Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Ice Ice Redux
By Couch Baron | Season 2 | Episode 16 | Aired on 03.28.2006
Wallace shows up, and since he and Logan were both in the same shot, I suppose you could count this as their long-awaited scene together. I was kind of hoping for more, like Wallace puffing up his chest in Logan's face and being all, "If you ever hurt her again, I'll...oh, wait, she broke your heart, right? Sorry, man. Want a snickerdoodle?" Wallace does mention Logan, saying he can't believe Logan got off the hook, and then they discuss their visit to Hearst College, about which Wallace is psyched and Veronica is not. Wallace exposits that the average Hearst SAT score is a 1280, and Veronica points out that Wallace only got an 1140. But Veronica, he plays sports, like basketball and sidekick. Wallace says it's down to him and one other guy for an athletic scholarship, and encourages Veronica to come with him for the visit. Veronica tells him that if Hearst were in, say, Maine instead of Neptune, she'd be excited. Jeez, Veronica, that seems a little insensitive, both to Wallace's feelings and to what I can only imagine are your dad's. Not to mention that I think a third season of Wallace and Keith sipping coffee at your kitchen counter and pointedly trying not to talk about how much they miss you wouldn't exactly be a ratings juggernaut. I'd still watch it, though.
I have to say, however, that Veronica's expressing a desire to get out of Neptune (which restates what she said in "One Angry Veronica" about wanting to have the car packed and running at graduation) makes me realize what's been wrong with Veronica's characterization this season. It's not that she's different; that was inevitable. It's that the only things she's wanted this entire season are to be with Duncan and to get out of Neptune, and for that matter, both of those wants have seemed tepid at best. Not that there's anything wrong with any person not having strong driving desires at any moment in time, but Veronica is a character, not a person, and a lead character with no strong wants is boring television and screenwriting death. I thought that, as the season went along, Veronica would develop some new passion, but she doesn't even particularly seem to want to solve her cases. It's not that she even has to be completely aware of her wants, but they have to exist. If her real wish is to get out of Neptune, then fine, but that isn't the most riveting dramatic choice I've ever seen, nor does it bode well for Season 3. The thing that's kept the show going, in my opinion -- other than crisp dialogue and great acting (and that will always make the show enjoyable for me) -- is that Logan, while often reprehensible, has enough driving desire for just about everyone on the show. But the show ain't called Logan Echolls, so as I said a while ago: Veronica, start caring -- it almost doesn't matter about what. I mean, you wanted Lianne back, and we didn't hold that against you, did we?