It was a weird, alternate reality hearing, but yeah, a trial never commenced.

Also, a friend pointed out to me that Lariat car rental (where Joss had his bit) was the name of a rental chain where Mulder and Scully usually got their cars on X-Files. No idea if that's true, but a nice nod to earlier mystery-ish shows it it is.

And VM joins the massive number of shows in the imaginary St. Elsewhere-verse

Oh, I totally missed the Lariat connection. And I was thinking Double Jeopardy as well. Glad to have that cleared up.

Next they'll have somebody smoking a Morley....

The skeevy motel clerk was played by Tracey Walter -- whom I thought was dead.

Oh, Hey, It's That Guy! [link]

One more thing about Tracey Walter, which may be all you need to know about Tracey Walter: If Hollywood had made a live-action Lord of the Rings about twenty years ago, he would have played Gollum, guaranteed.

Close. He played Arnold's sidekick in one of the Conan movies.

Heh. They even call him skeevy in that article.

Heh. FT actually uses the word "skeevy" to encapsulate the, err... eau de Tracey Walter.

Micole, who I wish posted here, elsewhere brought up the fact that, not only is there a paucity of complex female characters not named Veronica, but also there is not much representation of the have-nots for a show that's ostensibly all about the class conflict. I kind of have to agree--the show spends most of its time with the rich people and their foibles with the exception of the Marses (and to a lesser extent, Fennels). The PCH bike gang has become less and less prominent over the last year and a half--have we even seen Mrs. Navarro since the Paris Hilton episode? And what with Francis Capra's reduced role this season, I don't see this being rectified soon.

I haven't thought hard about it, what with all the rose-tinted glass-wearing I do about the show, but it's a little disquieting. I mean, the emphasis on the rich actually sort of works in a meta way as the show is all about the corruption of the rich and powerful, but the narrative also gives the rich the privilege. When Veronica was ostracized in S1, this worked to emphasize her isolation, but now that she's not so much of an outcast, the other side of the class conflict feels woefully under-represented.

Tracy Walter and William Sanderson are somewhat confuseable, being atypical in looks and character actors extraordinaire. If Sanderson hadn't gotten the Newhart gig (Larry, of "I'm Larry, this is my brother Daryll, and this is my other brother Daryll" fame), he'd be as obscure as Mr. Walter.

Who, I must confess, since he appeared as a character named "Frog" in some long-ago tv western sitcom (yes. for about three episodes), is usually "Frog" to me.

OK, so Thessaly and I have watched a truly obscene amount of "Veronica Mars in the past few weeks, catching us all the way up to date, including the most recent. (Was the title "Rat Saw God"? I forget.)

And I'll admit I'm hooked. It's shaken itself out of it's early flounderings of not knowing what kind of show it wanted to be, and it's found its own voice. Plus, they can write an overarching mystery line, which is nice. Now if only they can stop trying to make Kristen Bell look like Sarah Michelle Gellar, it'll be perfect. (Oh, and OK, get her back together with Logan.)

Still not sure how the individual pieces of this one fit together -- the bus crash, the guy Logan allegedly stabbed, Logan's house burning down, the stunt man with Veronica's name on his hand (and in super-duper ink, at that!)

Not sure yet, but I think the place to be looking is at Veronica's comment about Weevil not being as in control of his gang as he thinks he is. All of which begs the question, who stands to gain from class tensions being esacerbated? Lamb? The new mayor? Not enough information.

Still, I'm hooked. I hope you people are happy.