Veronica Mars Re-Watch: Green-Eyed Monster (Season 2 Episode 4)
Things are not as they seem on Veronica Mars Season 2 Episode 4, “Green-Eyed Monster.” Duncan is acting weird, Logan is drowning in misdirected anger, and Cress Williams’ character is Wallace’s WHAT?!
Veronica is the coolest teenager I’ve ever seen. When I was a senior in high school, I worked at the local mall while desperately hoping for an NSYNC reunion and downing caramel Frappuccinos like Gatorade.
Veronica is a senior and already knows that high school sucks. Not only that, but she has a full-time job that pays a salary. I didn’t have one of those until my late twenties.
In the mid-2000’s, my teenage mall job kept me from morphing into a full-fledged Marshmallow, but as an adult, I see why Veronica Mars is such a classic. There’s drama and mystery, but also lightheartedness and love. It’s a straight-up fun show to watch.
The show’s list of guest stars who are now wildly successful is staggering. I’ve already clocked Amanda Seyfried (RIP, Lily), Aaron Paul, Jessica Chastain, Max Greenfield, Jonathan Bennet, Adam Scott AND Leighton Meester (in the same episode!), and I’m not even halfway through the series.
It’s great to see Broadway star Laura Bell Bundy pop up in this episode as a client in search of answers regarding her fiancé. Seeing these celebrities so early in their career is a nice reminder that even Jesse Pinkman and Ben Wyatt had to start somewhere.
Season 2 is off to a great start, with one exception:
Duncan and Veronica are back together, and I feel the same way about it that I feel when visiting the dentist. Their story- particularly at the end of season one- does not hold up well.
Just because it was Duncan who Veronica slept with at that party does not mean it was consensual. The resolution to that lingering question permanently soured me on the remaining Kane sibling and would garner copious backlash in today’s climate.
Logan’s return to being a dick is difficult to digest, too. He’s horrible to everyone he comes in contact with, but it’s easier to understand this go-around.
He’s not a spoiled 09er; he’s a normal teenager who has endured terrible traumas. Now that we know who he is behind those walls, it’s easier to root for him.
Veronica and Keith’s relationship is up there in terms of familial relationships on television. In everything he says and does, the former Sheriff tries to be the best father he can.
As admirable as that may be, he doesn’t always get it right. Telling Veronica that she “can’t handle everything” is more hypocritical than fatherly—especially given how much leeway he gives her.
This leeway is the reason that I’m not entirely keen on Wallace’s mother. I hold a grudge against her for the season one episode when she criticized Keith’s parenting for “treat[ing] her like she’s forty.” With that said, however, this whole ex-boyfriend situation is like watching Olympic table tennis.
First, he’s a crazy ex, then, he’s an undercover Chicago cop, and now he’s Wallace’s father? Insert that Michael Jackson eating popcorn GIF here.
Wallace is the best right-hand man a girl could ask for, but I’m unsure of his budding relationship with Jackie. At the moment, she seems like she has ulterior motives, but it could just be that she’s a strong, assertive female character.
Watching this show as an adult has its perks—as I am able to process these things with an adult brain.
Veronica’s nagging suspicion that Duncan still has feelings for Meg shows that despite the adult job, she is still a teenager. The bus crash that lands Meg in the hospital is bigger than all of them, but it’s okay that she doesn’t quite understand why Duncan keeps visiting in hopes that she’ll wake up.
The case with Laura Bell Bundy is a sign that Veronica need not worry about Duncan, but Duncan’s actions when she asks indicate otherwise. I just don’t see what Veronica sees in him; to me, he’s a wet blanket, and he and Meg deserve each other.
Speaking of Meg, what could possibly be on that laptop?
I feel like now is a good time to have a brief laugh about the early 2000’s technology peppered throughout the show. Veronica’s clunker of a phone brings back painful memories of my Blackberry.
The constant freezing and sideways keyboard alone must make it damn near impossible for Veronica to do her job. Both for Veronica’s and nostalgia’s sakes, I’m not-so-secretly hoping that she upgrades to a Motorola Razr in season three.
Meg’s laptop also has to weigh at least ten pounds—I know my college laptop (which I had in 2005) did.
Other noteworthy moments in this episode include Mac’s return, and the realization that the call to Curly Moran’s phone came from a phone number registered to the Echols. The bus crash mystery has me captivated, and I’m curious to see how it unfolds.
What did you think of this episode of Veronica Mars? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Gina Zippilli
Gina is the co-host of Meet Us At Molly’s, the first-ever Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. podcast. Outside of One Chicago, she has never met an ensemble-driven cop show, post-apocalyptic drama or true crime whodunit she has not liked.
One thought on “Veronica Mars Re-Watch: Green-Eyed Monster (Season 2 Episode 4)”
Duncan doesn’t deserve the hate he gets on this show. I won’t bring up why because I don’t want to spoil something I’m Not sure has been revealed but Duncan did nothing wrong.
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