Veronica Mars 3.17 - "Debasement Tapes"
Airdate: May 8th, 2007

I tell ya, I just love this show. Yes, it has its ups and downs, and OK, it will never live up to the first season, but come on, people, this is good television! Funny, and edgy, and topical, and kick ass, too.

No matter that Wallace only appears for minutes at a time these days (and who knows where Weevil is), but he called her on her big ego once again, and that's what Veronica needs every once in a while. I give Wallace a lot of credit for still being Veronica's friend after all the times she's asked for his help with cockamamie cases. He's been there for her, and what has she repaid him with? Cutting him down from the flagpole doesn't earn a lifetime of servitude.

So it's nice to see him cut through her bull and put her in her place about Piz. I know he's pissed at her for pulling her "pretend to be my boyfriend" crap with Piz and then leading him on with the make out session. But I think we're starting to see something deeper in Piz because of it. Playing it cool is making Piz all the more attractive, not just to Veronica, but also to us.

OK, yes, Logan and Veronica have a longstanding connection, and that's something that will tug at their emotions for a long time to come (wonder if he'll be around when she's in the FBI?), but what's the appeal of a bad boy if he cheeses up so easily? I mean, come on, he had his and Parker's face airbrushed onto a cake. That's not attractive in a man.

Piz, as nice as he is, wouldn't do that. He's waaaay cooler than that. He might make her a sweet mixtape of all her favorite music and leave it in her car CD player when he knew she was going to be alone on a long car trip…something like that. But nothing so public, and nothing so corny.

Speaking of the men in V's life – Leo is back! But he's skinny! Please drink a few milkshakes Mr. Leo, I liked you the way you were. He looks sort of O.G. John Travolta and not like the cuddly bear he once was who also had a gun to protect you with.

The Paul Rudd/Desmond Fellows story was appealing. Not much of a mystery, really just an excuse to watch Rudd bedazzle us and fall in love with Piz a little more. The Beatles exchange between Keith and Desmond was good stuff, though I doubt Keith would be such a sucker as to fall for the "tunesmiths" argument. He knows snark when he sees it – Veronica is the Queen of Sarcasm, after all.

And now to Mac. Thank you for ditching Mr. Veggie Lasagne. Not only does lasagne without the meat miss the point, it doesn't taste good. OK, it might have tasted a little better if the writers would have given Bronson a handful of adequate lines, but he might as well have been played by a cardboard cutout. Max, on the other hand, is purrfect. Yes, they're almost exact replicas of each other, but so were Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche, and they were great together (at least until Anne went loony on ecstasy, but that's another story).

So yes, it was all about romance this week (and redemption, and sacrifice, and ass), but I'm not sure how I'll live without Ms. V. I hope I don't have to. I just love this show.

iTunes Links

Veronica Mars - Series
Veronica Mars - Season 3
This Episode - "Debasement Tapes"