Previously: Veronica and Duncan discovered Meg’s parents are abusive assholes.
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Ahoy, Mateys!
Lorraine: A hazy spirit!Meg asks, “do you love me? Did you ever love me?” Spirit!Meg says that before the crash, her life didn’t flash before her eyes. She thought back to her last perfect moment with (presumably) Duncan. We hear Veronica say, “please.” Veronica says Duncan can save her if he wants to. Veronica walks up behind Meg’s chair wearing some Bad Girl Styling that includes leather pants and fishnet, for real. Bad!Veronica says she’s heard enough. Spirit!Meg asks what Veronica has that she doesn’t. Bad!Veronica ties a sleeping mask around her mouth and says that for starters, she’s conscious. Bad!V walks toward the camera and asks Duncan if that’s really what he wants. “Teddy bears and MASH notes? Grow up. Grow up and get over it.” Bad!Veronica slaps Duncan in the dream and this startles him awake.
Look, it’s just a dream, and I’m not going to say that’s a legally binding contract or anything, but is that really how any part of him sees Veronica?
Sweeney: I think it has less to do with Veronica than his own feelings of guilt.
Democracy Diva: Also, Spirit!Meg is not nearly as awesome as Ghost!Lilly.
Lor: True on both counts.
By the door, Veronica is filling in Logan on following Dr. Griffith to the cigar shop. Logan thinks this must mean something but Veronica isn’t convinced; sometimes a cigar shop is just a cigar shop. Logan doesn’t appreciate this attitude on account of how he’s accused of murder and all.
Logan promises that even numbered days will be a thing of the past if Veronica just helps him find out why the plastic surgeon is framing him. Veronica notices that Duncan is gone from the couch but Logan redirects her attention. Logan wonders if it’s possible that Dr. Griffith is dealing prescription drugs and Veronica considers the possibility.
Diva: Logan’s casual “that’s how they busted my pediatrician” throwaway line is hilarious and SO emblematic of #richkidproblems.
Lor: In the bedroom, we still hear Veronica and Logan’s hushed tones as Duncan looks at the letter he took from Meg’s vent. It’s from a Chris Talley in Seattle and is addressed to Meg. On the back, he’s written, “private and confidential. This means you!” Duncan puts the unread letter in a bedside drawer.
Out in the main room, after some googling, Veronica has discovered that Dr. Griffith was reprimanded for an “inappropriate off-site practice” involving a patient named Danny Boyd.
Neptune High for Wheelin’ and Dealin’. Weevil (!) is standing next to his bike in the parking lot when some 09er pulls up to him and asks for his coke. (D: ALSO THE 09ER IS LUCAS GABREEL FROM HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL AND I’M SO HAPPY.) Weevil gives him a WTF? reaction and then pulls open his shirt. Presumably to check for a wire, but it’s funnier if you just think he did that for kicks. Lucas Gabreel insists he paid a biker dude for his drugs and Weevil tells him to describe the guy. “He was brown,” is pretty much all Lucas Gabreel can offer. Weevil says Lucas Gabreel has really nice rims and he was thinking of getting some just like it. Lucas Gabreel smiles until he realizes just what Weevil is saying. He clicks on his car alarm and leaves Weevil smiling to himself. But only for a second because there is trouble in biker gang paradise.
Sweeney: Also, Lucas Gabreel made such a show of locking his car, but he left the window rolled down.
Lor: Too many drugs, I’m sure.
Keith is meeting with the parents of one of the deceased students on the bus, Marcos. There were 8 people on the bus: Meg, ANTM Teacher, Driver Ed, Cervando, Rhonda and now we know Marcos Oliveras. We’re missing two. Papa Oliveras tells Keith that they are trying to grieve their only son and move on, but someone is harassing them. He shows Keith a little school bus toy and says they find them all over the house. Sometimes they get home and it smells like Marcos’s cologne or his pictures will be turned around in their frames. They’re even getting phone messages from Marcos, things recoded long ago. Mama Oliveras, who has been crying this whole time, says they should take “Ned’s” advice, sell their home and GTFO. Papa Oliveras doesn’t want to because they are not runners. Again, another Pretty Little Liars reference, but they say that kind of crap over there too. At a certain point, the shame of running converts into stupidity for staying is all I’m saying. Papa thinks he knows who is behind the harassment, but he just needs proof.
Logan and Veronica pull up next to a shabby house. Logan starts to get out of the car, but Veronica tells him he isn’t going anywhere. She’ll whistle if she needs someone punched in the face. Logan is the Throat Punch Todd of Veronica Mars. (D: A+.) Also, V better be careful because after a certain prior face punch, she made out with Logan’s face.
Veronica knocks on the door and Danny Boyd answers. He’s gross at Veronica and she ignores him and spins her tale: she’s planning on getting plastic surgery and was checking up on Dr. Griffith. Boyd makes a crack about her chest, which is kind of a reoccurring thing around here. He’s surprised Dr. Griffith got in trouble and offers to show Veronica what he did. Veronica follows him through the backyard and she flinches when the dog tied up back there starts for her. Reminding us that BACK-UP SHOULD BE THERE. Duh, V. I hope you aren’t surprised in a second when things take a turn for the worse.They walk into a building through the back door, and Veronica finds herself in River Stix, the home base for the Fitzpatricks.
Diva: Wait, this town has a Latin biker gang AND an Irish mafia? This unincorporated area of land ain’t big enough for the both of us.
Lor: Veronica is freaked out while Boyd, oblivious, points out a blood stain on a pool table. It’s his blood and Dr. Griffith is the one who stitched him up. He lifts his shirt to reveal the nasty scar. Boyd calls over another guy, Liam, and Veronica’s panic increases. Boyd starts to tell Liam all about “Laurie” and her desire to get plastic surgery when a girl in the background pipes up. She says Veronica’s name isn’t Laurie; in fact, she’s Keith Mars’s daughter. Liam threatens that if Veronica doesn’t tell him the real reason she’s there, she really is going to need a plastic surgeon.
COME ON NOW SUGAR.
Liam repeats his desire for the truth and nothing but. Veronica tries to put on her best, “you caught me!” voice as she says she really does want plastic surgery, but didn’t want to use her real name because it’s embarrassing. Nice try, girl, but Liam doesn’t buy it. Veronica backs up right into Boyd and she tasers him. V tries to make a run for it but Liam tips over a stack of cases, knocking Veronica to the ground. Liam picks up Veronica like she’s a little rag doll and throws her on the pool table, choking her to hold her down. Liam calls over some other Fitzpartick (who was working on a tattoo) and uses the tattoo gun to threaten Veronica. It’s weirdly terrifying. Only weird because “threatened by tattoo” is not something you’d think of, right? But here it is. Terrifying.
Just before Liam connects needle to face, Logan comes in and says he’s got 9-1-1 on the line. Liam thinks that still gives him some face tattooing time but Logan also has a gun. Veronica and Logan run out.
I have all kinds of feelings about this scene. I think it’s clear here that Veronica still has complicated feelings toward Logan, not the least of which is the fear of losing him. Thing is, it’s coming from VERONICA MARS. This girl just followed some big, creepy dude blindly, right into a bar. She gets herself into life threatening situations regularly, so to see her at Logan for functionally the same thing? Crazy. Same goes for the “move then” sentiment. This is all coming from the girl who chose to stick around Neptune when everyone hated her. Plus, he did save her. I’m interested in knowing if you all have interpretations of her freakout here, and just why she holds Logan to standards so different to her own, when we’ve seen repeatedly that usually, all V does is hold other people to her own standards.
Diva: I actually thought V was concerned about the cops finding Logan with a gun and locking him up, but that was me projecting my own concerns onto her. It was definitely fear of losing him that motivated her. But I still can see how from Veronica’s POV, the dangerous situations she gets into are nowhere near as dangerous as Logan with a gun. I don’t necessarily agree with her, but I do think that’s where her head is at.
Sweeney: I absolutely get it. Veronica gets herself into crazy situations, yes, but she doesn’t have the Bat Shit Crazy switch that Logan seems to have. Given his propensity for violence and class riot-starting shit he was up to that caused their breakup over the summer, I really don’t think that Logan with a gun is all that comparable to the situations Veronica gets herself into.
Lor: Mars Investigations. Veronica sits and cries a little more until she realizes that Keith is at his desk. She quickly wipes away her tears as Keith asks her if she knows Marcos Oliveras. As he gets closer, he seems to realize something is wrong, but Veronica waves off his concern. As to Marcos, Keith explains about his parents suing the school district. They say the harassment started after the lawsuit. She asks if he thinks the school district is behind the harassment but Keith doesn’t think so. In his experience, most crime is personal. Her asks Veronica to ask about Marcos around school.
Diva: There were only eight people on that bus. How could everyone not know all of their names by now, if only because they were on the bus? Three months of 24-hour news coverage and various bus-crash-related investigations and you’re like, “oh, who’s Marcos?” Come ON.
Sweeney: THIS.
Lor: We cut to Veronica doing just that, standing in the middle of a computer lab going, “SERIOUSLY? ANYONE? MARCOS?” A dweeb-y sort turns around and tells Veronica that the truth is that no one knew him. Later, Veronica flips through a yearbook and discovers that Marcos isn’t pictured. What would it be like to be forgotten? (“Don’t forget about me Veronica…”) (S: BRB SOBBING.) Veronica’s computer pings and VVO wonders if it’s another email from Wallace, this time with more than just a brush-off line. The new email is actually from someone she doesn’t know, saying that the truth is that Marcos was a great guy. Email Person didn’t sign the message due to jealous boyfriend. Veronica hears Keith yelling in the kitchen.
She goes out there and finds him yelling into his cell phone, masterfully getting the information he needs from some poor, probably underpaid customer service rep. Keith shows Veronica an MP3 player that was left taped to Mama Oliveras’s car. It was paid for by the school district. Veronica smiles as she takes the player to do some more investigating of her own.
At Neptune High For Don’t Ask Me, I Just Work Here, Veronica is trying to get a quote about the lawsuit from Vice Principal Clemmons. He’s all, “don’t ask me. I just work here.” Veronica meets with Principal Moorehead to get her statement. Where has this dude been for a season and a quarter? He says they offered the Oliveras family a settlement which they refused. Moorehead says that the lawsuit could be devastating to the school.
Diva: So I originally had a whole diatribe here about how this lawsuit is unconstitutional, but then Sweeney asked me more about it and I realized I forgot about, like, 8000 exceptions to that rule. But I still really want to use this gif, so, here you go:
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Lor: I respect your use of the gif ANYWAY.
The principal denies knowing anything about the MP3 player and refers V to the district’s lawyers, Simon & Stern.
In one of those suspiciously empty classrooms, Veronica asks Mac if she can determine when a recording was made. V hands over the MP3 and Mac immediately recognizes the voice as “Captain Krunk,” one of the hosts of the radio show, “Ahoy, Mateys.”
MAC. LOOK AT YOU:
Veronica has never heard of this show. Between this and the local access psychic show, our girl really needs to get out more. Mac shows Veronica the website for the radio show and downloads a few episodes for her to listen to. Veronica notices that the show wasn’t on in August and Mac confirms.
Inside, Logan finds Veronica and asks if she has any news on “Nip/Schmuck.” Veronica is still working on the connection between Schmuck and the Fitzpatricks. Logan wants her to hurry a little and there’s some half-joking about prison rape.
That night, Veronica and Mac track down the radio broadcast signal.
Weevil assembles the PCHers and asks if he’s still in charge. He says someone is working with the Fitzpatricks, but no one talks, so he dismisses them all. One PCHer sticks around. Weevil asks Biker #1 if he saw the man who called 9-1-1. Biker #1 admits he didn’t, even though he told the police differently. FLASHBACK. The PCHers beat up Logan and then Felix tells Biker #1 (Thumper) to get Weevil home. Felix tells another dude to get Cervando to come and drive Weevil’s bike home. Thumper and the others with tasks leave. Felix grabs Logan’s car keys and Logan pulls out a switchblade and stabs him. The remaining bikers all see this and flee as a truck approaches the crime scene. In the present, Weevil is pissed that they lied to him about what happened. He vows to get to the bottom of it.
Bond and Q have tracked the radio signal down. Veronica knocks on the door and VP Clemmons, wearing a robe, answers. I bet this is pretty much his nightmare. Veronica: I’m glad we caught you at home. Would you mind if we used your phone? We’re both in a bit of a hurry. Mac looks at her, a little less than impressed, but dutifully pipes up, “RIGHT!” (D: BEST REFERENCE OF ALL TIME) (S: I CHEERED. AND ALSO ADDED, “WE DON’T WANT TO BLOW TIM CURRY.”) Clemmons starts to close the door on them but Veronica stops him and tries another lie: they are there to visit his son, Vincent. Remember Butters? Veronica makes it seem as if Mac is interested in Butters and Clemmons lets them in, but asks them to call next time. Mac is mortified.
Clemmons leads them to the basement door and announces to Butters that Veronica and her friend are there to see him. He shouts up something about private basement time and the girls giggle. It’s too late to send them away now, so Butters opens the door and Veronica barges in. Clemmons sticks around long enough to cutely offer snacks. (S: Papa Clemmons is precious.) The girls quickly find Butters’s radio equipment. Veronica lays out a completely ridiculous theory about how Clemmons asked Butters for recordings of Marcos in exchange for letting him do the show at all. Butters’s all, LOL. NO. Clemmons has no idea about the show. Marcos quit it to go to camp and when he came back, he was all weird and didn’t want to join up again. Butters doesn’t know why because they never sat around discussing their feelings. “Oh, like GIRLS,” Mac snits.
Mars Investigation. Keith tells Papa Oliveras about the radio show and he seems pretty impressed. Keith tries to gently explain that the show could’ve earned Marcos some enemies, but Papa is convinced that no student would go this far. He also gets pissy about Veronica helping with the case. Later, Keith leaves with Papa Oliveras to stakeout his house and see if he can catch the harasser in the act.
Veronica, meanwhile, is going through Papa Oliveras’s credit card statement and finds that Marcos went to Camp SelfQuest. She looks it up and it’s a place where teens can go and, I don’t know, wash their gay away. Talk their gay out. Hang their gay back in the closet. Something like that. Point: Marcos was gay.
Diva: Also, someone for the love of god find me a non-negligent, non-psychotic parent in this town who isn’t named Keith Mars. This is nuts even for Traumaland.
Lor: Keith tackles a man who lets himself into the Oliveras house. He claims to be a neighbor, just grabbing a beer since his wife won’t let him keep it in their house. Keith accuses him with more far-fetched theories but the guy insists it’s all about beer. Beer he doesn’t even want anymore once Keith lets him go. As Beer Neighbor leaves, Keith notices that there is a toy school bus submerged in the fish tank. He retrieves it and also notices a scrap of paper in the waste basket. It’s Simon & Stern letterhead and it has the alarm code. Keith calls Papa Oliveras and lets him know, agreeing to meet him at the deposition. After he hangs up, Keith notices something else in the fish tank and gets, “OH, CRAP.” face.
Logan’s Xterra is blocked by a white van. As he goes to investigate, he’s punched IN THE FACE (and around a corner! That’s HIS move!). Some people dressed up as A from Pretty Little Liars throw Logan into the back of a van.
When Logan comes to, one of the kidnappers is standing over him. Kidnapper #1 says Logan is on trial for the murder of Felix. He takes out his flip phone and calls someone before he starts the questioning. What happened to Felix the night on the bridge? Logan insists he doesn’t know. After getting instructions from whoever is on the phone, Kidnapper 2 points a gun at Logan’s arm. Logan screams in desperation, but when K#2 pulls the trigger, the chamber is empty. He asks again what happened on the bridge and Logan swears he can’t remember. Pull the trigger, another empty chamber. I can barely take Logan’s shrieks. Jason Dohring does insane panic fear really well. Kidnapper #2 moves the gun to his kneecap to up the ante, but Logan’s answer remains the same. K#1 gets instruction from the person on the phone. The proceedings are over.
K#1 and #2 pick Logan up as he plays dead. Logan surreptitiously grabs the phone out of K#1’s pocket before the two guys toss him from the van. Logan stands, redials and hears Weevil on the other line, asking if it’s done. Logan: Oh, it’s just getting started, Weevs. You have no idea the hell you’ve just brought on yourself.
Neptune High. Veronica catches Butters at lunchtime and asks him about Camp SelfQuest and Marcos being gay. Butters vehemently denies it and calls Marcos a “booty hound” for reasons that are beyond my comprehension. Butters says Marcos almost got beat up my some girl’s jealous boyfriend. Veronica helps herself to a few of Butter’s fries and leaves. Stolen fries were needed to recover from any interaction with Butters.
Diva: Also, stolen fries are more delicious than regular fries. BRB, need to get some fries.
Lor: Computer Lab Strictly for Private Eye-ing. Veronica sends an email to the address of the person who reached out to her earlier in the episode. She lies about having free tickets to a concert and lists her number for a return call.
Sheriff’s Office. Keith asks to speak to Papa Oliveras privately. See, Keith found fish found floating in the aquarium and can’t understand that. Papa Oliveras looks totally busted as he half-heartedly says that maybe the person harassing them did it. I mean, they may be a complete jerk, but no one likes to see hungry fish! Keith tells Papa Oliveras to take the settlement and run.
Barely A Classroom. Veronica’s phone rings and she answers, “hello,” and then quickly adds, “Radio Broadcast Alliance.” It’s too late, though, and the caller hangs up. Still, Veronica is able to track the number to an address. A girl named Roxie answers. We saw her earlier during the montage of people Marcos spoke ill of. Veronica asks her if she had a relationship with Marcos and Roxie is confused. Veronica is much less confused when Dweeb-y Sort from the computer lab earlier turns up. He’s Roxie’s brother and he also looks super busted.
Diva: I was really hoping it would turn out to be Lucas Gabreel. I’m sad now.
Lor: Cut to Veronica and Ryan (Dweeb-y) chatting outside. He explains that he loved Marcos’s radio persona before he even knew it was Marcos. Veronica asks if they were a couple and Ryan kind of scoffs. Marcos was sexually on the fence, though Ryan did his best to tip him over. One time, he was giving Marcos a back rub and his parents came home. Next thing he knew, they were shipping him to Camp Gay Away and forcing Marcos to do “normal” things. Like go on field trips to baseball stadiums. Ryan says Marcos is dead because he was desperate to win back his parent’s approval. Veronica tells Ryan he really hurt the Oliverases, and Ryan bites back, “Good. That was the idea.”
I suppose the MP3 player was registered to the school because it belonged to the school? Do newspaper or yearbook classes get to check out MP3 players?
Sweeney: President of my high school’s Multimedia Club here, pushing up my dweeb glasses as I inform you that we had all sorts of technological crap we could check out. It always came with a stern lecture about how all of the equipment was worth a millionty dollars so I couldn’t fathom doing something like taping it under a car, but this seems plausible.
Lor: Good to know.
Billionaire Bros Bunglaow. Duncan is in bed with a blonde. He apologizes for being so out of it lately. It’s a confusing time. The blonde doesn’t understand why he’s confused. She lifts her head and we see it’s Meg. Duncan either wants to save her or he doesn’t. They kiss. Duncan startles awake and makes a beeline for the letter he stashed. As he reads it, his face registers shock. “Oh my god,” he says as we close out the episode.
Next time on Veronica Mars: Veronica gets busted for breaking into school and detention just gives her more access to information in S02 E09 – My Mother, the Fiend.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a J.D. by day/blogger by night who directs her snark and judgment primarily towards celebrities and their many red carpet mishaps. Blogging from the style capital of the world (just kidding - I live in DC), I rant and rave over the best and worst in fashion and pop culture.
