quite telling.
And of course it's this ep that brings to the forefront theme of parents and fathers (which continues into S2). We have the excellent father (Keith), we have the flawed (pushing his son too hard) but loving father (Jake) and we have the father from hell (Aaron). I love the conversation Jake and Duncan have in the car (and not just for the foreshadowing with the 'beach bum' and 'find something you are passionate about' stuff), because you see the easy love and care the two have for each other. I actually really love Jake, and I love that with all their flaws, family is paramount to the Kanes (which is why I think they take care of on the lam Duncan though we see no evidence one way or another. How would he get $$$ otherwise. I get the feeling sooner or later stuff will get cleared up and D will come home). And the bitter irony in Keith's jokey statement (when V makes desert for dinner) that if child services found out, they'd come and take her away, when contrasted with the fact that child services certainly should have taken Logan away from his parents but no one would even look at them because of money and prestige.
Overall, VM makes me think of a pond after a rock thrown in. All we really see are ripples from one traumatic event (Lilly's death) but the more we watch, the more we discover what it was like before this explosion (I also love how VM shows that normal people get really screwed up by traumatic events). We don't get a capsule summary of each character at the beginning, the way so many shows do it. We are shown a glimpse and then we gradually piece together the person. Veronica at the pilot is not who Veronica is or will be, it's who she is at that moment. And the same is true for Logan and everyone else. They are people in flux.
I also love the fact that RT does not hammer the abuse point home, and that it's not used to excuse but to explain Logan.
Thoughts on rewatch? It's just as great and as hard to watch as it was the first time. In fact, that scene with Logan at the end remains one of the only two scenes in VM that not only make me acutely uncomfortable to watch but also make me peer through my fingers and feel faintly sick. The other one is Dick's behavior to V at Shelley's party (I know they would never do it because they like Dick's secondary character assholish clowning too much, and because I don't see V as telling him in detail about the night unless pushed very hard, but I would love to see Logan finding out about Dick's role in V's rape. He cut Dick dead and told him to get out when Dick only said something about V. If Logan finds out about the party stuff, Dick is looking at some medical attention).
But yes, the scene at the end. Horrible, horrible, horrible. There is so much wrong about it, but oddly enough, it's not the beating itself that is the worst (to me), even though I have problems with corporal discipline in any event, and I am certainly appalled at it being used on a 17 year old (four year old? OK. 17? No way), not to mention that I am still horrified that we see Logan take his shirt off so Aaron is whipping his back which is just...Anyway, there are three things that bother me even more, and here they are in order from most to least:
1. The fact that his mother, his mother is sitting right outside the door, immaculately dressed, not a hair out of place, sipping her drink and looking peaceful and relaxed (probably with the help of various substances) as she listens to the blows Aaron is delivering to Logan, in the next room. That, to me, is the most horrifying thing about the whole thing.
2. The fact that Aaron makes Logan pick the belt. Somehow, if Aaron took off his own belt to beat Logan it would freak me out less. I just find it sadistic, to make the victim pick the method of his punishment. Logan's face in his father's closet just kills me. He is both steeling himself, and is terrified and resigned. And the fact that he is picking the belt like this, no fuss, routine, tells its own terrible story.
3. The reason Aaron is punishing Logan. It's not for anything wrong that Logan had done (bumfights) it's for showing him up in front of people and pledging some of his money to charity (that Aaron can well afford) in a way that leaves Aaron unable to back out. I don't' think Aaron would care if Logan was Jack the Ripper as long as it didn't embarass him or cost him anything.
And this episode reveals and explains so much about Logan. No wonder he is a messed up kid, above and beyond Lilly's death. Look at his family! This ep actually continues the theme of being made so much by our backgrounds and circumstances and how our environments shape us. Logan (unlike Veronica or Duncan) has no signposts about how to be a good human being. He has no role models, he has never been brought up in any way, he has no guidance. He has to learn about being a person on his own. And the fact that he can do that, the fact that Logan, messed up as he is, is the person who takes the gun away from V in NP and who takes such care of her, heck, the fact that he is actually a person, not a psycho of some variety, is pretty amazing. And of course RotK explains so much about Logan's driving need for love: he gets none at home, after all.
His behavior with the veteran bum actually shows he is capable of learning. He is intelligent and can think about himself and be introspective (unlike someone like Dick who will never change because he cannot comprehend things enough to think about wanting to change. He would be uncreative even in crime, actually). He can do, and has done, wrong, but he is capable of changing and repenting and bettering himself. And if and when he realizes he did something wrong, he owns up to it (e.g. telling V about GHB), he doesn't cloud himself with self-delusions. I think Logan is clearer on what he wants, really.
I love love LOVE Harry Hamlin as Aaron. He is just perfect and he both amuses me and freaks me the hell out. That scene where Logan comes home, holding his shoes in his hands? He is terrified out of his wits and during that whole scene with Aaron, you can see him hunch his head in, trying to shrink into himself, become inconspicuous. And his reaction by being pushed by Aaron is (before the end) appears disproportionate but...
Also, I've noticed this time that Aaron has picture of himself all over the house (in the above scene he is sitting next to a portrait of himself). Quite telling.
And of course it's this ep that brings to the forefront theme of parents and fathers (which continues into S2). We have the excellent father (Keith), we have the flawed (pushing his son too hard) but loving father (Jake) and we have the father from hell (Aaron). I love the conversation Jake and Duncan have in the car (and not just for the foreshadowing with the 'beach bum' and 'find something you are passionate about' stuff), because you see the easy love and care the two have for each other. I actually really love Jake, and I love that with all their flaws, family is paramount to the Kanes (which is why I think they take care of on the lam Duncan though we see no evidence one way or another. How would he get $$$ otherwise. I get the feeling sooner or later stuff will get cleared up and D will come home). And the bitter irony in Keith's jokey statement (when V makes desert for dinner) that if child services found out, they'd come and take her away, when contrasted with the fact that child services certainly should have taken Logan away from his parents but no one would even look at them because of money and prestige.
Overall, VM makes me think of a pond after a rock thrown in. All we really see are ripples from one traumatic event (Lilly's death) but the more we watch, the more we discover what it was like before this explosion (I also love how VM shows that normal people get really screwed up by traumatic events). We don't get a capsule summary of each character at the beginning, the way so many shows do it. We are shown a glimpse and then we gradually piece together the person. Veronica at the pilot is not who Veronica is or will be, it's who she is at that moment. And the same is true for Logan and everyone else. They are people in flux.
I also love the fact that RT does not hammer the abuse point home, and that it's not used to excuse but to explain Logan.
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 07:52 pm (UTC)That moment, more than any other, grabbed me and made me VM's bitch during my early watching. I really liked the show, but that belt picking scene was so ... deliberate and chilling. For (my own perverted) reasons, I initially thought it was going to be either a suicide attempt or some autoerotic asphyxiation play (what. what?) but that ritual, the fact that a grown Logan (yes, he's still a minor, but physically, he's all grown up) participates in the ritual, telling me just how long it's been going on...So much in such a little scene, and JD played the scene so ... perfect.
Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:17 pm (UTC)But yes, the fact that Aaron beats a grown-up person (though i'd think even for a five year old that's too much) tells its own story.
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Date: 2006-06-27 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 07:39 am (UTC)But I really, really liked the belt picking scene. It was beautifully done. And. [shivers]
no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 08:31 am (UTC)I really liked season one. And the plot arc of Lilly's murder was too awesome.
Also? I LOVE. LOVE. Logan. Like the bit where he goes "Actually, if you have a problem with Veronica, you're dead to me so go evaporate off the face of the earth or something."
I think I actually died. I watched the season two premiere too, I was very much disappointed by it. It seemed like a cursory nod to Veronica's detective stuff and mostly drama. The only good part of it was Logan. Oh, Logan. I'm madly in love with that boy. I mean, can you SAY fucked up?
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 03:25 pm (UTC)Like the bit where he goes "Actually, if you have a problem with Veronica, you're dead to me so go evaporate off the face of the earth or something."
My favorite bit is actually in Season Finale when she asks him what he wants her to say and he says "How about 'Logan I am going to put my head in the oven because I can't stand what a BITCH I am'" (paraphrase) and she asks him if he wants her dead and he says 'Yes' and then he tries to explain everything and breaks down and it's all so OMG.
S2 starts pretty slowly, and at the beginning V is all very much about having given up detectiving and trying for normal life. Second half (after 2.11) is much better than the first. First half a bit slow, but it does have some amazing eps: 2.3, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9. Five out of 11 ain't so bad :) Of course, all three of my least fave VM eps are in first half of S2 as well: 2.1, 2.10 and 2.11.
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Date: 2006-06-30 08:41 am (UTC)Um, I didn't actually like 2.07 all that much. It seemed kind of contrived... I mean, Meg was pretty normal, and Meg's sister was oversexed and sleeping with her counsellors at camp... I have a hard time believing that their parents would treat Grace like that. I suppose it was a bit too horror movie for me, with the zombie child and all.
But! Sheriff Lamb! I was like, ohhh, woobie!
Seriously, fucked up childhoods seem to be a running motif in Veronica Mars.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 02:40 pm (UTC)Actually, my fave from first half of season is 2.6. Logan and Aaron sharing a cell. Logan in jail and in a line-up. Logan and Cliff. Clarence Wiedman. V being sleuth girl. Super continuity.
But yes, 2.8 with the rescuing (that makes a second time Logan's come to V's rescue) and the gun and the crying in the car. Poor V. She's shown more emotion in that scene with Logan than in any scene with Duncan, so you are right: Duncan should just pack up his things. But I love that scene because it also made me realize that V left L because she was afraid something was going to happen to him. And I love the look on L's face as he realizes V cares. Yay.
Also, what a typically Logan rescue. All bluff and threats and snarky words. No actual violence as he is quite outmatched.
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Date: 2006-06-27 07:53 pm (UTC)You know, this is very interesting - I don't see Lynn as peaceful and relaxed so much as helpless and doped to the gills with booze (and pills probably) so she can live with the guilt of not doing anything to protect her son. I've watched that scene a lot, and I think Lynn is just guilty of being very weak (and it's a very realistic portrayal of an abusive family where the mother can't/won't protect her child from the abusive father.)
I REALLY love Jake too! I wish Kyle Secor had been around for Season 2. I loved his relationship with Duncan.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:15 pm (UTC)There is a shot of Lynn comforting Logan which I presume was from this ep but from a scene that got cut (probably because they wanted to make her less sympathetic so Logan could move on quicker) that would support your interpretation. It's all very sad....
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Date: 2006-06-27 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:15 pm (UTC)*falls over*
yeah I did get the pilot, btw. need to start watching :D
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Date: 2006-06-27 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:43 pm (UTC)I just got through my second viewing of this episode the other night, and it's definitely one of my top VM eps so far (I'm six episodes into season 2 now), largely because of the final scene.
I agree almost wholeheartedly with your points, particularly on that last scene. Logan choosing the belt and raising his shirt for whipping as if it's been done a thousand times (and it probably has), and his mother drinking herself into numbness in the very next room - in a very short span of time it explains so much about why he is the way he is (and why he so quickly and desperately latches onto Veronica). It's a powerful scene, brilliant character development and is definitely one of the moments that - to quote the person above me - made me VM's bitch. ;) Hearing the belt *thwacking* on his back definitely made me wince. (Even the mellow song playing over the scene makes it makes a bit more disturbing to me.)
Also:
VM makes me think of a pond after a rock thrown in. All we really see are ripples from one traumatic event (Lilly's death) but the more we watch, the more we discover what it was like before this explosion
Word. Another thing I'm coming to love about this show.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 09:53 pm (UTC)particularly on that last scene
It's just the sheer awful routine of the thing that gets me. It's our first look into the truth behind the curtains of privelege and glamour, and ut's horrifying.
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Date: 2006-06-27 10:56 pm (UTC)I completely agree with you about Veronica, that "Veronica at the pilot is not who Veronica is or will be, it's who she is at that moment." You hit on exactly why I get pissed when some of fandom wants V to cut her hair and be the kickass outcast loner from the pilot or beginning of season 1-- that's not Veronica. That's scabby, damaged Veronica who isn't letting herself heal.
And OMG Lynn? Worst Mother in Neptune-- a category with some tough competition. ;) I just realized that her utter crappiness as a mother, though, makes Logan's devastation at her death even sadder. Poor Logan!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 01:12 am (UTC)I just realized that her utter crappiness as a mother, though, makes Logan's devastation at her death even sadder. Poor Logan!
Exactly. It highlights both the sheer lack of any love and caring in his life, that he is so devoted to someone who is, at least, not actively beating on him, and the fact that once he gives his emotions, it seems to be pretty hard to dislodge them.
That's scabby, damaged Veronica who isn't letting herself heal.
Definitely. She is never going to be V 1.0, sweetness and light. But hopefully she won't be V of the Pilot either, but a healthy and ahppy medium.
why fandom and RT's whole "Logan is eeevil" thing annoys me. Yes, he's occasionally a jackass, but he had NOTHING resembling a family, role model or support system growing up. He clearly cares about people and tries to do the right thing, despite his background. He is not a sterotypical "bad boy"-- he's a damaged boy, which is why I like him
Yes, yes, and YES. I don't go for bad boys either, but I don't see him as bad. Damaged (definitely) and growing up. He is messed up but he is trying his best.
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Date: 2006-06-28 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-28 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 04:27 am (UTC)What are #1 and 2?
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Date: 2006-06-30 06:54 pm (UTC)#2 is the scene where the Fitzpatricks are getting ready to hurt V. Seeing our strong heroine crying, screaming, and wirthing in pain was too much for me.
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Date: 2006-06-30 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-30 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 02:06 pm (UTC)the fact that he is actually a person, not a psycho of some variety, is pretty amazing.
Well, yes. This is why I'm bothered by all the fans who get self-righteous about how OMG!BAD! Logan is and how his background is OMG!NOT AN EXCUSE! Of course it's not an "excuse," but it's a very strong mitigating factor, and the particular nature of the way Aaron abuses him explains a lot about him.
I actually had trouble telling Duncan and Logan apart until this episode. Not sure why. They don't even look alike, apart from giving off a general rich-white-boy air.
I find Jake Kane very interesting as well, and I wish we got to see more of him and his parenting in S2. Really, wouldn't he have been using all his money and influence to get Aaron convicted? He's an interesting middle-ground father--not evil like Aaron, not near-perfect like Keith.
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Date: 2006-06-29 03:29 pm (UTC)I am not a L/W shipper, but I can certainly see the Weevil/Logan shippy vibes :)
I really wish we could have seen more of Jake as well. He strikes me as someone who'd be involved in the trial and a very involved father. I know VM couldn't get him because he was on another show but...
the particular nature of the way Aaron abuses him explains a lot about him.
Exactly. When stressors are removed or mitigated he becomes a lot more normal, which is quite a surprise in itself. If S3 lets him be (unlikely), and with no Aaron around, Logan would turn into a relatively normal person pretty soon.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 07:53 pm (UTC)I think that's kind of common in really bad abuse situations, actually. My grandfather did it to my dad and my dad figured out how to pick out a belt that wouldn't hurt as bad. That's what I assumed Logan was doing when he looked at it closely and folded it and stuff. And the fact that he's been beaten enough to know how to pick out a less painful belt? That's fucked up.
I totally love this episode. I don't usually pick it as one of my favorites because the first thing I think of is the main plot, which I like but on rewatches for me it tends to get boring. But the subplot thing and the father-child relationships are really interesting. I'll totally have to watch it again.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 08:11 pm (UTC)Oh wow. I didn't know that. That's horrible!
the fact that he's been beaten enough to know how to pick out a less painful belt? That's fucked up.
Yes. *nods fervently*
And agreed, it's yet another ep where the B plot is so much cooler than the A plot (which is good but just doesn't compare).