Was Steve Batando Supposed to Make Me Laugh?

My daughter and I watched Veronica Mars a few years back.  At the time, I barely knew who Richard Grieco was, and I certainly didn't recognize him as the washed-up actor who's kidnapped by his ex-wife for his bone marrow.  I didn't even know that Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was a real movie, let alone that it was Grieco's movie.  That little nod to real life might have caught my attention and given me a chuckle had I recognized it at the time, but I didn't.  And Batando's character, who only appeared in a couple of episodes and was more important for the behavior of the people around him than anything he did himself, didn't make much of an impression on me.

 

I'll admit that after I learned that Richard Grieco was Steve Batando, I was curious enough to want to go back and watch those episodes.  But Veronica Mars belongs to my daughter--the same daughter whose copy of 21 Jump Street I stole and the same daughter who ordered me to stop Googling Richard Grieco--and I didn't want to push my luck.  A couple of nights ago, she suggested that we "find Steve Batando" and I pretended nonchalance and let her look up the episode and find the DVD.

 

During Batando's first scene, I nearly laughed out loud.  If you haven't seen the show, Grieco plays a washed up actor whose ex-wife resorts to holding a fake audition in order to get his attention to talk about their son.  Was that one of those references like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang? I didn't know, but it was certainly a much funnier scene knowing a little bit about Richard than it had been the first time around. 

 

It was funny, but I couldn't work out whether or not that was intentional.

 

I studied the screen hard for signs of Booker.  If my daughter is to be believed (I say she's not), I was leaning in a bit and my brow was furrowed. But I just couldn't see it.

 

And then:

 

 

I wish this picture was a video.  The leaning in, the hand gestures, the expressive yet dismissive explanations...suddenly, this guy was familiar to me.  But just barely.

 

Somewhere online, I saw a woman comment that she'd had a crush on Booker for years and Rob Thomas had killed it with this character. But I think that's unduly harsh.  A guy in his forties is...not a guy in his twenties. Sure, Steve Batando was a little rough, but that was the character. If you're not looking for Booker, Richard Grieco is a pretty good looking guy.  If you are looking for Booker, well...he's a little young for you.