S01.E18: Weapons of Class Destruction

[Lisin]

From IMDB "After several fire drills and bomb threats rock Neptune High, Veronica looks to new student Ben as a possible suspect. Meanwhile, Veronica and Wallace are shocked to discover that their parents have been secretly dating, and Duncan finds out that Veronica has been spying on him."

To quote the internet "It's HAPPENING!" ok. Sorry. Had to get that out of the way. This is the infamous Kiss Episode and I can't help it, I love it. I liked Logan from the beginning even when he was being a jackass because at least he has personality and great chemistry with Kristen Bell. Duncan is super scary here. Also we get Juice from Sons of Anarchy! He's a baby and doesn't have a mohawk yet! And Joey Lauren Adams! With her voice! Being all badass and getting fired for it! All in all I think this is a great episode.

[clemmyb]

This is an episode that I love, despite the fact that the central mystery isn't that compelling.  Why?  Because of the kiss.  Duh. I'm always going to be Team Veronica/Logan, despite the fact that they're quite volatile, and that kiss on the balcony of the motel is epic.

Plus, I'm going to watch anything that has a grown up Jonathan Taylor Thomas. My inner preteen can't help it.

[Carrie Ann]

Yeah, the central mystery doesn't hold up under scrutiny, like a lot of them. JTT knew Veronica was tailing him, basically knew she saw him with all the stuff he later planted in that kid's car, there's no way he would have gotten away with this. But who cares? The whole episodes is just a lead-up to that kiss. The first time I watched it, it still shocked me somehow. I think I wasn't watching with an eye toward shipping so even though my feelings about Logan had softened, I just didn't see it coming. But I was immediately all the way in on that relationship in this moment. That season, VM aired at the same time as Lost, and a friend and I taped VM and watched Lost live. So I had this episode on VHS, and I kept it until the DVDs came out because I couldn't bear to record over that moment.

I read an interview with Rob Thomas where he talked about how he was rewatching the series while writing the movie, two episodes a day while on the treadmill, and when he got to this kiss he started crying, because he was so proud of it. How much groundwork they laid to earn this moment, and how well it works. Awww, so cute. It's true too. I think it's one of the great first kisses on TV of all time.

[Lisin]

That tidbit about Rob crying is so great! I hadn't read that and I love him even more now. So great.

Logan would appreciate you referring to the kiss as epic @clemmyb :)

[halgia]

The kiss is great. Home Improvement boy is awful; I remember this mystery as a standout bad one from the first time through, though this time around I kind of liked the journalism part of it.

Laughed at Mac's "youbuntu" vs "OS ten" debate where they used some of the right words but not at all in the right way.

[Lisin]

Yeah the computer language is almost there but falls short.

I spent the majority of this rewatch staring at baby Juice and remarking how well he's aged and not really paying attention to the central mystery because ultimately it's all just to lead to the kiss anyway.

[Hanahope]

Yup, the leadup from the last episode makes the great pay-off here between Logan and Veronica.  Loved how he came to her rescue.

 

Nice stunt casting, though I did wonder what happened to the black journalism teacher?

 

Another episode where Veronica learns that her own experience with people isn't necessarily the same as everyone else's and that just because a mean person can be nice for a while, doesn't mean they are nice.  Still, not cool to set someone up like that.  Is that how he got his other busts?

 

Also, who carries a crush like that for years, especially after you see the girl you like date another for a decent amount of time, and then a whole year or so passes after they break up and the girl you like gets harassed because she's fallen out of the rich clique and you still do nothing to show your interest?

 

Guess I'll have to check out Sons of Anarchy to find out who Juice is.

[swtrgrl]

Oh, Juan Carlos, how I love thee. Nice guest appearance. Juice, FTW.

 

That was definitely an "epic" first kiss. It's one of my favorite all time TV first kisses.

 

I, too thought the main mystery was kinda meh. Whatever, it led to one of my favorite Logan quotes, "Dream on, Jump Street. I'm not leaving you alone with her." followed by the balcony scene.

[LeGrandElephant]

I love seeing Logan and Veronica get together. But on rewatch it’s tough to see how super awful he was at the beginning, bullying her with sexual comments and groups of guys behind him. In real life I’d never trust someone who did that, but on TV it’s so fun to watch their volatile chemistry. But I guess it helps to remember they did have a history as friends before all this (though that makes it even worse the way he picked on her). 

[Kristi800]

On 10/1/2019 at 2:18 PM, LeGrandElephant said:

But I guess it helps to remember they did have a history as friends before all this (though that makes it even worse the way he picked on her). 

They used to be friends or at least tolerate each other sort of. I don't think it all out of the blue. They had nice rapport when Veronica helped him with the clips for Lilly's memorial. It seemed like he was worse to her with "the gang" was around rather than when it was just the two of them. He also had a lot going on at home with his parents even at that point in the show.