Veronica Mars and "Refrigerator Logic"
Nov. 30th, 2006 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuAlfred Hitchcock defined refrigerator logic as a plot point that works well enough to leave the audience happy as they're walking out of the theatre, but which will cause you to pause and say, "Hey, wait a minute..." as you're raiding the refrigerator later that night.
With that in mind, a couple of thoughts about the latest Veronica Mars episode:
So Mercer turns out to be the rapist. Okay. He was eliminated as a suspect earlier in the season because he does a live call-in request show on the campus radio station. That seemed to be a good alibi.
Now it turns out that he was playing pre-taped shows on the nights when the rapes occurred. Fine, except...how? There are several possibilities.
1. Most alarmingly, his callers are shills helping him to create an alibi. In which case, there are a lot of people yet to be arrested as accomplices.
2. He faked all the caller voices. Not very likely unless he's a master impressionist.
3. He replayed an older show. Even less likely--aside from the possibility that something said during the show might date it, how likely is it that someone might recognize it as a recording?
4. He cobbled together a show with recorded requests he took during previous shows but didn't air. Possible but, again, it risks having one of the callers hear himself on the radio--or someone talking to the caller (at the very big party where the show was being played) hearing it.
The more I think about this, the less plausible this whole thing seems. Maybe Mercer is arrogant and narcissistic enough to think he could get away with one of these options. Certainly shaving the heads of his victims suggests as much--how many would never even know he'd raped them but for the signature head shaving? But what about simply being seen walking around on campus--going to or returning from the rape site--while he is supposedly on the air? What about roommates blundering in, as Veronica did earlier--only they turn on the lights?
Eh. I enjoyed the show. But I question the logic.
On another topic--just how many times does Veronica have to be drugged via a drink before she learns to be more careful about a) accepting drinks from strangers, and b) keeping an eye on her own drinks in public places? There are at least three instances in her history. First, at the party before Season 1 began. Then TWICE this season; once when she left her drink unattended in the cafeteria for a minute, and then again in last night's episode. At this rate, she's gonna wind up like a character a friend of mine played in an RPG. The PC was paranoid--to the extent that he would only eat or drink sealed food and drink he bought in randomly selected convenience stores.
With that in mind, a couple of thoughts about the latest Veronica Mars episode:
So Mercer turns out to be the rapist. Okay. He was eliminated as a suspect earlier in the season because he does a live call-in request show on the campus radio station. That seemed to be a good alibi.
Now it turns out that he was playing pre-taped shows on the nights when the rapes occurred. Fine, except...how? There are several possibilities.
1. Most alarmingly, his callers are shills helping him to create an alibi. In which case, there are a lot of people yet to be arrested as accomplices.
2. He faked all the caller voices. Not very likely unless he's a master impressionist.
3. He replayed an older show. Even less likely--aside from the possibility that something said during the show might date it, how likely is it that someone might recognize it as a recording?
4. He cobbled together a show with recorded requests he took during previous shows but didn't air. Possible but, again, it risks having one of the callers hear himself on the radio--or someone talking to the caller (at the very big party where the show was being played) hearing it.
The more I think about this, the less plausible this whole thing seems. Maybe Mercer is arrogant and narcissistic enough to think he could get away with one of these options. Certainly shaving the heads of his victims suggests as much--how many would never even know he'd raped them but for the signature head shaving? But what about simply being seen walking around on campus--going to or returning from the rape site--while he is supposedly on the air? What about roommates blundering in, as Veronica did earlier--only they turn on the lights?
Eh. I enjoyed the show. But I question the logic.
On another topic--just how many times does Veronica have to be drugged via a drink before she learns to be more careful about a) accepting drinks from strangers, and b) keeping an eye on her own drinks in public places? There are at least three instances in her history. First, at the party before Season 1 began. Then TWICE this season; once when she left her drink unattended in the cafeteria for a minute, and then again in last night's episode. At this rate, she's gonna wind up like a character a friend of mine played in an RPG. The PC was paranoid--to the extent that he would only eat or drink sealed food and drink he bought in randomly selected convenience stores.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-30 08:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-30 08:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-30 09:04 pm (UTC)The "sir" thing was because they had done the Sociology experiment the year before (the photo showed them in the same clothes as Wallace and Logan). Remember the RAs comment about how it "changed my life?" I'm guessing that they developed a rather twisted bond as the result of it.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-30 08:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-03 08:46 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'm slow in catching up with my friends list. Awesome.