the case hinged on the word of two vigilantes (essentially) against a celebrity.
Hmm, celebrity beats vigilante, eh? I'll have to plug that result into the table.
After briefly flirting with the theory that 'twas Aaron Echolls wot dun the bus crash, on the grounds that it would be an unexpected twist for him to be the villain for two seasons in a row, I am back on the Beav train.
(Although I would place an each-way bet on Little Dick as a backup).
I suspect that "Amber is a bitch" on Beav's car is significant, as is his offhand comment about what he did to "Sally", back in "Ain't no magic mountain..." I think those names are related to the abuse stuff - nicknames or pet names that the kids were given.
If that's true, then it implies that Little Dick already knows about the abuse (hence my each-way bet), since he would know exactly what Beav meant when he mentioned "Sally".
However, I'm probably wrong because I can't think of a way to figure Kendall and the Fitzpatricks into the equation. They have to be in there somewhere.
I once saw Twelve Angry Men described as the story of the worst defense lawyer ever. This was the story of the worst prosecutor ever (not surprising in a town where Lamb is sheriff). Still, I'm not even sure Jack McCoy could've won this one, mostly because without the tapes to establish motive, the case hinged on the word of two vigilantes (essentially) against a celebrity.
I quite agree, and as a journalist, I've seen so many lawyers and judges pull stunts that are so jaw-droppingly out of order that I don't flinge at things like that on TV (I direct your attention to the Hadel rape case in Southern California, where they had the three defendents ON VIDEO and it still took a retrial to convict, because their daddies were immensely wealthy.)
I suspect that "Amber is a bitch" on Beav's car is significant, as is his offhand comment about what he did to "Sally", back in "Ain't no magic mountain..."
I was thinking this also, but I also suspect that the "Amber is a bitch" was deus ex Veronica (or do I mean Veronica ex machina?) to give Beaver incentive to tutor Weevil. But that Sally remark has got to mean something.
I doubt she'd key Beaver's car just to get him to tutor Weevil. Especially when she could have just asked Mac (who I realize is still miffed about the whole Butters thing, but she could have convinced her) instead.
Stupid prosecutors annoy me. Conveniently stupid prosecutors, who show up only so that they'll bungle the case, annoy me more. People do get off despite being obviously guilty all the time, and it doesn't take a stupid prosecutor (nor any more than the normal amount of humiliation of witnesses) for that to happen.
Be more subtle, Rob! Dude. One doesn't think one would have to say that, but, Rob, while I have your ear: spend your summer hiatus watching the really old Law & Order reruns. (The ones that actually explained law as a matter of course.) Or buy a reality-meter or a consultant or something.
True. My theory is not so much that V did the keying as that she put the idea into somebody's head. She just seemed more amused by the incident than she should have been.
But, now that I think it through, when would she have had the time?
Well, Veronica and Beaver have never been close, and I'm sure after the Beaver and Mac breakup she's inclined to feel amusement at her friend's ex getting his car keyed.
Okay, I've been at the doctors most of the morning, and I had a lot of time to think, so I didn't pass out while she was *
digging toenail out of my kid's infected toe.
*
The Bus Crash:
Either:
- Beaver is the primary do-er. He got the knowledge from Curly Moran (without Moran realizing 'til after) and he did it (possibly with Lucky's technical assistance) to silence Pete and Marcos
or
- Lucky is the do-er, but Beaver is indirectly responsible, perhaps passing on whatever Curly shared about the stunt
I think it's the first option.
If it's the second option, there are many things that will need explaining. I can speculate that it could be explained as follows:
1. Beav and Lucky somehow figured out they were both Woody survivors.
2. Lucky involved himself after over-hearing Beaver, Marcos and Pete talking, got all revved up.
3. Lucky blew up the bus as a warning to Woody and/or to strike out at Woody by killing Gia. If this is so, I can speculate it was (possibly) done without Beaver's foreknowledge, but Beaver figured it out, later.
The holes are mostly in #3 above. The biggest hole is the smelly rat corpse. If Lucky didn't mind blowing up fellow survivors (or if he didn't know the survivors were on the bus; if he didn't mind blowing up innocent victims) why plant the dead rat? Why not let them all die, unless Beaver was in on it, from the beginning. Besides, the chances are good that if the bus was so stinky, Gia would get a ride home with Daddy. It's not like she was stranded.
The biggest hole though, is why blow up the victims rather than Woody, himself? As noted above, it is unlikely the incorporation was an issue Lucky would have known about, prior to the bus crash. Beaver could have known, because Big Dick might have known since he was a major real estate player in town, which gives Beav the opportunity to have picked up the info. at home.
I kind of have a hard time with Beaver being ready to let Veronica and every other kid die, though.
So:
Why would Beaver put a bomb in the gift basket? Why not just leave it on the bus when he got off?
Maybe it went off at the wrong time? Maybe it was supposed to just blow up Pete, and something happened, or Lucky interferred in a way Beaver didn't know about, at the time.
So, unless unchaste women are inherently unreliable as witnesses, I don’t see why the judge allowed the defense attorney to question Veronica about it. It was a smear on a collateral issue.
For this, I think the answer is mostly that Neptune is corrupt. That said, I don't think they were trying to paint Veronica as unchaste to make her a less reliable witness. I think they were trying to paint her as a floozy
with
a thing for rich guys, age unimportant, who got a little movie stardust in her eyes, so that the jury would have reasonable doubt that the confrontation between her, Aaron, and Keith played out as she and Keith testified it had.
Oh!
Why was Weevil following Cervando? Weevil told Veronica he was worried, because Cervando had a big mouth about besting Liam Fitz.
But why follow him on the field trip, specifically?
How would the Fitzes even know Cervando was going to be on a field trip, and if they did, why would they pick that particular time to target him. Surely, they could have gotten him alone, somehow.
Maybe Cervando was getting anonymous threats from Beaver about the field trip, and Weevil knew about them. Beaver's motive for that would have been in retalliation for Cervando threatening Beaver, after Dick ruined Cervando's jeans.
I have a small problem with the "bomb in the gift basket".
Curly Moran's involvement suggests that the bus was (i) deliberately crashed and (ii) crashed via the method that Curly used for his "Long Haul" stunt.
(i) Would negate any theory that the "bomb was meant for one person and went off at the wrong time".
(ii) I'd like to think that the method is a little more complex than just making sure that there is a bomb *somewhere* on the bus. Placement of the device would be key. That's not the kind of thing you can leave to chance based on where somebody decides to sit with their gift basket.
