#cindy mac mckinzie

[itstimetowatch]

Not Pictured

So this is going to be weird going into an episode where I’m pretty damned certain of the outcome. I think the only thing I haven’t figured out is the “Cliff’s Briefcase” thread. It was stolen by a prostitute hired by a guy that kind of looks like someone that Aaron Echolls once shared a jail cell with. I don’t see how that ties back to anything unless it was something I missed last episode when I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the courtroom scenes?

Anyway, on with the finale!

Mr Manning is offering the reward for Woody? The child abuser wants the child molester found that badly? I guess this falls under the heading of Even Evil Has Standards. Also, shouldn’t the state of California be the one offering? Maybe this is just preemptive. The state’s reward will take too long to process so Manning is getting the jump on it now before the trail goes cold.

HAHAHAHA! Oh, Vinnie! Please never change! Please be in the movie ten years later every bit the actual worst person ever!

Woody had Chlamydia? So on top of all the other horrible shit he did, Beaver also raped Veronica.

Oh and we’re back in Veronica’s Dreamland. At least she’s not on the bus anymore. That was really long and seemingly pointless, other than an excuse to bring back Duncan and Lilly one more time. Also, the idea of Veronica and Wallace not being friends makes me incredibly sad.

Mr Underhill? How dare you besmirch the name of Frodo Baggins by associating your disgusting self with him.

“I don’t know if I like the idea of you running around a place full of armed, drunk businessmen.” “That’s why I rarely go to Texas.”

I’ve heard at least three writers names called out during this ceremony.

So this is yet another example of Sheriff Shithead being a dickbag, right? Like they’ve known Weevil did it for, what, days now and they wait until the middle of graduation to come drag him out in handcuffs? They could have arrested him anytime but Lamb wants to humiliate him as publicly as possible.

Little Dick isn’t in Veronica and Logan’s class? Or he just can’t walk at graduation because he has to take too many summer school classes? I mean, I remember him failing physics but were there more? Because most of the time if you’re just one class short the school will still let you walk and just hold off on your diploma until you make up the class you failed.

“A PONY?!”

It seems weird seeing Veronica in a dress outside of like Prom. Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s the only time we’ve ever seen her in a dress, dances and other formal wear occasions, of which graduation is not one?

Wallace is just going to track down Jackie? In Paris? A city of like 12 million people or whatever? Wallace, I know you’ve watched Veronica work a lot and you have picked up some not inconsiderable skills along the way, but with this, I think you’ve overshot your potential.

And apparently, Jackie’s in Brooklyn, not Paris… and when she said she learned the birds and the bees the hard way… not only was she pregnant but she’s a teen mom? How is that in any way in keeping with the character we were introduced to at the beginning of the season? And does Terrence think she’s actually in Paris? Or is that just the “official story” that they’re telling everyone?

I don’t think that’s how legal emancipation works, Aaron. Once you’re out, you’re out. Also, Logan is almost certainly eighteen by now. He has his own money left to him by his mother. I mean, he may need to move out of the Neptune Grand and into something a little more permanent and less costly, like an apartment, but then again, so do you as you undoubtedly have a mountain of legal bills forthcoming and no career left to speak of.

A deer’s head, Woody? Just be caught already.

Yep, okay, called it. Like I said, I was 99% sure but confirmation is always good.

Hart Hanson is another producer’s name… I think it’s also the name of the kid who taped Lynn’s suicide, who mysteriously turned back up last episode. In which case, he’s a sophomore and almost certainly is not listed with the phone company.

Cassidy BEAVER, you son of a bitch, on top of everything else, you do not get to shoot… fucking anyone, not Mac, not Veronica, not even fucking Dick! (Also, what did I say about him having plans to put one in Dick’s head at graduation?)

Um, just over halfway through the episode and we’re already up to the big climactic showdown with the bad guy?

“A better place”? You piece of shit! All that girl did was love you!

Oh yeah, I didn’t think about the fact that Beaver would have to have killed Curly.

Um, how long has this bomb been on Woody’s plane? Because those things get inspected regularly, whether they get used or not.

First of all, that plane wouldn’t be visible in the Neptune skyline yet. Secondly, WHAT THE ACTUAL EVERLOVING FUCK?!

Beaver, if you want her to jump, you’re going to have to stop tasing her, genius.

Good riddance, Shit Bird!

Okay, so Mac is alive! Thank God for that! Although Beaver has almost certainly passed along his sex-associate psychological trauma to Mac, so he’s just the fucking gift that keeps on giving after he’s a stain on the fucking sidewalk.

And speaking of sex-associated psychological trauma, this show has forced me to endure seeing with my own eyes Kendall and Aaron together, which I could have gone my whole life (and several more besides) without.

Oh, damn! Well good riddance to that pile of shit, too!

CW? As in The CW? The network that aired Season Three? “It’s a done deal.” Was this an announcement? (I mean, I know CW, Clarence Wiedman, but I can’t think of another good reason for them to phrase it that way.)

I have some pretty serious issues with the idea of Duncan ordering Aaron’s murder. Kidnapping your child to keep her out of the hands of monsters and living on the run from the law is one thing…

Yeah, none of that makes Jackie’s characterization from the beginning of the season make any more sense.

KEITH! HALLELUJAH!

“And pepper spray, in case we run into that Trump character.” GOOD CALL, VERONICA!

Keith, you are not standing Veronica up for something to do with Kendall Goddamn Casablancas! What the hell, my dude?

Okay, so there were a few surprises after all. I didn’t expect Aaron to get clipped. Once they dragged him into this season of the show, I figured he would become an on-going menace in Veronica’s life, but I guess not. I also didn’t expect a resolution to Veronica’s rape. I thought that would spill over into next season where I’m still assuming that the Hearst Rapist is still an on-going problem, maybe there was an upperclassman at Neptune that graduated when Veronica was a sophomore and went to college at Hearst or something and he could be a suspect.

So… this episode was good but felt kind of lacking to me after my epiphany last episode, and then Veronica got the message to go up to the roof and the whole thing kind of came apart for me. There’s no good reason why Veronica would go up there. She did it because the script needed her to have a private menacing conversation with Aaron and then needed her to be in danger of being killed by Beaver. It’s yet another example of Veronica doing something she’s smart enough to know better because the script needs her to be in peril. It’s happened a lot this season and doing it in random, middle-of-the-season episodes is one thing, but in the season finale? No, sorry.

Then she gets to the roof and there’s no good reason why Beaver doesn’t just shoot her in the head. He doesn’t need to know what she knows about him. She’s not explaining it to him, she’s explaining it to the audience and that’s just bad writing.

Beaver’s plan doesn’t really make a ton of sense, either. If he’s so scared that Marcos and Peter are going to spill his secret, why does he wait to kill them? Why do they wait to be killed? Why he wait until Woody’s on his way back to Neptune to blow up the plane instead of on the way to his hideout? Why does let Woody live in the first place? Incorporation/Phoenix Land Trust came way later. Why set-up Woody (or anyone, for that matter) for the bus crash when a criminal investigation of Woody would be exponentially more likely to reveal Woody’s paedophilia than just letting an incompetent sheriff bumble his way through a pile of circumstantial evidence for the next couple of years?

Full thoughts on Season Two will be forthcoming.

[itstimetowatch]

Silence of the Lamb

A serial killer case? Sounds fun!

And Veronica is going into business for herself at school digging up dirt on parents of her classmates. I’m sure that won’t lead to unforeseen problems.

Madison’s birthday. This is going to tie into the last point, isn’t it? They spend enormous amounts of money on her for her birthday because of something awful.

Sheriff Shithead returns, as predicted, and he’s even lowered himself to showing up at Mars Investigations. Things must be very rough for him. I’m going to guess from his general shitheadedness that he’s a terrible investigator and he needs Keith’s help with the serial killer. Okay, more of an “All Hands on Deck” kinda deal. Makes sense.

I just realized that Miss Dent has disappeared from the opening credits. Guess she’s off to Mandyville, huh?

The new deputy is Schmidt from New Girl. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see him as anyone other than Schmidt… ever.

Mac’s back! Awesome! It’s good when Veronica makes friends that don’t disappear into the ether… despite the fact that they presumably still go to the same school and would theoretically see each other rather often… but whatever, I digress. She wants to be Veronica’s tech support, just as I predicted.

Holy Shit! Mac was switched at birth?

Oh my God! It was with Madison! Oh my God! That’s why her birthday was pointed out!

Okay, fair’s fair. Sheriff Shithead going for that pretentious rock god-wannabe was pretty damn good. Points to you, Shithead.

Crap! Mac’s family is all super blonde!

Called it!

Can you imagine Madison growing up middle class? HA! (Yeah, I mean, obviously she probably wouldn’t be the Madison we all know and mostly can’t stand without a lifetime of wealth and privilege, but still, can you imagine?)

I get that Leo is supposed to be sweet and charming and whatever, but that smile is 100% Schmidt.

And The Worm is Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad.

So much for your points, Sheriff Shithead, you really are a terrible fucking cop, bro.

So, like, Madison is supposed to be this horrible bitch and all… but, like, they are crashing her party, Mac even specifically said the word and everything. She has every right to not want them there. Furthermore, the library is off-limits to the party, so even further she has every right to tell them to leave. Madison’s not under any obligation to be a gracious host to people who weren’t invited. And I’m sure that the “You don’t belong here” line was meant more in the classist meaning rather than just the regular trespassing meaning, but just because she’s a horrible bitch doesn’t make her wrong.

Has Inga also disappeared from the face of Neptune?

Nope, he’s still Schmidt. Sorry, Leo. Also, he’s flirting with a minor, so I’m not wild about him anyway.

“A cop that rocks? What will they think of next?” (That joke is almost certainly too old for Tumblr.)

“I say we play to our strengths?” “So I’m good cop?”

Hey Sheriff Shithead! Just because someone is confessing to a crime doesn’t mean they actually did it. Everything Keith just said is right on the fucking money, dickwad! 

Never mind, he wasn’t confessing.

Oh, Mac! You may need to revise your definition of the phrase “something stupid”.

Okay, now Madison is being a huge douche.

I have never related to Keith as much as I do right now.

The would-be Rock God is the killer. I’m not sure if I should have guessed that or not. I don’t guess there was a lot to go on, and I guess he wouldn’t have gone free so long if figuring him out was easy.

Deputy Leo to the rescue. I still don’t like the fact that you’re flirting with a minor… especially seeing as you are, y’know, a law enforcement officer and definitely know better!

Good work in the details regarding the descrambled tip. Stripping out the encoding is possible (although it almost certainly would have taken more than the day or two that it’s been since Veronica sent the file, but I understand the necessities of episodic storytelling), but that still wouldn’t automatically have given the right tone of voice and pitch. Good work, writers!

You know if I was Mrs. Sinclair, mother of Madison, I’d probably be pretty interested in what my biological daughter was like, too. Do they follow up on this? Gauging by that ending with Mac and her family, I’m guessing she’s probably done with it... but, y’know, that’s definitely the sort of thing that people can change their minds about later.

So Clarence Wiedman called in the anonymous tip on Abel Koontz, which is obviously supposed to point the guilty finger at Jake, but, of course, storytelling convention says that the good guys can’t have the mystery correctly figured out at the beginning of the story or else the story is procedural not a mystery. This is very definitely not a procedural show, so logically, it can’t be Jake Kane. But what if it was Celeste Kane? We know Clarence Wiedman took the threatening photos of Veronica at her behest, rather than Jake’s. Celeste and Lilly had a fairly contentious relationship. She would almost certainly be horrified if she found out that Lilly was sleeping with Weevil... worse still if Lilly actually had feelings for Weevil (which has not, thus far, been established one way or the other.)

I don’t know if it’s true but that certainly seems like a solid theory to me.

 Anyway, another really good episode. Tons of character development for Veronica, Mac, and Keith. It will be interesting to see (if Deputy Leo returns, which is far from a certainty, he could well be a one-and-done character) how Veronica deals with her using someone hurts them now that she actually likes the guy. Hopefully, he comes back because I would actually like to see that play out. 

He’s still Schmidt, though.

[itstimetowatch]

My Big Fat Greek Rush Week

Oh holy shit! I didn’t put it together last episode but Veronica walked in on Parker’s rape and didn’t realize it. Wow! That’s fucked up!

And it’s Sheriff Shithead back in rare form. Wait a minute, wasn’t he treating these rapes as, like, a big fucking deal back in “The Rapes of Graff” or was that only because he had a hand-wrapped suspect and he wasn’t going to have to do any actual policing to close the case?

Jesus Christ! Just say “vibrator”, Veronica. Standard and Practices weren’t that strict in 2006. You mistook an electric razor for a vibrator.

BTW, I didn’t mention it last time because it didn’t really matter, but the fake shaved head wigs look terrible this season. Alia Shawkat’s looked so good I almost believe that she actually shaved her head for the role. These are so bad it actively detracts from the scenes they are in.

Still don’t like the new theme song.

Dan Castellaneta! From so many things, but probably most recognizable as the voice of Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Mayor Quimby (among many others) on The Simpsons. And he’s recreating The Standford Prison Experiment. Joy! I’m not going to get into it but The Stanford Prison Experiment is bullshit.

Mo the RA back again. So he’s going to be important down the line. And he’s a dumbass.

The wedgie girl is Madison, isn’t it?

And Veronica is undercover at a sorority? So two storylines I don’t want to have to sit through? This is going to be a slog. Maybe there’s just a whole, whole lot of Keith wandering in the desert?

(Also, Rush Week is not when the hazing happens. That’s Pledge Week. Rush Week is when the Greeks put on their best faces and entice you into joining the frat/sorority… and then initiation comes after that, so the whole premise of this storyline is flawed.)

It’s still so weird seeing Veronica in a dress.

Rider Strong of Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World. And Samm Levine from Freaks and Geeks. This episode is guest star central. Hoping to cover for a week script, maybe?

HA! Keith repurposed the coyote trap! Oh, man, it’s been too long since I said this, but Keith, you are the king!

So Liam and Cormac aren’t working together? Certainly not after that!

This is going to be really short, I can already tell. There’s just nothing interesting about either of these stories. There’s a macho dickbag guard picking on the nerdy guy prisoner in the prison experiment. Surprise! There’s a vapid airhead and a “cool girl” in the sorority. You’re totally blowing my mind here! Little Dick is at a sorority party. Shock!

Like there’s no chance that we’re going to find the source of the rapes in episode two and whatever untoward thing is going in this house it’s going to pale in comparison to that.

It strikes me as more than a little odd that the Safe Ride Home girl is so nakedly contemptuous of other girls. I mean, it’s a volunteer program, right? She’s not being forced to do this. It kind of just reeks of girls bashing girls for no good reason, which (Madison notwithstanding) this show has mostly avoided. Which given the context of the season, comes off a lot like victim-blaming... and that’s gross.

Hey, look at that! You put Veronica and Keith in the same room and things suddenly get interesting. What a shock! You should do that more often, Show! And also, thank you for acknowledging Backup’s feelings in all of this. He’s a very Good Boy. I’m sure he was extremely concerned for Keith’s wellbeing.

They let guys drive the Safe Ride Home carts? That seems like just the sort of thing that would get taken advantage of by… say, a rapist. I’m not saying that guys can’t work at Take Back the Night, but there are certain tasks that probably shouldn’t be delegated to men if you’re trying to keep women safe on campus (or, well, anywhere else). Contrary to popular belief, you can’t tell a rapist just by looking at them.

There’s something off about Mo’s answers… like he’s almost too prepared to answer them. He didn’t seem surprised to find out that Parker was raped.

Okay so setting Horshack up with the wrong info is a semi-clever twist.

So Mo has an alibi… unless…

Okay, so that’s… kind of a lot... more than one patient’s personal use. I mean, I believe the story that it’s just meant for her, it’s just that TV people have no sense of scale when it comes to anything outside their own base of knowledge. Laws vary from state to state, but six plants the general rule of thumb.

I mean, technically the sorority only wanted the girl Veronica was pretending to be to join, not the real Veronica. So…

Well, that’s certainly a nice subversion of expectations on both parts that I honestly wasn’t expecting (maybe if this had been in Season One I would have, they were a lot better about that in Season One) and it, for the most part, works in the prison scenario. Torture might work, sometimes, but you can never trust the information you get from it so it’s ultimately useless as an intelligence tool.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the sorority story. They subvert the expectation of girls being catty and awful to one another but they don’t actually replace it with anything. The girls are nice, if uninteresting, mostly harmless, but underage drinking is still against the law. The pot twist doesn’t really work because California legalized medical use of marijuana in the mid-90’s, so unless the school has specific rules against it (which, if so, the show failed to establish that) then she did nothing wrong.

Like I get that it’s actually the Take Back the Night girls who are the “mean girls” and that the editor of the paper who’s meant to look like she’s the one being unreasonable but I didn’t need an entire plot to establish that. One or two scenes would have done nicely.

Not a terrible episode, just a kind of boring one. The subversions of expectations redeem it somewhat but they don’t make the journey to get there any more interesting in retrospect, so they only get so much credit.

Regarding Kendall and the painting, are we meant to understand how she came into possession of a multi-million dollar piece of art, and also when did she get it? Because not too long before she walked into Keith’s office with it, she was hooking up with Aaron and helping him obstruct justice in order to not be stuck working for a living. Was the painting how Aaron paid her for her assistance in creating reasonable doubt? Is this going to be elaborated upon? Because the scene with Keith and the guy at the auction house had a sense of finality to it…