Lengthy Thoughts on Clash of the Tritons and some BSG and eye candy recs

[dangermousie]

First off, I simply LOVE the title for "Clash of the Tritons." One of my fave titles ever. I have the bad taste to like puns.

Another ep where I find B-plot (Veronica eavesdropping on people's confidences about Lilly, Echolls family falling apart) more interesting than the A plot even though I really like A plot.


So, first off, I just love all the Veronica and Wallace interactions here. My favorite is their exchange about fake IDs "Veronica, I need a fake ID to buy fake alcohol for a fake cheerleader" (paraphrase). Heeee. And we get to see Veronica sing and Duncan is kinda fun in this ep. And we see Cliff again and is it wrong that I enjoy Veronica befuddling Lamb way too much? It must be so odd for her to be back in the room with him. She is a strong, strong girl.

But what really makes this ep for me is the B-plot. I find the way the characters behave at Ms. James' office is so indicative of their personalities. It's a brilliant encapsulation of their characters:

Veronica is prickly and uncommunicative. She gives nothing to Ms. James, throws sarcastic walls, and her shields remain intact. In fact, she manipulates the situation to get more information in morally questionable fashion. She is coping by not coping and it's so unhealthy and so her.

Logan. Oh poor Logan. He comes in sarcastic and shoots verbal barbs but actually his emotions pour off him in waves and he ends up pouring his heart and soul out and basically baring stuff that had to have been gnawing at him. His barriers, unlike V's, are made of paper, and come down with the least provocation. He is emotional and dramatic and way way fucked up.

Weevil. He conceals an inner romantic underneath tough, chip on shoulder about social stuff behavior. And his barriers come down too, though not as easily as Logan's. And when he says that Lilly had felt it too (I doubt it. Poor guy. The more I know about Lilly, the more I want to smack her), yeah that's the Weevil who promised to his Grandma to graduate, who yelled he loved Felix etc. Tough guy outside, sentimentalist inside.

Duncan. He is, in a way, calmly accepting. But he also has deep wells of reserve. Something naturally in-built, not as confrontational as V's but just as effective. He tells Ms. James things, but in a calm fashion, because he's decided he will.

Duncan and Veronica are both really good at walls which actually would make any long term ship between them problematic, IMO.

And I remember the shock it was to me to learn just why Logan was horrible to V. He blames her and it's displacing and he knows it's displacing and how in character that he acknowledges that. And I love V feeling like she got a revelation. I think this is where a lot of her guards against Logan come down: she realizes (something WoC started) that he is screwed up by Lilly's death, but this is is where she realizes that he has a reason (however dysfunctional) for hounding her, and he didn't just become horrid for the heck of it, and most importantly, that it all stems from his love of Lilly and that is something she can relate to: doing wrong things out of love for Lilly. Once V realizes how much Logan loved Lilly, they are halfway reconciled, aren't they?

And then we also get the fun family of horrors, the Echolls. Lynn is a weak-willed selfish woman, isn't she? That scene with Aaron and Lynn verbally dismembering each other, not even noticing Logan sitting in the between them, watching his world fall apart (better get used to it, kid), and what it's doing to him (I love that he tries to quip but it's clear it's mechanical and he is freaking out) is so indicative of how lousy they both are as parents.

Oh, and this highlights Aaron's absolute hatred of being found out. He is all about facades even when he doesn't have to be (like with Keith). He can't stand falling off his pedestal (now with Lynn). Maybe that's why Logan gets under his skin so much: Logan keeps rubbing his face into his hypocricy.

And yet another reiteration of the school pack mentality. It's not just V that's the victim. Meg, popular and liked, was victim of it in "Like a Virgin" and now it's Logan, who is quite high up on the school ladder. It's like sharks when they scent blood.

And in non-VM news, I'd like to rec two excellent Kara/Anders (from BSG) fics, by lyssie. In fact they are so real about relationships and happiness without glamour, I'd rec them even if you don't watch BSG. Pornapalooza and Not a World of Magic Shows

And lunasky has amazing, half-nekkid picspam of Italy's Football team that is to die for. Potentially not work-safe.

Comments

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

amazing, half-nekkid picspam of Italy's Football team that is to die for.

And you only tell me about this NOW? Hee! Thank you!!

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

Re: Italian futbol team picspam.

HOLY MOLEY NOT WORKSAFE!

I shall peruse that at a later (less damaging) time!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

But there are no bits showing? I'll modify the description just in case!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Somehow I thought you'd like! :P

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Oh, and also, I want to chime in with love for "Clash of the Tritons." I also love that once again, Veronica's expectations are confounded - the secret society is really harmless and kind of dorky (making their inductees speak in strange coded sentences doesn't equal being evil jerkwads).

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

True, no bits. But most people don't look at chisled naked man-torsos at work ;) (My bad and all for slacking at work, but I think the warning is a good idea)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

most people don't look at chisled naked man-torsos at work

If there is a job like this, can I have it?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, and the 'fearsome' president is the kid who is going to MIT. Actually, as far as hazing goes, Tritons seem to be pretty cute. Karaoke? Heee. Though if they locked V in the trunk of her car, that's not so nice at all...

[mycenae.livejournal.com]

They probably would have come back and let her out eventually...

word!

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

What the female equivalent of Maxim magazine? I want to be a photo editor there!

Re: word!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't think there is one. Shall we found it ourselves?

Re: word!

[plazmah.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan! What shall we call it?

[bigboobedcanuck.livejournal.com]

I also second the love for the Miss James b-plot. Logan's "And what is so great about living?" just breaks my heart. And while I would usually be very against wiretapping therapy sessions, I'm so glad V hears!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

First off, any time I see an icon of the scene that's in your icon, I begin to feel a little misty-eyed. Oh Logan, how you bring the angst to the yard!

And I think Logan's 'what's so great about living' is one of those character-defining lines. He really doesn't have much and needs to find something to live for.

And I also agree I am glad V hears. Things are never really the same after that.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

AAAAAA! Thank you so much for the football link!!!!!!! YAY!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I thought you'd like :)

[bigboobedcanuck.livejournal.com]

Logan sure does bring the angst to the yard. I also get misty just thinking about him crying while he watches his dad and Lilly. The poor, poor boy.

God I love him so much.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

What a lousy way to spend Christmas! I know it was impossible for that point in the characters' feelings, but I wish he had somewhere, anywhere else to spend Christmas: with Duncan, with Veronica and Keith (squee), heck, at the Casablancas house...

I am so impressed that Logan has this amazing capacity for love despite (or maybe because of) all these people he loved or who should have loved him failing to love him back.

[bigboobedcanuck.livejournal.com]

It really is amazing that Logan can trust anyone after all he's been through. Totally betrayed by his father and Lilly, and then Veronica thought he was a rapist and a killer (however understandable that was).

It really bothered me that Logan was all alone for Christmas. Sob!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

*picks out her happiest, cheeriest LV icon*

In a way, I think in the Lilly/Aaron's thing, much as I dislike Lilly's behavior, the true awfulness is Aaron's. Lilly is just Logan's gf. True, it's beyond scummy to do what she did, but she is 16, stupid, and more importantly, NOT FAMILY.

For Aaron to do what he did: to sleep with his son's girlfriend, someone who the boy clearly loves and puts on a pedestal (a tendency of Logan's when it comes to women, isn't it?) and to feel no shred of remorse is just...All I can say is it makes me really love Clarence Wiedman's gun in NP.

I think Logan actually is so starved for love, he latches on to anyone who shows him positive attention of the right sort. He's had so little love and loyalty in his own life, I think he treasures it all the more where he finds it. I think he also prizes loyalty so much because he wants to differentiate himself from Aaron.

[bigboobedcanuck.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Aaron's was the worse betrayal -- and I think it's interesting that Logan cannot bring himself to hate or even resent Lilly for what she did. He has rarely uttered a bad word about her (except for saying she was acting like a bitch the week she died, and that she was treating him like dirt). Lilly was a foolish, selfish girl, but certainly not in the same league as Aaron.

Logan really is loyal, which I love so much. No matter what happens with Veronica, he would die for her in a heartbeat. *swoons*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think Logan has put Lilly on a pedestal, and once there, she is hard to shake off.

Plus, I don't think he wants to face that she was as much a selfish bitch as (IMO) she was. Easier to blame it all on Aaron, who is after all, already the bad guy.

I think Logan is willing to put up with so much because, sadly, he has no notion of healthy relationships. Once he gets love/attention, he latches onto it and returns in tenfold, but if the other person treats him badly, it doesn't throw him the way it would someone from a normal background and he just takes it, because to him, such behavior is normal (Aaron and Lynn have a lot to answer for).

*swoons*

*swoons with you*

[weissman.livejournal.com]

Pretty cool-Hooah!
Bob

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks!