Veronica Mars 1.06 'Return of the Kane'

Right from the get-go we learned about the town of Neptune, and the major class divide by which it is defined. The High School is almost the middle-ground were both groups must co-exist. This episode makes use of that interesting social anomaly by means of a student election, with great results.

In ‘Return of the Kane’ Veronica uncovers fraud during a student election. Duncan runs for student president at the urging of his father. Logan’s dark relationship with his father is revealed.

The student election during this episode which comes down to a fight between the two classes is one which shows the writers clever methods of blending the high school setting with the greater picture of the towns social structure. Though in the end, the underdog doesn’t win out, we see yet again how much Veronica has to put up with not just from her old clique, but from others trying to make their own play to gain status. It also shouldn’t go without noting the teacher’s roles. Taking the example of Ms Dent, they almost act as the referees, having to keep the peace between the two sides.

Duncan isn’t a character that really stands out as a beacon of light among other far more diverse ones, and his relationship with his father is given far too much clout during this episode. Logan, however, is instantly more engaging. [Highlight for spoilers through 1.22] Aaron Echolls is written so well as a hidden villain that it’s almost hard to come up with him as a possible suspect in our major murder case. Some fabulous directing shows during his scenes with Logan too, finally showing a weak side to the brazen brat we’ve already got to know.

One thing that I’ve always liked about ‘Veronica Mars’ is the first person narration. Not only does it give us pivotal insight into the psyche of our leading lady, but it also allows us to follow the slightly complicated mysteries that we’re presented with, particularly the longer running ones. Tid-bits like Veronica’s run down of each of the suspects would be hard to detail to the audience without it and without any close friends, other than Wallace and her father, we never really get much opportunity to see her work through each of her discoveries.

9/10