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Post by Zarnium on Oct 16, 2018 14:14:26 GMT -8
It's just... he doesn't do much. There's very little to his character outside of his relationship to Veronica, where he typically just serves to bounce off snappy lines and steal school files. And at least half of their interactions seem to involve Veronica asking him to do something for her rather than them actually hanging out and being friends, so it feels like she's just using him for her own gain all the time, though I don't think that was necessarily the intended interpretation. The show's cast as a whole is also very male-dominated despite having a female lead; I can't help but feel that with the surplus of dudes, it would have been much more interesting for "Veronica's friend" to be another girl.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 16, 2018 14:52:49 GMT -8
Believe it or not, the series was originally intended to be even more male-dominated. Rob Thomas first dreamed up the idea for Veronica Mars as a novel with a male protagonist. Around the time he switched it to TV series, he decided a female protagonist in a noir setting would be more interesting and distinctive.
As for Wallace, I think the writers had something of a backwards handle on him. He was originally written as little more than Veronica's friend and sidekick, which didn't leave him with much of a character on his own. So when they eventually tried to give him his own developmental arc (as you'll notice in future episodes), it just felt flimsy and hollow. (And Percy Daggs III isn't that great an actor when he doesn't have Kristen Bell around to play off him.)
I've read in a few places that the writers at some point intended for Veronica and Wallace to become romantically involved, but network executives didn't want the series to focus on an interracial couple. Although I've never heard anyone involved with the series or the network substantiate that, so it could just be an ugly Internet rumor.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 16, 2018 19:49:48 GMT -8
Ok, so after I didn't recognize Keith Mars from Galaxy Quest and Mac from Napeon Dynamite, I find out that Jason Dohring also plays Chase Graves in iZombie?
Maybe I just blocked it out of my memory because Chase Graves is a sucky character.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 16, 2018 20:41:24 GMT -8
Multiple Veronica Mars actors have popped up on iZombie. For some mysterious reason.
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Post by ThirdMan on Oct 17, 2018 4:24:30 GMT -8
Well, clearly it's because the singer from Matchbox Twenty is the creator of both shows.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 17, 2018 4:28:24 GMT -8
I'm just baffled I didn't notice sooner, since it's not like his face is obscured on either show. He carries himself very differently in iZombie, though.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 17, 2018 5:17:55 GMT -8
I recognized him as Chase right away, since I'd watched Veronica Mars years before iZombie existed. Enrico Colantoni has also appeared in several episodes as that detective with the funny hat (don't know the name, I just remember the hat), and Francis Capra recently guest-starred as well. But the best of the guests, of course, is Kristen Bell, who provides the voiceover for the erotic novel in "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter." Made funnier by the way the scene acknowledges that Liv Moore is essentially a zombified Veronica.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 17, 2018 6:24:31 GMT -8
I did recognize Enrico Colantoni from Person of Interest, as well as that one lawyer who was also the weatherman in iZombie.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 17, 2018 6:56:35 GMT -8
Ah yes, Daran Norris. Incredibly fun actor. (I always think of him as the voice of Cosmo on Fairly OddParents.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 17, 2018 18:37:50 GMT -8
Well, clearly it's because the singer from Matchbox Twenty is the creator of both shows. I'm listed as "resident munhequita" exclusively because of an extended "Veronica Mars was created by Santana collaborator Rob Thomas" joke
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 17, 2018 18:40:54 GMT -8
Finished season 1, and man, didn't see that coming.
SPOILERS!
I guessed close to the end that the Kanes believed Duncan was the killer and were covering for him, but that someone else was the real killer, since they were obviously up to something fishy, but didn't seem to have the whole story. I didn't foresee Aaron Echolls being the killer, but maybe it should've been obvious since he was clearly a total piece of garbage, had a violent temper, seduced anything that moved, and had easy access to Lily.
I have to wonder, though, in the end, was Lily really that great of a person, and that great of a friend? Everyone talks about her like she was flawless, but I see little evidence that she's any different or better than all her 09er friends who have disowned Veronica at the start of the show, and who Veronica dislikes. If Duncan were murdered instead and Keith had still gone after Jake for the murder, would Lily really have stuck by Veronica, or would she just ignore or abuse her like Duncan and Logan did? Not to mention that she cheated on Logan with at least two other people, one of whom was his own father. And also disowned her other friend because Logan kissed her once. Probably while she was having an affair with Logan's father. On a less heinous note, she also just had a really vapid personality, and always seemed to be a negative influence on Veronica in the flashbacks; Veronica only grew to be a better person once she was no longer spending time with Lily. I just can't help but feel that out of all of Veronica's old friends, Lily was the worst.
On another tack, I do like that the writers finally addressed the fact that Veronica uses Wallace for her own ends with little reciprocation, and had him stand up for himself towards the end.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 17, 2018 19:02:15 GMT -8
Despite her upbeat personality, Lily was a generally awful person - constantly engaging in immoral behavior, and encouraging Veronica to do likewise. But people tend to idealize friends and loved ones after their deaths, particularly if they die young and/or from awful circumstances.
I remember being really surprised the first time I watched the S1 finale, even though, as you say, it makes total sense in retrospect. (The mark of a great mystery.) It's an immensely satisfying finale, even if "A Trip to the Dentist" is a slightly better episode.
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Post by otherscott on Oct 18, 2018 5:03:17 GMT -8
I've read in a few places that the writers at some point intended for Veronica and Wallace to become romantically involved, but network executives didn't want the series to focus on an interracial couple. Although I've never heard anyone involved with the series or the network substantiate that, so it could just be an ugly Internet rumor. That sounds like an ugly internet rumour, but at the same time there's something about their pairing that feels a little off. It feels like Wallace is into Veronica and that's why he does all this stuff for her, and Veronica is just more focused romantically on the more attractive rich white guys. Something about the whole thing just seems like a bad look I guess.
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Post by ThirdMan on Oct 18, 2018 7:48:49 GMT -8
Well, clearly it's because the singer from Matchbox Twenty is the creator of both shows. I'm listed as "resident munhequita" exclusively because of an extended "Veronica Mars was created by Santana collaborator Rob Thomas" joke Please elaborate on this. It's been many years since I watched VM. Did Veronica or one of the other characters use that word in a few episodes?
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 18, 2018 8:59:29 GMT -8
That sounds like an ugly internet rumour, but at the same time there's something about their pairing that feels a little off. It feels like Wallace is into Veronica and that's why he does all this stuff for her, and Veronica is just more focused romantically on the more attractive rich white guys. Something about the whole thing just seems like a bad look I guess. I think they're more interesting as platonic friends than as a romantic couple. Although I never much cared for most of Veronica's love interests in general (with the exception of Logan, who was a good character in the first two seasons). It just doesn't sound like UPN execs would stipulate an interracial ban, especially since, if not for the support of black viewers, the network might not have survived long enough to greenlight Veronica Mars. (Mediocre Star Trek shows can only go so far.)
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