dangermousie | Logan. And Veronica. Oh, my OTP!

OK, still thinking about the finale.

I am really wondering now what Beaver’s motivation was at the end of S1 for telling Veronica about Logan’s alibi being false. Before last night, I would have said it’s because he was ultimately a good kid. But now? The whole scene changes. Of course, it could be because he felt residually guilty about the rape, but I doubt that was a large part of his motivation (or any, actually). So why? In part, I think it’s because he wants to distract her from her rape investigation. He knows she is trying to find out what happened, but he doesn’t know that she’s concluded already (with finding out about Duncan). As far as he knows, she is still digging, and what better way to distract her than by effectively telling her that her shiny new boyfriend might be a murderer. And in addition, after everyone finds out that Abel Koontz didn’t really do it, the question who is a murderer is clear and open again, after all. Now, you could say that anyone who knows Logan at all knows that if there is one thing Logan is incapable of, it is of killing a woman he loves. Snarky or acting-outish as he sometimes gets, he is an unbelievable push-over when it comes to women. And Cassidy knows Logan, right? Except if there is one character who is very clear on ‘you are not what you can seem to be’ it is Beaver. Not just because in his world, ‘good guy’ Woody is a molester. It’s because he knows that truth about himself: he comes across to everyone as a geeky dweeb when he is a former rapist and future mass murderer. So I can see him thinking “just because Logan comes across as not-a-killer doesn’t mean he is.” And hey, Cassidy is left with being able to interrupt V investigating what he doesn’t want her to investigate by turning in a potential murderer. And after all, why should he help out Logan (reasons the boy). Nobody’s ever helped him, and Logan is the friend of his annoying brother.

I think this all ties in with his yelling at Veronica at the finale and taking things out on her. Beaver is someone who feels he’s been wronged and put upon by the whole world, and so any time he can take a bit of that frustration out, he does. Yes, V never did anything to him, but Beaver is not rational, he just wants to take it out on someone, and he seems to think everyone made his life awful. It’s not logical, but there it is. He is not a sociopath, as sociopath is incapable of feeling anything (Aaron, now, there was a sociopath). He is just a majorly screwed up kid, who, if the murder was left undetected, many years down the road might have felt bad about it. And he clearly cared for Mac.

And that leads me to the rape (btw, even if I didn’t like this episode, which I love, I would have still forgiven RT everything for that one brief shot of the look on Logan’s face when Veronica screams at Beaver “you raped me!”) Interestingly enough, the fact that Beaver raped her, washes away a lot of guilt in that night’s events from both Duncan and Logan. Yes, Logan is still responsible for the salt lick, but the one big thing he was responsible for was putting GHB into Duncan’s drink. But if V was raped by Beaver anyway, she would have woken up raped no matter what happened with Duncan, so Logan is off the hook for that part. And Duncan is off the hook because once again, no matter what he did, V would have woken up raped. (Sidenote: I dislike Duncan as he is dull, or was dull until the finale, but I never understood people who think he raped V. They were both equally incapacitated and equally willing in that incapacitation. So I guess they raped each other? Just because he is a guy doesn’t mean he automatically gets blamed. As for ditching in the morning and not talking about it afterward? Cowardly and lame. But understandable. The guy thought he committed incest. He just wanted to get out of there. Which doesn’t make him a hero, but I can understand. And since he had no idea V forgot about that night, he probably was very cowardly relieved about her not bringing it up. Reasons not to like him, but I don’t think he would qualify as a rapist under those facts).

Anyway, back to L/V. Do you know what is so wonderful about them and their scene on the roof? Logan is the one who is there for her. Remember how Veronica said in S1 “the hero is the one who stays,” and she clearly has abandonment issues? Well, Logan is the one who stays. Both Duncan and Wallace leave her for long stretches of time (Duncan to take care of his child, Wallace to sort out his parental issues and then after Jackie). And they have good reasons for going, understandable reasons. But the fact remains, Logan is the one person who is there for her when Keith can’t be: he is there for her at the Camelot, he is there for her at the Fitzpatricks, he is there for her at the roof. (And what a neat parallel that at the Fitzes she was the one freaking out about his gun, which wasn’t even loaded, and here she is the one with the gun, and he has to talk her down, to take it away from her. In some ways, Logan is quite mature). And the beautiful thing about that scene on the roof is, as

winterspel put it, Logan and Veronica save each other. She is not a damsel in distress. He is not a screw-up in need of saving. They are both frightened young people who work together to get the gun away from Beaver, and make a heck of an effective team. He saves her, but she saves him in turn.

But he saves her all over again, when he takes the gun away from her. I am sure he is someone who’s had thoughts of killing Aaron, even if they were just thoughts. He is someone who can understand her need for revenge. Hell, he loves her, so he is hurting FOR her, because she is falling apart, and you can see it in his face. But he knows that if she shoots Cassidy, her life is over, and not just because she’d go to jail. And the thing is, Logan is terrified at that moment, more terrified than we’ve seen him during that whole roof-top scene, with the possible exception of when he screams ‘no’ at the beginning as Beaver is about to do V in. He is terrified, because he doesn’t really know what he is doing, he is scared he would fail, he is desperate (and how spectacular that he puts any need for revenge he has aside because he knows revenge V wants would fuck her up), and the stakes are huge: it’s Veronica. And also how in character that he is more affected by the news that V was raped than by Keith’s death. Because to Logan, whose life is full of spectacularly bad stuff? All this is coming through a Veronica-filter he has on.

And I do love that he holds Veronica, and he is so comforting, and gentle, and quiet, and steady, and he keeps his eyes on Cassidy. And throughout the events on the roof, Veronica is always his priority, over seeing Cassidy fall to his death, over anything. I do love that Logan was her caretaker/protector during that night. It’s a huge thing of mine when independent and strong women can lay down their burdens for a while and know that someone is there to take care of them if they need it. No matter how strong you are (and Veronica is very strong) it’s good to know that if you break down (and everyone has a breaking point), there is someone whose shoulder you can lean on. And Logan was so THERE (it goes back to the “staying” part). He clearly carried her to bed at some point during the night, because she falls asleep on the sofa on his lap but wakes up in her bed, all her clothes on. And then he went and slept on the sofa (I imagine that’s when Keith came in, saw sleeping Logan, went ‘hmmmm?’ and went to bed), and then he got up in the morning and cooked for her, and all without any fuss or fireworks or anything. Just efficiently and quietly was there, making sure she wouldn’t wake up alone. After all, if anyone is an expert on losing a loved parent suddenly, it’s him.

And I love it when she sees it’s not her Dad but him and she breaks down and he just holds her and whispers “I am sorry” over and over (and what is he sorry for? I love that he doesn’t enumerate, because he is sorry about the whole rotten mess. Ultimately, he is sorry that the girl he loves is falling apart). Waaaaaaaaaaah. And then he leaves quickly when Keith comes back, because he knows they need time (and I wonder if it brings things back for him: we know he wanted to believe his mother wasn’t dead, wanted it desperately, and here is Veronica, actually getting that second chance).

And I adore the scene at the end, where they are both so giddy happy and relaxed and he twirls her, and his kiss takes her totally by surprise: I think he simply cannot keep his hands away from her and she from him and it’s so adorable, and the only thing more adorable is that her whole face transforms when she sees Logan come in for the bags. But yeah, they still need to talk.