I set up a message board for Logan and Veronica (LoVe, as known in the fandom — albeit not willingly by some) in 2005 called The Love Shack. One of the things that it was known for was our very detailed episode breakdowns which essentially, well, broke down every aspect of each episode. This included my own section called “Chemistry,” wherein I gave a very detailed analysis as how I saw it of every single Logan and Veronica scene. Forthwith is thoughts from the first episode, I’ll be adding all of the episodes (possibly … I never did the last five, but if there’s interest, I can finish those up).
Scene One: And the Role of the Jackass is Played By …
When Veronica is going around the 09er table introducing the gang, you’d expect that the description of who Logan is would have taken place before she got to telling about the history with Duncan. But nope. We have the Duncan intro/flashback — which briefly includes Logan (more on that later) — and then it ends on “and let’s not forget Logan Echolls. His dad makes twenty million a picture. You probably own his action figure. Every school has an obligatory psychotic jackass; he’s ours.”
Why end on Logan and not Duncan? Wouldn’t the former boyfriend be the more likely choice to end the introduction of “main” characters on? You’d think so. But, no Logan gets it. And furthermore, from pretty much the moment the scene comes back from the flashback, Logan’s focus in centered on Veronica and she appears to be returning the favor. On the other hand, Duncan seems practically oblivious to her presence, while Logan is just so intently all about Veronica, staring at her, laughing or not, his attention is on her. Seeing what Veronica sees, it appears as if Logan is talking about her in the first shot of him looking at her, then to Duncan; and then again Logan is looking at her, doing the lapdance on Duncan, putting on his little show … for her. I mean, he’s basically “performing” for Veronica. He WANTS her attention. Very interesting.
Now back to that flashback scene for a moment, when Veronica turns from her locker and sees Duncan walking by and basically ignoring her, Logan is with him. And guess what he’s doing? You got it … staring at Veronica. Logan. Does. This. A LOT.
Scene Two: A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends
Next up is the flashback where Logan confronts Veronica about what her dad is doing. Wouldn’t it make sense to see interaction of some kind with Duncan as opposed to laying it on Logan and Logan only. It’s as if Logan is the barometer of before and after in a way. She seems completely stricken by Logan’s pain and his accusation against her. Why is the concentration on Logan and not Duncan?
And just a note, but Logan is also the first one who we recognize who sees her at the party. A bigger deal is made of Duncan (because he’s being macked upon), but Logan is who we first see staring at her. Of course, staring at her.
Scene Three: “Hey, Ronnie!”
Ah, the drive-by. I’ve commented elsewhere that I think that Ronnie was a nickname Logan called Veronica on occasion when the foursome were all together, and maybe even it was one that he used teasingly, knowing she wasn’t fond of it. If so, it’s yet another one of those little hints at what things used to be like back when they were friends. Which leads us to this scene and, honestly, I’m not quite sure what to make of it.
I mean, he almost — no, not almost, he DID seem sincere in asking her if she wanted to join them, but of course, Veronica didn’t want to and in fact, just ignored him. So in return, Logan started being snarky and sarcastic. She continued ignoring him, and you know, I don’t think that Logan likes to be ignored — especially not by Veronica Mars, so he went from an almost playful teasing (the Duncan/no shirt) to barbed, painful teasing (her mom’s drinking). It’s like he was striking to hurt when she doesn’t, one could say, play along with whatever game he was playing. There is just such a push-pull with their interaction. It’s very fascinating.
Scene Four: The Bong Show
Let’s begin with the lovely, little fact that he calls her “cute.” And, of course, he does a lot of staring. What is interesting is that he is looking at her, calling her cute, pointing at her all in what appears to be a show of friendly competition. She just set him up to be arrested, most likely suspended as well, and he is grinning. His attitude is almost a show of ‘Okay, you got me this round, just wait ’til it’s my turn!’ Which flash backs to the last scene before where he kept digging and digging and was just so nasty — nasty in a way we really don’t see him ever at any other time.
And taking in this scene and his reaction of near-glee, one wonders if the object was to show that the only spark that Logan got out of life then was his little back-and-forth game of one-upmanship with Veronica and in the parking lot scene, she hadn’t played along. And here with the bong, the vicious cruelty of the “Hey, Ronnie” scene was missing because she was playing with him again.
Which leads to the final scene between the two …
Scene Five: No Fun, Fun, Fun!
I don’t know if I can even put my finger on what it is about this last scene with Logan and Veronica, but it’s almost like he is taunting her to do something, to retaliate. And it’s like, as in the first scene, as if he’s “performing” for her. The way he looks at her and holds her gaze with that sweet, almost innocent smile, the way he bends down to get close to her, the way that there are moments where it’s as if she is the only one there. It’s all very tense and ooh, I can’t put my finger on the right word. But there is definitely an underlying emotion there.
And then we have Veronica’s reaction to Logan’s being hit — we actually see Veronica reacting to Logan’s pain twice in this episode: The emotional in the flashback when he talks to her about her dad destroying the Kane family, and the physical in this scene. I don’t know and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it, but Veronica seems really bothered by Logan being hurt. She doesn’t make the snappy comment or comeback during that, but once he’s gone, she’s back to wearing that facade immediately with Weevil. It’s as if she is very conscious of Logan’s pain.
I dunno, maybe I’m seeing too much, wanting to see more, but I think that some connection of sorts was being laid all the way in this episode with him. HE pushes her buttons the way no one else appears to and SHE pushes his as well. And just for the record, they really *really* do have some damn fine chemistry.
