gwendolenau reblogged your post 2015 MTVS Epic Rewatch #3 and added:
Re Teddy Dunn. Didn’t the network want him, so Rob persuading him was part of getting the show greenlit?
That makes more sense. Still, what did the network executives see on Teddy? I don't even find him attractive. And he definitely lacks charisma. So it will always be a mystery to me.
carrycate reblogged your post 2015 MTVS Epic Rewatch #3 and added:
Thanks for the recap! Such a fun read. I’m currently rewatching the show myself, so there are a few things I would like to add to your analysis, since the pilot is still fresh in my memory.
Re: 9) Make up your mind, Keith! But I guess this contradiction reflects Keith’s struggle with letting Veronica get really into the whole seedy P.I. business. A part of him is proud of her and wants to let her be, and the other part of him wants her to be his little girl forever. So yeah. I get it, Keith.
I think what adds to his conflicting feelings is his tremendous sense of guilt, as he realizes very clearly (and he says it later in the series) that it was his actions that made Veronica’s life so much harder. Because of his quest for truth she now has to cope not only with her best friend’s death, but with tons of other shit as well, both in family and in school. So, when he sees her obvious enthusiasm in the P.I. business, he simply has no heart to forbid her from getting into it deeper than he would like her to, as he understands that this is maybe the only thing that seemingly helps her to cope. But he clearly has very conflicting feelings about this whole situation, as is shown thoughout the whole series (and up to the books, actually). He’s both very proud of her and wishes something else for her as a career choice, something safer in the first place.
11) What could he possibly have seen in Teddy? Why did he have to have this guy on his precious show? What did Rob see in him that we (most of us, at least) never saw? It’s truly a mystery to me.
I’m right here with you, baffled as well. Except for maybe a couple of scenes in the end of season 1, I also find Teddy’s acting very bland. Sometimes I wonder in what direction the plot might have developed, had they indeed cast Jason as Duncan instead…
13) But I’m positive it was Lamb. He became Sheriff when Keith was removed from office, and then look at his face here…
In my “headcanon” it was also Lamb all the way. Quid prodest at its best.
14) What was the last straw that drove her to make that drastic change in her persona?
Maybe the rape? We actually don’t see her in the flashbacks after the day of rape, do we?
20) Veronica impersonating Inga = priceless!
I remember Rob (or someone) saying that Kristen did a better German accent than the coach they hired to help her.
25) I’m not gonna make up excuses for Logan. He was a jackass. There’s no excuse. But I do think that considering the way he was on this episode, it makes his journey and his character development so much more beautiful and amazing.
And it’s on the rewatch only when it strikes you what his phrase, “Do you know what your little joke cost me?”, might actually mean (not that Logan would ever admit it to any of his peers, of course). It’s quite possible that his Daddy not only “took his T-bird away”, but also abused him physically. Of course Veronica didn’t know about this side of Aaron at the time, and I want to believe that she would never set Logan up this way if she knew that his father would most probably react with belt swishings and/or cigarette burns. And while parental abuse doesn’t justify his aggression towards Veronica’s car, it makes it much more understandable. He’s not simply being a jackass here, he’s coping with his own demons, his own emotional and physical traumas. The writers did an amazing job here adding all those layers to his character.
26) I have to say this, though. Logan backing out of a fight? That doesn’t sound like Logan.
But they are 4 against 15, aren’t they? He’s a jackass, but not a fool. He understands that the moment he strikes back, the bikers will most certainly beat the crap out of his pampered O-Town listening 09-er buddies, and he’s already got one of them into serious trouble when Weevil smashed his mom’s car. So, to save his friends from further trouble, he decides to take the beat. And it’s also a bit heartwrenching to see on a rewatch, already knowing his backstory. He’s so used to this kind of beating and nosebleeds without any possibilty to retaliate, so one more time doesn’t really matter… Hence, this reckless, “rub a lamp”.
9) "He’s both very proud of her and wishes something else for her as a career choice, something safer in the first place." You're absolutely right!
11) "Sometimes I wonder in what direction the plot might have developed, had they indeed cast Jason as Duncan instead…" I think Duncan would still be on the VM universe. And we would probably shipping DuVe instead of LoVe.
13) "In my “headcanon” it was also Lamb all the way. Quid prodest at its best." Exactly.
14) "Maybe the rape? We actually don’t see her in the flashbacks after the day of rape, do we?" Well, the timeline is rather confusing. But according to the timeline on MI.net (x), Shelley's party was before Lianne left, and we know Veronica had long hair at that time. So probably she had it cut after her mom abandoned her? Just guessing here!
25) "He’s not simply being a jackass here, he’s coping with his own demons, his own emotional and physical traumas. The writers did an amazing job here adding all those layers to his character." Oh I understand why he was acting out and I know what Veronica's joke cost him probably. And he was just a kid. Sometimes we forget that they were all kids still. :(
26) "But they are 4 against 15, aren’t they? He’s a jackass, but not a fool." Well, he didn't back out of a fight in Leave it to Beaver, right? And it was 1 against 10, 12? How many? Different circumstances, I know. But still.
