Wednesday, October 11, 2006

'Veronica's' Greek Dreams Go Up in Smoke

OK, so Veronica didn't want to become the newest member of Theta Beta, but she didn't want the end result either. This was one of those standout episodes of Mars that reminds us all why this show is the best on television. How many other shows would have presented the huge moral dilemma that Veronica faced at the end? Or how many would have taken such a well-known stereotype and turned it upside down? Veronica went into her undercover school newspaper assignment with the idea that Theta Beta sorority was going to be the embodiment of every sorority stereotype, but she learned in the end that the girls of Theta Beta were better people than herself. She had pre-judged them and they had not done the same to her. I don't blame Veronica. After all, we all have our own preconceived notions about various groups and we've all been proven wrong after actually meeting these groups. I love the way Mars is sophisticated and intelligent enough to present this prejudice through the eyes of its very likable protagonist. Of course, we all know that Veronica is a good person and that's why her undercover sorority story wasn't just her first, but also her last for the paper. She's now working at the college library.


Wallace and Logan's prisoner/guard psychological class experiment was one of the best written supporting stories that I have ever seen on television. Both sides worked well to outsmart the other in order to avoid having to write the 20-page term paper. I had a feeling that one of the "guards" had moved the clock forward in order to trick the "prisoners" into spilling the location of the "bomb." Guest star Rider Strong's prison guard routine was over-the-top at times, so I loved the way Wallace outsmarted him with the clock trick. Elsewhere, Keith got out of the desert alive. The same can't be said about the Fitzpatrick brother, who found himself on the wrong end of brother Liam's gun. And the burning question of what was in Kendall's briefcase has officially been answered -- an expensive painting that Keith auctioned off with proceeds going to a soup kitchen. You have to love the irony that greed took Kendall's life and generosity gave it some purpose after her death. And while Keith is reeling with guilt for leading Kendall's killer right to her, Veronica is dealing with the sorority stunt and the knowledge that she was in the room while Parker was raped and she didn't stop it. In both cases, neither could have known what they weren't preventing, but the guilt still stings as strongly. They're leaning on each other, and that's why a trip to Mars is like nothing else on TV.

All of the screencaps in this edition are courtesy of vm-caps.com.


Get even more of your TV fix at PassTheRemote.net! A comprehensive television site with news, reviews, photos and much more!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That prison experiment storyline was one of the best ever. I agree with you 100%. It was a very good VM last night. Not surprising though. It's what we've come to expect from our Veronica.

Anonymous said...

A nitpick: The losing team in the prisoner/guard experiment writes a 10 page paper.

If you did not participate it is a 20 page paper.