Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigations into Veronica Mars

by Rob Thomas

  Veronica Mars has a lot of fascinating aspects: humor, great plots and dialogue, a solid father-daughter bond, gender reversals, physical and emotional abuse, class issues, scrappy underdogs, cross-racial relationships, and of course, the obligatory romance and mystery. However, it is the relationship between Veronica and Logan that truly captivates me and, let's face it, they are the real reason I watch. Perhaps I am crazy to be so enamored by a fictional romantic relationship, but I am not alone in my insanity. Logan and Veronica's relationship has spawned several Web sites, generated hundreds of fanfiction stories, and even had critics raving about the chemistry between the two. Fans of the show are so passionate about the pairing that even the show's producers reacted by deciding to feature Logan more prominently as a love interest for Veronica. The CW, their new network, responded by including both Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring in their promos for the show So what is it about this particular relationship that makes it so compelling? Why does it seem that, in many ways, it is the Veronica and Logan twosome that drives the show itself?

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  One of the obvious draws for the relationship is the incredible chemistry that Veronica and Logan have with each other. Television critics never fail to mention it and even fans who are not crazy about the pairing admit that it is there. Chemistry is one of those things that is hard to describe in words but, just like pornography (as one Supreme Court justice famously said), you know it when you see it. It's kind of like the feeling in the air during a lightning storm: there is a sense of anticipation, an inability to look away, and an intense excitement about what is going to happen next. The writers for Veronica Mars were quick to capitalize on this chemistry. The original plan was for Duncan to be Veronica's love interest; Logan was not supposed to be a prominent player. However, after watching the dailies of Veronica and Logan, the writers realized they had hit the chemistry jackpot. The fact that the screen just explodes whenever Veronica and Logan interact was evident even in the pilot, when the two were enemies. The audience was supposed to hate Logan for all the horrible things he had done and was doing to Veronica but you couldn't help but want to see more of the two of them together; there was the sense that their mutual animosity wasn't telling the whole story. By "The Wrath of Con" (1-4), the Homecoming flashbacks of the "Fab Four" made it clear that Veronica and Logan's relationship was complex, and that even when they were both romantically involved with other people, they couldn't hide the chemistry they share. It doesn't seem to matter how they are relating to each other, whether through sarcasm and biting wit or physical contact-their scenes together just ooze sexual tension. Indeed, some of the more powerful scenes of the two of them together are nonverbal: the look they gave each other after Lilly's memorial video was shown, the stares they exchanged after they kissed for the first time, and their silent dance together in "Plan B" (2-17).

  Part of what makes their chemistry so potent is the heightened awareness Logan and Veronica have of each other. This attentiveness is something you expect to see between people who are in love or even just in lust. Our interactions with potential lovers are just different than those we share with our friends, parents, or acquaintances. For whatever reason-be it a magnetic pull, pheromones, or something else-attraction affords us the ability to be strongly connected to a person, so much so that we often know where he or she is without even being aware of it. Logan in particular has honed this ability. He always seems to know where Veronica is, whether she is staring at the 09er table in the quad, talking to a possible boyfriend by her locker, on the beach walking Backup, being held down and threatened on a pool table, or mingling at a crowded dance. As the less emotionally aware partner, Veronica is not as practiced at this ability as Logan, but she still has it. When she was looking for Logan at their graduation party, just recall the way that, despite having to plough through a crowd of people in a room full of music and conversation while simultaneously talking on the phone, she walked directly to him ("Not Pictured," 2-22). Sensory overload alone would have dictated a need to search for him among the crush of her classmates, but she knew exactly where he was. She could feel him.

  This heightened awareness also includes perceptiveness about your partner's facial expressions, eye contact, verbal inflections, and general body movement. You become tuned into what is going on with the other person and you respond in kind. This is one of the reasons Veronica and Logan were able to be so successfully hurtful toward each other during the first season. Both of them knew almost intuitively what would most wound the other because they could read the damage in each other's eyes and face. Other people could be deceived into thinking that neither Logan nor Veronica were injured by the verbal putdowns or mean-spirited pranks (since both have mastered tough external personas) but the two of them were never fooled. Thus, in the pilot episode, Logan knew exactly how much he was hurting Veronica when he mocked her mother's alcoholism, while Veronica was very aware that Logan would rather take a beating from Weevil than apologize to her.

  When their relationship morphed into something more positive, this perceptiveness increased and it became like the steps of an intricate dance. When dancing with a partner, you must anticipate his or her actions: when he pushes you pull, when she goes forward you step back, and sometimes you must simply follow the other person's lead. Veronica and Logan seem to do this dance effortlessly. For example, when Veronica was telling Logan at the end of season one in "A Trip to the Dentist" (1-21) about what had happened to her the night of Shelly Pomroy's party, their dance was in full swing. Veronica began with a push ("I'm so sorry ...") while Logan responded with a pull ("It's fine. You OK?"). Logan then went forward ("You find something out?") while Veronica stepped back ("I was drugged but I wasn't..."). Later, stunned by Aaron's surprise party and their being outed as a couple, Veronica followed Logan's lead. He held out his hand and she took it. In both scenes, their dance did their talking for them and conversation was so unnecessary that any words were solely for the benefit of the audience.

  The very ease with which they are capable of interacting makes those scenes where their interaction is not easy incredibly painful. When Veronica suspected Logan of murdering Lilly in "Leave It to Beaver" (122), their dance by his locker became stilted. He moved forward ("If you need to do whatever, just let me know") but she dodged left ("I need to do whatever."). Logan pushed ("Knowing what we do about Duncan, I don't want to believe that it could have been him but it's the only thing that makes sense, right?"), but instead of pulling, Veronica refused to go along ("I don't know."). Finally, he kissed her, but instead of following his lead, Veronica simply looked down. In that scene, Veronica's intentional missteps, and the change they caused in the pair's normally smooth interaction, hurt to watch. In season two, their dance stumbled in the beginning but, as Logan and Veronica worked their way back to each other, their dance again became evident. Conversations were held in close proximity and their bodies started to mirror each other's until, at last, they were twirling together once again.

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  While their awareness of each other makes their onscreen interactions feel both natural and inevitable, it is the ways in which they respond to each other unconsciously, physically, that really make the pairing sizzle. Although there are other couples who possess good sexual chemistry, I can think of no other couple who responds so completely to one another other at such a basic physical level. Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring deserve the credit here, as we can almost see Veronica and Logan's relationship unfold through only their body language.

  Although she spends much of the first two seasons fighting against their attraction, Veronica is clearly affected by Logan, and her body gives her away. Her breathing changes, her face freezes, and her body tenses, at least until she gets herself under control. This is especially true when Logan catches her off guard. When Weevil asked Veronica to bug a confessional in "Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle" (2-12), Veronica certainly didn't expect Logan to be with him. As she became aware of Log
an, she took a deep breath, straightened her body, and kept her facial expression blank until she was able to begin snarking at him. Similarly, when Logan put the "Out of Order" sign on the restroom door in "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" (2-7), Veronica's version of the Bat Signal, her face was almost completely blank as she spoke with him. It was only after he'd shown his hurt and started to leave that she showed any facial or vocal animation.

  In fact, her responses to Logan are often as bland as she can make them; unlike with Weevil or Dick Casablancas, or any number of other students who have challenged or insulted her over the course of the show, she usually responds to Logan's taunts with silence rather than the patented Mars verbal put-down. In the pilot episode, she remained quiet while he was taunting her in the quad and again when he was mocking her mother's alcoholism. Even when he was breaking her car's headlights, she was silent until he forced her to speak. In season two, Veronica didn't say one word to Logan until the third episode. She en dured his obvious hurt when he saw her by the school bus with Duncan ("I'm gonna miss you!" ["Normal Is the Watchword," 2-11) and Logan's ridicule of Duncan's sexual prowess ("FYI, if the cuddling was the best part, he didn't do it right." ["Driver Ed," 2-21) without comment. It was almost as if she didn't trust herself to speak because, if she did, her response might reveal her to be more affected than the taunts would warrant from anyone else. It is in these silences that Veronica gives herself away most clearly. Perhaps the best example came during Logan's drunken declaration of love during Alterna-Prom ("Look Who's Stalking," 2-20). As Logan reached up to touch her face, Veronica half turned away and gave a shaky sigh that spoke volumes about both her uncertainty and her longing to believe his words were true.

  While Logan is more honest with himself than Veronica, he too has engaged in self-deception about his true feelings, and like Veronica, his body continually gives him away. In early season one, despite their status as enemies, Logan's body acknowledged what he in his conscious mind would not: he was attracted to Veronica. Whenever they interacted, Logan always looked at Veronica just a beat too long and this intense stare always made it seem as if he was hungry for contact, even if the only contact he could elicit from her was negative. His facial expressions, wild hand gestures, and sarcastic tone also are dead giveaways that he is conflicted internally. When Logan does not want anyone to know how hurt he is, the dramatics enter in full force. Thus, when Veronica found him in the pool house in order to question him about the poker game in "An Echolls' Family Christmas" (1-10), Logan threw his hands about, asked snidely about her super sleuth kit, and ended with his now famous "Annoy like the wind!" and accompanying gesture. Similarly, when Veronica tried to question Logan about the phone call about the bus crash that came from his house, he broke out the evil mustache twirling and sarcasm, then pretended to look at a non-existent watch as he exited the conversation ("Green Eyed Monster," 2-4). Suffice it to say, when Logan is upset and wants to hide, his acting roots go into full bloom.

  However, while Logan's theatrics are his coping method of choice, they aren't his body's only way of revealing his feelings. Whenever Logan is uncertain or hurt, he hangs his head like small children do when they are scolded. Recall his response when Veronica asked him to leave her alone with the federal agent who had just basically kidnapped her (and who Logan had just punched out in an attempt to save her): Logan's head dropped and, with hesitation, he obeyed. When Veronica boarded the bus with Duncan to go on the field trip in "Normal Is the Watchword" (2-1), Logan hung his head before waving goodbye to them. In moments like these, Logan's impulses are battling his mind for dominance, and his posture reflects this internal struggle. With him and with Veronica, part of the fun of watching is waiting to see how and when those impulses will win out.

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  This kind of physical believability, however, is not enough; characters can push and pull and alter their breathing all they want, but if there's no psychological depth to their relationship, it's just not worth watching. As a psychologist, I always watch to see whether television characters truly reflect the complexity of real people. If, as is usually the case, the characters are two-dimensional (whether good or bad), I become bored and quickly stop watching. Veronica and Logan are not like this and it is a big part of the reason they are so mesmerizing. Through the course of the first season, we got the rare opportunity to observe their family dynamics and truly understand why they each act the way that they do. At first it was puzzling to see their transformation from the seemingly light-hearted people they were before Lilly's death to the morally ambiguous and angry people they became after. People usually don't change that drastically, no matter how traumatic the event; thus the darkness that emerged in them after Lilly died had to have already been part of their personalities. So where did that darkness come from? Once both Logan and Veronica were revealed to be the children of alcoholic mothers, that darkness made sense, and I became excited that, unlike in other shows in which addiction is used to service the plot, in Veronica Mars we were going to see the true psychological aftermath of a dysfunctional family.

  That both Veronica and Logan are living out that aftermath, not just one or the other, is just perfect. People who have alcoholism in their families tend to be attracted to those who come from the same background, and this is definitely true of these two. Both of them are children of alcoholics and display certain characteristics associated with this, but interestingly, they do so in ways that are complementary rather than similar. Veronica has difficulty expressing emotion, but Logan does not. Veronica finds it hard to relax while Logan relaxes too much. Veronica is overly responsible, and Logan is not responsible enough. Logan exhibits sensation seeking (hello, bum fights!); Veronica radiates calm and, unless openly challenged, remains largely unobtrusive. Logan demonstrates excessive loyalty to his friends while Veronica's ties are often too easily broken by her suspicion and distrust (just think of her willingness to think the worst of Logan, twice, at the end of season one). Veronica and Logan both fear loss of control and want people to need them but, again, this is displayed in complementary ways. Veronica wants people to need her in a professional capacity while Logan prefers people to need him emotionally. It is this complexity in response to similar dysfunctional dynamics that is one of the magnetic links that connects Logan and Veronica. They recognize the darkness in one another and are irresistibly drawn to and comforted by it. It is familiar to them and, as such, they actively seek it out.

  The darkness also contributes to one of my favorite aspects (and one of the most unusual for TV) of the Veronica and Logan relationship: they're not sweet. They are sarcastic, cynical, and vengeful, and often do not hesitate to use other people to further their own agendas. While they each have their own brand of ethics, their own moral compasses, their threshold for "wrong" is quite lower than is comfortable for most people. That moral complexity makes them fascinating. It's also is what makes them perfect for each other. They are both so powerful, so larger-than-life, that no one else we've seen has succeeded in being what either of them needs. Veronica needs a man who can match her in strength of character, someone she can trust who is not afraid to have her take the lead at times and who can accept her for who she is, warts and all. None of the other romantic pairings Veronica has had throughout the series could meet these criteria. Troy was not trustworthy and Leo was too passive. Duncan never seemed to fully accept her for who she had become. He was either surprised by her skills (as when he didn't believe that she was truly investigating the theft of the poker money in "An Echolls Family Christmas," [1-101 or intimidated by her strength as demonstrated by his dream about Meg and Veronica in "Ahoy Mateys," [2-81). Only Logan has proven himself to be strong, proactive, trustworthy (when it counts), and capable of loving the Veronica we know now.

  At the same time, Veronica is the only woman who can handle Logan. None of Logan's other romantic partners understood the full range of his personality. Lilly didn't appreciate his sweetness, Hannah didn't g
et his cruelty, and neither Caitlin Ford nor Kendall Casablancas cared about anything other than his money and sexual prowess. Veronica can keep up with his multifaceted personality and match him quip for quip, and she demands things from him that others let slide. She looks beyond his "psychotic jackass" facade to see the wounded and empathic boy underneath, but is not impressed by his wealth or social status and insists that he act decently. Most of all, Veronica gives him the one thing most people withhold from Logan: trust. Of course, this trust was not given overnight (in fact, for all of season one, she actively distrusted him) but when push came to shove at the end of season two, Veronica trusted him with her life and, soon after, with her heart.

  Thanks to all of this, Veronica and Logan are something rare in the land of television: a three-dimensional couple. While they can be funny and gentle, they're not all sweetness and light. While they can be morally questionable and thoughtless, they're not all darkness. Like the rest of us, they live in the gray areas.

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  Complexity, however, is not only about character traits. It's also about character growth. Veronica Mars allows us to see that growth. Characters who begin the season one way do not end it in the same way; there is movement. Nowhere is this more evident than with Logan and Veronica because their relationship serves as a catalyst for their development.