A hallmark of a great murder mystery is that when the killer is finally revealed, you sit back and go, "Of course, that makes perfect sense within the context of the story."
Last night,
Veronica Mars gave us a perfect resolution to the Lilly Kaine murder investigation. This season has been all about red herrings and blind alleys and we even got a few last night--the Kaines blame Duncan and for a few minutes the deck looks stacked against Logan. But in the end, the murderer is revealed and it all makes absolute perfect sense.
After 21 episodes of build-up we find out that Lilly Kaine met her end at the hand of Aaron Eickles. Why? Because Lilly had evidence of her on-going affair with Aaron. Turns out the video survellaince equipment in the pool house was Aaron's not Logan's and Aaron videotaped a few afternoons with Lilly. Lilly figured it out, took the tapes and got killed when she refused to give them back to Aaron. Duncan walked in to see his sister lying dead the pool, rushes to her and gets blood on his clothes and himself. His parents assume that he's had an episode and killed Lilly, thus leading to Abel Koontz taking the fall for the family.
Now, had they just resolved the murder mystery, that might have been enough. But, no,
Veronica Mars goes for that season two
Buffy "Becoming Part 1 and 2" perfection territory by paying off season-long story arcs in a big way. We find out that Keith is really Veronica's father and that Mom has come back. But Mom hasn't changed--she's checked out of rehab early, costing Veronica her college fund. Keith sues the Kaines for his reward and gets it, but only after Veronica signs away the right to sue them ever again (that is gonna come back to bite them). In the end, Veronica gives her mother the boot since she hasn't changed and it still in the same self-destructive lifestyle that destroyed the family before. In the end, Veronica's mom destroys her hopes of college by taking the check from the Kaines as she walks out.
I've not even addressed the tension with Logan after Veronica turns him in to the police, the great scene of Keith confronting Logan on the beach and the final fifteen minutes as Aaron puts Veronica in a freezer, sets it on fire and then he and Keith beat the stew out of each other.
I've said it before--perfect. Absolutely perfect. Rob Thomas and company must be drinking the same water that Joss Whedon and company had over at Mutant Enemy because damn, they know how to deliver a satisfying end to a season.
All that and we got a cliffhanger as well. Something to speculate about and wonder about during the long, hot summer ahead.
Perfect...absolutely perfect. This is the good stuff.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 5/11/2005 08:16:00 AM |
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