Logan Echolls: Obligatory Psychotic Jackass

[Carrie Ann]

I hope there's still a little jackass in there, but I'm happy to be rid of the "psychotic" part.

[Zalyn]

Jason Dohring did such a great job with this character; he reminds me of James Marsters in his ability to communicate so much physically through both stillness and movement.  He does a lot of rotating motions, especially when with Veronica (see: "A Trip to the Dentist"), and his little forehead nuzzle was likely something he brought to the character too.  The little things made Logan such a great character to watch!

[swtrgrl]

I think that the appeal of Logan has about 70% to do with his portrayal by Jason Dohring and 30% in the layered writing by RT. And by "appeal of Logan" I don't mean JD's looks (although that helps a bit). He gets the character. He knows what a glance or a smirk or a soft graze of an arm can do. 

[isiscloud]

On 1/29/2015 at 12:59 PM, swtrgrl said:

He knows what a glance or a smirk or a soft graze of an arm can do. 

I've been following a Tumblr called Marshmallow the Vampire Slayer, where the person does episode recaps and on a couple, they use screengrabs and edits them showing JD's & KB's facial expressions in frame by frame. So much going on in each of their faces, especially JD's.

 

[jeansheridan]

Jason was always alert in his scenes. He paid attention to her in their scenes. That is sexy as hell. He did it in iZombie too but he wasn't meant to get the woman in the end. In fact he barely had scenes with Rose in his second season. No idea why Rob didn't exploit the chemistry again.

[alexvillage]

Being new to VM, I binged the past season to understand season 4, then was able to watch the movie. I don't like him. Agree that he did a good job as a teenager but as an adult in the movie I didn't like him, and I liked him even less as season 4 Logan. Can't put my finger on what it is. His looks changed a lot, he lost some of the "baby fat" on his face that hardened his expressions and I guess got some severe workout done? Also don't think his acting in season 4 is anything more than average to low. But since I have no idea of what he's been on, I can't really say if he can actually act

[evilmindatwork]

On 8/19/2019 at 3:25 AM, alexvillage said:

Being new to VM, I binged the past season to understand season 4, then was able to watch the movie. I don't like him. Agree that he did a good job as a teenager but as an adult in the movie I didn't like him, and I liked him even less as season 4 Logan. Can't put my finger on what it is. His looks changed a lot, he lost some of the "baby fat" on his face that hardened his expressions and I guess got some severe workout done? Also don't think his acting in season 4 is anything more than average to low. But since I have no idea of what he's been on, I can't really say if he can actually act

Yeah, I came to the show recently and maybe it's becasue I'm not the target audience but I don't like his acting or Logan's character at all. I was really surprised because I remember friends in college who watched the show live would rave about him. But I find him unattractive physically and his character is emotionally abusive and sometimes physically too(though obviously some of it is learned behavior from his childhood). The other thing really unsettled me is how willing people are to dig deep into and redeem wealthy white male characters in a way that they don't do for a character like Weevil. Someone like Logan can learn and grow because he's perceived to be intelligent (and is given many chances) but Weevil who probably had to support himself from a very young age is just pitiable. 

[alexvillage]

28 minutes ago, evilmindatwork said:

Yeah, I came to the show recently and maybe it's becasue I'm not the target audience but I don't like his acting or Logan's character at all. I was really surprised because I remember friends in college who watched the show live would rave about him. But I find him unattractive physically and his character is emotionally abusive and sometimes physically too(though obviously some of it is learned behavior from his childhood). The other thing really unsettled me is how willing people are to dig deep into and redeem wealthy white male characters in a way that they don't do for a character like Weevil. Someone like Logan can learn and grow because he's perceived to be intelligent (and is given many chances) but Weevil who probably had to support himself from a very young age is just pitiable. 

I want to like this comment 1000 times. I really like Weevil and how the actor played him. it was nuanced and closer to reality.

[Athena]

39 minutes ago, evilmindatwork said:

The other thing really unsettled me is how willing people are to dig deep into and redeem wealthy white male characters in a way that they don't do for a character like Weevil. Someone like Logan can learn and grow because he's perceived to be intelligent (and is given many chances) but Weevil who probably had to support himself from a very young age is just pitiable. 

I like Weevil too. I agree that Francis Capra is very underrated on this show as an actor. One my dissatisfactions with Veronica's arc in S4 was her dismissal of Weevil and her lack of empathy for his own struggles. I feel like the writing on the show for a lot of the characters has regressed.

While the show has discussed real socioeconomic issues and ostracization, it hasn't necessarily dealt with the issue of race and those experiences outside of Veronica and her Dad as much. 

[evilmindatwork]

4 hours ago, Athena said:

I like Weevil too. I agree that Francis Capra is very underrated on this show as an actor. One my dissatisfactions with Veronica's arc in S4 was her dismissal of Weevil and her lack of empathy for his own struggles. I feel like the writing on the show for a lot of the characters has regressed.

While the show has discussed real socioeconomic issues and ostracization, it hasn't necessarily dealt with the issue of race and those experiences outside of Veronica and her Dad as much. 

I also think there's just a lot of weird racial and economic aspects of the show that show alludes to but doesn't explore. Like the ways in which Veronica will instantly and openly jump to conclusions about Weevil (like with the casino mugging) that she won't about Logan or even Dick. And even though Weevil sometimes does call her out on it, he will also help her or forgive her without any discussion of herr previous offenses. Also while Veronica considers herself an outsider to the 1% in Neptune the show never really explores why she has a marked preference for socializing and dating within that class.

While they're willing to show the excesses of rich Neptuners, the more middle or lower class inhabitants of Neptune are definitely thought of as not good enough for Veronica which is a bit of a contradiction to the message of the show or even Veronica's self-professed ethos I thought. The message of the show is very anti-rape/ misogyny and the unfairness of the class privileges but I think the story-telling often contradicts what the message is supposed to be?

Are we just supposed to forget that Dick was planning to date-rape Madison with the GHB? Veronica is much angrier at Madison than she is at Dick and while Madison is a terrible person, she didn't purposefully drug Veronica while Dick/Logan were the ones who procured the drugs. I think Rob Thomas does better with minority characters in   iZombie but I also wish he'd explore Wallace in a way that didn't always make him a less intelligent extension of Veronica. Veronica is like the star investigator of the university and a straight A student but Wallace is stuck struggling to balance a class with basketball? It's just weird. I do really love this show a lot but maybe I'm more sensitive to these messages because I'm watching it for the first time as an adult. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by evilmindatwork

[marshmallows]

1 hour ago, evilmindatwork said:

I also think there's just a lot of weird racial and economic aspects of the show that really go undiscussed. Like the ways in which Veronica will instantly and openly jump to conclusions about Weevil (like with the casino mugging) that she won't about Logan or even Dick. And even though Weevil sometimes does call her out on it, he will also help her or forgive her without any discussion of herr previous offenses. Also while Veronica considers herself an outsider to the 1% in Neptune the show never really explores why she has a marked preference for socializing and dating within that class.

When you are talking about the casino mugging, do you mean "The Echolls Family Christmas Episode" where they all play poker and the cash got stolen? Because Veronica most definitely accused Logan of stealing it. Actually, Logan is typically Veronica's first choice for the bad guy in s1-s2. Even when she was dating him, she still thought the worst of him.

Veronica did often accuse Weevil as well. But, it just seems like she often accuses people that she is friends with or even dates. I don't feel like Weevil was singled out and accused more than the "white" guys. Logan, hands down is her number one suspect the majority of the time.

[evilmindatwork]

14 minutes ago, marshmallows said:

When you are talking about the casino mugging, do you mean "The Echolls Family Christmas Episode" where they all play poker and the cash got stolen? Because Veronica most definitely accused Logan of stealing it. Actually, Logan is typically Veronica's first choice for the bad guy in s1-s2. Even when she was dating him, she still thought the worst of him.

No, I'm talking about s3 episode 5 "President Evil." I don't really have a problem with Veronica accusing Weevil or Logan, for that matter, but how that suspicion is never dealt with or addressed. With Logan-- it happens a lot less after the middle of season 2-- and  she's his significant other so we see the reasons why he would be forgiving of that trait. With Weevil it's a very unequal relationship where she's usually on top and I don't know why Weevil would put up with that treatment. 

[marshmallows]

38 minutes ago, evilmindatwork said:

No, I'm talking about s3 episode 5 "President Evil." I don't really have a problem with Veronica accusing Weevil or Logan, for that matter, but how that suspicion is never dealt with or addressed. With Logan-- it happens a lot less after the middle of season 2-- and  she's his significant other so we see the reasons why he would be forgiving of that trait. With Weevil it's a very unequal relationship where she's usually on top and I don't know why Weevil would put up with that treatment. 

Oh gotcha. I remember that episode now. I think she did have somewhat of a reason to suspect.

She is still suspicious of Logan about certain things even in s3. It does decline significantly though after s2. I think him being her s/o actually should make it harder to forgive. I would be pretty upset if my significant other was constantly accusing me horrid crimes lol.

V is typically on top in all of her relationships. Quite frankly, I'm not sure why Weevil, Logan, and Wallace all put up with her treatment of them. Especially in s4. At least in s1-s3 and the movie, V had redeeming qualities and would normally have their back at the end of the day if she thought they were guilty.

[Ailianna]

On 9/10/2019 at 6:04 PM, evilmindatwork said:

I I also wish he'd explore Wallace in a way that didn't always make him a less intelligent extension of Veronica. Veronica is like the star investigator of the university and a straight A student but Wallace is stuck struggling to balance a class with basketball? It's just weird. I do really love this show a lot but maybe I'm more sensitive to these messages because I'm watching it for the first time as an adult. 

I would like to see a lot more of Wallace too, and I missed him in S4.  But the thing you are referring to about the intelligence and classes is not accurate.  Wallace was taking high level science and engineering classes, whcih are really tough and time consuming (ask anyone who has tried those courses--they are not like Intro to Psych, which was Veronica's course list level), lus scholarship level basketball is a major time commitment too. I thought it was a mark of how hard Wallace was willing to work, and then his maturity, when he realizes that he can't keep up with it all to the proper level.