Episode #02.18: I Am God
Original Air Date: April 11, 2006
Written by: Diane Ruggiero & Cathy Belben
Directed by: Martha Mitchell
Report Card (Capsule Episode Review)
Yearbook (Recurring & Guest Stars/Character Statistics)
Drama Club (Performances: Highlights and Lowlights)
Chemistry (The Analysis of LoVe Scenes)
Journalism (The Mystery of the Week) (None)
Study Hall (Miscellaneous Plot Details)
Extra Credit (Clues to the Season Mystery Arcs)
History (Flashbacks)
Band Class (The Music of Veronica Mars)
Literature (LoVe Lines/In Memory/Quotable Quotes)
Social Science (In Reference To ... Pop Culture & The World)
Homeroom (On Second Viewing, Get a Clue)
Pep Squad Practice (Ambiguously (Or Not) Gay Logan Moments)
Detention (While the Censors Were Out to Lunch ...) (None)
Philosophy (Unanswered Questions)
Principles of Democracy (Hindsight is 20/20)
Role Call (Written/Compiled By ...)
Grade: A
Membership Grade: A (73.3% / 45 votes)
Another excellent episode; that's two in a row. While last week held all of the various threads together nicely without confusion, the same isn't quite achieved as fully here. However, I Am God makes up for that slight lack with the creative angle of Veronica's nightmares. And if the Ms. James scenes are a tad too expository, they work well enough and it is certainly nice seeing her (as well as Meg) once more.
In addition, the witty dialogue remains as sharp as ever, all of the featured credited class are so on (with extra kudos to Kristen Bell) and the threads do play together nicely, even with a bit of puzzlement left over. Finally, the relationship entanglements are fun, fun, fun from Logan and Dick's just right on the edge of ambiguous friendship to Logan and Veronica taking two steps forward and one step back (still keeping them ahead!) and finally, the long-awaited pairing up of Logan and Wallace is a sheer joy to watch from start to finish.
Credited Cast Non-Appearance
Francis Capra - Eli "Weevil" Navarro
Teddy Dunn - Duncan Kane
Tessa Thompson - Jackie Cook
Recurring Guest Stars (Previous Episode Appearances)
Linda Castro Mrs. Murphy
- Season One Appearances
- Blast From the Past
- My Mother, the Fiend
- The Rapes of Graff
- Plan B
Duane Daniels Principal Van Clemmons
- Season One Appearances
- Normal is the Watchword
- Ahoy Mateys
- My Mother, the Fiend
- Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough
Samantha Klein - Michelle
- Blast from the Past
Paula Marshall - Rebecca James
- Season One Appearances
Alona Tal Meg
- Season One Appearances
- Normal is the Watchword
- Ahoy Mateys
- My Mother, the Fiend
Martin Yu - Mr. Wu
- Season One Appearances
- Blast From the Past
- Plan B
Guest Stars
Maximino Arciniega - Cervando Esparza
Blythe Auffarth - Betina
Vanessa Lee Chester - Maureen
Kayla Ewell - Angie Dahl
Luke Frydenger - Peter Ferrer
Jacleen Haber - Blind Date #3
James Jordan - Lucky
Audra J. Morgan - Rhonda
Lizzie Murray - Blind Date #1
Anne L. Nathan - Blind Date #2
Kathleen Parker - Journalism Teacher
Skyler Shaye - Natalie
Jeremy Ray Valdez - Marcos Oliveres
Who's Who in Neptune
Cervando Esparza - The PCHer killed in the bus crash best known for his smarts and his dislike of bleached blue jeans.
Betina - Dick's booty buddy and a poor white trasher, looking for love in all the wrong places.
Maureen - Betina's friend and Veronica's exposition buddy on all things Betina, Betina, Betina.
Angie Dahl - Veronica's rival for the Kane Scholarship and per Logan, "fills the bitch quota at Stanford" all on her lonesome.
Peter Ferrer - Openly gay student killed in the bus crash and known to have had info on "the outing of all outings" in Neptune.
Lucky - Ex-Army ranger, janitor at Neptune High that looks to be an instigator in the buddy class war during the summer. He also looks to have had an in with the Mannings and possibly a thing for Meg.
Rhonda - Another bus crash victim known for her poor white trash standing and her proclivity for getting into trouble.
Natalie - Sister of Rhonda and the owner of a pretty snazzy Corvette provided thanks to Woody Goodman per her mother's law suit settlement, due to finding a finger in her "ribwich."
Marcos Oliveres - The possibly gay co-host of pirate radio broadcast known for ripping heavily on choice students. He is also one of the bus crash victims, that has a love of both graffiti and alternative-bands.
Hey! It's That Guy/Girl
Skyler Shaye - We know her as poor white trash, Natalie on Veronica Mars. However, you may recognize her as the aneurysm, beauty queen girl from the pilot episode of Grey's Anatomy. From pretty pink princess to poor white trash, now that's what you call versatility.
Highlights
Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) - "You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!" Rod Serling used these words to introduce the television series The Twilight Zone but they could as easily be applied to the wonderful, tour de force acting performance delivered by Kristen Bell in I Am God.
Dreamy and surreal, tired and disoriented, ecstatic and relieved, flirty and lustful, a myriad of emotions are displayed by Bell as Veronica attempts to unravel more clues to the bus crash. I Am God belongs to Bell and she doesn't fail to deliver with an excellent performance that kept the viewer focused as the scenes around Veronica shifted and blurred. And a special standing ovation for the moment when Veronica opened her acceptance letter from Stanford and portrayed a moment of pure happiness. Awww!!!!
Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel) - Providing a nice contrast to his unconvincing teenage horndog role last week, Daggs delivers a subtle, heart-warming performance in I Am God. Working in excellent tandem with Jason Dohring (who delivers in magnificent form yet again), the young actor lets the essence of Wallace -- the ability to see to the heart of a person despite self-made barriers -- permeate his performance. Daggs hits every acting note perfectly as he layers his lines with insight and compassion. Dohring and Daggs are a terrific team, playing off each other with excellent timing and I believe, as Humphrey Bogart said in Casablancas, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Martin Yu (Mr. Wu) - Making his fourth appearance as Mr. Wu, Yu does a superb job portraying a teacher who is well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented but not gay. (Hee, hee) Whether ferreting out the truth from an off her game Veronica or handily smacking down an obnoxious Dick, Yu shines as another stellar example of exemplary acting from a tertiary character.
I've separated the first scene into five segments because we have the flashback section separated in two parts, and there is a different vibe to all three of the present-day segments. I decided it would be an easier read to separate the scene into each segment (present/past/present/past/present).
Scene One - Segment One: Because Logan Doesn't Have a Ponytail to Pull
Now, I know that Veronica did do that little kick to Logan's knees because she was tired. But the important thing to note is why the tiredness made her pull that little grade-school-crush move ... it is because of the tiredness that she was less on guard and thus able to give in to her still-there feelings for Logan. Thus the grade-school-crush move and that is totally, totally what that little maneuver was. Of course, it wasn't just the "Because you're five" movement; it was how Veronica did it. The playful way she came up behind him, the almost-smile, near-glow on her face as he turned to look at her and she realized what she had done (without fully realizing why she'd done it). It was cute, very, very cute. And flirty. Cuz she lurves him. Yes, she does.
Ahem, moving on. We also had her reaction to Logan's explanation for her lack of sleep. Whereas a few episodes ago, she probably would have just disgustedly rolled her eyes, sending a death glare along with it, she didn't do that here. Okay, yes there was an eye roll, but it was a mini-one and rolled with affection, not disgust and she was smiling while she did it. Ah, see that haystack over there? Do ya see it? Yes! Our straws are definitely being put to good use now!
One more note before we continue onto the scene we're all rewatching two or three ... thousand times. When Logan asked if she remembered meeting Lucky, oh boy. Excuse me while I sigh a dozen sighs here. Oh, his eyes were so soft and sweet and tender, milk chocolaty goodness melting in the sun. *Sigh* And then there was his smile, so gentle, so loving, so pretty. *Sigh* Finally, his voice -- it was the schmoopy voice!! Directed towards Veronica! The SCHMOOPY VOICE!! The SCHMOOPY VOICE! *SighSighSighSigh*
Scene One - Segment Two: Backseat LoVin'
Now that's more like it! We had an Xterra makeout flashback in Normal is the Watchword and I wasn't impressed ... at all. In fact, I wrote in my analysis of that scene way back in early October:
The grasping, gasping, grabbing for one another, her fingers rushing through his hair, on his back, his arm, fingers wrapping around his bicep and then back into his hair. Logan's hands doing the same exploration, pressed against her back, then cupping her face, moving to curve about her waist as he pulled her closer, then to her face, then again at her back. Veronica in his lap, continually trying to move closer and closer, Logan just as intently trying to pull her closer and closer against him. Logan taking control and her falling beneath him against the seat and then Veronica pushing back, and now she was on top. And all the while their lips and their hands were going at a frantic pace as if the world was about to end and they were damned sure gonna get as much of each other as they possibly could before Armageddon arrived. And that is what I expected to see when we saw Logan and Veronica making out and it was nice to actually get to see what was expected (well, maybe *nice* is too tame a word, LOL).
And while it would have been even nicer to see full shots of them and clearer face-shots, I think the direction actually enhanced that passionate desire. The fast-paced music with the beats hitting also helped to intensify the mood which was, of course, sold most effectively by Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring. In those fourteen seconds -- just a mere fourteen seconds! -- Bell and Dohring displayed more chemistry and heat than did any other pairing this season (even those that Bell and Dohring were involved with that didn't include the other) combined managed. It's been said before and I'll say it again: When you've got it, you've got it and these two have got IT! Onscreen, they are just this red-hot fusion of hot, heated, sexy, combustible chemistry.
The proof is in the pudding and on this show the pudding goes by the name LoVe.
Scene One - Segment Three: Flashback Interruptus
Interesting this. Veronica interrupting Logan's reminiscing makes perfect sense. We all know how little she likes to be reminded that they dated and here Logan is clearly going on (we can only imagine, as is he) in detail about their amorous exploits over the summer. Still, she doesn't seem as annoyed as I figured she would be. On the other hand, Logan seems really pissed off that she did interrupt him. If it were any other actor (except for Bell -- who's been really on the last couple of episodes especially), I'd just shrug it off to overacting, but since it is Dohring, I'm inclined to dig deeper.
As stated above, Veronica has made it clear that she wants to forget the summer of LoVe ever happened, and here -- right after things have begun to thaw between them -- Logan has the opportunity for the first time since they broke up to actually do a little reminding. And then Veronica goes and cuts him off. Now, you know that he was really visualizing what he was describing (and it was probably a lot more R-rated in his mind!). So on two counts, I can understand his frustration. First off, she opened the door for him -- frickin' opened the door -- to start the reminiscing. Secondly, he was enjoying that reminiscing and she interrupted him. Tsk, tsk, Veronica.
Ah, it's sooooo nice being able to completely see where both Logan and Veronica are coming from again and be able to justify words and actions on both parts quite handily. Niiice.
Scene One - Segment Four: Flashback Makeout Interruptus!
And immediately, we all hate Lucky. Why? Because Meg has talked derisively of him? No. Because he looks skeevy and creepy? No. Because he interrupted Logan and Veronica doing some hot 'n' heavy making out? Bingo! Picking up right where he left off, Logan's return to the flashback has him and Veronica still going at it like there's no tomorrow. Hands all over each other, desperate kisses, Veronica straddling Logan, and in a strange cut, suddenly lying down on top of him -- and Lucky knocks on the window. Grrr. Bad Lucky! Bad Lucky!
And the look on Veronica's face? Very much seems to match the audience's grr. Girl does not look happy. Can ya blame her? Didn't think so.
Ahem, moving on. What follows is interesting for a few reasons, both storytelling and fangirl-y. First of all, Veronica (whose face we see -- which in regards to the fact that it's Logan telling the story makes no sense) has a whole new expression of irritation when the "ball's in our court" pops out of Lucky's mouth. Prior to that moment, she just looked annoyed that her makeout session with Logan had been interrupted.
We can take a few things from this depending on which point of view you hold with viewers being able to see Veronica's expression even though Logan can't. Either you buy that Logan assumed that she was annoyed specifically about the vendetta and thus is describing her irritation so. If taking it thus, then the only assumption I can come up with is that he did know how much she hated his engaging in the PCHer/09er war.
Or you share my theory and believe that the producers are just showing us Veronica's point of view because the show is called Veronica Mars and leave it at that. And if that is the case, then we come back to my belief that Logan did not know that Veronica was that upset about his involvement (thus leading his shock at being dumped for that reason). Frankly, I think this theory holds more water because of (a) Logan's reaction to being dumped and (b) Logan's reaction here in this flashback.
He is holding onto Veronica, while she continues to cling to him. He presses a kiss to her shoulder, is relaxed and calm and when the window rolls back up, sweetly and sexily tells her "Hi." This is not the attitude nor are they the actions of a guy who thinks that he is doing things that will cause his girlfriend to dump him. So, I'm sticking with the theory the producers are giving us Veronica's point of view even though it's Logan's flashback.
Scene One - Segment Five: Back to the Present
I think I know what we're supposed to take from the final present-day section. I think and I think it's good in a way. After Logan has made it clear that he believes she left him for Duncan, Veronica simply nodded and walked off, even ignoring his continued attempts to banter. Why? Is this because she doesn't want to argue with him? Highly unlikely because when does Veronica not want to argue with Logan (and vice versa)? Ah ah ah, unless it has to do with their relationship and the squirrelly events of what happened that summer. So is that it? I think so.
Veronica knows that there was a helluva lot more to her breaking up with him than just the PCHer/09er war, but for her that is the main cause of it all. Side note: Will she ever admit that being with Duncan and revisiting/attempting to recreate her carefree days with him played a major part in the break-up? Probably not, but I'll never believe it didn't. Anyhoo, back on track. Despite other reasons, the main obvious one for the break-up was the PCHer/09er war and on the surface he knows that. Hell, she told him that when she broke up with him. However, if she were to take the time to contradict his response, she very well could be opening up a can of worms on a discussion that she is not ready to have.
Them. Their relationship and what went wrong. Because once she's ready to do that, I think she knows that it means that she is ready to try and make it go right. And she's not ready for that ... yet.
Scene Two: Ah, Foreplay!
Yes, Veronica isn't in this scene, but Logan's smile of fond remembrance, tone of voice and the actual comment about the headlight-smashing is worth a note in the LoVe analysis. I took his comment -- while clearly delivered and meant as snark -- to also confirm many a viewers belief (okay, this viewer's belief) that the hate part of their relationship was, more than anything, sublimated desire.
And Jason Dohring's delivery of that, "Ohh, foreplay!" along with the facial expression just really sold that point of view. He offered a slight smile and his eyes widened slightly and softened (in an over-the-top way, but still ...) as if remembering that special moment. It was delicious and fun. Again, over the top, but I do believe this was definitely a case of Logan overcompensating to hide that, in a way -- sick and twisted as it may be -- he did consider those early, rough times as a form of foreplay.
On another note, I find it interesting that despite the fact that Logan and Veronica dated for a couple of months during the summer, he and Wallace shared no interaction. This makes me believe that Veronica was really holding back during that period because she wasn't ready for the reality of a relationship with Logan. And I really hope that that is the case because I want there to have been a reason beyond Logan just wasn't it for Veronica for their break-up.
This would fit that bill. I've always told myself that it didn't work last summer because Veronica was holding herself back. Yes, there was the excuse of the PCHer/09 war, but if she had really wanted to make it work, she would have given him the ultimatum or stopped it before it started. This IS Veronica Mars we're talking about here. She wanted normal (remember, Normal is the Watchword); she was tired of the drama and just wanted to be a regular high-school girl and that simply could not happen with Logan.
I've convinced myself that the entire time they dated during the summer she was holding her breath, afraid to exhale and not willing to truly open up because to do so would mean that this was it. Logan and all of his drama was her choice and she was stuck with it before she was ready and she was scared shitless. So, she kept him from her father as much as possible -- meaning Keith didn't get to see the good in Logan. She clearly kept him and Wallace apart -- and it had to have been her decision because I just can't see Wallace not capitulating to get to know him had Veronica wanted it.
This is good, I truly believe. If Veronica wasn't ready, but hooked up with him anyway, we can take from that that she was unable to resist the temptation and it was only when she closed herself off in other ways -- keeping him away from the other important aspects of her life, recapturing a facade of normalcy with Duncan through their cafe visits -- that she was able to break away.
Why this is good is because it means that last summer the two of them together did not honestly, openly try. Neither one was ready to give what it takes to make a relationship work and that's why they didn't work then. And I'm not just laying this on Veronica ... emotionally, Logan was, no doubt, more fucked up than he ever has been in his life and he wasn't ready for the reality of a relationship with Veronica either. So, it didn't work then. That's okay. Because we know that when they are ready -- and damnit, there will come a time when they ARE ready -- it will work. Because they are meant to be. It's just that last summer the be was not meant yet.
Scene Three: No Sleep Makes Veronica a Cranky Mars!
Despite Veronica's comment to Logan which was really, really mean, I think this is still a good scene for LoVe overall. Also, I'm happy to say that this is the first time in the series run where Veronica was a complete bitch to Logan and I totally understand why and don't hold it against her at all. We know the girl is dog-tired (which Kristen Bell played beautifully -- see Drama Club), we know she's on edge about whatever the hell is obviously still there between her and Logan and we know that her first instinct with Logan is to snap back. Sooo ... with all of that in place, her response to him (regardless of how low-down it was) makes perfect sense.
She's not going to have the brainpower (due to her exhaustion) to come up with something witty. She's probably still pondering somewhere inside about Logan's casually stated comment that she left him for Duncan as if it was a given. Furthermore, due to her emotional upheaval about the still-there-attraction to Logan, she's desperately trying to remind herself why she broke up with him -- as she did in the first scene -- and if she can add another girl to that list, just more proof that he's no good, he's no good, he's no good (so singeth Linda Rondstadt!) all the better.
So Veronica lashed out, without the wit. Her sleepless nights making her meaner than she normally would be, the tension that is stretched taut in her interaction with him once more -- no other explanation than that, again, it's all sexual, baby -- causing her to hit below the belt. And let's get real here. I love the Buscemi in all of his glory, but comparing a teenage girl to hangdog Stevie-boy? Not nice. Not nice at all. So, I can forgive her without a qualm.
As for the good, it is there. Yes, Logan's crack about Buscemi wasn't nice, but it was delivered in a total-teenage-boy-foot-in-his-mouth way, not a snarky-I'm-insulting-you-with-my-wit-Logan-Echolls-way. She looked really tired with the bags under her eyes, he noticed and he was concerned. Note the non-snark in his voice when he said it. He wasn't trying to be mean, he was concerned. And even his reaction to her comment to him was good for LoVe.
He looked miserable -- and no, it had nothing to do with the Pink Pastel, that's been made plenty clear. He was miserable because things were softening between them, that attraction was clearly still there on both sides, the snark was back to flirty banter and they were actually acknowledging their relationship. Now, all of a sudden, lo and behold, she's back to being a total bitch to him (again, I understand, I'm not peeved at all! Lack of sleep and lack of make-out time with Logan Echolls -- which she'd so recently been reminded of can make a girl cranky!) and he was just hurt. Poor baby.
Still, it's good. Logan clearly is opening up again to Veronica if he could show that hurt from her comment and Veronica may actually start thinking about Logan and her treatment of him based on Wallace's defense. Wallace! Her BFF, perennially (but for a completely dropped storyline to deal with Percy Daggs III non-full-22-episode contract status) on her side and loyal to a fault, defending Logan Echolls! What is the world coming to? Hmm, maybe something good. Maybe the shocker of that (get yer minds out of the gutter!) will get her to start seeing Logan in a better light. And that can't be anything but good.
- In Mr. Wu's science class, students are yakking, goofing off, walking around, anything but paying attention to poor (but awesome!) Mr. Wu. Two such students are Dick and Logan, who are sitting together at a table, both wearing safety goggles and acting silly. An obviously frustrated Mr. Wu turns to the class and practically yells at the students to get their attention.
The class quiets down a little as he explains their current assignment, "Mr. Wu's Egg Drop Competition." Each team of two students is to design a device to protect an egg from breaking as the device is dropped from increasing heights. The students whose egg survives the highest drop not only get an "A" for the assignment, but also get excused from -- and here Mr. Wu tries to impress the class with his gangsta style -- "Mr. Wu's notorious GPA-killin'..." Yeah, nobody's buying him as a rapper (maybe it's the sweater vest?), so he fades it out.
Logan snarks to Dick that Mr. Wu must love his egg drop soup and Dick asks Wu if the assignment comes with "pot stickah." Honestly, Dick? I envision bankruptcy due to all the sexual/racial harassment suits in your future. Wu reminds them that this is a major test grade and for some (Wu's looking at you, Dick!) it's going to determine a pass/fail grade. Dick asks Logan if Wu is hitting on him, which gets some laughs from the class, but as someone's cell phone rings, Wu's had enough and tells them he's going to assign partners alphabetically since it's obviously a bad idea for Dick and Logan to work together. Which leads Dick to a Brokeback Mountain moment with his boy ... friend.
Wu assigns Angie Dahl as Dick's partner. Angie makes a bitch face at the news, but Dick is all "Score!" about the partnership. With all the time he must have spent with Madison, I can see why the bitch face wouldn't scare him off. Continuing with the alphabetical assignments, Echolls and Fennel are paired up. Neither boy looks thrilled by the news, but that's okay because there are plenty of us in the audience who were thrilled enough for them.
Dick walks over to Angie and offers his "gentlemanly" services: Foot massage or coconut oil rubdown. Angie warns him to stay out of her way because she needs to be excused from the final. Wallace sits next to his new project buddy and Logan checks to make sure Wallace isn't going to get all super-achiever on him. Wallace assures him he's only interested in getting a passing grade so Hearst doesn't take back his scholarship.
Academic bar set low enough to step over, it's time for a little bonding at Logan's hotel room. Wallace is putting an egg in the raggedy contraption they've built out of what looks like tongue depressors and plastic grass. Logan says if the egg survives a four foot drop, they'll pass. He kneels on the floor and extends a tape measurer up as Wallace raises the crate and drops it. After it bounces a little bit, Wallace checks the egg. It's a winner. Or rather, a passing grade for two seniors hoping to cruise by on as little effort as possible.
As Wallace starts to pack up, thankful the project is over, there's a knock on the door. It's room service delivering Logan's buffalo burger. Logan tips the waiter (hopefully he's improved his tipping habits since An Echolls Family Christmas) and Wallace comments on how it must be nice to live like this. Logan realizes Wallace doesn't like him very much, so Wallace reminds him that the last conversation they had together was when Logan was bashing Veronica's headlights with a crowbar. Logan fondly remembers the "foreplay," which just makes Wallace shake his head. Logan's fond memories are once again interrupted by yet another knock on the door. This time, it's the maid with his linen and pillow. Or his "fluffer" as Logan calls her. I really hope the maid doesn't understand the double entendre there, because, man. Not very gentlemanly.
Later that night, Veronica arrives home to find Keith sitting at the counter going through their mail. Veronica asks him if she saw him at the school earlier. Keith dodges the question by asking if she was hallucinating. She counters by pointing out he's wearing his snazzy dating uniform and not so subtlely asks if he's rekindling things with Ms. James. Keith ignores her and hands her an envelope from Stanford University. Looking like all the air just got sucked out of the room, Veronica takes it and stares at it for awhile. Keith stands beside her, showing his support as she anxiously notes how thin the envelope is -- possibly too thin for an acceptance letter.
Keith assures her that no matter what it says, he's proud of her, sealing the sentiment with a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. Taking a deep breath, Veronica finally tears the envelope open, stares at the folded letter for a bit, then opens it and reads. Slowly, a little smile starts to form as she reads out loud her acceptance to Stanford. Keith smiles, both proud and a little sad. Veronica squeals and dances, overjoyed and displaying her real "over the moon face," as she throws her arms around Keith. Honestly, she's looking happier than she has since she found out Celeste wasn't her stepmother. She hugs him again and reads the letter, relieved that something is finally going her way.
Or at least it is until the next day when she finds herself sitting in Clemmons' office with Angie Dahl. Turns out there was an error in the calculations of the class rankings. An error which only affects Veronica and Angie as they're the only ones who remain in the running for the Kane scholarship. Suddenly very anxious, her voice almost breaking, Veronica asks what kind of error. Clemmons explains that Angie was awarded a four-point "A" for the Summer-at-Sea elective she took. It was a college-level course, so she should have been awarded a five-point "A." The adjustment puts Angie in the lead.
Veronica's upset, so Angie smiles and snottily tells Veronica that she could have taken the class, too, since it was open to anyone. Right. Anyone with money. Asking Angie how much the semester at sea set her back, Angie bitchily smirks that she has no idea. Veronica's frustrated to say the least. And can we blame her? I mean, losing the scholarship to someone like Hamilton Cho would be disappointing, but to this ... well, I think Veronica puts it best when she tells Ms. James that Angie is "a demon spawn." Ms. James thinks Veronica is being too harsh, but I'm thinking Ms. James hasn't spent much time around Angie. Down in the dumps, Veronica points out it really is the story of her life. She gets to spend about five minutes thinking her dreams may just come true, but then some rich brat slaps her back into reality.
On a different note, Veronica tells Ms. James that at least Keith seems happy now. Rebecca thinks that's wonderful; she's happy for him. Trying to get something out of Ms. James since Keith wasn't giving anything up earlier, Veronica says she's glad the two of them are in touch again. It's a strike out, though, because Rebecca's confused -- she hasn't been in touch with Keith.
Walking down the hall, Wallace tells Veronica there's nothing about her that says "second place" to him. Aww. What a good friend. One who's very much needed right now because Veronica's pissed off that, in point of fact, her GPA does say "second place" right now. And why? Because Angie's parents convinced the school board that her purchased grades should be worth more than Veronica's earned grades. Wallace launches into a pep talk straight off the pages of a Platitude-a-Day desk calendar, telling her to "shake it off", "work through it", "the lowest point of the ebb is the turn of the tide." At least he means well. After all, it is the thought that counts.
Keith's at Java the Hut, on a date with a blonde woman we're going to refer to as Date#1. She enthusiastically goes on about how "first name basis" is so much better than "it's just coffee" and I have no idea what the hell she's talking about. Keith smiles politely at her, so maybe he doesn't get it either. Anyway, Date#1 has tried all of the dating services and likes this one in particular because you don't have to send out a picture or give out your real name. Picture or no picture, she sure wasn't disappointed when she saw Keith walk in. He continues to smile politely as she assures them both that Keith wasn't disappointed when he saw her there. In fact, she even saw him smiling. Which he continues to do ... politely.
In class, Wu closes the door and tells Angie that her mother has sent her something, apparently more important than his class. As she gets up and walks out, Dick checks her out and whistles. Wu tells Logan and Wallace it's their turn to demonstrate their egg-dropping device. Logan hands their project to Wallace, offering to rub his head for good luck. Wallace turns him down and takes their project up to the front of the class. Logan stands and drums on his desk as the class cheers Wallace on.
Wallace slides their box off the four foot stand, but the demonstration is interrupted by Angie's squeals of delight as she runs in to the class carrying a balloon bouquet. She excitedly announces that she got into Stanford. There's a little bit of laughter from the class, but Logan looks downright annoyed. Dick congratulates her, suggesting that she and Veronica can be roomies and they could pillow fight for his viewing pleasure. Irritated, Angie asks if Veronica got into Stanford. Wallace proudly repeats that she did. Showing her true demon spawn bitch face, Angie says that somebody has to do the football team. Wallace and Logan? Not laughing with the rest of the class.
Wu announces the Echolls/Fennel team gets a passing grade, but if they'd like to aim a little higher tomorrow ... well, he's not going to hold his breath. Angie returns to her seat as Logan glares at her. Dick suggests that Angie and "Ronnie" can soap each other's backs in the dorms, since he's heard all of the girls shower together.
Angie asks Mr. Wu for another partner since Dick is being inappropriate and didn't help her with their project. Dick insists he did help, but Wu asks him to prove it by bringing their project to him. Angie smiles smugly as Dick walks over to the projects and ... can't figure out which one is theirs. Wu delivers the disappointing news that Dick will be joining him for summer school. The bell rings as Angie grins with a sense of accomplishment. Logan congratulates her on single-handedly fulfilling Stanford's bitch quota. She tells him to enjoy trade school and saunters out.
Logan joins up with Wallace, who's waiting for him outside their class. Wallace is going to keep working on their project if Logan doesn't mind. To Wallace's surprise, Logan's game. He invites him over to work on it some more.
Java the Hut. Date#2 is a brunette, who tells Keith that he reminds her of George Costanza on Seinfeld. How so? Well, he's a nice guy with a lot of unrealized potential. (Has she ever even seen Seinfeld?) Guys who really want to meet women dress to impress, wear a little cologne, get a gym membership, buy some hair. Keith asks if she means he should make more of an effort. She does. He pretends to search for a notepad to write down her sage advice.
As Logan sits on his sofa, Wallace bounces around the room, drinking espresso and talking through their project plans. Logan suggests Wallace decelerate himself and takes the espresso from him, noting that four is officially Wallace's limit. As Logan returns to the couch, Wallace asks him why he's doing this. Wallace is trying to help Veronica go to Stanford, but what's Logan's deal? Claiming he doesn't know, but that it's not for Veronica, he offers that perhaps it's the spirit of competition. Wallace laughs and lets him off the hook. Logan advises him to chill while the glue dries and then excuses himself to the bathroom.
Wallace sits down and turns on the TV, flipping through the stations until he lands on The Tinseltown Diaries. He watches as the scandalous Echolls' lives are exploited once more, not realizing Logan is back in the room, observing. Logan notes that this is its top-rated episode and thus is repeated twice a day, then walks back out of the room. Wallace looks sympathetic and a little more understanding of Logan.
In Principal Clemmons' office, sneaky little Veronica hides in the coat closet just as Keith and Van walk in. Keith's apologizing for his bad habit of forgetting things. Van asks for an update on the case, as Veronica listens from the closet. Keith says it's going pretty slowly at the moment, which is unfortunate because Van says they've had three more cases this week. Students are being diagnosed with "generalized anxiety disorder" so often you'd think it was contagious. Keith asks if these students are all "Section 1123" now and if the diagnosis is coming from the same doctor in each case. It is. The teachers are about to revolt because they're being forced to offer the students deadline extensions, make-up dates for exams and unlimited time on tests. All at the students' discretion.
Keith says he hopes to have something soon as Van points him to the closet for the coat he left there the other day. Uh oh. Realizing she's about to be caught, Veronica scrambles to the back of the closet, just as Keith opens the door and sees her hiding there. He gives her the Keith Mars Raised Eyebrow look as she cringes even further back, takes his coat off the hanger and hands it to him with a guilty smile. "Yep, that's mine, alright," Keith acknowledges, as he shuts his daughter back in the closet.
Date#3 at Java the Hut. Another brunette, this one confessing that she was one of the people carrying the pitchforks and torches trying to run Keith out of town for going after "sweet" Jake Kane. At least she was embarrassed when she found out the truth and tried to make up for it by voting for Keith in the last election. As Keith notes, he totally carried the pity vote. He asks her to tell him a little about herself. She says her life is pretty dull; she's an office manager for a local doctor. Score! (No, not that way. The P.I. way!) Keith is interested and would like to hear more about her job.
Keith presents Clemmons with a tape of Date#3, i.e. Dr. Burns' office manager, offering to provide Veronica with a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis for a $1,000 consultation fee. Van's impressed and asks Keith how he got the tape. Painfully, Keith says. It takes kissing a lot of toads before you find your medical office manager.
Outside the school, Wu's class is watching as Angie stands on a ladder and drops her egg. Wu pulls the egg out of her balloon-padded basket and announces that she's the only student whose egg survived a twelve foot drop. There's polite applause and now it's time for the Echolls/Fennel team, the last ones in the running.
Wallace climbs the ladder with their mini-basketball-padded, pirate-flag-waving basket. Wu reminds everyone of the prize at stake, as some dork in the background boos Wallace and waves the thumbs-down sign. This guy was cheering Angie on, so obviously he's a dork and an idiot loser.
Logan gives Wallace an encouraging nod. Wallace takes a deep breath. Dick cheers him on. Angie holds her breath. And ... Wallace drops it. It lands. Wu pulls the egg out and ... it looks good! Wallace smiles, but then Wu turns the egg around, revealing that it's cracked. Aww. Wallace and Logan are disappointed, but hey, at least they tried.
Angie, carrying her newly acquired egg trophy, walks down the hall with a friend who's congratulating her. Angie spent all night on the egg project, so she's requested an extension on Ms. Murphy's Crime and Punishment exam due to her generalized anxiety disorder. Which both girls find oh so amusing. Looks like this grade will come with a price tag of $1,000.
Veronica sleep-walks down the hall, listening to the Ahoy Mateys! radio show. Eyes barely open, she runs right into Logan. She takes out her earphones just in time to hear him ask if thoughts of him are still keeping her up nights. Then, noting her weary expression, he looks into her eyes and tells her she looks ... like Steve Buscemi? Steve Buscemi?! Dude. That can go near the top of a list of Things Never to Tell a Woman Ever. Especially one who's tired, cranky and as verbally capable of slicing and dicing people as you are. Which she proceeds to do, even if the effort's a little shaky and a bit slow. She sarcastically refers to the catch that he so is not.
Stung a bit, he smiles a little sadly and opts to walks away without a reply. Having witnessed this exchange, Wallace amicably suggests that maybe Veronica should cut Logan a little slack sometimes. As he walks off, Veronica clearly realizes she may have just entered the Twilight Zone because her BFF just stuck up for her OPJ. Eh. Whatever. She's too tired and cranky to think about it and returns to listening to the radio recording.
Angie sits in Ms. Murphy's class, reading a magazine instead of taking an exam like the rest of the class. Principal Clemmons interrupts with a campus-wide announcement that, due to recently discovered abuses, the school will no longer be honoring special exemptions or extensions for Section 1123 students. Ms. Murphy cheerily puts the exam down in front of Angie, who drops her magazine and realizes she's not getting out of this test she didn't bother to study for. Karma, meet Bitch.
- Natalie Landers offered to make out with Wallace for cigarette money last year.
- Cassidy, Cervando, Dick and Logan were all in summer school last year.
- There is a gay bar in the area named Possibilities.
- Mr. Wu has a cousin who is gay.
- This week's episode opens with a bang. Veronica, in a hazy dream of gritty film and dark angry synthesizer music, is sitting on the crashed bus with a pad in her lap featuring an ominous cartoon drawing of the grim reaper lording over nine tombstones. Perhaps to represent the eight crash victims and Veronica, who by all accounts, should have been on the bus when it went over that cliff? We pan over to three of the victims, Meg, Peter and Betina, lying against one another, apparently very wet and very dead.
Veronica is drawn out of her less-than-sweet dreams by someone presenting her with a pass. Apparently, the school guidance counselor wants to see her. According to Ms. James (welcome back!), Veronica has recently detoured onto the dark path of rebellion. She has been sleeping in class, and was reprimanded by Mrs. Taft three times for wearing headphones in class. Veronica points out that Mrs. Taft has been reading The Golden Bowl out loud in class using a fake British accent with this look on her face that says, "wearing headphones was an act of self-preservation."
Veronica was also recently caught ripping down another student's poster. Veronica crankily wonders if she's being followed. Ms. James ignores her and informs Veronica that the poster-maker would like her photo's back. Now Veronica's face is a mix of "So? I'll return those pictures when hell freezes over," and "what the hell do you care?"
Clearly, she's in a fine mood.
Ms. James invites Veronica to talk if there is something bothering her. Veronica says that she would, but that Jennifer Love Hewitt would probably be better suited to the task. Ms. James clearly doesn't get The Ghost Whisperer reference (maybe she's a Joan of Arcadia fan and still feels the loss), or Veronica's sense of humor. Veronica elaborates that she's being haunted by the kids who died in the bus crash. Ms. James is understandably concerned, but when she confirms to Veronica that she's not seeing the dead students, Veronica decides that she isn't either. Until bedtime, that is, when the dead students come out to play in her dreams, acting as if they are, ahem, dying to tell her something.
Veronica opens her bus crash file (that she is apparently carrying on her person 24/7 these days) and presents Ms. James with headshots of the victims: Cervando, the academically inclined PCHer; Betina, Dick's booty buddy; Rhonda, Michelle's friend who made the phone call just prior to the crash; Marcos, of "Ahoy Mateys!" fame (listening to every episode of this show is apparently the reason Veronica's got headphones on in class all of the time); Peter, who posted the details of his unrequited gay love on neptunepirateship.com; and, last but not least, our dearly departed Meg, the nicest '09er ever.
Veronica asks Ms. James if she knows anyone by the name of Lucky, because apparently Meg had a lot to say about him. We flash to one of Veronica's hazy dreams of the now blue water and dreamy synth-pop bus of death. Veronica and Meg appear to be alone on the bus, with Veronica sitting several rows behind Meg. Meg, sporting a clever t-shirt reading "baby on board" with an arrow pointing to her still-flat belly, appears to still have her pre-crash attitude intact.
Veronica asks dream Meg about Lucky, her parent's friend from church. To Veronica, it sounds like they were trying to set Meg up with him. Meg says that they weren't outwardly setting her up, they just liked to have him over for dinner so he could talk about taking shrapnel in the ass for America in Iraq while quoting the bible, and her parents could point out how great he was. Fun, fun, fun! But Veronica points out that Meg always found him creepy.
All of the sudden, Meg is now sitting next to Veronica, and she's pissed that Veronica appears to have been reading her emails, because her sister gave those files to Duncan -- not to her. She's pissed that Veronica made herself privy to Meg's thoughts without permission. But then Meg remembers: She's dead. And in Veronica land, no pulse = no privacy. Veronica protests that she's only trying to help. Meg tells Veronica that her parents only like Lucky because he can sing hymns with his eyes closed, and he helped her dad move an air-conditioner once. (The look of confused disgust on Meg's face here is priceless.) She goes on to say that Lucky is just a janitor at his former high school that buys beer for guys like Logan so he can hang on to his glory days.
We flash back to Ms. James asking Veronica how long she's been having these dreams. Veronica tells her it's been a couple of days, ever since she came across Rhonda's friend Michelle in the hallway raising money for a spread of the dead kids in the yearbook. Veronica suggests that Ms. James talk to this girl because she's got that "wild-eyed Margot Kidder in a bush" look about her -- a total nut job.
We flash back to the aforementioned hallway meeting where an overenthusiastic Michelle asks Veronica for a donation, and proceeds to chipper her to death by telling her how much money she's raised in one day. Michelle goes on to say that if she raises enough, she wants to get one of those audio chips to put in the yearbook with the spread so that everyone can forever hear them laughing and having fun.
Back to Ms. James asking Veronica what Michelle meant by that. Veronica reminds Ms. James that Rhonda left Michelle a message on her cell right as the bus was headed over the cliff. Apparently, Rhonda made another call to Michelle though, just prior to the call on her cell. Rhonda first called Michelle at home and left her a message there. Michelle told Veronica that you could hear everybody laughing and having fun on that message, clearly unaware that destiny was awaiting them just around the bend. Of course, Veronica asked to hear the message.
We flash back to Michelle and Veronica in an empty classroom listening to the message. On the message, Rhonda is again telling Michelle how she can't believe she's missing this. In the background, you can hear all of the students laughing, and as Rhonda asks Michelle's machine if she can hear everything, Veronica hears a voice she didn't expect: Dick Casablancas asking Betina if she's ready for a little "bow-chicka-waw-waw." Ms. James, like Veronica, is a bit startled by this news. How is it possible that Veronica heard Dick's voice when we know for certain he wasn't on the bus? Freaky, no?
Ms. James asks if Veronica told her dad about the message. Funny you should ask, Ms. James. She was just getting to that part. We flash back again to the hazy dream of blue water and dreamy synth-pop bus of death, but this time, Veronica's on the bus alone with Rhonda at the precise moment she's leaving the fateful message for Michelle as the explosion sounds and the bus crashes.
In a flashback, Veronica shoots up in bed and cries out her distress, and Super Dad comes a-runnin' to her rescue. Veronica assures Keith that she's fine -- she just had a nightmare. Keith snarkily asks her if she watched House of Wax again, because "that Hilton girl" gives her nightmares. Veronica isn't alone in that boat, Keith. That Hilton girl gives A LOT of people nightmares.
Keith notices that Veronica seems to have fallen asleep reading case files on the bus crash victims and correctly muses that it probably isn't the best choice for bedtime reading. Veronica tells Keith that Betina was playing voice messages from Dick for everyone on the bus at the time of the crash. The voice messages had been burned to CD and were in the bus' CD player, but now appear to be in Veronica's custody. Keith is clearly none-too-happy with the situation and doesn't believe Veronica when she assures him that she willed the CD's to the apartment.
Keith is justifiably angry that Veronica snuck onto the bus. In a pure teen moment (how refreshing!) Veronica tosses back the old "like you didn't?" line that only serves to further anger an already angry parent. Veronica plows ahead and angrily wonders why Keith didn't tell her about the drawing. Keith's all, "what drawing? I was on the bus for like two seconds" with a cleverly implied "unlike you who was clearly there for hours, you reckless girl!" Veronica pulls out a shot of the back of one of the bus seats that appears to have a large and detailed drawing on it bearing the words "I AM GOD." They debate the meaning of that phrase and Keith asks why the drawing has nine tomb stones? Veronica muses that perhaps the killer wasn't expecting her to get off of the bus.
Ms. James asks Veronica if she can see the artwork. Veronica hands her two photos of the drawing. The artwork is the same as the drawing from the opening sequence. The only difference is the phrase "I AM GOD" that accompanies the artwork the width of the bus seat. One of the kids on the bus had to have drawn it -- and Veronica has to find out who.
The next day at school, Veronica runs up behind Logan at his locker and kicks him behind his knee. Why? Because, as Logan points out, she's five. And when you are five and you like a boy, you hit and kick him to show your affection. Hee! Veronica swears that it's just because she's punchy and hasn't been sleeping. "Thoughts of me?" Logan inquires. Not that she'll admit it, but you know it's true. When she isn't dreaming of blue dreamy or ominous bus of doom, she's totally thinking about Logan. Logan snarks that it is totally understandable, because sometimes he's up all night just thinking about himself. HA!
Veronica asks Logan if he knows one of the night janitors, Lucky. Yeah, Logan's heard of Tommy Dominick. Veronica asks the obvious question -- why do they call him Lucky? Apparently after he graduated from Neptune High, his parents filed for bankruptcy and he had to drop out of college, so he joined the Army Rangers. The army sends him to Iraq, and four months later he gets shot. So this makes him "lucky" how? Logan explains that Lucky was shot in the ass, so it really could have been worse. Then Logan reminds Veronica, with a sweet, sexy grin that she met Lucky once too -- remember?
We flash back to the backseat of Logan's Xterra, where Logan and Veronica are involved in one super hot, super heavy, and super sexy make-out session. We watch Veronica straddle Logan's lap, we see Logan putting his hands all over Veronica's back and hips, and then up into her hair. We see Veronica clutching Logan's hair and pulling him closer and closer. She's on top, and then he's on top, and still no one is coming up for air. But hey -- would you? Veronica interrupts Logan's reverie to inquire whether or not this story has a point. (*shakes head*) Veronica, you silly girl. The point is, he was your boyfriend, you loved him, he loved you, and you couldn't keep your hands off each other. Remember?
Logan, annoyed by her interruption, barks that he'd get to the point of the story if she'd just let him finish. Sheesh! Anyway, we flash back again to hot making out in the Xterra of LoVe. Again, there's grinding and groping and kissing and, um, pardon me -- I need a minute.Okay, I'm good, I'm back. Ahem. Just as Veronica plasters herself on top of a prone Logan, there's a knock at the window. Logan sits up, keeping Veronica on his lap and in his arms while he leans over to roll down the window. Standing outside are Dick and some random guy that we presume is Lucky.
Lucky tries to tell Logan that he's had enough face-sucking time and they have things to do. Silly rabbit! There's no such thing as too much face sucking time in Logan-land when it involves his Veronica. Logan is unimpressed and snarks that he's not feeling the urgency to get right to that afternoon of getting high and playing videogames. Lucky is unamused and reminds Logan that the ball is in their court now and someone has to pay. Dick, in spectacular Dick fashion, wants to make sure that once they handle the making someone pay part, they will, in fact, be getting high and playing videogames though. Lucky has no patience and snaps at Dick to get it together. Dick -- dude! I can't believe you are gonna let Lucky talk to you like that. Logan dismisses the guys with an "I'll be there when I get there."
Flash back to Logan and Veronica in the hallway, and Veronica putting on her bitch hat with a whole "remind me why we broke up again?" (Oooh! Ooooh! I know this one! Pick me! Pick me! No -- wait -- Logan's got this one.) "You thought the other guy had greener grass." He shoots, he scores! Veronica pulls an eye roll and walks off. But Logan's not done, oh no. Then he debates whether or not it was because he was too much man, or was SHE too much man? You know, bitchy or not, I'm glad we're finally getting this stuff out in the open. Veronica, can you hear him now?
At lunch, Veronica crooks her finger and beckons Dick over to her lunch table. Dick counters that just because Veronica "wiggles her finger, doesn't mean Dick's gonna come." (Side note: Were the censors even awake when viewing this episode?) Veronica ups the ante by typing a special message to Dick on her laptop. As she turns the screen towards him we can read the words "I know who you did last summer." Ha! That's enough to get Dick's attention. When he arrives at the table, he asks Veronica what she wants. For her response, Veronica hits a key on her laptop and we hear Dick's booty call message to Betina. Dick is clearly uncomfortable, and Veronica pounces -- wants to know all about Dick and Betina's summer of love.
Dick pulls out all the stops on this confession, and reveals exactly how big a Dick he really is. Guys, don't get me wrong -- he's cute and hilarious, but this scene reminds us how fitting his name is. Dick tells Veronica that everyone has a bad party and stumbles a few rungs down the social ladder, that everyone has their "secret shame." That sometimes you don't need the prettiest horse, just the one that will let you ride bareback. Veronica wonders aloud if he considered how dangerous that was, and wonders internally if beating the hell out of someone that obnoxious would really be considered a crime. Dick then, unbelievably, asks Veronica, "Do you think I'm stupid?" I hope that was rhetorical Dick. 'Cause if you were looking for an honest opinion, you guys are gonna be sitting at that table until graduation. At least.
Dick isn't sure why Veronica's so bothered because, hey, Betina was on the pill, and you don't hear her complaining either. Oh, Jesus criminy, Dick. Veronica reminds him that, uh, no, not so much -- mainly because SHE'S DEAD YOU MORON. But that aside, clearly Betina wasn't happy about the situation because she was playing his voicemails for the entertainment of the whole bus the day of the crash. Not the actions of a satisfied customer, dumbass. More the actions of a woman scorned -- and looking for a little payback, I think it is fair to say.
As far as Dick's concerned, Betina didn't have anything to complain about anyway because the day of the crash, he gave her a nice parting gift: His Sharks season ticket package and his memorabilia gift bag, to be precise. Veronica reminds him that he didn't win the tickets and stuff that were raffled off that day. Dick's like, well, the gay kid who won them threw them in the trashcan, so he snagged them because he thought Betina might like them. Or that she could sell them for grocery money, or something. My urge to slam his head into the table top grows with every word out of his pig mouth.
Later that afternoon, Veronica approaches Betina's friend, Maureen, playing like she was helping Michelle with the yearbook tribute. Perhaps Maureen has some artwork or poetry or something they can use? Maureen says that she doesn't have anything that Betina would want anyone else to see. Veronica then inquires about perhaps other friends, or say, a boyfriend, perhaps? Maureen says that Betina didn't have a boyfriend. Okay, a secret boyfriend perhaps? And Veronica would know all about those.
Veronica tells Maureen that she thought she saw Betina with Dick at a party. Maureen is clearly not a fan of Dick. (Boy, everything you say using his name sounds dirty, doesn't it?) In fact, she refers to him as the 'bastard child of Satan.' After his display at lunch, I'm hard pressed to disagree. (I love the guy, but that was pretty scummy.)
Maureen tells Veronica that Betina and Dick did have a thing, and that Dick treated Betina horribly -- like a free hooker. Unfortunately, although she'd like to blame it all on Dick, she knows that Betina let him do it. The worse Dick was to her the more she wanted him. Dick was Betina's ideal guy: Rich and completely indifferent to her. The funny thing was that Dick just wanted to bang Betina without everyone knowing, and all Betina wanted was to get pregnant so she could shout it from the rooftops. Hey, Dick? I'm thinking perhaps Betina told you a little white lie about those birth control pills. And consequently, yeah, you are stupid.
After the commercial break, we're back in one of Veronica's hazy bus crash dreams. She's drawing the ominous picture again, and Betina's trying to figure out what's with the t-shirts everyone is wearing: Meg's "Baby on Board;" Betina's "I (heart) Dick;" and Peter's pink tee with sequin rainbow. Peter is not happy about the overt and clich nature of his shirt. Meg's looking a little catatonic and randomly blurts out "I have important information." Just then, Betina reminds Veronica that it's time for the bus to crash. And at that moment, Veronica wakes up in class listening to the old "Ahoy Mateys!" episode where Logan was named 'Cock of the Walk' for the fortieth straight week.
At her next meeting with Ms. James, Veronica admits that she's still not sleeping. The dreams haven't stopped and she still hasn't figured out who drew the picture. We next see Veronica and Wallace cruising the halls together where Veronica admits she's losing the Mexican standoff with the Sandman. Across the way they spy a large banner dedicated to the kids who died in the crash. Wallace comments how ironic it is that the girl on the bus who was consistently in the most trouble is the one who looks the most angelic in her picture.
Wallace goes on to tell Veronica that Rhonda and her sister Natalie were in Clemmons' office all the time last year for a variety of crimes and misdemeanors, anything to reinforce the PWT stereotype. No, not "PYT" Veronica -- that was a Michael Jackson song. PWT, as in "poor white trash." Veronica asks Wallace to point out the sister in the parking lot that day after school.
Wallace and Veronica are lounging on the trunk of the LeBaron chatting when a girl wearing a tacky outfit and more bling than P-Diddy walks by. Wallace says that he's pretty sure that's Rhonda's sister, Natalie, but is clearly surprised by both her appearance and the fact that she's now driving a Corvette. Veronica attempts to chat Natalie up about how she got the car, but Natalie's long on attitude and short on answers. Veronica goes to Plan B and calls Dad.
Keith, in the middle of one of his painful endurance dates, answers the phone and wonders why Veronica isn't busy learning something. She says that she's actually thinking about some great advice he once gave her. "Look both ways?" Or perhaps, "don't stick that in your nose?" No, more along the lines of "follow the money." Veronica asks Keith to check out the families of the kids who died in the crash for her.
When Veronica gets home that night, she doesn't even bother with a "hello" for dear old Dad before asking him what he's got for her. Well, apparently he's got chili on the stove, all the love in his heart, and the financial records she asked for. Keith reminds Veronica, in what may be one of the greatest understatements in the history of humankind, that he's a great father. And so say all of us.
Keith tells Veronica that none of the families of the bus crash victims profited from the deaths of the kids. However, Rhonda's family did get a separate $2 million payout from -- guess who? Veronica's not in a guessing mood, and Keith decides not to torture her. As they sit down to a tasty bowl of homemade chili, Keith tells Veronica that the payout was a settlement from Woody Goodman's burger franchise because Rhonda's mother apparently found a finger in her riblet sandwich. Ewwwww. Veronica, not surprisingly, has lost her appetite for food, although not for the truth.
The next day while everyone is out to lunch, Veronica sneaks into Principal Clemmons' office to check the permanent files of each of the crash victims. She's not hopeful that one of them will have something incriminating on their record, like being suspended for drawing on school property, but it can't hurt to look. As she flips through the folders, she comes across a clear bag containing the permanent files for all of the kids that died in the crash. How convenient! At that precise moment, she hears voices outside the office door and realizes she's about to get so busted. Veronica makes a quick dash for the closet and hides.
Later that afternoon, Veronica heads to Mr. Wu's classroom to interview the good teacher about his relationship with Peter. According to Peter's postings at neptunepirates.com, he had a case of 'yellow fever' for Mr. Wu. Add that to the fact that there was only one incident in Peter's permanent file, sans description, that involved Mr. Wu, and Veronica begins to wonder if Mr. Wu crossed the line of traditional student/teacher relationships.
Veronica enters the classroom and asks Mr. Wu to make a donation to the yearbook spread, which Mr. Wu is happy to do. She tells him that she was a friend of Peter's, and comments on the 'special connection' she knows he had with Peter. And then she wonders if Mr. Wu misses Peter too. Subtlety is clearly not Veronica's strong suit today. Mr. Wu tells Veronica that although he misses the bright and dedicated student that Peter was, he doesn't miss him in the way she's implying.
Further discussion reveals that Mr. Wu was aware of Peter's feelings, but made it clear that he was neither gay, nor interested, and that the incident was reported to Mr. Clemmons. This takes Mr. Wu out of the running for the "outing of all outings." Mr. Wu also tells Veronica that he's confident that once she's had a bit more time out in the world she'll learn that many well-groomed, articulate, detail-oriented men aren't gay -- they're just Asian. Hahahaha!! You go Mr. Wu.
We flash to the club kids party dream bus of death where Veronica is chatting with Peter about her conversation with Mr. Wu. She tells Peter that yeah, she believes Mr. Wu when he says that he isn't gay. But even if he were gay, that she's pretty sure it wouldn't qualify as the "outing of all outings." Peter scoffs that Veronica thinks she knows him just because she's read his postings. Well, yeah she does! She's read EVERY LINE of his postings. Like eighty times! She knows them like the back of her ... hand that now has her name scrawled across the palm in permanent marker ala Dead Curly.
Peter tells her that she's asking the wrong question. Perhaps better questions include why was Peter even on the trip? And why on earth would he be interested in visiting a baseball stadium? It is apparent that neither of these things has crossed Veronica's mind, and she's clearly stumped by both questions. Peter encourages her to mull it over.
The next day at lunch Veronica reminds us that only one PCHer died on the bus -- Cervando Luna. Cervando apparently was quite the student. But as a PCHer, his average trips to the principal's office on a weekly basis rivaled his 3.8 GPA. One incident in his permanent file revealed that he'd had a run-in with one Cassidy Casablancas last summer. Veronica spots Beaver at an empty table at lunch working on something and decides to join him.
After standard pleasantries, instead of asking him what the fuck happened between he and Mac last week (which, as a good friend, I really feel like she should have done) she asks him about his Cervando encounter. Since she's trying to figure out who killed eight students, I'm gonna let it slide for the moment. Beaver flashes back to the summer where he and Cervando were sharing a class. Cervando is holding forth to his PCHer buddies about the new $200 jeans that he purchased with the money he scammed out of Liam Fitzpatrick playing pool.
No sooner does he model the uber-expensive jeans for his friends, than Dick walks by and shoots him with a water pistol, thoroughly wetting the front of the jeans. Beav tells Veronica that Cervando was normally a pretty cool guy for a PCHer, but this time, he was on the war path. The next day at summer school, Cervando corners Beaver, slams him up against the wall and provides him with the information on the jeans that Dick ruined. Apparently the squirt gun was full of bleach, and Cervando was not amused. He's aware that Dick ruined them, but demands that Beaver replace the jeans. Beaver muses that perhaps Dick was too big for Cervando to take on, so he took it out on Dick's little brother. The sad story of Beaver's life.
The next day, Veronica's in Mr. Wu's math class, again listening to "Ahoy Mateys!" with the headphones on. Mr. Wu invites her to the board to solve a problem. As she begins to write out the equation, the scene shifts into a dark bus of death dream where she's writing on a bus window instead of the board. Cervando, wearing his expensive bleach-stained jeans asks her how she got home from the fieldtrip. She tells him that Weevil gave her a ride.
Cervando goes on to muse that it's weird that the explosion didn't really kill anyone on the bus except for the driver. Most of the rest of the passengers died from the fall. Except for poor Cervando who apparently lived long enough to drown. He sits down next to Veronica and proceeds to draw his own "problem" on a neighboring window. He points out that if someone wanted to just kill the driver, they could have initiated the explosion at any point along the road. But to take out the whole bus, that person would have to know exactly when they were approaching the cliff. He alludes to the fact that perhaps Weevil was the guilty party.
The background music gets louder and louder as Cervando tells Veronica "I Am God." What? He repeats, more firmly, "I. AM. GOD." All of the sudden we're back in Mr. Wu's class and Veronica has written, across the board in huge letters, "I AM GOD." The music gets louder and we realize that the singer is singing these very same words, over and over. I am God. I am God. I am God. And all at once, Veronica jolts awake in a completely different class, and we realize that her time in Mr. Wu's class was part of the dream too.
As Veronica pulls herself together, she realizes that she's actually been hearing the "I Am God" song in her headphones on one of the episodes of "Ahoy Mateys!" She sits down at a computer, pulls up a music search engine, and looks up "I Am God" as the song title. Turns out that the song is by a band called 'The Wannabes' who have an album cover bearing the same artwork as the bus seat. In her next session with Ms. James, Veronica discloses these latest developments. The artwork was just an album cover, just like 'rosebud' was just a sled. Ms. James asks Veronica if she thinks she's done being haunted. Veronica certainly hopes so, and so do we.
That night, Keith arrives home to find Veronica dozing on the couch. As she wakes up, he tells her that he'd been thinking about that great advice he gave her about following the money. He reminds Veronica that the money, as it were, wasn't on the bus because all of the rich kids were in the limo traveling behind the bus. Veronica speculates that perhaps the killer was expecting the potential victim to be on the bus. Keith nods gravely and tells Veronica that Big Dick Casablancas took out life insurance policies on both Dick, Jr. and Cassidy three days after marrying Kendall. Turns out, those Casablancas boys are worth more dead than alive.
We flash once more to a smoky bus of death dream where Marcos commiserates with Veronica that it must be disappointing to discover that the "I am God" message didn't really have anything to do with the crash. And although he's sure it was an entertaining diversion, he hopes she's finally realized the truth: They are all dead because of her. Marcos peeks out the window to see the bus plummeting towards the sea as a phone starts to ring. He pulls out a cell phone with a large antenna and tells Veronica the call is for her. As he passes the phone, the large antenna disappears.
Rhonda appears again, speaking into her phone and leaving her message for Michelle. Veronica looks down and realizes that a duffel bag with baseballs and what appears to be a block of wired C-4 has appeared beside her. As the screen fades to black, the phone continues to ring in our ears.
- Michelle talking to Veronica about raising money in the yearbook for a layout for the kids who died on the bus. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Michelle playing the answering machine message from Rhonda to Veronica. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Veronica having another nightmare and Keith checking up on her; talking about the taped Dick phone conversation and morbid artwork on the bus. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Logan and Veronica making out hot 'n' heavy in the Xterra during the summer of LoVe. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Logan and Veronica interrupted by Lucky and Dick whilst making out hot 'n' heavy in the Xterra during the summer of LoVe. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Cervando, Beaver and others in Summer School; Cervando water-pistoled by Dick. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Cervando slamming Beaver hard and giving him orders to buy a new set of jeans since Dick ruined his last pair. (Read detailed breakdown.)
"Breathe Me (Four Tet Remix)" (Sia)
Scene: Logan and Veronica are getting it on!, baby, alas Lucky and Dick show up and it's makeout interruptus. Sigh. (Hmm, if you put those two names together and are so inclined, you can surmise that the two did not go hand in hand for Logan due to their arrival.)
"Down and Dirty" (Michael Mulholland)
Scene: As Wallace and Veronica search for some trash (of the poor white variety), Rhonda in her snazzy ride makes it clear that one can still be PWT, even if the P is replaced with $.
"One More Time" (Daft Punk)
Scene: It's a Veronica freaky-deeky dream-time once more and the slightly obnoxious Peter gets his undead turn to tell Veronica subconsciously what she needs to know.
"I Am God" (Wannabes)
Scene: Veronica makes another fishtank-bus stop and has a chat with the smartest PCHer there ever was! (That would be Cervando ... not Thumper.)
LoVe Lines
Veronica: (Walking up to Logan at his locker and bumping the back of his knee to make him lose balance. He turns around and she smacks her head.) Yep, I have no idea what compelled me to do that.
Logan: Is it because you're five?
Veronica: I'm a little punchy. I haven't been sleeping.
Logan: Thoughts of me? Hey, I get it. Sometimes, I'm up all night just thinkin' about myself.
Veronica: Do you know a guy named Lucky? He's one of the night janitors here.
Logan: Tommy Dolinick. Yeah.
Veronica: Why Lucky?
Logan: He graduates, his parents file chapter 11 and he has to drop out of college. He signs up for Army Rangers. He gets sent to Iraq and four months in he gets shot.
Veronica: Annnnndddd, that makes him Lucky?
Logan: Hey, they shot him in the butt. It could have been worse.
Logan: (To Veronica about Lucky.) You met him, too, you know. (Sweetly, with a soft smile.) Remember? (Segue into a hot 'n' heavy LoVe makeout flashback in the Xterra.)
(Veronica, exhausted and listening to a recording runs into Logan.)
Logan: Oh, am I still keeping you up at night? (Veronica takes out earphones and Logan looks into her weary eyes.) You look like Steve Buscemi.
Veronica: You ... are such ... a catch. (Wallace approaches behind her and observes.) How has Hannah been able to keep away? (Stung, Logan gives a mirthless smile and walks away, head down.)
Wallace: (Smiling.) Maybe you should cut him some slack sometimes. (Confused, Veronica looks after Logan, then at Wallace, who walks away. Clearly thinking "WTF?" Veronica puts her earphones in again.)
In Memory
Veronica: NO!!!! (Waking up from a nightmare about the bus crash victims.)
Keith: Honey? (Searching room for something amiss.)
Veronica: I'm fine. Just a bad dream.
Keith: Did you watch House of Wax again? You know that Hilton girl gives you nightmares.
Quotable Quotes
Miss James: You were sleeping in class. Mrs. Taft said that she has reprimanded you three times for wearing headphones while she is teaching.
Veronica: She's reading The Golden Bowl ... aloud ... with a fake English accent.
Miss James: You were caught ripping down another student's poster.
Veronica: Am I being followed?
Miss James: The student who made the poster would like to have her photos back. (Pausing.) Something you wanna talk about?
Veronica: Yeah, but Jennifer Love Hewitt might be more qualified.
Miss James: How's that?
Veronica: I'm being haunted. And she's the Ghost Whisperer. (Snaps fingers.) These are the jokes.
Miss James: Haunted?
Veronica: Yeah, by the kids who died in the bus crash. I take it you don't see them.
Miss James: Ahhh ... No, Veronica, I don't.
Veronica: Good, neither do I. Except come bed time, the second I close my eyes there they are ... acting like they are dying to tell me something.
Mr. Wu: Dick, I think it's a bad idea for you and Mr. Echolls to be working together.
Dick: So bad, it's good?
Mr. Wu: No.
Dick: (To Logan in a redneck accent.) I don't know how I'm gonna quit you. (Logan starts to say something and Dick quiets him by placing one finger against Logan's mouth.) Shhh. It's not me, it's Wu.
(Veronica motions to Dick to get him to come to her.)
Dick: Just because you wiggle your finger, doesn't mean Dick's gonna come.
Veronica: (Talking about Betina.) I thought I saw her at a party once with Dick Casablancas.
Maureen: Dick Casablancas is the bastard child of Satan.
Veronica: Well ... that would explain a lot.
Logan: You don't like me much, do you?
Wallace: The last time we actually talked you were breaking Veronica's headlights with a crowbar.
Logan: Ohh, foreplay.
Logan: (After a knock at the door.) Ah, my buffalo burger has arrived.
Hotel Staff: (Off camera.) Thank you.
Wallace: (Looking at Logan's delivered food.) Must be nice.
Logan: No, not for the buffalo.
Keith: You've got mail (Holding up the envelope.) from Stanford University.
Veronica: It's a little anorexic for an acceptance letter.
Keith: Good news or bad, you know I'm proud of you.
Wallace: When I die, I want you to raise money for a spread in Vibe.
Veronica: Oh, didn't I e-mail you? You're never allowed to die.
Logan: I could rub your head for luck.
Wallace: You could try.
Wallace: I think that's Rhonda's sister. Natalie.
Veronica: Are you sure there's a 'P' before that 'WT'?'
Wallace: That's definitely her. She drives a 'Vette now? Last year she offered to make out with me for cigarette money.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Yowza. You can take the girl out of the trash but you can't take the trash out of the girl.
Wallace: We magnify the drag, decrease the velocity, minimize the force, and decelerate the --
Logan: (Interrupting.) Decelerate yourself. (Takes the cup out of Wallace's hand.) Four is officially your espresso limit.
Wallace: So. I know why I'm trying to help out Veronica. I want her to get to go to Stanford. Why are you doing it?
Logan: I don't know, not for Veronica.
Wallace: (Smiling.) Then what?
Logan: (Unconvincingly.) Oh, the spirit of competition.
Wallace: (Laughing.) Yeah. Alright.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Sometimes, opportunity doesn't knock. It waits for everyone to go to lunch and sneaks in using a key.
Keith: (To Clemmons.) My coat?
Clemmons: Right. It's in the closet.
Keith: (Opens closet door to find Veronica huddled in the back, hiding.) Yep. That's mine, all right.
Date: I confess. I never vote in the local elections. But I went out this year just so I could vote for you.
Keith: I totally carried the pity vote.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Peter, as I have learned from his postings, had, in his words, 'yellow fever,' and was extremely hot for a certain teacher. There was one incident in Peter's permanent file. It didn't say what happened, only that it involved Mr. Wu. I can't help but wonder if teacher decided to take a pet.
Veronica: Peter was gearing up for "the outing of all outings." I was wondering if he was pulling his favorite teacher out of the closet.
Mr. Wu: (Sighs.) Veronica, I think when you get out in the world a little more, you'll discover that not all well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented men are gay. Many of them are just Asian.
Disco Dream Bus Peter: So do you believe him? (Veronica looks inquiringly at him, so Peter clarifies.) Mr. Wuuuuuuu!
Veronica: Yes. And, I hate to disappoint you but, even if he were gay, I don't think it would qualify as "the outing of all outings."
Peter: (Laughs.) You think you know me because you read my postings?
Veronica: Every line of your postings, like eighty times! I know you like the back of my ha -- (Stops speaking as she realizes that her name is printed across her palm ala Dead Curly.)
Peter: What's wrong?
Veronica: (Closes her hand.) Nothing.
Peter: You're asking the wrong question, right? Maybe a better question is why was I even on the bus? Why would I even be interested in going to a baseball stadium? Huh? Mull that one over for awhile, okay?
Veronica Mars Voiceover: One PCHer died on the bus -- Cervando Luna. Grade Point Average? 3.8. Average trips to the principal's office per week? 3.2. Including a visit during summer school for pushing Cassidy Casablancas against a wall and threatening him.
Veronica: (Sits down next to Cassidy at lunch where he appears to be working on something.) Busy Beaver, always working.
Cassidy: What's up, Veronica.
Veronica: During summer school, you had a run-in with a kid named Cervando?
Cassidy: He rammed me into a wall, if that's what you mean.
Principal Clemmons: (Looking at a microcassette tape provided by Keith.) What's this?
Keith: (Looking rather smug.) It's a tape of Dr. Burns' office manager offering to hook Veronica up with a diagnosis of "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" for a $1,000 consultation fee.
Clemmons: (Looking skeptical, but impressed.) How did you get this?
Keith: Painfully. You've gotta kiss a lot of toads before you find your medical office manager.
Ms. James: So that's it? The tombstone artwork was just an album cover?
Veronica: And Rosebud was just a sled. (Pauses.) I didn't just ruin Citizen Kane for you, did I?
Ms. James: No, no.
Veronica: Good.
Marcos: Kind of disappointing, huh? Not a suicide thing, just a song I liked. That brings us back to you.
Veronica: To me?
Marcos: It was a fun exercise. Probably a little comforting for awhile, thinking it's someone else's fault. But it's not, is it? We died because of you.
"I Am God" / The Wannabes ... (Referenced by the episode title/Veronica as she describes to Ms. James the drawing she found on the bus/the song Veronica looks up after she hears it in her dream and on the Ahoy Mateys! recording.)
"I Am God" is the second song the Wannabes have had featured on Veronica Mars. Their song "Atomic Girl" can be heard in the series premiere.
The Wannabes is an alternative rock band formed in 1991 and is made up of Hunter Darby (bass and vocals), Jennings Crawford (guitar and vocals), Kevin Carney (guitar and vocals) and Thad Swiderski (drums). Crawford and Darby met and began playing music together in their Ft. Worth, Texas high school. Their national debut album, Mod Flower Cake, was released in 1994.
In a bit of interesting trivia, the name of band member Jennings Crawford has been used on both Veronica Mars (in Normal is the Watchword) and on Rob Thomas' earlier series Cupid. Also, the album cover seen on the show, with the nine headstones and the Grim Reaper, is not the actual cover art of the Wannabes' album, Popsucker (1995), on which "I Am God" can be found.
The lyrics are:
Written by Henry James, The Golden Bowl (published in 1904) is an intense study of marriage and adultery and the effects it has on the relationships between the spouses as well as their children. The novel, which has been cited as the completion of the major phase of James' career, focuses almost exclusively on the consciousness of his central characters, revealing a powerful insight into this all-too common failing of human nature.
Jennifer Love Hewitt ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about who should help re: ghosts.)
Hewitt is the star of Ghost Whisperer and the amusingly referenced I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. (Run Buffy Run -- no wait, wrong universe) She was born on February 21, 1979 and landed her first acting role on Disney's Kids Incorporated in 1984. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on Party of Five in 1995.
Hewitt has also had moderate success as a pop singer, as well as on the big screen. She made her American musical debut in 1995 with the release of Let's Go Bang, and could also be heard singing two tracks for the House Arrest (1996) soundtrack in addition to playing a lead role in the film itself. In 2000, Hewitt received some critical acclaim for her portrayal of Audrey Hepburn in The Audrey Hepburn Story, a made-for-television dramatization of Hepburn's life. The next year, Hewitt starred opposite Alien queen Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers, which featured the two actresses as mother-and-daughter con artists.
Ghost Whisperer ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about who should help re: ghosts.)
Ghost Whisperer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aisha Tyler and David Conrad is the story of a newlywed, Melinda Gordon, who has the ability to communicate with earthbound spirits -- ghosts (if you will) who haven't crossed over for one reason or another. Ghost Whisperer appears on CBS, Friday evenings at 8:00p.m. and has been surprisingly successful. The stories, which usually revolve around unfulfilled aspects of the spirit's former lives or messages the spirits need to convey, are usually resolved at the end of the episode but despite its seemingly simplistic theme, the episodes are often well written and deeply moving. This just might be because one of the writers, Jed Seidel, wrote for Veronica Mars last season. His stories include the episodes Weapons of Class Destruction and Mars vs. Mars.
PCH(er) (Referenced by Veronica as she hands Cervando's picture to Rebecca.)
Pacific Coast Highway refers to sections of California's Route 1, beginning at San Juan Capistrano, south of Los Angeles, and ending where Route 1 merges with Highway 1 at Leggett, in Northern California. Route 1 is one of the longest (644 miles) and most scenic routes in California, providing breathtaking views of a large part of the Pacific Coast. It travels past dozens of historical landmarks and through such cities as San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Iraq (Referenced by Dream!Meg as she tells Veronica about Lucky.)
The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing most of Mesopotamia as well as the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran (Persia) to the east. Baghdad is the nation's capital. There are several suggestions for the origin of the name of Iraq; one dates back to the Sumerian city of Uruk (or Erech). Another suggestion is that Iraq comes from the Aramaic language, meaning "the land along the banks of the rivers."
Iraq was first widely introduced into the casual discussion in the United States during the Gulf War (often referred to as "Desert Storm") in 1991. Since then, the U.S. has been in and out of various battles and skirmishes with leaders and factions of religion in the country. Today, the United States (as led by the Bush Administration) is at war with Iraq with over 2,000 U.S. soldiers having already lost their lives. As to why we are at war with Iraq -- you'll have to check with our President -- his reasons vary depending on how much truthful information has made its way to the public.
Margot Kidder in the Bush ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about Michelle.)
Margot Kidder is an actress born in Canada on the 17th of October, 1948. She is most famous for her role as Lois Lane in Superman (1978) and its sequels, starring opposite the late great Christopher Reeve.
Despite a long stretching film career she is arguably more famous for her manic mood swings due to bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression). She became the punch line of many cruel jokes (the South Park style cartoon is from the SouthCon blog discussing her mania) after an especially violent manic episode in 1996.
She became increasingly paranoid while writing her autobiography, believing her ex-husband and the CIA were trying to kill her. People feared she was dead when she went missing for three days but she was found by police hiding in the bushes of her neighbour's garden. She was missing some teeth, had cut all of her hair off with a razor and was ranting about being stalked and attacked.
She recovered in a mental health institute and has stabilised her health now. She became an American citizen in 2005 (to avoid deportation when she started to protest the Iraq war). She also continues her acting career -- mainly in guest roles on television shows including two episodes of the WB series Smallville (2004), about Superman's younger years.
House of Wax ... (Referenced by Keith when asking Veronica if she watched this movie before bed.)
House of Wax is a 2005 horror/thriller film that is a loose remake of the 1953 movie of the same name starring Vincent Price and the 1933 film, Mystery of the Wax Museum. It was released to theaters May 6, 2005, and to DVD on October 25, 2005. House of Wax stars a collection of young Hollywood and teen heartthrobs including Chad Michael Murray, Elisha Cuthbert, Jared Padalecki, and "that Hilton girl," Paris Hilton.
In House of Wax, friends Carly and Paige, and their buddies camp out for a night while traveling to a college football game. After an unpleasant run-in with a mysterious trucker, they awake to find their car disabled and have to hike to a nearby town, which appears to be deserted. Soon, the crew is stalked by a pair of killer siblings who are looking to turn their human forms into wax statues for display.
Hilton Girl ... (Referenced by Keith as the cause of Veronica's nightmares after watching House of Wax.)
Paris Whitney Hilton, born February 17, 1981, is the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as her father's real estate fortune. In addition to being a famous socialite, she has also done modeling and 'acting." And yes, the use of quotation marks was deliberate.
Ms. Hilton is perhaps best known for her simultaneous participation in both the 2003 home-made sex video One Night In Paris, released by her former boyfriend Rick Salomon, and the 2003 FOX hit reality series The Simple Life, which she starred in along with her former real-life best friend Nicole Richie. The show followed Hilton and Richie while they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. Highlights of the show included the girls performing poorly at various jobs, making out with the local boys, and numerous instances of them shown as "fish out of water." It was followed by two more seasons: The Simple Life 2: Road Trip and The Simple Life 3: Interns. In April 2005, Hilton announced that she severed both personal and professional ties with Richie, and the show was dropped by FOX.
In addition to her "role" on The Simple Life, the Hilton girl has had roles in several films including the aforementioned House of Wax, Zoolander, and The Cat in the Hat, along with T.V. guest appearances on shows including The OC and our very own Veronica Mars. We know its painful -- just try not to dwell. At least she was only with us for one episode.
Chapter 11 ... (Referenced by Logan when giving Lucky's backstory.)
'Chapter Eleven' is one chapter of Title Eleven of the U.S. Code covering Federal bankruptcy laws. There are two ways of legally relieving debt obligations to creditors whether you're an individual or a business: liquidation (chapter 7) or rehabilitation (chapters 11, 12 and 13).
Rehabilitation allows the debtor to prevent liquidation of their assets by drawing up payment plans subtracted from future earnings to appease creditors. Liquidation is the most common form of settling debt because a rehabilitation plan is usually reserved for businesses rather than individuals.
Chapter Eleven covers 'Reorganization' of assets and debt. If you're really interested in the bankruptcy law, you can read more about Chapter Eleven at the Cornell Law School's site: here.
Army Rangers ... (Referenced by Logan as the military branch Lucky was in during his 'adventure' in Iraq.)
The 75th Ranger Regiment -- also known as the United States Army Rangers -- is a special operations force of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC); with headquarters in Fort Benning, Georgia. The Regiment is a flexible, highly trained and rapidly deployable light infantry force with specialized skills that enables it to be employed against a variety of conventional and special operations targets.
The force specializes in airborne, air assault, light-infantry and direct action operations, conducting raids, infiltration and exfiltration by air, land or sea, airfield seizure, recovery of personnel and special equipment, and support of general purpose forces (GPF) among others. Each Ranger battalion can deploy anywhere in the world with 18 hours' notice. (Courtesy Wikipedia, April 16, 2006)
Pot ... (Referenced by Logan to Lucky, then Dick to Lucky during the LoVe makeout interruptus.)
The Cannabis plant -- known more commonly as marijuana with many a nickname including pot, mary jane, reefer, etc. -- is often dried or otherwise processed to create a "product" that offers medicinal and psychoactive effects. Despite past use as an accepted medicine, in the early 20th century, the drug became illegal due to the overwhelming consumption of the recreational variety.
To this day, marijuana usage remains against the law despite the mellow side affects as opposed to the harder drugs of the day. While not widespread, legalizing marijuana has been the efforts of activists for some time, among those fighting for its legal use is Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson. Apparently, none of these activists (including Woody) have ever heard of the dangers that can befall one who has been taken over by reefer madness. Just ask Mary Lane.
Halo ... (Referenced by Logan to Lucky, then Dick to Lucky during the LoVe makeout interruptus.)
An immensely popular series of video games that first debuted for Xbox in 2001. The game is a sci-fi first-person shooter that takes place on a mysterious alien ring-shaped structure called "Halo." Master Chief, the protagonist of the story, is stranded on Halo with the crew of the Pillar of Autumn and is pitted against mankind's sworn enemy, the Covenant. Using both alien and human weaponry, on foot and in vehicles, the objective is to destroy the Covenant and uncover the secrets of Halo.
The sequel, Halo 2, was released to record-breaking sales and is one of the most-played titles on the Xbox console. Additional games are in the works. The franchise also includes a series of novels and a feature film adaptation currently in pre-production.
"God, I don't know how I'm gonna quit you"/ Brokeback Mountain ... (Referenced by Dick to Logan when separated as partners.)
Brokeback Mountain is a heartbreaking story of two cowboys who fall in love almost by accident. It is embedded in the craggy landscape and private firelight interludes in which their story begins and ends. Ennis and Jack's 20-year romance begins when they are hired in the summer of 1963 by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid), a hard-boiled rancher, to work as sheepherders on Brokeback Mountain in the Wyoming high country. One night, when their campfire dies, and the biting cold drives them to huddle together in a bedroll, a sudden spark between Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) flares into an undying flame.
The movie, directed by Ang Lee, was derived from a short story by Annie Proulx and first published in The New Yorker in 1997. It was then adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana into the Oscar-nominated film that swept the country with 'Brokeback Fever.'
Dick's comment is a take on the famous, "I don't how I'm gonna quit you," line from Gyllenhaal's Jack to Ledger's Ennis in regards to his inability to stop loving Ennis. We all know that Dick's comment is nothing but snark...However, if he was ever asked to quit Logan you know that he'd be hard pressed to do it. Logan is his social king and Dick is nothing if not a loyal subject.
I Know What You Did Last Summer ... (Referenced by Veronica as she flashes "I Know Who You Did Last Summer" on her laptop to get Dick to come over and talk to her.)
Horror film loosely based on the young adult novel by Lois Duncan, directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson. Released in 1997, the film grossed more than $125 million worldwide.
The film tells the tale of Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Ray (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Barry (Ryan Philippe), four friends who are involved in a hit-and-run accident the summer after graduation. Panicking and fearing for their futures, they cover up the crime, dumping their victim's body in the ocean. Fast forward to the following summer, when the now-estranged foursome find themselves being stalked by a mysterious man wearing fisherman's gear and brandishing a nasty hook. They realize that it must be tied to the hit-and-run accident as they all have received notes that say, "I know what you did last summer." Julie determines to uncover the identity of the hit-and-run victim and to stop The Fisherman before he kills them all.
The success of this somewhat above average slasher film led to a (sucktastic) sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. A third film, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, is due to be released straight to video in 2006, with none of the original cast involved.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ... (Reference in paraphrase by Marcos to Veronica in dream sequence about the t-shirts Veronica's subconscious had them in.)
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a reality television show on the Bravo channel. It deems itself as a guide to "building a better straight man" -- a "make better" series designed for guys who want to get the girl, the job or just the look.
With the expertise and support of "The Fab 5:" Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley and Jai Rodriguez, men are made over the metrosexual way via the homosexual way. Each team member has a specialty one is an interior designer, a fashion stylist, a chef, a beauty guru and the last one is a personality coach.
Each "man makeover" unfolds with a deconstruction of the subject's current lifestyle (it only hurts because they love you) and continues on as a funny showcase for the hottest styles and trends in fashion, home design, grooming, food and wine, and culture. The show was recently awarded the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program.
Considering the premise behind the show, the fact that Peter -- the one over-the-top gay teenager in Veronica's mind -- would paraphrase that show's title ("Queer eye for the dead guy") makes perfect sense.
Rosemary's Baby ... (Referenced by Marcos as Cap'n Krunk about Logan as Cock ... of the Walk.)
Roman Polanski directed this horror classic starring Mia Farrow with a pixie haircut that started a craze (see image below). The film tells the story of a young couple moving into a New York apartment next door to enthusiastic, oversolicitous neighbors. Longing for a child, one night the woman has a vision that she is being raped by some demonic presence, and finds herself pregnant not long after. As her pregnancy increases, she loses rather than gains weight and begins to suspect that her neighbors, in conjunction with her husband, are part of a Satanic cult with designs on her unborn child.
Fluffer ... (Referenced by Logan to Wallace at the Neptune Grand.)
All I can say about this one is ... where are the sensors?! What would normally be considered a "fluffer" has two VERY different meanings, let's say one is pretty innocent and the other is quite simply not. Did I mention that it's dirty yet? Well it is, really, trust me on this one ... Beware, explicit description ahead ... Okay, you asked for it.
A "fluffer" as depicted here is a hotel maid sent in to make sure the linens and bedding are fluffed and ready for comfortable use. However, the less innocent meaning of the word comes from a term used on porn sets. This type of fluffer prepares the penis of a male pornstar for action on the set of an adult movie before the needed effect is demanded. It is usually for a short period of time.
Now don't you feel like you need to wash your mind out with soap or something. I know I do. Too Much Info, Rob and Company ...TMI!
You've Got Mail ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica about her letter from Stanford.)
"Youve got mail" is the standard greeting that AOL customers hear when they have new email. It is also the name of a 1998 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as enemies working at different ends of the retail scale in the book industry.
In the film, Kathleen Kelly (Ryan), owns the small children's bookstore "The Shop Around The Corner" that her mother ran before her, whilst Joe Fox (Hanks) carries on the family business in the vast chainstore "Fox Books." When Fox Books expands into the West Side, The Shop Around the Corner is threatened with commercial obliteration and the two battle it out at loggerheads whilst unknowingly continuing an anonymous, flirty relationship with each other through e-mail.
You've Got Mail is a loose remake of the 1940 Jimmy Stuart classic, The Shop Around The Corner, in which two letter-writing lovers are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in fact the co-worker with whom they share a certain degree of animosity.
Stanford ... (Referenced several times throughout the episode.)
Stanford University is a University located in Stanford, California. This institution is known for its strong academic programs and highly competitive admissions process. Nearly 75% of students enrolled in the university attained a score of 700 or better on both the verbal and mathematical portions of the SAT exam. That said, only about 13% of applicants to Stanford are actually admitted. Perhaps more daunting than the rigorous academic barriers facing Stanford hopefuls are the financial ones. Tuition and room and board cost almost $40,000 a year.
A Nightmare on Elm Street ... (Referenced by Veronica when telling Ms. James that she is still having the nightmares.)
"One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door..."
Surreal and atmospheric, this horror film, written and directed by Wes Craven, put New Line Cinema on the map and featured Johnny Depp in his film debut. Released in 1984, the movie centers around Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), one of several teenagers living on Elm Street, who are being haunted by disturbing nightmares of a badly scarred man, wearing a red and green-striped sweater, a hat, and a glove fitted with deadly "finger knives."
As her friends are mysteriously murdered one by one -- while in their nightmares -- Nancy discovers that the dream killer is Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a serial child murderer who was killed many years earlier. Determined to survive, Nancy ignores the disbelief of her Sheriff father and alcoholic mother (no relation to the Mars family, I'm sure) and attempts to bring Freddy out of her nightmares and into the real world where he can be stopped once and for all.
The film spawned a television series, Freddy's Nightmares (1988), and seven additional films, including the most recent, Freddy vs. Jason, a cross-over film pitting Freddy against the Friday the 13th films' serial killer, Jason Voorhees. There is also a recent and continuing series of A Nightmare on Elm Street novels.
Although Freddy began as a truly frightening and monstrous nightmare figure, many of the sequels focus a lot more on Freddy's jokey one-liners, a characteristic that has made Freddy one of the most popular figures in the horror genre.
Mexican Standoff ... (Referenced by Veronica when talking to Wallace regarding the battle shes losing with sleep.)
A 'Mexican standoff' is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse, a confrontation that neither side can win. In popular culture, the Mexican standoff is usually portrayed as two or more opposing men with guns drawn and ready, creating a very tense situation. Exacerbating the tension is that neither side wants to put down its weapons for fear that its opponents will shoot them. This situation forces the participants to resolve the situation either by diplomacy, surrender, or a pre-emptive strike.
This expression came into usage during the last decade of the 19th century, most likely originating in the American southwest, although one reputable source claims that the term is of Australian origin. One possibility is that it may relate to the difficult and paradoxical social and economic conditions of 19th and early 20th century Mexico.
Sandman ... (Referenced by Veronica when talking to Wallace regarding her lack of sleep.)
Traditionally the Sandman is a character in many children's stories, invoked to help or lull children to sleep. He is said to sprinkle sand or dust on or into the eyes of the child at night to bring on dreams and sleep. The grit or 'sleep' in one's eyes upon waking is supposed to be the result of the Sandman's work the previous evening.
Vibe ... (Referenced by Wallace to Veronica about the spread he wants when he dies.)
Created by music mogul, Quincy Jones, Vibe is a popular African-American magazine. The publication contains articles on R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. The self proclaimed "voice and soul of urban music and culture," Vibe was launched in 1993.
Time to a Hog ... (Referenced by Logan to Wallace about having free time to work on their project.)
A man is walking down an old dirt road when he spots a farmer carrying a piglet over to a nearby apple tree. The farmer lifts and holds the animal high up over his head so it can feed on the apples in the tree. When the passerby asks him if it that isn't an extraordinary amount of time to spend feeding a pig, the farmer shrugs and says, "What's time to a hog?"
Although there are many variations of the stories using this particular punch line, the meaning is generally the same. While the ticking of a clock is something we, as human beings, are acutely aware of as we experience the "moments" in our lives, the passing of time to a hog is just simply the passing of time. A hog really doesn't care or notice that time is passing him by.
This saying was also used in the Roger Miller musical "Big River" as a lyric to the song "Hand for the Hog."
First manufactured in 1953 by Chevrolet, the Corvette is widely regarded as "America's Sports Car." Today it is built exclusively at a General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S.A. For more than fifty years, Corvettes have combined very powerful engines and affordability (well, affordable for a sports car). Corvettes tend to emphasize simplicity over technical complexity, in such areas as their use of a simpler overhead valve (OHV) design coupled with a larger displacement to make up for the lower rev limit pushrods impose. Another example of this philosophy is the continued use of transverse leaf springs in the suspension. This is judged as a lack of sophistication by some automotive purists, and has fueled a "lack of refinement" argument that has plagued the Corvette.
Older generations of the Corvette have been criticized for being crude and lacking in refinement by European sports car standards, and their on-limit handling is a divisive issue garnering both praise and reproach. Recent generations of the Corvette, however, are widely seen as being much improved in these areas.
George/Seinfeld ... (Referenced by Blind Date #2 about who Keith reminds her of.)
George Costanza is the name of a character played by Jason Alexander on the television show Seinfeld from 1990-1998. George is the best friend of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Bald, whiney, neurotic and completely hysterical -- the character of George was based on a combination of the show's co-creator, comedian Larry David, and Jerry's real-life childhood friend Michael Costanza. Episode plots would frequently feature George manufacturing elaborate deceptions at work or in his relationships, in order to gain or maintain some petty advantage. Classic George episodes include The Bubble Boy, Master of my Domain, Shrinkage, and Yada, Yada, Yada.
But other than the baldness -- Keith is nothing like George. Okay, raise your hand if you wanted to seriously slap the annoying woman who compared Keith to George. GRRRRR!!!
Hollywood (Referenced by the Tinseltown Diaries segment on Aaron.)
Hollywood, California is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., situated northwest of Downtown. Due to its fame and identity as the historical center of movie studios and stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used colloquially to refer to the American film industry. Today much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding areas such as Burbank and the Westside, but significant ancillary industries (such as editing, effects, props, post-production, and lighting companies) remain in Hollywood.
Several historic Hollywood theaters are used as venues to premiere major theatrical releases, most famously Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the new Kodak Theater, which opened in November 2001 and is the permanent home of the Academy Awards. It is a popular destination for nightlife and tourism, and home to the Walk of Fame. And of course, you can't be in Hollywood without noticing "The Sign." One of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States was declared a historical landmark in 1973. The original housing development sign was not built to stand forever, and is in great need of repair. So who is helping fund this $27,000 per letter budget? Why no other than Hollywood's finest: Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, and Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper? Yeah, I definitely associate him with Hollywood.
You gotta love it though. I mean, really -- where else but Hollywood would Gene Autry, The Hef, and scary Alice be pooling their resources for a community beautification project?
Ribwich ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica about where a finger was found and why Woody paid the family off.)
A Simpsons spoof on the McRib, the "Ribwich" -- like the McRib -- appears only on a temporary basis. The McRib was introduced by McDonald's in 1981. The sandwich, consisting of boneless pork, pickles and onions on a bun, did mediocre sales and so Mickey D's pulled it from its permanent menu. It has been brought back on a temporary basis every year since it's pull and has developed quite a cult following. (I know! It's a sandwich!!) Thus, the Simpsons parody. That Homer, always gotta be in on the joke.
Wendy's/Finger in the Chili Hoax ... (Referenced by the lawsuit against Woody's Burgers for the finger in the burger).
On March 22, 2005, Anna Ayala claimed that while eating chili bought at Wendy's, she bit into a finger. Ayala and her husband sued the restaurant chain, but forensics found proof that the woman had never even bitten into the finger (despite her disgust-filled telling of the tale to the media). It was later revealed that Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, came up with the ploy as a quick-rich scheme. Plascencia got the finger from a co-worker during a workplace accident. It also came to light that the couple offered the co-worker, Brian Rossiter, $250,000 to keep quiet. A jury later found the couple guilty with a prison term of nine years. Wendy's claimed it lost $2.5 million in sales because of the bad publicity, and dozens of workers at the company's Northern California franchises were laid off.
Bozo(ville) (Referenced by one of Keith's blind dates.)
Bozo the Clown is the name of the clown whose blue and red costume, massive red hair and "whiteface" clown makeup lead to widespread syndication in early television. Created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingstone, Bozo the Clown was first broadcast in L.A. in 1949 and subsequently franchised to other stations in the 1950's. Bozo's television success made him the best-known clown character in the U.S. Partly as a result, the word "bozo" has become synonymous with a generic clown or a foolish person, e.g. "Anyone who doesn't love Veronica and Logan together is a Bozo."
Kiss a Lot of Toads ... (Referenced by Keith to Clemmons about finding the deal with the doctor.)
One of the famous Grimm's Fairytales, The Frog Prince tells the story of a young princess who loses her golden ball. A frog retrieves it for her dependent upon her becoming his friend. Despite wanting nothing to do with the frog after he gets her ball, circumstances (and her father) make her follow through with her promise. This includes giving the frog a kiss out of duty. She does so and the frog turns into a handsome prince. Read the fairytale here.
Today, the phrase, "you have to kiss a lot of frogs (toads) ..." is a metaphor for dating a lot of guys before you find The One.
Steve Buscemi ... (Referenced by Logan when talking to Veronica about how tired she looks.)
Steven Vincent Buscemi is an American stage and film actor who has starred in over 40 films. He was born December 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York to John Buscemi, an Italian American Korean War veteran, and an Irish American mother. Buscemi is known for playing characters that are neurotic and paranoid. Quentin Tarantino uses Buscemi (sometimes uncredited) in nearly all his movies. He often appears in films by the Coen Brothers, usually dying in a grisly or unexpected manner (such as being shot in the face with a handgun or dropping dead of a heart attack during a fistfight).
Some of Buscemi's most memorable roles include Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, Rockhound in Armageddon, Donny in The Big Lebowski, Carl Showalter in Fargo, and the voice of Randall in Monsters, Inc. Although usually a supporting actor, he has had critical success as a lead actor, particularly his role as Seymour in Ghost World.
Logan's comment to Veronica was an allusion to Buscemi's hangdog visage and puffy eyes that generally give him the appearance of being very tired or very depressed. Or both.
Rosebud/Sled/Citizen Kane ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about the mundaneness of the answer to her dreams.)
Citizen Kane (1941) is often referred to as the greatest movie of all time - starring, written and directed by the ground breaking film maker, Orson Welles. Among other things, the film was responsible for introducing deep focus shots to cinematography.
The film tells the story of an eccentric newspaper mogul's life, examined through the eyes of a journalist investigating what his enigmatic final words meant. Those last words were 'rosebud'. The journalist never discovers what 'rosebud' means but as the film closes, and Kane's belongings are destroyed, the audience sees that Rosebud is written on a snow sled that Kane played with as a child before he was taken away from his humble life and turned into a billionaire.
There are two main critical interpretations of what this revelation means. 'Rosebud' could have been muttered because it was the only time Kane was really happy in his entire life - when things were simple and he was with his family. Thus, his words had deep meaning. Or -- as Veronica says -- a sled could just be a sled and there is no deep meaning to the mystery.
Art Instruction Schools / Tippy the Turtle ... (Referenced by Marcos in Veronica's final dream, as he holds up a sketch and asks her if he's got what it takes for art school.)
Founded in 1914, Art Instruction Schools is an American "home study art school" that is best known for their many decades of "Draw Me" advertisements in magazines and comic books, on matchbook covers and more recently in late-night television commercials and online ads. The advertisements offer people a free "art test" to determine if they have the skills to become a serious artist. The traditional ads invite submissions of pen-and-ink sketches of cartoonish characters like Tippy the Turtle, a pirate, Abraham Lincoln, and a Bambi-like deer.
- In a throwback to Ahoy Mateys! (in which we first heard about Marcos) where Keith found a toy schoolbus in the Oliveres' fishtank, Veronica's dream sequences feature the crashed bus in a fishtank-styled ocean, beautifully created by director Martha Mitchell.
- Rhonda's "I [Heart] Dick Casablancas" T-shirt.
- Meg's "Baby on Board" shirt.
- Veronica is wearing an extremely similar outfit to Logan's at the dance (from Plan B, the episode before this) in her dream. (Short-sleeved t-shirt over long-sleeved shirt, similar colors.) Since this was the first night of dreams, maybe it took place after the dance and Veronica was trying to recapture the moment by dressing like Logan?
- From the bumper sticker on her bulletin board, it appears as if Ms. James is a Woody Goodman supporter.
- On the poster dedicated to the bus crash victims, under Cervando's photograph it reads: "Cervando Esparza," however, at the end of the episode, Veronica calls him "Cervando Luna."
- For the past several episodes, the color green has been frequently used in wardrobe. In this week's episode, Veronica, Logan, Wallace, Ms. James, Dick, and even Mr. Wu wear at least one prominently green piece of clothing. Are they simply showing their "Pirate Pride," or could there be a deeper, more symbolic reason for the abundance of green?
- Logan is taking Art History class or at least he's standing by his locker with a book entitled Discovering Art History because he's into art history.
- Logan is once again wearing his Puka Shell necklace.
- Logan's sweet smile and tone when he asked Veronica, "remember?"
- Hallelujah for vidmakers everywhere, there are no credits during the makeout flashback. The credits start during the present-day scene, but take a little break for the making out and don't start up again until the tail-end of the present-day scene. Awesome.
- There are clearly two different shots used during a cut in the makeout of the second flashback. One shot has Veronica and Logan sitting up again, her on his lap, the next shot (when the window is knocked on) has them laying down, Veronica on top.
- Audience? What Audience? Sure the guys are there, but those windows are completely black-tinted, Veronica.
- Heeheehee, check out Dick's hibiscus-emblazoned shorts. Heeheehee!
- It doesn't make much sense that we see Veronica's facial expression when Logan can't see it ... after all, he's the one telling this flashback.
- Logan and Dick are wearing matching Puka shell necklaces. (See Pep Squad Practice.)
- Logan's sweet and sexy "Hi" to Veronica as the window is rolling up.
- The awesomeness that is Mr. Wu throughout the whole episode.
- In their first scene in physics class, Dick and Logan are the only two class members wearing safety goggles.
- Anytime Logan is chewing on a pen, it's just so dang sexy and he does it quite frequently in the science class scenes. Sigh.
- Logan's laughter over Dick's "Score!" upon being paired with Angie. It's one of the few times we've seen Logan genuinely seem to laugh with Dick as opposed to at him.
- Maybe it's just me, but Jason Dohring's acting in the first Neptune Grand scene with Wallace reminded me immensely (and in a good way) of Nicolas Cage. I've never really noticed the similarity before, but it was strikingly hard to miss in this scene if you're a Cage fan. The delivery was so Cage-esque. Again, in a good way.
- Nice nod of continuity to the fact that Logan and Wallace haven't shared any screentime since the headlight-smashing scene in the Pilot. Even if Wallace got it wrong -- they didn't actually speak to one another and it was a tire iron, not a crowbar, Wally.
- In the dream sequence in which Veronica is talking to Peter after her conversation with Mr. Wu, Peter is tossing an egg, and using a baseball mitt to catch it.
- Veronica is listening to the same show in which Cap'n Krunk named Logan "Cock ... of the Walk" forty weeks running as she did in Ahoy Mateys!
- Kristen Bell was incredibly adorable and awesome while reading her acceptance letter.
- The somewhat narrow camera angle on Keith's first "blind date."
- Either Logan or Wallace (or both) are pretty popular because you can really hear the class cheering on their egg-drop effort.
- As in Donut Run, Dick referred to Veronica as "Ronnie."
- The placard behind Mr. Wu in his class reads:
- Veronica's cute jean jacket. Finally some Veronica Mars-stylin' outerwear!
- Oh my gosh! The return of the Veronica Mars Voiceover -- how we've missed you, ye voiceover of yore. Started up at 9:38 and it just kept on coming throughout the rest of the show.
- The lovely little basketballs on Logan and Wallace's egg-dropping safe container representing Air Fennel. No representin' for Logan. Ah well, whatcha gonna do? I guess, oh, penises (hey, sex does seem to be Logan's best ability) alongside the basketballs would have been a bit much.
- Like PlanetZowie.com, one of the search engines Veronica uses, neptunepirateship.com redirects to UPN's official Veronica Mars website.
- In the flashback, you might notice that Dick and Logan are wearing matching Puka shell necklaces. Now, it's possible what with Dick's ever-present hard-on for Logan that he saw Logan's and went and bought it himself, but it's still a little fishy ... Of course, Logan is sucking face big-time with Veronica while wearing his, so I guess I'm more inclined to lay this one on Dick.
- Yes, yes, it was Dick who paraphrased the oh so famous (and already overused) Brokeback Mountain line ("God, I don't know how I'm gonna quit you" -- redneck accent and all), but Logan didn't seem even remotely upset, offended, surprised, etc. by Dick's casual use of a homosexual sentiment directed towards him from the way-too-obsessed-with-Logan-to-be-just-friendship-Dick-Casablancas. Uh huh.
- Does Veronica take two English classes? We know that Mrs. Murphy is an English teacher. We know that Veronica, Logan and Dick are in Mrs. Murphy's English class. So what does Ms. Taft teach and if it's not another English class, why would she be reading The Golden Bowl?
- If Betina was the girl with whom Dick was secretly having an affair, then who was the girl, Sally, that Beaver threatened Dick with in Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough?
- Is it possible that Betina actually was pregnant when she died on the bus crash? And if so, is it merely a coincidence, that two girls carrying unborn '09er heirs were on the same doomed bus?
- As Peter so helpfully pointed out, why was he on the field trip anyway?
- In one of the dream sequences, Meg says she has "important information." What is this important information?
- Besides his obvious ickiness, was there another reason Meg thought Lucky was creepy and might that reason tie into the bus crash mystery?
- Did the revenge, of which Lucky referred to in the flashback, end up being the pool burning incident?
- Was Lucky behind the Xterra shooting in order to get Logan more involved with the PCHer vendetta?
- Why was Lucky part of the 'Get the PCHers' vendetta? Once an 09er, always an 09er ... even when bankrupt?
- If Beaver and Cervando were both supposed to be very intelligent, then why were they attending summer school?
- If Dick ruined Cervando's jeans with bleach, why did Cervando threaten Beaver? Could a big, bad PCHer, actually be scared by a rich, white boy?
- From the bathroom scene in M.A.D. last season, we learned that Logan was taking Physics. So why is he taking it again this year?
- Let's say, hypothetically, that Big Dick orchestrated the bus crash as a means of cashing in on Dick and Beaver's life insurance policies. If this is true, and the bus crash was intended to kill them, then why did Big Dick send a limo to pick them up?
- Is her name on Curly's hand the main thing still leading Veronica to feel she's somehow to blame for the crash?
- Cervando really did hustle Liam at pool? How dumb was that? The dude's scary. Just ask Thumper.
- Why on earth did Dick have bleach in his squirt gun? To ruin other people's clothing? And he picks a PCHer? What a stupid ass.
- Did Rhonda's phone call somehow trigger the bomb?
- While at Shark Field, Peter Ferrer won a Shark's Memorabilia Gift Bag, which contained the bomb that was detonated on the bus. Peter threw the bag into the trash before leaving the stadium. Dick happened to witness this event, leading him to remove the bag from the trash, and give it to his ex-lover Betina, who then brought it with her on the bus.
- The bomb only killed the bus driver. If the driver, Ed, was the intended target, the perpetrator could have detonated the explosive at almost any time during the drive back to Neptune without harming most students. But the timing of the explosion was such that it killed the bus driver and caused the bus to go over the cliff, ensuring the demise of the students as well. Thus the person detonating the bomb had to be in sight of the bus to know the exact moment when the bus was approaching the cliff.
- Cervando was scamming Liam Fitzpatrick.
holly96: Literature; Homeroom
JenniferH: Report Card; Chemistry; History; Literature; Social Science; Homeroom; Pep Squad Practice; Philosophy
Katrina: Yearbook; Literature; Social Science
Iloveyoubearymuch: Literature; Homeroom; Philosophy; Principles of Democracy
Pixigal (Gerrie): Drama Club; Social Science
PolarTruckin (Belinda): Social Science
SeluciaV (Alli): Extra Credit; Literature; Social Science
Tar Frimmer (Joanne): Study Hall; Literature; Social Science; Homeroom; Philosophy
Original Air Date: April 11, 2006
Written by: Diane Ruggiero & Cathy Belben
Directed by: Martha Mitchell
Grade: A
Membership Grade: A (73.3% / 45 votes)
Another excellent episode; that's two in a row. While last week held all of the various threads together nicely without confusion, the same isn't quite achieved as fully here. However, I Am God makes up for that slight lack with the creative angle of Veronica's nightmares. And if the Ms. James scenes are a tad too expository, they work well enough and it is certainly nice seeing her (as well as Meg) once more.
In addition, the witty dialogue remains as sharp as ever, all of the featured credited class are so on (with extra kudos to Kristen Bell) and the threads do play together nicely, even with a bit of puzzlement left over. Finally, the relationship entanglements are fun, fun, fun from Logan and Dick's just right on the edge of ambiguous friendship to Logan and Veronica taking two steps forward and one step back (still keeping them ahead!) and finally, the long-awaited pairing up of Logan and Wallace is a sheer joy to watch from start to finish.
Credited Cast Non-Appearance
Francis Capra - Eli "Weevil" Navarro
Teddy Dunn - Duncan Kane
Tessa Thompson - Jackie Cook
Recurring Guest Stars (Previous Episode Appearances)
Linda Castro Mrs. Murphy
Duane Daniels Principal Van Clemmons
Samantha Klein - Michelle
Paula Marshall - Rebecca James
Alona Tal Meg
Martin Yu - Mr. Wu
Guest Stars
Maximino Arciniega - Cervando Esparza
Blythe Auffarth - Betina
Vanessa Lee Chester - Maureen
Kayla Ewell - Angie Dahl
Luke Frydenger - Peter Ferrer
Jacleen Haber - Blind Date #3
James Jordan - Lucky
Audra J. Morgan - Rhonda
Lizzie Murray - Blind Date #1
Anne L. Nathan - Blind Date #2
Kathleen Parker - Journalism Teacher
Skyler Shaye - Natalie
Jeremy Ray Valdez - Marcos Oliveres
Who's Who in Neptune
Cervando Esparza - The PCHer killed in the bus crash best known for his smarts and his dislike of bleached blue jeans.
Betina - Dick's booty buddy and a poor white trasher, looking for love in all the wrong places.
Maureen - Betina's friend and Veronica's exposition buddy on all things Betina, Betina, Betina.
Angie Dahl - Veronica's rival for the Kane Scholarship and per Logan, "fills the bitch quota at Stanford" all on her lonesome.
Peter Ferrer - Openly gay student killed in the bus crash and known to have had info on "the outing of all outings" in Neptune.
Lucky - Ex-Army ranger, janitor at Neptune High that looks to be an instigator in the buddy class war during the summer. He also looks to have had an in with the Mannings and possibly a thing for Meg.
Rhonda - Another bus crash victim known for her poor white trash standing and her proclivity for getting into trouble.
Natalie - Sister of Rhonda and the owner of a pretty snazzy Corvette provided thanks to Woody Goodman per her mother's law suit settlement, due to finding a finger in her "ribwich."
Marcos Oliveres - The possibly gay co-host of pirate radio broadcast known for ripping heavily on choice students. He is also one of the bus crash victims, that has a love of both graffiti and alternative-bands.
Hey! It's That Guy/Girl
Skyler Shaye - We know her as poor white trash, Natalie on Veronica Mars. However, you may recognize her as the aneurysm, beauty queen girl from the pilot episode of Grey's Anatomy. From pretty pink princess to poor white trash, now that's what you call versatility.
Highlights
Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) - "You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!" Rod Serling used these words to introduce the television series The Twilight Zone but they could as easily be applied to the wonderful, tour de force acting performance delivered by Kristen Bell in I Am God.
Dreamy and surreal, tired and disoriented, ecstatic and relieved, flirty and lustful, a myriad of emotions are displayed by Bell as Veronica attempts to unravel more clues to the bus crash. I Am God belongs to Bell and she doesn't fail to deliver with an excellent performance that kept the viewer focused as the scenes around Veronica shifted and blurred. And a special standing ovation for the moment when Veronica opened her acceptance letter from Stanford and portrayed a moment of pure happiness. Awww!!!!
Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel) - Providing a nice contrast to his unconvincing teenage horndog role last week, Daggs delivers a subtle, heart-warming performance in I Am God. Working in excellent tandem with Jason Dohring (who delivers in magnificent form yet again), the young actor lets the essence of Wallace -- the ability to see to the heart of a person despite self-made barriers -- permeate his performance. Daggs hits every acting note perfectly as he layers his lines with insight and compassion. Dohring and Daggs are a terrific team, playing off each other with excellent timing and I believe, as Humphrey Bogart said in Casablancas, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Martin Yu (Mr. Wu) - Making his fourth appearance as Mr. Wu, Yu does a superb job portraying a teacher who is well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented but not gay. (Hee, hee) Whether ferreting out the truth from an off her game Veronica or handily smacking down an obnoxious Dick, Yu shines as another stellar example of exemplary acting from a tertiary character.
I've separated the first scene into five segments because we have the flashback section separated in two parts, and there is a different vibe to all three of the present-day segments. I decided it would be an easier read to separate the scene into each segment (present/past/present/past/present).
Scene One - Segment One: Because Logan Doesn't Have a Ponytail to Pull
Now, I know that Veronica did do that little kick to Logan's knees because she was tired. But the important thing to note is why the tiredness made her pull that little grade-school-crush move ... it is because of the tiredness that she was less on guard and thus able to give in to her still-there feelings for Logan. Thus the grade-school-crush move and that is totally, totally what that little maneuver was. Of course, it wasn't just the "Because you're five" movement; it was how Veronica did it. The playful way she came up behind him, the almost-smile, near-glow on her face as he turned to look at her and she realized what she had done (without fully realizing why she'd done it). It was cute, very, very cute. And flirty. Cuz she lurves him. Yes, she does.
Ahem, moving on. We also had her reaction to Logan's explanation for her lack of sleep. Whereas a few episodes ago, she probably would have just disgustedly rolled her eyes, sending a death glare along with it, she didn't do that here. Okay, yes there was an eye roll, but it was a mini-one and rolled with affection, not disgust and she was smiling while she did it. Ah, see that haystack over there? Do ya see it? Yes! Our straws are definitely being put to good use now!
One more note before we continue onto the scene we're all rewatching two or three ... thousand times. When Logan asked if she remembered meeting Lucky, oh boy. Excuse me while I sigh a dozen sighs here. Oh, his eyes were so soft and sweet and tender, milk chocolaty goodness melting in the sun. *Sigh* And then there was his smile, so gentle, so loving, so pretty. *Sigh* Finally, his voice -- it was the schmoopy voice!! Directed towards Veronica! The SCHMOOPY VOICE!! The SCHMOOPY VOICE! *SighSighSighSigh*
Scene One - Segment Two: Backseat LoVin'
Now that's more like it! We had an Xterra makeout flashback in Normal is the Watchword and I wasn't impressed ... at all. In fact, I wrote in my analysis of that scene way back in early October:
- ... the sexual heat and steam were barely non-existent. I'm not saying that it's because Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell are incapable of generating that heat ... but the direction of this scene did its damndest to deny them that capability. Their lips were fused together for, oh, about three seconds upon lying down, and two seconds later both were kissing the side of the other's mouth, and then we got motorcycles revving and then the gunfire. It was about as asexual as a scene like that could possibly be.... the execution of the sexual element of this scene actually seemed to be done in such a way as to dampen the sexual heat between these two as much as possible.
The grasping, gasping, grabbing for one another, her fingers rushing through his hair, on his back, his arm, fingers wrapping around his bicep and then back into his hair. Logan's hands doing the same exploration, pressed against her back, then cupping her face, moving to curve about her waist as he pulled her closer, then to her face, then again at her back. Veronica in his lap, continually trying to move closer and closer, Logan just as intently trying to pull her closer and closer against him. Logan taking control and her falling beneath him against the seat and then Veronica pushing back, and now she was on top. And all the while their lips and their hands were going at a frantic pace as if the world was about to end and they were damned sure gonna get as much of each other as they possibly could before Armageddon arrived. And that is what I expected to see when we saw Logan and Veronica making out and it was nice to actually get to see what was expected (well, maybe *nice* is too tame a word, LOL).
And while it would have been even nicer to see full shots of them and clearer face-shots, I think the direction actually enhanced that passionate desire. The fast-paced music with the beats hitting also helped to intensify the mood which was, of course, sold most effectively by Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring. In those fourteen seconds -- just a mere fourteen seconds! -- Bell and Dohring displayed more chemistry and heat than did any other pairing this season (even those that Bell and Dohring were involved with that didn't include the other) combined managed. It's been said before and I'll say it again: When you've got it, you've got it and these two have got IT! Onscreen, they are just this red-hot fusion of hot, heated, sexy, combustible chemistry.
The proof is in the pudding and on this show the pudding goes by the name LoVe.
Scene One - Segment Three: Flashback Interruptus
Interesting this. Veronica interrupting Logan's reminiscing makes perfect sense. We all know how little she likes to be reminded that they dated and here Logan is clearly going on (we can only imagine, as is he) in detail about their amorous exploits over the summer. Still, she doesn't seem as annoyed as I figured she would be. On the other hand, Logan seems really pissed off that she did interrupt him. If it were any other actor (except for Bell -- who's been really on the last couple of episodes especially), I'd just shrug it off to overacting, but since it is Dohring, I'm inclined to dig deeper.
As stated above, Veronica has made it clear that she wants to forget the summer of LoVe ever happened, and here -- right after things have begun to thaw between them -- Logan has the opportunity for the first time since they broke up to actually do a little reminding. And then Veronica goes and cuts him off. Now, you know that he was really visualizing what he was describing (and it was probably a lot more R-rated in his mind!). So on two counts, I can understand his frustration. First off, she opened the door for him -- frickin' opened the door -- to start the reminiscing. Secondly, he was enjoying that reminiscing and she interrupted him. Tsk, tsk, Veronica.
Ah, it's sooooo nice being able to completely see where both Logan and Veronica are coming from again and be able to justify words and actions on both parts quite handily. Niiice.
Scene One - Segment Four: Flashback Makeout Interruptus!
And immediately, we all hate Lucky. Why? Because Meg has talked derisively of him? No. Because he looks skeevy and creepy? No. Because he interrupted Logan and Veronica doing some hot 'n' heavy making out? Bingo! Picking up right where he left off, Logan's return to the flashback has him and Veronica still going at it like there's no tomorrow. Hands all over each other, desperate kisses, Veronica straddling Logan, and in a strange cut, suddenly lying down on top of him -- and Lucky knocks on the window. Grrr. Bad Lucky! Bad Lucky!
And the look on Veronica's face? Very much seems to match the audience's grr. Girl does not look happy. Can ya blame her? Didn't think so.
Ahem, moving on. What follows is interesting for a few reasons, both storytelling and fangirl-y. First of all, Veronica (whose face we see -- which in regards to the fact that it's Logan telling the story makes no sense) has a whole new expression of irritation when the "ball's in our court" pops out of Lucky's mouth. Prior to that moment, she just looked annoyed that her makeout session with Logan had been interrupted.
We can take a few things from this depending on which point of view you hold with viewers being able to see Veronica's expression even though Logan can't. Either you buy that Logan assumed that she was annoyed specifically about the vendetta and thus is describing her irritation so. If taking it thus, then the only assumption I can come up with is that he did know how much she hated his engaging in the PCHer/09er war.
Or you share my theory and believe that the producers are just showing us Veronica's point of view because the show is called Veronica Mars and leave it at that. And if that is the case, then we come back to my belief that Logan did not know that Veronica was that upset about his involvement (thus leading his shock at being dumped for that reason). Frankly, I think this theory holds more water because of (a) Logan's reaction to being dumped and (b) Logan's reaction here in this flashback.
He is holding onto Veronica, while she continues to cling to him. He presses a kiss to her shoulder, is relaxed and calm and when the window rolls back up, sweetly and sexily tells her "Hi." This is not the attitude nor are they the actions of a guy who thinks that he is doing things that will cause his girlfriend to dump him. So, I'm sticking with the theory the producers are giving us Veronica's point of view even though it's Logan's flashback.
Scene One - Segment Five: Back to the Present
I think I know what we're supposed to take from the final present-day section. I think and I think it's good in a way. After Logan has made it clear that he believes she left him for Duncan, Veronica simply nodded and walked off, even ignoring his continued attempts to banter. Why? Is this because she doesn't want to argue with him? Highly unlikely because when does Veronica not want to argue with Logan (and vice versa)? Ah ah ah, unless it has to do with their relationship and the squirrelly events of what happened that summer. So is that it? I think so.
Veronica knows that there was a helluva lot more to her breaking up with him than just the PCHer/09er war, but for her that is the main cause of it all. Side note: Will she ever admit that being with Duncan and revisiting/attempting to recreate her carefree days with him played a major part in the break-up? Probably not, but I'll never believe it didn't. Anyhoo, back on track. Despite other reasons, the main obvious one for the break-up was the PCHer/09er war and on the surface he knows that. Hell, she told him that when she broke up with him. However, if she were to take the time to contradict his response, she very well could be opening up a can of worms on a discussion that she is not ready to have.
Them. Their relationship and what went wrong. Because once she's ready to do that, I think she knows that it means that she is ready to try and make it go right. And she's not ready for that ... yet.
Scene Two: Ah, Foreplay!
Yes, Veronica isn't in this scene, but Logan's smile of fond remembrance, tone of voice and the actual comment about the headlight-smashing is worth a note in the LoVe analysis. I took his comment -- while clearly delivered and meant as snark -- to also confirm many a viewers belief (okay, this viewer's belief) that the hate part of their relationship was, more than anything, sublimated desire.
And Jason Dohring's delivery of that, "Ohh, foreplay!" along with the facial expression just really sold that point of view. He offered a slight smile and his eyes widened slightly and softened (in an over-the-top way, but still ...) as if remembering that special moment. It was delicious and fun. Again, over the top, but I do believe this was definitely a case of Logan overcompensating to hide that, in a way -- sick and twisted as it may be -- he did consider those early, rough times as a form of foreplay.
On another note, I find it interesting that despite the fact that Logan and Veronica dated for a couple of months during the summer, he and Wallace shared no interaction. This makes me believe that Veronica was really holding back during that period because she wasn't ready for the reality of a relationship with Logan. And I really hope that that is the case because I want there to have been a reason beyond Logan just wasn't it for Veronica for their break-up.
This would fit that bill. I've always told myself that it didn't work last summer because Veronica was holding herself back. Yes, there was the excuse of the PCHer/09 war, but if she had really wanted to make it work, she would have given him the ultimatum or stopped it before it started. This IS Veronica Mars we're talking about here. She wanted normal (remember, Normal is the Watchword); she was tired of the drama and just wanted to be a regular high-school girl and that simply could not happen with Logan.
I've convinced myself that the entire time they dated during the summer she was holding her breath, afraid to exhale and not willing to truly open up because to do so would mean that this was it. Logan and all of his drama was her choice and she was stuck with it before she was ready and she was scared shitless. So, she kept him from her father as much as possible -- meaning Keith didn't get to see the good in Logan. She clearly kept him and Wallace apart -- and it had to have been her decision because I just can't see Wallace not capitulating to get to know him had Veronica wanted it.
This is good, I truly believe. If Veronica wasn't ready, but hooked up with him anyway, we can take from that that she was unable to resist the temptation and it was only when she closed herself off in other ways -- keeping him away from the other important aspects of her life, recapturing a facade of normalcy with Duncan through their cafe visits -- that she was able to break away.
Why this is good is because it means that last summer the two of them together did not honestly, openly try. Neither one was ready to give what it takes to make a relationship work and that's why they didn't work then. And I'm not just laying this on Veronica ... emotionally, Logan was, no doubt, more fucked up than he ever has been in his life and he wasn't ready for the reality of a relationship with Veronica either. So, it didn't work then. That's okay. Because we know that when they are ready -- and damnit, there will come a time when they ARE ready -- it will work. Because they are meant to be. It's just that last summer the be was not meant yet.
Scene Three: No Sleep Makes Veronica a Cranky Mars!
Despite Veronica's comment to Logan which was really, really mean, I think this is still a good scene for LoVe overall. Also, I'm happy to say that this is the first time in the series run where Veronica was a complete bitch to Logan and I totally understand why and don't hold it against her at all. We know the girl is dog-tired (which Kristen Bell played beautifully -- see Drama Club), we know she's on edge about whatever the hell is obviously still there between her and Logan and we know that her first instinct with Logan is to snap back. Sooo ... with all of that in place, her response to him (regardless of how low-down it was) makes perfect sense.
She's not going to have the brainpower (due to her exhaustion) to come up with something witty. She's probably still pondering somewhere inside about Logan's casually stated comment that she left him for Duncan as if it was a given. Furthermore, due to her emotional upheaval about the still-there-attraction to Logan, she's desperately trying to remind herself why she broke up with him -- as she did in the first scene -- and if she can add another girl to that list, just more proof that he's no good, he's no good, he's no good (so singeth Linda Rondstadt!) all the better.
So Veronica lashed out, without the wit. Her sleepless nights making her meaner than she normally would be, the tension that is stretched taut in her interaction with him once more -- no other explanation than that, again, it's all sexual, baby -- causing her to hit below the belt. And let's get real here. I love the Buscemi in all of his glory, but comparing a teenage girl to hangdog Stevie-boy? Not nice. Not nice at all. So, I can forgive her without a qualm.
As for the good, it is there. Yes, Logan's crack about Buscemi wasn't nice, but it was delivered in a total-teenage-boy-foot-in-his-mouth way, not a snarky-I'm-insulting-you-with-my-wit-Logan-Echolls-way. She looked really tired with the bags under her eyes, he noticed and he was concerned. Note the non-snark in his voice when he said it. He wasn't trying to be mean, he was concerned. And even his reaction to her comment to him was good for LoVe.
He looked miserable -- and no, it had nothing to do with the Pink Pastel, that's been made plenty clear. He was miserable because things were softening between them, that attraction was clearly still there on both sides, the snark was back to flirty banter and they were actually acknowledging their relationship. Now, all of a sudden, lo and behold, she's back to being a total bitch to him (again, I understand, I'm not peeved at all! Lack of sleep and lack of make-out time with Logan Echolls -- which she'd so recently been reminded of can make a girl cranky!) and he was just hurt. Poor baby.
Still, it's good. Logan clearly is opening up again to Veronica if he could show that hurt from her comment and Veronica may actually start thinking about Logan and her treatment of him based on Wallace's defense. Wallace! Her BFF, perennially (but for a completely dropped storyline to deal with Percy Daggs III non-full-22-episode contract status) on her side and loyal to a fault, defending Logan Echolls! What is the world coming to? Hmm, maybe something good. Maybe the shocker of that (get yer minds out of the gutter!) will get her to start seeing Logan in a better light. And that can't be anything but good.
- In Mr. Wu's science class, students are yakking, goofing off, walking around, anything but paying attention to poor (but awesome!) Mr. Wu. Two such students are Dick and Logan, who are sitting together at a table, both wearing safety goggles and acting silly. An obviously frustrated Mr. Wu turns to the class and practically yells at the students to get their attention.
The class quiets down a little as he explains their current assignment, "Mr. Wu's Egg Drop Competition." Each team of two students is to design a device to protect an egg from breaking as the device is dropped from increasing heights. The students whose egg survives the highest drop not only get an "A" for the assignment, but also get excused from -- and here Mr. Wu tries to impress the class with his gangsta style -- "Mr. Wu's notorious GPA-killin'..." Yeah, nobody's buying him as a rapper (maybe it's the sweater vest?), so he fades it out.
Logan snarks to Dick that Mr. Wu must love his egg drop soup and Dick asks Wu if the assignment comes with "pot stickah." Honestly, Dick? I envision bankruptcy due to all the sexual/racial harassment suits in your future. Wu reminds them that this is a major test grade and for some (Wu's looking at you, Dick!) it's going to determine a pass/fail grade. Dick asks Logan if Wu is hitting on him, which gets some laughs from the class, but as someone's cell phone rings, Wu's had enough and tells them he's going to assign partners alphabetically since it's obviously a bad idea for Dick and Logan to work together. Which leads Dick to a Brokeback Mountain moment with his boy ... friend.
Wu assigns Angie Dahl as Dick's partner. Angie makes a bitch face at the news, but Dick is all "Score!" about the partnership. With all the time he must have spent with Madison, I can see why the bitch face wouldn't scare him off. Continuing with the alphabetical assignments, Echolls and Fennel are paired up. Neither boy looks thrilled by the news, but that's okay because there are plenty of us in the audience who were thrilled enough for them.
Dick walks over to Angie and offers his "gentlemanly" services: Foot massage or coconut oil rubdown. Angie warns him to stay out of her way because she needs to be excused from the final. Wallace sits next to his new project buddy and Logan checks to make sure Wallace isn't going to get all super-achiever on him. Wallace assures him he's only interested in getting a passing grade so Hearst doesn't take back his scholarship.
Academic bar set low enough to step over, it's time for a little bonding at Logan's hotel room. Wallace is putting an egg in the raggedy contraption they've built out of what looks like tongue depressors and plastic grass. Logan says if the egg survives a four foot drop, they'll pass. He kneels on the floor and extends a tape measurer up as Wallace raises the crate and drops it. After it bounces a little bit, Wallace checks the egg. It's a winner. Or rather, a passing grade for two seniors hoping to cruise by on as little effort as possible.
As Wallace starts to pack up, thankful the project is over, there's a knock on the door. It's room service delivering Logan's buffalo burger. Logan tips the waiter (hopefully he's improved his tipping habits since An Echolls Family Christmas) and Wallace comments on how it must be nice to live like this. Logan realizes Wallace doesn't like him very much, so Wallace reminds him that the last conversation they had together was when Logan was bashing Veronica's headlights with a crowbar. Logan fondly remembers the "foreplay," which just makes Wallace shake his head. Logan's fond memories are once again interrupted by yet another knock on the door. This time, it's the maid with his linen and pillow. Or his "fluffer" as Logan calls her. I really hope the maid doesn't understand the double entendre there, because, man. Not very gentlemanly.
Later that night, Veronica arrives home to find Keith sitting at the counter going through their mail. Veronica asks him if she saw him at the school earlier. Keith dodges the question by asking if she was hallucinating. She counters by pointing out he's wearing his snazzy dating uniform and not so subtlely asks if he's rekindling things with Ms. James. Keith ignores her and hands her an envelope from Stanford University. Looking like all the air just got sucked out of the room, Veronica takes it and stares at it for awhile. Keith stands beside her, showing his support as she anxiously notes how thin the envelope is -- possibly too thin for an acceptance letter.
Keith assures her that no matter what it says, he's proud of her, sealing the sentiment with a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. Taking a deep breath, Veronica finally tears the envelope open, stares at the folded letter for a bit, then opens it and reads. Slowly, a little smile starts to form as she reads out loud her acceptance to Stanford. Keith smiles, both proud and a little sad. Veronica squeals and dances, overjoyed and displaying her real "over the moon face," as she throws her arms around Keith. Honestly, she's looking happier than she has since she found out Celeste wasn't her stepmother. She hugs him again and reads the letter, relieved that something is finally going her way.
Or at least it is until the next day when she finds herself sitting in Clemmons' office with Angie Dahl. Turns out there was an error in the calculations of the class rankings. An error which only affects Veronica and Angie as they're the only ones who remain in the running for the Kane scholarship. Suddenly very anxious, her voice almost breaking, Veronica asks what kind of error. Clemmons explains that Angie was awarded a four-point "A" for the Summer-at-Sea elective she took. It was a college-level course, so she should have been awarded a five-point "A." The adjustment puts Angie in the lead.
Veronica's upset, so Angie smiles and snottily tells Veronica that she could have taken the class, too, since it was open to anyone. Right. Anyone with money. Asking Angie how much the semester at sea set her back, Angie bitchily smirks that she has no idea. Veronica's frustrated to say the least. And can we blame her? I mean, losing the scholarship to someone like Hamilton Cho would be disappointing, but to this ... well, I think Veronica puts it best when she tells Ms. James that Angie is "a demon spawn." Ms. James thinks Veronica is being too harsh, but I'm thinking Ms. James hasn't spent much time around Angie. Down in the dumps, Veronica points out it really is the story of her life. She gets to spend about five minutes thinking her dreams may just come true, but then some rich brat slaps her back into reality.
On a different note, Veronica tells Ms. James that at least Keith seems happy now. Rebecca thinks that's wonderful; she's happy for him. Trying to get something out of Ms. James since Keith wasn't giving anything up earlier, Veronica says she's glad the two of them are in touch again. It's a strike out, though, because Rebecca's confused -- she hasn't been in touch with Keith.
Walking down the hall, Wallace tells Veronica there's nothing about her that says "second place" to him. Aww. What a good friend. One who's very much needed right now because Veronica's pissed off that, in point of fact, her GPA does say "second place" right now. And why? Because Angie's parents convinced the school board that her purchased grades should be worth more than Veronica's earned grades. Wallace launches into a pep talk straight off the pages of a Platitude-a-Day desk calendar, telling her to "shake it off", "work through it", "the lowest point of the ebb is the turn of the tide." At least he means well. After all, it is the thought that counts.
Keith's at Java the Hut, on a date with a blonde woman we're going to refer to as Date#1. She enthusiastically goes on about how "first name basis" is so much better than "it's just coffee" and I have no idea what the hell she's talking about. Keith smiles politely at her, so maybe he doesn't get it either. Anyway, Date#1 has tried all of the dating services and likes this one in particular because you don't have to send out a picture or give out your real name. Picture or no picture, she sure wasn't disappointed when she saw Keith walk in. He continues to smile politely as she assures them both that Keith wasn't disappointed when he saw her there. In fact, she even saw him smiling. Which he continues to do ... politely.
In class, Wu closes the door and tells Angie that her mother has sent her something, apparently more important than his class. As she gets up and walks out, Dick checks her out and whistles. Wu tells Logan and Wallace it's their turn to demonstrate their egg-dropping device. Logan hands their project to Wallace, offering to rub his head for good luck. Wallace turns him down and takes their project up to the front of the class. Logan stands and drums on his desk as the class cheers Wallace on.
Wallace slides their box off the four foot stand, but the demonstration is interrupted by Angie's squeals of delight as she runs in to the class carrying a balloon bouquet. She excitedly announces that she got into Stanford. There's a little bit of laughter from the class, but Logan looks downright annoyed. Dick congratulates her, suggesting that she and Veronica can be roomies and they could pillow fight for his viewing pleasure. Irritated, Angie asks if Veronica got into Stanford. Wallace proudly repeats that she did. Showing her true demon spawn bitch face, Angie says that somebody has to do the football team. Wallace and Logan? Not laughing with the rest of the class.
Wu announces the Echolls/Fennel team gets a passing grade, but if they'd like to aim a little higher tomorrow ... well, he's not going to hold his breath. Angie returns to her seat as Logan glares at her. Dick suggests that Angie and "Ronnie" can soap each other's backs in the dorms, since he's heard all of the girls shower together.
Angie asks Mr. Wu for another partner since Dick is being inappropriate and didn't help her with their project. Dick insists he did help, but Wu asks him to prove it by bringing their project to him. Angie smiles smugly as Dick walks over to the projects and ... can't figure out which one is theirs. Wu delivers the disappointing news that Dick will be joining him for summer school. The bell rings as Angie grins with a sense of accomplishment. Logan congratulates her on single-handedly fulfilling Stanford's bitch quota. She tells him to enjoy trade school and saunters out.
Logan joins up with Wallace, who's waiting for him outside their class. Wallace is going to keep working on their project if Logan doesn't mind. To Wallace's surprise, Logan's game. He invites him over to work on it some more.
Java the Hut. Date#2 is a brunette, who tells Keith that he reminds her of George Costanza on Seinfeld. How so? Well, he's a nice guy with a lot of unrealized potential. (Has she ever even seen Seinfeld?) Guys who really want to meet women dress to impress, wear a little cologne, get a gym membership, buy some hair. Keith asks if she means he should make more of an effort. She does. He pretends to search for a notepad to write down her sage advice.
As Logan sits on his sofa, Wallace bounces around the room, drinking espresso and talking through their project plans. Logan suggests Wallace decelerate himself and takes the espresso from him, noting that four is officially Wallace's limit. As Logan returns to the couch, Wallace asks him why he's doing this. Wallace is trying to help Veronica go to Stanford, but what's Logan's deal? Claiming he doesn't know, but that it's not for Veronica, he offers that perhaps it's the spirit of competition. Wallace laughs and lets him off the hook. Logan advises him to chill while the glue dries and then excuses himself to the bathroom.
Wallace sits down and turns on the TV, flipping through the stations until he lands on The Tinseltown Diaries. He watches as the scandalous Echolls' lives are exploited once more, not realizing Logan is back in the room, observing. Logan notes that this is its top-rated episode and thus is repeated twice a day, then walks back out of the room. Wallace looks sympathetic and a little more understanding of Logan.
In Principal Clemmons' office, sneaky little Veronica hides in the coat closet just as Keith and Van walk in. Keith's apologizing for his bad habit of forgetting things. Van asks for an update on the case, as Veronica listens from the closet. Keith says it's going pretty slowly at the moment, which is unfortunate because Van says they've had three more cases this week. Students are being diagnosed with "generalized anxiety disorder" so often you'd think it was contagious. Keith asks if these students are all "Section 1123" now and if the diagnosis is coming from the same doctor in each case. It is. The teachers are about to revolt because they're being forced to offer the students deadline extensions, make-up dates for exams and unlimited time on tests. All at the students' discretion.
Keith says he hopes to have something soon as Van points him to the closet for the coat he left there the other day. Uh oh. Realizing she's about to be caught, Veronica scrambles to the back of the closet, just as Keith opens the door and sees her hiding there. He gives her the Keith Mars Raised Eyebrow look as she cringes even further back, takes his coat off the hanger and hands it to him with a guilty smile. "Yep, that's mine, alright," Keith acknowledges, as he shuts his daughter back in the closet.
Date#3 at Java the Hut. Another brunette, this one confessing that she was one of the people carrying the pitchforks and torches trying to run Keith out of town for going after "sweet" Jake Kane. At least she was embarrassed when she found out the truth and tried to make up for it by voting for Keith in the last election. As Keith notes, he totally carried the pity vote. He asks her to tell him a little about herself. She says her life is pretty dull; she's an office manager for a local doctor. Score! (No, not that way. The P.I. way!) Keith is interested and would like to hear more about her job.
Keith presents Clemmons with a tape of Date#3, i.e. Dr. Burns' office manager, offering to provide Veronica with a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis for a $1,000 consultation fee. Van's impressed and asks Keith how he got the tape. Painfully, Keith says. It takes kissing a lot of toads before you find your medical office manager.
Outside the school, Wu's class is watching as Angie stands on a ladder and drops her egg. Wu pulls the egg out of her balloon-padded basket and announces that she's the only student whose egg survived a twelve foot drop. There's polite applause and now it's time for the Echolls/Fennel team, the last ones in the running.
Wallace climbs the ladder with their mini-basketball-padded, pirate-flag-waving basket. Wu reminds everyone of the prize at stake, as some dork in the background boos Wallace and waves the thumbs-down sign. This guy was cheering Angie on, so obviously he's a dork and an idiot loser.
Logan gives Wallace an encouraging nod. Wallace takes a deep breath. Dick cheers him on. Angie holds her breath. And ... Wallace drops it. It lands. Wu pulls the egg out and ... it looks good! Wallace smiles, but then Wu turns the egg around, revealing that it's cracked. Aww. Wallace and Logan are disappointed, but hey, at least they tried.
Angie, carrying her newly acquired egg trophy, walks down the hall with a friend who's congratulating her. Angie spent all night on the egg project, so she's requested an extension on Ms. Murphy's Crime and Punishment exam due to her generalized anxiety disorder. Which both girls find oh so amusing. Looks like this grade will come with a price tag of $1,000.
Veronica sleep-walks down the hall, listening to the Ahoy Mateys! radio show. Eyes barely open, she runs right into Logan. She takes out her earphones just in time to hear him ask if thoughts of him are still keeping her up nights. Then, noting her weary expression, he looks into her eyes and tells her she looks ... like Steve Buscemi? Steve Buscemi?! Dude. That can go near the top of a list of Things Never to Tell a Woman Ever. Especially one who's tired, cranky and as verbally capable of slicing and dicing people as you are. Which she proceeds to do, even if the effort's a little shaky and a bit slow. She sarcastically refers to the catch that he so is not.
Stung a bit, he smiles a little sadly and opts to walks away without a reply. Having witnessed this exchange, Wallace amicably suggests that maybe Veronica should cut Logan a little slack sometimes. As he walks off, Veronica clearly realizes she may have just entered the Twilight Zone because her BFF just stuck up for her OPJ. Eh. Whatever. She's too tired and cranky to think about it and returns to listening to the radio recording.
Angie sits in Ms. Murphy's class, reading a magazine instead of taking an exam like the rest of the class. Principal Clemmons interrupts with a campus-wide announcement that, due to recently discovered abuses, the school will no longer be honoring special exemptions or extensions for Section 1123 students. Ms. Murphy cheerily puts the exam down in front of Angie, who drops her magazine and realizes she's not getting out of this test she didn't bother to study for. Karma, meet Bitch.
- Natalie Landers offered to make out with Wallace for cigarette money last year.
- Cassidy, Cervando, Dick and Logan were all in summer school last year.
- There is a gay bar in the area named Possibilities.
- Mr. Wu has a cousin who is gay.
- This week's episode opens with a bang. Veronica, in a hazy dream of gritty film and dark angry synthesizer music, is sitting on the crashed bus with a pad in her lap featuring an ominous cartoon drawing of the grim reaper lording over nine tombstones. Perhaps to represent the eight crash victims and Veronica, who by all accounts, should have been on the bus when it went over that cliff? We pan over to three of the victims, Meg, Peter and Betina, lying against one another, apparently very wet and very dead.
Veronica is drawn out of her less-than-sweet dreams by someone presenting her with a pass. Apparently, the school guidance counselor wants to see her. According to Ms. James (welcome back!), Veronica has recently detoured onto the dark path of rebellion. She has been sleeping in class, and was reprimanded by Mrs. Taft three times for wearing headphones in class. Veronica points out that Mrs. Taft has been reading The Golden Bowl out loud in class using a fake British accent with this look on her face that says, "wearing headphones was an act of self-preservation."
Veronica was also recently caught ripping down another student's poster. Veronica crankily wonders if she's being followed. Ms. James ignores her and informs Veronica that the poster-maker would like her photo's back. Now Veronica's face is a mix of "So? I'll return those pictures when hell freezes over," and "what the hell do you care?"
Clearly, she's in a fine mood.
Ms. James invites Veronica to talk if there is something bothering her. Veronica says that she would, but that Jennifer Love Hewitt would probably be better suited to the task. Ms. James clearly doesn't get The Ghost Whisperer reference (maybe she's a Joan of Arcadia fan and still feels the loss), or Veronica's sense of humor. Veronica elaborates that she's being haunted by the kids who died in the bus crash. Ms. James is understandably concerned, but when she confirms to Veronica that she's not seeing the dead students, Veronica decides that she isn't either. Until bedtime, that is, when the dead students come out to play in her dreams, acting as if they are, ahem, dying to tell her something.
Veronica opens her bus crash file (that she is apparently carrying on her person 24/7 these days) and presents Ms. James with headshots of the victims: Cervando, the academically inclined PCHer; Betina, Dick's booty buddy; Rhonda, Michelle's friend who made the phone call just prior to the crash; Marcos, of "Ahoy Mateys!" fame (listening to every episode of this show is apparently the reason Veronica's got headphones on in class all of the time); Peter, who posted the details of his unrequited gay love on neptunepirateship.com; and, last but not least, our dearly departed Meg, the nicest '09er ever.
Veronica asks Ms. James if she knows anyone by the name of Lucky, because apparently Meg had a lot to say about him. We flash to one of Veronica's hazy dreams of the now blue water and dreamy synth-pop bus of death. Veronica and Meg appear to be alone on the bus, with Veronica sitting several rows behind Meg. Meg, sporting a clever t-shirt reading "baby on board" with an arrow pointing to her still-flat belly, appears to still have her pre-crash attitude intact.
Veronica asks dream Meg about Lucky, her parent's friend from church. To Veronica, it sounds like they were trying to set Meg up with him. Meg says that they weren't outwardly setting her up, they just liked to have him over for dinner so he could talk about taking shrapnel in the ass for America in Iraq while quoting the bible, and her parents could point out how great he was. Fun, fun, fun! But Veronica points out that Meg always found him creepy.
All of the sudden, Meg is now sitting next to Veronica, and she's pissed that Veronica appears to have been reading her emails, because her sister gave those files to Duncan -- not to her. She's pissed that Veronica made herself privy to Meg's thoughts without permission. But then Meg remembers: She's dead. And in Veronica land, no pulse = no privacy. Veronica protests that she's only trying to help. Meg tells Veronica that her parents only like Lucky because he can sing hymns with his eyes closed, and he helped her dad move an air-conditioner once. (The look of confused disgust on Meg's face here is priceless.) She goes on to say that Lucky is just a janitor at his former high school that buys beer for guys like Logan so he can hang on to his glory days.
We flash back to Ms. James asking Veronica how long she's been having these dreams. Veronica tells her it's been a couple of days, ever since she came across Rhonda's friend Michelle in the hallway raising money for a spread of the dead kids in the yearbook. Veronica suggests that Ms. James talk to this girl because she's got that "wild-eyed Margot Kidder in a bush" look about her -- a total nut job.
We flash back to the aforementioned hallway meeting where an overenthusiastic Michelle asks Veronica for a donation, and proceeds to chipper her to death by telling her how much money she's raised in one day. Michelle goes on to say that if she raises enough, she wants to get one of those audio chips to put in the yearbook with the spread so that everyone can forever hear them laughing and having fun.
Back to Ms. James asking Veronica what Michelle meant by that. Veronica reminds Ms. James that Rhonda left Michelle a message on her cell right as the bus was headed over the cliff. Apparently, Rhonda made another call to Michelle though, just prior to the call on her cell. Rhonda first called Michelle at home and left her a message there. Michelle told Veronica that you could hear everybody laughing and having fun on that message, clearly unaware that destiny was awaiting them just around the bend. Of course, Veronica asked to hear the message.
We flash back to Michelle and Veronica in an empty classroom listening to the message. On the message, Rhonda is again telling Michelle how she can't believe she's missing this. In the background, you can hear all of the students laughing, and as Rhonda asks Michelle's machine if she can hear everything, Veronica hears a voice she didn't expect: Dick Casablancas asking Betina if she's ready for a little "bow-chicka-waw-waw." Ms. James, like Veronica, is a bit startled by this news. How is it possible that Veronica heard Dick's voice when we know for certain he wasn't on the bus? Freaky, no?
Ms. James asks if Veronica told her dad about the message. Funny you should ask, Ms. James. She was just getting to that part. We flash back again to the hazy dream of blue water and dreamy synth-pop bus of death, but this time, Veronica's on the bus alone with Rhonda at the precise moment she's leaving the fateful message for Michelle as the explosion sounds and the bus crashes.
In a flashback, Veronica shoots up in bed and cries out her distress, and Super Dad comes a-runnin' to her rescue. Veronica assures Keith that she's fine -- she just had a nightmare. Keith snarkily asks her if she watched House of Wax again, because "that Hilton girl" gives her nightmares. Veronica isn't alone in that boat, Keith. That Hilton girl gives A LOT of people nightmares.
Keith notices that Veronica seems to have fallen asleep reading case files on the bus crash victims and correctly muses that it probably isn't the best choice for bedtime reading. Veronica tells Keith that Betina was playing voice messages from Dick for everyone on the bus at the time of the crash. The voice messages had been burned to CD and were in the bus' CD player, but now appear to be in Veronica's custody. Keith is clearly none-too-happy with the situation and doesn't believe Veronica when she assures him that she willed the CD's to the apartment.
Keith is justifiably angry that Veronica snuck onto the bus. In a pure teen moment (how refreshing!) Veronica tosses back the old "like you didn't?" line that only serves to further anger an already angry parent. Veronica plows ahead and angrily wonders why Keith didn't tell her about the drawing. Keith's all, "what drawing? I was on the bus for like two seconds" with a cleverly implied "unlike you who was clearly there for hours, you reckless girl!" Veronica pulls out a shot of the back of one of the bus seats that appears to have a large and detailed drawing on it bearing the words "I AM GOD." They debate the meaning of that phrase and Keith asks why the drawing has nine tomb stones? Veronica muses that perhaps the killer wasn't expecting her to get off of the bus.
Ms. James asks Veronica if she can see the artwork. Veronica hands her two photos of the drawing. The artwork is the same as the drawing from the opening sequence. The only difference is the phrase "I AM GOD" that accompanies the artwork the width of the bus seat. One of the kids on the bus had to have drawn it -- and Veronica has to find out who.
The next day at school, Veronica runs up behind Logan at his locker and kicks him behind his knee. Why? Because, as Logan points out, she's five. And when you are five and you like a boy, you hit and kick him to show your affection. Hee! Veronica swears that it's just because she's punchy and hasn't been sleeping. "Thoughts of me?" Logan inquires. Not that she'll admit it, but you know it's true. When she isn't dreaming of blue dreamy or ominous bus of doom, she's totally thinking about Logan. Logan snarks that it is totally understandable, because sometimes he's up all night just thinking about himself. HA!
Veronica asks Logan if he knows one of the night janitors, Lucky. Yeah, Logan's heard of Tommy Dominick. Veronica asks the obvious question -- why do they call him Lucky? Apparently after he graduated from Neptune High, his parents filed for bankruptcy and he had to drop out of college, so he joined the Army Rangers. The army sends him to Iraq, and four months later he gets shot. So this makes him "lucky" how? Logan explains that Lucky was shot in the ass, so it really could have been worse. Then Logan reminds Veronica, with a sweet, sexy grin that she met Lucky once too -- remember?
We flash back to the backseat of Logan's Xterra, where Logan and Veronica are involved in one super hot, super heavy, and super sexy make-out session. We watch Veronica straddle Logan's lap, we see Logan putting his hands all over Veronica's back and hips, and then up into her hair. We see Veronica clutching Logan's hair and pulling him closer and closer. She's on top, and then he's on top, and still no one is coming up for air. But hey -- would you? Veronica interrupts Logan's reverie to inquire whether or not this story has a point. (*shakes head*) Veronica, you silly girl. The point is, he was your boyfriend, you loved him, he loved you, and you couldn't keep your hands off each other. Remember?
Logan, annoyed by her interruption, barks that he'd get to the point of the story if she'd just let him finish. Sheesh! Anyway, we flash back again to hot making out in the Xterra of LoVe. Again, there's grinding and groping and kissing and, um, pardon me -- I need a minute.Okay, I'm good, I'm back. Ahem. Just as Veronica plasters herself on top of a prone Logan, there's a knock at the window. Logan sits up, keeping Veronica on his lap and in his arms while he leans over to roll down the window. Standing outside are Dick and some random guy that we presume is Lucky.
Lucky tries to tell Logan that he's had enough face-sucking time and they have things to do. Silly rabbit! There's no such thing as too much face sucking time in Logan-land when it involves his Veronica. Logan is unimpressed and snarks that he's not feeling the urgency to get right to that afternoon of getting high and playing videogames. Lucky is unamused and reminds Logan that the ball is in their court now and someone has to pay. Dick, in spectacular Dick fashion, wants to make sure that once they handle the making someone pay part, they will, in fact, be getting high and playing videogames though. Lucky has no patience and snaps at Dick to get it together. Dick -- dude! I can't believe you are gonna let Lucky talk to you like that. Logan dismisses the guys with an "I'll be there when I get there."
Flash back to Logan and Veronica in the hallway, and Veronica putting on her bitch hat with a whole "remind me why we broke up again?" (Oooh! Ooooh! I know this one! Pick me! Pick me! No -- wait -- Logan's got this one.) "You thought the other guy had greener grass." He shoots, he scores! Veronica pulls an eye roll and walks off. But Logan's not done, oh no. Then he debates whether or not it was because he was too much man, or was SHE too much man? You know, bitchy or not, I'm glad we're finally getting this stuff out in the open. Veronica, can you hear him now?
At lunch, Veronica crooks her finger and beckons Dick over to her lunch table. Dick counters that just because Veronica "wiggles her finger, doesn't mean Dick's gonna come." (Side note: Were the censors even awake when viewing this episode?) Veronica ups the ante by typing a special message to Dick on her laptop. As she turns the screen towards him we can read the words "I know who you did last summer." Ha! That's enough to get Dick's attention. When he arrives at the table, he asks Veronica what she wants. For her response, Veronica hits a key on her laptop and we hear Dick's booty call message to Betina. Dick is clearly uncomfortable, and Veronica pounces -- wants to know all about Dick and Betina's summer of love.
Dick pulls out all the stops on this confession, and reveals exactly how big a Dick he really is. Guys, don't get me wrong -- he's cute and hilarious, but this scene reminds us how fitting his name is. Dick tells Veronica that everyone has a bad party and stumbles a few rungs down the social ladder, that everyone has their "secret shame." That sometimes you don't need the prettiest horse, just the one that will let you ride bareback. Veronica wonders aloud if he considered how dangerous that was, and wonders internally if beating the hell out of someone that obnoxious would really be considered a crime. Dick then, unbelievably, asks Veronica, "Do you think I'm stupid?" I hope that was rhetorical Dick. 'Cause if you were looking for an honest opinion, you guys are gonna be sitting at that table until graduation. At least.
Dick isn't sure why Veronica's so bothered because, hey, Betina was on the pill, and you don't hear her complaining either. Oh, Jesus criminy, Dick. Veronica reminds him that, uh, no, not so much -- mainly because SHE'S DEAD YOU MORON. But that aside, clearly Betina wasn't happy about the situation because she was playing his voicemails for the entertainment of the whole bus the day of the crash. Not the actions of a satisfied customer, dumbass. More the actions of a woman scorned -- and looking for a little payback, I think it is fair to say.
As far as Dick's concerned, Betina didn't have anything to complain about anyway because the day of the crash, he gave her a nice parting gift: His Sharks season ticket package and his memorabilia gift bag, to be precise. Veronica reminds him that he didn't win the tickets and stuff that were raffled off that day. Dick's like, well, the gay kid who won them threw them in the trashcan, so he snagged them because he thought Betina might like them. Or that she could sell them for grocery money, or something. My urge to slam his head into the table top grows with every word out of his pig mouth.
Later that afternoon, Veronica approaches Betina's friend, Maureen, playing like she was helping Michelle with the yearbook tribute. Perhaps Maureen has some artwork or poetry or something they can use? Maureen says that she doesn't have anything that Betina would want anyone else to see. Veronica then inquires about perhaps other friends, or say, a boyfriend, perhaps? Maureen says that Betina didn't have a boyfriend. Okay, a secret boyfriend perhaps? And Veronica would know all about those.
Veronica tells Maureen that she thought she saw Betina with Dick at a party. Maureen is clearly not a fan of Dick. (Boy, everything you say using his name sounds dirty, doesn't it?) In fact, she refers to him as the 'bastard child of Satan.' After his display at lunch, I'm hard pressed to disagree. (I love the guy, but that was pretty scummy.)Maureen tells Veronica that Betina and Dick did have a thing, and that Dick treated Betina horribly -- like a free hooker. Unfortunately, although she'd like to blame it all on Dick, she knows that Betina let him do it. The worse Dick was to her the more she wanted him. Dick was Betina's ideal guy: Rich and completely indifferent to her. The funny thing was that Dick just wanted to bang Betina without everyone knowing, and all Betina wanted was to get pregnant so she could shout it from the rooftops. Hey, Dick? I'm thinking perhaps Betina told you a little white lie about those birth control pills. And consequently, yeah, you are stupid.
After the commercial break, we're back in one of Veronica's hazy bus crash dreams. She's drawing the ominous picture again, and Betina's trying to figure out what's with the t-shirts everyone is wearing: Meg's "Baby on Board;" Betina's "I (heart) Dick;" and Peter's pink tee with sequin rainbow. Peter is not happy about the overt and clich nature of his shirt. Meg's looking a little catatonic and randomly blurts out "I have important information." Just then, Betina reminds Veronica that it's time for the bus to crash. And at that moment, Veronica wakes up in class listening to the old "Ahoy Mateys!" episode where Logan was named 'Cock of the Walk' for the fortieth straight week.
At her next meeting with Ms. James, Veronica admits that she's still not sleeping. The dreams haven't stopped and she still hasn't figured out who drew the picture. We next see Veronica and Wallace cruising the halls together where Veronica admits she's losing the Mexican standoff with the Sandman. Across the way they spy a large banner dedicated to the kids who died in the crash. Wallace comments how ironic it is that the girl on the bus who was consistently in the most trouble is the one who looks the most angelic in her picture.
Wallace goes on to tell Veronica that Rhonda and her sister Natalie were in Clemmons' office all the time last year for a variety of crimes and misdemeanors, anything to reinforce the PWT stereotype. No, not "PYT" Veronica -- that was a Michael Jackson song. PWT, as in "poor white trash." Veronica asks Wallace to point out the sister in the parking lot that day after school.
Wallace and Veronica are lounging on the trunk of the LeBaron chatting when a girl wearing a tacky outfit and more bling than P-Diddy walks by. Wallace says that he's pretty sure that's Rhonda's sister, Natalie, but is clearly surprised by both her appearance and the fact that she's now driving a Corvette. Veronica attempts to chat Natalie up about how she got the car, but Natalie's long on attitude and short on answers. Veronica goes to Plan B and calls Dad.
Keith, in the middle of one of his painful endurance dates, answers the phone and wonders why Veronica isn't busy learning something. She says that she's actually thinking about some great advice he once gave her. "Look both ways?" Or perhaps, "don't stick that in your nose?" No, more along the lines of "follow the money." Veronica asks Keith to check out the families of the kids who died in the crash for her.
When Veronica gets home that night, she doesn't even bother with a "hello" for dear old Dad before asking him what he's got for her. Well, apparently he's got chili on the stove, all the love in his heart, and the financial records she asked for. Keith reminds Veronica, in what may be one of the greatest understatements in the history of humankind, that he's a great father. And so say all of us.
Keith tells Veronica that none of the families of the bus crash victims profited from the deaths of the kids. However, Rhonda's family did get a separate $2 million payout from -- guess who? Veronica's not in a guessing mood, and Keith decides not to torture her. As they sit down to a tasty bowl of homemade chili, Keith tells Veronica that the payout was a settlement from Woody Goodman's burger franchise because Rhonda's mother apparently found a finger in her riblet sandwich. Ewwwww. Veronica, not surprisingly, has lost her appetite for food, although not for the truth.
The next day while everyone is out to lunch, Veronica sneaks into Principal Clemmons' office to check the permanent files of each of the crash victims. She's not hopeful that one of them will have something incriminating on their record, like being suspended for drawing on school property, but it can't hurt to look. As she flips through the folders, she comes across a clear bag containing the permanent files for all of the kids that died in the crash. How convenient! At that precise moment, she hears voices outside the office door and realizes she's about to get so busted. Veronica makes a quick dash for the closet and hides.
Later that afternoon, Veronica heads to Mr. Wu's classroom to interview the good teacher about his relationship with Peter. According to Peter's postings at neptunepirates.com, he had a case of 'yellow fever' for Mr. Wu. Add that to the fact that there was only one incident in Peter's permanent file, sans description, that involved Mr. Wu, and Veronica begins to wonder if Mr. Wu crossed the line of traditional student/teacher relationships.
Veronica enters the classroom and asks Mr. Wu to make a donation to the yearbook spread, which Mr. Wu is happy to do. She tells him that she was a friend of Peter's, and comments on the 'special connection' she knows he had with Peter. And then she wonders if Mr. Wu misses Peter too. Subtlety is clearly not Veronica's strong suit today. Mr. Wu tells Veronica that although he misses the bright and dedicated student that Peter was, he doesn't miss him in the way she's implying.
Further discussion reveals that Mr. Wu was aware of Peter's feelings, but made it clear that he was neither gay, nor interested, and that the incident was reported to Mr. Clemmons. This takes Mr. Wu out of the running for the "outing of all outings." Mr. Wu also tells Veronica that he's confident that once she's had a bit more time out in the world she'll learn that many well-groomed, articulate, detail-oriented men aren't gay -- they're just Asian. Hahahaha!! You go Mr. Wu.
We flash to the club kids party dream bus of death where Veronica is chatting with Peter about her conversation with Mr. Wu. She tells Peter that yeah, she believes Mr. Wu when he says that he isn't gay. But even if he were gay, that she's pretty sure it wouldn't qualify as the "outing of all outings." Peter scoffs that Veronica thinks she knows him just because she's read his postings. Well, yeah she does! She's read EVERY LINE of his postings. Like eighty times! She knows them like the back of her ... hand that now has her name scrawled across the palm in permanent marker ala Dead Curly.
Peter tells her that she's asking the wrong question. Perhaps better questions include why was Peter even on the trip? And why on earth would he be interested in visiting a baseball stadium? It is apparent that neither of these things has crossed Veronica's mind, and she's clearly stumped by both questions. Peter encourages her to mull it over.
The next day at lunch Veronica reminds us that only one PCHer died on the bus -- Cervando Luna. Cervando apparently was quite the student. But as a PCHer, his average trips to the principal's office on a weekly basis rivaled his 3.8 GPA. One incident in his permanent file revealed that he'd had a run-in with one Cassidy Casablancas last summer. Veronica spots Beaver at an empty table at lunch working on something and decides to join him.
After standard pleasantries, instead of asking him what the fuck happened between he and Mac last week (which, as a good friend, I really feel like she should have done) she asks him about his Cervando encounter. Since she's trying to figure out who killed eight students, I'm gonna let it slide for the moment. Beaver flashes back to the summer where he and Cervando were sharing a class. Cervando is holding forth to his PCHer buddies about the new $200 jeans that he purchased with the money he scammed out of Liam Fitzpatrick playing pool.
No sooner does he model the uber-expensive jeans for his friends, than Dick walks by and shoots him with a water pistol, thoroughly wetting the front of the jeans. Beav tells Veronica that Cervando was normally a pretty cool guy for a PCHer, but this time, he was on the war path. The next day at summer school, Cervando corners Beaver, slams him up against the wall and provides him with the information on the jeans that Dick ruined. Apparently the squirt gun was full of bleach, and Cervando was not amused. He's aware that Dick ruined them, but demands that Beaver replace the jeans. Beaver muses that perhaps Dick was too big for Cervando to take on, so he took it out on Dick's little brother. The sad story of Beaver's life.
The next day, Veronica's in Mr. Wu's math class, again listening to "Ahoy Mateys!" with the headphones on. Mr. Wu invites her to the board to solve a problem. As she begins to write out the equation, the scene shifts into a dark bus of death dream where she's writing on a bus window instead of the board. Cervando, wearing his expensive bleach-stained jeans asks her how she got home from the fieldtrip. She tells him that Weevil gave her a ride.
Cervando goes on to muse that it's weird that the explosion didn't really kill anyone on the bus except for the driver. Most of the rest of the passengers died from the fall. Except for poor Cervando who apparently lived long enough to drown. He sits down next to Veronica and proceeds to draw his own "problem" on a neighboring window. He points out that if someone wanted to just kill the driver, they could have initiated the explosion at any point along the road. But to take out the whole bus, that person would have to know exactly when they were approaching the cliff. He alludes to the fact that perhaps Weevil was the guilty party.
The background music gets louder and louder as Cervando tells Veronica "I Am God." What? He repeats, more firmly, "I. AM. GOD." All of the sudden we're back in Mr. Wu's class and Veronica has written, across the board in huge letters, "I AM GOD." The music gets louder and we realize that the singer is singing these very same words, over and over. I am God. I am God. I am God. And all at once, Veronica jolts awake in a completely different class, and we realize that her time in Mr. Wu's class was part of the dream too.
As Veronica pulls herself together, she realizes that she's actually been hearing the "I Am God" song in her headphones on one of the episodes of "Ahoy Mateys!" She sits down at a computer, pulls up a music search engine, and looks up "I Am God" as the song title. Turns out that the song is by a band called 'The Wannabes' who have an album cover bearing the same artwork as the bus seat. In her next session with Ms. James, Veronica discloses these latest developments. The artwork was just an album cover, just like 'rosebud' was just a sled. Ms. James asks Veronica if she thinks she's done being haunted. Veronica certainly hopes so, and so do we.
That night, Keith arrives home to find Veronica dozing on the couch. As she wakes up, he tells her that he'd been thinking about that great advice he gave her about following the money. He reminds Veronica that the money, as it were, wasn't on the bus because all of the rich kids were in the limo traveling behind the bus. Veronica speculates that perhaps the killer was expecting the potential victim to be on the bus. Keith nods gravely and tells Veronica that Big Dick Casablancas took out life insurance policies on both Dick, Jr. and Cassidy three days after marrying Kendall. Turns out, those Casablancas boys are worth more dead than alive.
We flash once more to a smoky bus of death dream where Marcos commiserates with Veronica that it must be disappointing to discover that the "I am God" message didn't really have anything to do with the crash. And although he's sure it was an entertaining diversion, he hopes she's finally realized the truth: They are all dead because of her. Marcos peeks out the window to see the bus plummeting towards the sea as a phone starts to ring. He pulls out a cell phone with a large antenna and tells Veronica the call is for her. As he passes the phone, the large antenna disappears.
Rhonda appears again, speaking into her phone and leaving her message for Michelle. Veronica looks down and realizes that a duffel bag with baseballs and what appears to be a block of wired C-4 has appeared beside her. As the screen fades to black, the phone continues to ring in our ears.
- Michelle talking to Veronica about raising money in the yearbook for a layout for the kids who died on the bus. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Michelle playing the answering machine message from Rhonda to Veronica. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Veronica having another nightmare and Keith checking up on her; talking about the taped Dick phone conversation and morbid artwork on the bus. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Logan and Veronica making out hot 'n' heavy in the Xterra during the summer of LoVe. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Logan and Veronica interrupted by Lucky and Dick whilst making out hot 'n' heavy in the Xterra during the summer of LoVe. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Cervando, Beaver and others in Summer School; Cervando water-pistoled by Dick. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Cervando slamming Beaver hard and giving him orders to buy a new set of jeans since Dick ruined his last pair. (Read detailed breakdown.)
"Breathe Me (Four Tet Remix)" (Sia)
Scene: Logan and Veronica are getting it on!, baby, alas Lucky and Dick show up and it's makeout interruptus. Sigh. (Hmm, if you put those two names together and are so inclined, you can surmise that the two did not go hand in hand for Logan due to their arrival.)
"Down and Dirty" (Michael Mulholland)
Scene: As Wallace and Veronica search for some trash (of the poor white variety), Rhonda in her snazzy ride makes it clear that one can still be PWT, even if the P is replaced with $.
"One More Time" (Daft Punk)
Scene: It's a Veronica freaky-deeky dream-time once more and the slightly obnoxious Peter gets his undead turn to tell Veronica subconsciously what she needs to know.
"I Am God" (Wannabes)
Scene: Veronica makes another fishtank-bus stop and has a chat with the smartest PCHer there ever was! (That would be Cervando ... not Thumper.)
LoVe Lines
Veronica: (Walking up to Logan at his locker and bumping the back of his knee to make him lose balance. He turns around and she smacks her head.) Yep, I have no idea what compelled me to do that.
Logan: Is it because you're five?
Veronica: I'm a little punchy. I haven't been sleeping.
Logan: Thoughts of me? Hey, I get it. Sometimes, I'm up all night just thinkin' about myself.
Veronica: Do you know a guy named Lucky? He's one of the night janitors here.
Logan: Tommy Dolinick. Yeah.
Veronica: Why Lucky?
Logan: He graduates, his parents file chapter 11 and he has to drop out of college. He signs up for Army Rangers. He gets sent to Iraq and four months in he gets shot.
Veronica: Annnnndddd, that makes him Lucky?
Logan: Hey, they shot him in the butt. It could have been worse.
Logan: (To Veronica about Lucky.) You met him, too, you know. (Sweetly, with a soft smile.) Remember? (Segue into a hot 'n' heavy LoVe makeout flashback in the Xterra.)
(Veronica, exhausted and listening to a recording runs into Logan.)
Logan: Oh, am I still keeping you up at night? (Veronica takes out earphones and Logan looks into her weary eyes.) You look like Steve Buscemi.
Veronica: You ... are such ... a catch. (Wallace approaches behind her and observes.) How has Hannah been able to keep away? (Stung, Logan gives a mirthless smile and walks away, head down.)
Wallace: (Smiling.) Maybe you should cut him some slack sometimes. (Confused, Veronica looks after Logan, then at Wallace, who walks away. Clearly thinking "WTF?" Veronica puts her earphones in again.)
In Memory
Veronica: NO!!!! (Waking up from a nightmare about the bus crash victims.)
Keith: Honey? (Searching room for something amiss.)
Veronica: I'm fine. Just a bad dream.
Keith: Did you watch House of Wax again? You know that Hilton girl gives you nightmares.
Quotable Quotes
Miss James: You were sleeping in class. Mrs. Taft said that she has reprimanded you three times for wearing headphones while she is teaching.
Veronica: She's reading The Golden Bowl ... aloud ... with a fake English accent.
Miss James: You were caught ripping down another student's poster.
Veronica: Am I being followed?
Miss James: The student who made the poster would like to have her photos back. (Pausing.) Something you wanna talk about?
Veronica: Yeah, but Jennifer Love Hewitt might be more qualified.
Miss James: How's that?
Veronica: I'm being haunted. And she's the Ghost Whisperer. (Snaps fingers.) These are the jokes.
Miss James: Haunted?
Veronica: Yeah, by the kids who died in the bus crash. I take it you don't see them.
Miss James: Ahhh ... No, Veronica, I don't.
Veronica: Good, neither do I. Except come bed time, the second I close my eyes there they are ... acting like they are dying to tell me something.
Mr. Wu: Dick, I think it's a bad idea for you and Mr. Echolls to be working together.
Dick: So bad, it's good?
Mr. Wu: No.
Dick: (To Logan in a redneck accent.) I don't know how I'm gonna quit you. (Logan starts to say something and Dick quiets him by placing one finger against Logan's mouth.) Shhh. It's not me, it's Wu.
(Veronica motions to Dick to get him to come to her.)
Dick: Just because you wiggle your finger, doesn't mean Dick's gonna come.
Veronica: (Talking about Betina.) I thought I saw her at a party once with Dick Casablancas.
Maureen: Dick Casablancas is the bastard child of Satan.
Veronica: Well ... that would explain a lot.
Logan: You don't like me much, do you?
Wallace: The last time we actually talked you were breaking Veronica's headlights with a crowbar.
Logan: Ohh, foreplay.
Logan: (After a knock at the door.) Ah, my buffalo burger has arrived.
Hotel Staff: (Off camera.) Thank you.
Wallace: (Looking at Logan's delivered food.) Must be nice.
Logan: No, not for the buffalo.
Keith: You've got mail (Holding up the envelope.) from Stanford University.
Veronica: It's a little anorexic for an acceptance letter.
Keith: Good news or bad, you know I'm proud of you.
Wallace: When I die, I want you to raise money for a spread in Vibe.
Veronica: Oh, didn't I e-mail you? You're never allowed to die.
Logan: I could rub your head for luck.
Wallace: You could try.
Wallace: I think that's Rhonda's sister. Natalie.
Veronica: Are you sure there's a 'P' before that 'WT'?'
Wallace: That's definitely her. She drives a 'Vette now? Last year she offered to make out with me for cigarette money.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Yowza. You can take the girl out of the trash but you can't take the trash out of the girl.
Wallace: We magnify the drag, decrease the velocity, minimize the force, and decelerate the --
Logan: (Interrupting.) Decelerate yourself. (Takes the cup out of Wallace's hand.) Four is officially your espresso limit.
Wallace: So. I know why I'm trying to help out Veronica. I want her to get to go to Stanford. Why are you doing it?
Logan: I don't know, not for Veronica.
Wallace: (Smiling.) Then what?
Logan: (Unconvincingly.) Oh, the spirit of competition.
Wallace: (Laughing.) Yeah. Alright.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Sometimes, opportunity doesn't knock. It waits for everyone to go to lunch and sneaks in using a key.
Keith: (To Clemmons.) My coat?
Clemmons: Right. It's in the closet.
Keith: (Opens closet door to find Veronica huddled in the back, hiding.) Yep. That's mine, all right.
Date: I confess. I never vote in the local elections. But I went out this year just so I could vote for you.
Keith: I totally carried the pity vote.
Veronica Mars Voiceover: Peter, as I have learned from his postings, had, in his words, 'yellow fever,' and was extremely hot for a certain teacher. There was one incident in Peter's permanent file. It didn't say what happened, only that it involved Mr. Wu. I can't help but wonder if teacher decided to take a pet.
Veronica: Peter was gearing up for "the outing of all outings." I was wondering if he was pulling his favorite teacher out of the closet.
Mr. Wu: (Sighs.) Veronica, I think when you get out in the world a little more, you'll discover that not all well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented men are gay. Many of them are just Asian.
Disco Dream Bus Peter: So do you believe him? (Veronica looks inquiringly at him, so Peter clarifies.) Mr. Wuuuuuuu!
Veronica: Yes. And, I hate to disappoint you but, even if he were gay, I don't think it would qualify as "the outing of all outings."
Peter: (Laughs.) You think you know me because you read my postings?
Veronica: Every line of your postings, like eighty times! I know you like the back of my ha -- (Stops speaking as she realizes that her name is printed across her palm ala Dead Curly.)
Peter: What's wrong?
Veronica: (Closes her hand.) Nothing.
Peter: You're asking the wrong question, right? Maybe a better question is why was I even on the bus? Why would I even be interested in going to a baseball stadium? Huh? Mull that one over for awhile, okay?
Veronica Mars Voiceover: One PCHer died on the bus -- Cervando Luna. Grade Point Average? 3.8. Average trips to the principal's office per week? 3.2. Including a visit during summer school for pushing Cassidy Casablancas against a wall and threatening him.
Veronica: (Sits down next to Cassidy at lunch where he appears to be working on something.) Busy Beaver, always working.
Cassidy: What's up, Veronica.
Veronica: During summer school, you had a run-in with a kid named Cervando?
Cassidy: He rammed me into a wall, if that's what you mean.
Principal Clemmons: (Looking at a microcassette tape provided by Keith.) What's this?
Keith: (Looking rather smug.) It's a tape of Dr. Burns' office manager offering to hook Veronica up with a diagnosis of "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" for a $1,000 consultation fee.
Clemmons: (Looking skeptical, but impressed.) How did you get this?
Keith: Painfully. You've gotta kiss a lot of toads before you find your medical office manager.
Ms. James: So that's it? The tombstone artwork was just an album cover?
Veronica: And Rosebud was just a sled. (Pauses.) I didn't just ruin Citizen Kane for you, did I?
Ms. James: No, no.
Veronica: Good.
Marcos: Kind of disappointing, huh? Not a suicide thing, just a song I liked. That brings us back to you.
Veronica: To me?
Marcos: It was a fun exercise. Probably a little comforting for awhile, thinking it's someone else's fault. But it's not, is it? We died because of you.
"I Am God" / The Wannabes ... (Referenced by the episode title/Veronica as she describes to Ms. James the drawing she found on the bus/the song Veronica looks up after she hears it in her dream and on the Ahoy Mateys! recording.)
"I Am God" is the second song the Wannabes have had featured on Veronica Mars. Their song "Atomic Girl" can be heard in the series premiere.
The Wannabes is an alternative rock band formed in 1991 and is made up of Hunter Darby (bass and vocals), Jennings Crawford (guitar and vocals), Kevin Carney (guitar and vocals) and Thad Swiderski (drums). Crawford and Darby met and began playing music together in their Ft. Worth, Texas high school. Their national debut album, Mod Flower Cake, was released in 1994.
In a bit of interesting trivia, the name of band member Jennings Crawford has been used on both Veronica Mars (in Normal is the Watchword) and on Rob Thomas' earlier series Cupid. Also, the album cover seen on the show, with the nine headstones and the Grim Reaper, is not the actual cover art of the Wannabes' album, Popsucker (1995), on which "I Am God" can be found.
The lyrics are:
- You know it hurts, you know it hurts
Keep it coming down because
Know it hurts until
This is how I spend my time now
You know it gets so hard to take
Taking nothing from me
You know it gets so hard
This is how I spend my time now, now
You know I lift my finger up
Just so I can watch your fall
Watch your fall from grace
This is how I spend my time now
And just sit there on your knees
While I'm up above the clouds
And I'm looking down
This is how I spend my time now, now
I am God
I am God
Stuck a thread and cut it off
As though your prayers would ease
Knowing it's set to save you
This is how I spend my time now
You know it hurts, you know it hurts
Keep it coming down because
Know it hurts until
This is how I spend my time now, now
I am God
I am God
I am God
I am God
I am God
I am God, I am God
Written by Henry James, The Golden Bowl (published in 1904) is an intense study of marriage and adultery and the effects it has on the relationships between the spouses as well as their children. The novel, which has been cited as the completion of the major phase of James' career, focuses almost exclusively on the consciousness of his central characters, revealing a powerful insight into this all-too common failing of human nature.
Jennifer Love Hewitt ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about who should help re: ghosts.)
Hewitt is the star of Ghost Whisperer and the amusingly referenced I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. (Run Buffy Run -- no wait, wrong universe) She was born on February 21, 1979 and landed her first acting role on Disney's Kids Incorporated in 1984. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on Party of Five in 1995.
Hewitt has also had moderate success as a pop singer, as well as on the big screen. She made her American musical debut in 1995 with the release of Let's Go Bang, and could also be heard singing two tracks for the House Arrest (1996) soundtrack in addition to playing a lead role in the film itself. In 2000, Hewitt received some critical acclaim for her portrayal of Audrey Hepburn in The Audrey Hepburn Story, a made-for-television dramatization of Hepburn's life. The next year, Hewitt starred opposite Alien queen Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers, which featured the two actresses as mother-and-daughter con artists.
Ghost Whisperer ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about who should help re: ghosts.)
Ghost Whisperer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aisha Tyler and David Conrad is the story of a newlywed, Melinda Gordon, who has the ability to communicate with earthbound spirits -- ghosts (if you will) who haven't crossed over for one reason or another. Ghost Whisperer appears on CBS, Friday evenings at 8:00p.m. and has been surprisingly successful. The stories, which usually revolve around unfulfilled aspects of the spirit's former lives or messages the spirits need to convey, are usually resolved at the end of the episode but despite its seemingly simplistic theme, the episodes are often well written and deeply moving. This just might be because one of the writers, Jed Seidel, wrote for Veronica Mars last season. His stories include the episodes Weapons of Class Destruction and Mars vs. Mars.
PCH(er) (Referenced by Veronica as she hands Cervando's picture to Rebecca.)
Pacific Coast Highway refers to sections of California's Route 1, beginning at San Juan Capistrano, south of Los Angeles, and ending where Route 1 merges with Highway 1 at Leggett, in Northern California. Route 1 is one of the longest (644 miles) and most scenic routes in California, providing breathtaking views of a large part of the Pacific Coast. It travels past dozens of historical landmarks and through such cities as San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Iraq (Referenced by Dream!Meg as she tells Veronica about Lucky.)
The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing most of Mesopotamia as well as the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran (Persia) to the east. Baghdad is the nation's capital. There are several suggestions for the origin of the name of Iraq; one dates back to the Sumerian city of Uruk (or Erech). Another suggestion is that Iraq comes from the Aramaic language, meaning "the land along the banks of the rivers."
Iraq was first widely introduced into the casual discussion in the United States during the Gulf War (often referred to as "Desert Storm") in 1991. Since then, the U.S. has been in and out of various battles and skirmishes with leaders and factions of religion in the country. Today, the United States (as led by the Bush Administration) is at war with Iraq with over 2,000 U.S. soldiers having already lost their lives. As to why we are at war with Iraq -- you'll have to check with our President -- his reasons vary depending on how much truthful information has made its way to the public.
Margot Kidder in the Bush ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about Michelle.)
Margot Kidder is an actress born in Canada on the 17th of October, 1948. She is most famous for her role as Lois Lane in Superman (1978) and its sequels, starring opposite the late great Christopher Reeve.
Despite a long stretching film career she is arguably more famous for her manic mood swings due to bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression). She became the punch line of many cruel jokes (the South Park style cartoon is from the SouthCon blog discussing her mania) after an especially violent manic episode in 1996.
She became increasingly paranoid while writing her autobiography, believing her ex-husband and the CIA were trying to kill her. People feared she was dead when she went missing for three days but she was found by police hiding in the bushes of her neighbour's garden. She was missing some teeth, had cut all of her hair off with a razor and was ranting about being stalked and attacked.
She recovered in a mental health institute and has stabilised her health now. She became an American citizen in 2005 (to avoid deportation when she started to protest the Iraq war). She also continues her acting career -- mainly in guest roles on television shows including two episodes of the WB series Smallville (2004), about Superman's younger years.
House of Wax ... (Referenced by Keith when asking Veronica if she watched this movie before bed.)
House of Wax is a 2005 horror/thriller film that is a loose remake of the 1953 movie of the same name starring Vincent Price and the 1933 film, Mystery of the Wax Museum. It was released to theaters May 6, 2005, and to DVD on October 25, 2005. House of Wax stars a collection of young Hollywood and teen heartthrobs including Chad Michael Murray, Elisha Cuthbert, Jared Padalecki, and "that Hilton girl," Paris Hilton.
In House of Wax, friends Carly and Paige, and their buddies camp out for a night while traveling to a college football game. After an unpleasant run-in with a mysterious trucker, they awake to find their car disabled and have to hike to a nearby town, which appears to be deserted. Soon, the crew is stalked by a pair of killer siblings who are looking to turn their human forms into wax statues for display.
Hilton Girl ... (Referenced by Keith as the cause of Veronica's nightmares after watching House of Wax.)
Paris Whitney Hilton, born February 17, 1981, is the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as her father's real estate fortune. In addition to being a famous socialite, she has also done modeling and 'acting." And yes, the use of quotation marks was deliberate.
Ms. Hilton is perhaps best known for her simultaneous participation in both the 2003 home-made sex video One Night In Paris, released by her former boyfriend Rick Salomon, and the 2003 FOX hit reality series The Simple Life, which she starred in along with her former real-life best friend Nicole Richie. The show followed Hilton and Richie while they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. Highlights of the show included the girls performing poorly at various jobs, making out with the local boys, and numerous instances of them shown as "fish out of water." It was followed by two more seasons: The Simple Life 2: Road Trip and The Simple Life 3: Interns. In April 2005, Hilton announced that she severed both personal and professional ties with Richie, and the show was dropped by FOX.
In addition to her "role" on The Simple Life, the Hilton girl has had roles in several films including the aforementioned House of Wax, Zoolander, and The Cat in the Hat, along with T.V. guest appearances on shows including The OC and our very own Veronica Mars. We know its painful -- just try not to dwell. At least she was only with us for one episode.
Chapter 11 ... (Referenced by Logan when giving Lucky's backstory.)
'Chapter Eleven' is one chapter of Title Eleven of the U.S. Code covering Federal bankruptcy laws. There are two ways of legally relieving debt obligations to creditors whether you're an individual or a business: liquidation (chapter 7) or rehabilitation (chapters 11, 12 and 13).
Rehabilitation allows the debtor to prevent liquidation of their assets by drawing up payment plans subtracted from future earnings to appease creditors. Liquidation is the most common form of settling debt because a rehabilitation plan is usually reserved for businesses rather than individuals.
Chapter Eleven covers 'Reorganization' of assets and debt. If you're really interested in the bankruptcy law, you can read more about Chapter Eleven at the Cornell Law School's site: here.
Army Rangers ... (Referenced by Logan as the military branch Lucky was in during his 'adventure' in Iraq.)
The 75th Ranger Regiment -- also known as the United States Army Rangers -- is a special operations force of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC); with headquarters in Fort Benning, Georgia. The Regiment is a flexible, highly trained and rapidly deployable light infantry force with specialized skills that enables it to be employed against a variety of conventional and special operations targets.
The force specializes in airborne, air assault, light-infantry and direct action operations, conducting raids, infiltration and exfiltration by air, land or sea, airfield seizure, recovery of personnel and special equipment, and support of general purpose forces (GPF) among others. Each Ranger battalion can deploy anywhere in the world with 18 hours' notice. (Courtesy Wikipedia, April 16, 2006)
Pot ... (Referenced by Logan to Lucky, then Dick to Lucky during the LoVe makeout interruptus.)
The Cannabis plant -- known more commonly as marijuana with many a nickname including pot, mary jane, reefer, etc. -- is often dried or otherwise processed to create a "product" that offers medicinal and psychoactive effects. Despite past use as an accepted medicine, in the early 20th century, the drug became illegal due to the overwhelming consumption of the recreational variety.
To this day, marijuana usage remains against the law despite the mellow side affects as opposed to the harder drugs of the day. While not widespread, legalizing marijuana has been the efforts of activists for some time, among those fighting for its legal use is Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson. Apparently, none of these activists (including Woody) have ever heard of the dangers that can befall one who has been taken over by reefer madness. Just ask Mary Lane.
Halo ... (Referenced by Logan to Lucky, then Dick to Lucky during the LoVe makeout interruptus.)
An immensely popular series of video games that first debuted for Xbox in 2001. The game is a sci-fi first-person shooter that takes place on a mysterious alien ring-shaped structure called "Halo." Master Chief, the protagonist of the story, is stranded on Halo with the crew of the Pillar of Autumn and is pitted against mankind's sworn enemy, the Covenant. Using both alien and human weaponry, on foot and in vehicles, the objective is to destroy the Covenant and uncover the secrets of Halo.
The sequel, Halo 2, was released to record-breaking sales and is one of the most-played titles on the Xbox console. Additional games are in the works. The franchise also includes a series of novels and a feature film adaptation currently in pre-production.
"God, I don't know how I'm gonna quit you"/ Brokeback Mountain ... (Referenced by Dick to Logan when separated as partners.)
Brokeback Mountain is a heartbreaking story of two cowboys who fall in love almost by accident. It is embedded in the craggy landscape and private firelight interludes in which their story begins and ends. Ennis and Jack's 20-year romance begins when they are hired in the summer of 1963 by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid), a hard-boiled rancher, to work as sheepherders on Brokeback Mountain in the Wyoming high country. One night, when their campfire dies, and the biting cold drives them to huddle together in a bedroll, a sudden spark between Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) flares into an undying flame.
The movie, directed by Ang Lee, was derived from a short story by Annie Proulx and first published in The New Yorker in 1997. It was then adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana into the Oscar-nominated film that swept the country with 'Brokeback Fever.'
Dick's comment is a take on the famous, "I don't how I'm gonna quit you," line from Gyllenhaal's Jack to Ledger's Ennis in regards to his inability to stop loving Ennis. We all know that Dick's comment is nothing but snark...However, if he was ever asked to quit Logan you know that he'd be hard pressed to do it. Logan is his social king and Dick is nothing if not a loyal subject.
I Know What You Did Last Summer ... (Referenced by Veronica as she flashes "I Know Who You Did Last Summer" on her laptop to get Dick to come over and talk to her.)
Horror film loosely based on the young adult novel by Lois Duncan, directed by Jim Gillespie and written by Kevin Williamson. Released in 1997, the film grossed more than $125 million worldwide.
The film tells the tale of Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Ray (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Barry (Ryan Philippe), four friends who are involved in a hit-and-run accident the summer after graduation. Panicking and fearing for their futures, they cover up the crime, dumping their victim's body in the ocean. Fast forward to the following summer, when the now-estranged foursome find themselves being stalked by a mysterious man wearing fisherman's gear and brandishing a nasty hook. They realize that it must be tied to the hit-and-run accident as they all have received notes that say, "I know what you did last summer." Julie determines to uncover the identity of the hit-and-run victim and to stop The Fisherman before he kills them all.
The success of this somewhat above average slasher film led to a (sucktastic) sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. A third film, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, is due to be released straight to video in 2006, with none of the original cast involved.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ... (Reference in paraphrase by Marcos to Veronica in dream sequence about the t-shirts Veronica's subconscious had them in.)
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a reality television show on the Bravo channel. It deems itself as a guide to "building a better straight man" -- a "make better" series designed for guys who want to get the girl, the job or just the look.
With the expertise and support of "The Fab 5:" Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley and Jai Rodriguez, men are made over the metrosexual way via the homosexual way. Each team member has a specialty one is an interior designer, a fashion stylist, a chef, a beauty guru and the last one is a personality coach.
Each "man makeover" unfolds with a deconstruction of the subject's current lifestyle (it only hurts because they love you) and continues on as a funny showcase for the hottest styles and trends in fashion, home design, grooming, food and wine, and culture. The show was recently awarded the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program.
Considering the premise behind the show, the fact that Peter -- the one over-the-top gay teenager in Veronica's mind -- would paraphrase that show's title ("Queer eye for the dead guy") makes perfect sense.
Rosemary's Baby ... (Referenced by Marcos as Cap'n Krunk about Logan as Cock ... of the Walk.)
Roman Polanski directed this horror classic starring Mia Farrow with a pixie haircut that started a craze (see image below). The film tells the story of a young couple moving into a New York apartment next door to enthusiastic, oversolicitous neighbors. Longing for a child, one night the woman has a vision that she is being raped by some demonic presence, and finds herself pregnant not long after. As her pregnancy increases, she loses rather than gains weight and begins to suspect that her neighbors, in conjunction with her husband, are part of a Satanic cult with designs on her unborn child.
Fluffer ... (Referenced by Logan to Wallace at the Neptune Grand.)
All I can say about this one is ... where are the sensors?! What would normally be considered a "fluffer" has two VERY different meanings, let's say one is pretty innocent and the other is quite simply not. Did I mention that it's dirty yet? Well it is, really, trust me on this one ... Beware, explicit description ahead ... Okay, you asked for it.
A "fluffer" as depicted here is a hotel maid sent in to make sure the linens and bedding are fluffed and ready for comfortable use. However, the less innocent meaning of the word comes from a term used on porn sets. This type of fluffer prepares the penis of a male pornstar for action on the set of an adult movie before the needed effect is demanded. It is usually for a short period of time.
Now don't you feel like you need to wash your mind out with soap or something. I know I do. Too Much Info, Rob and Company ...TMI!
You've Got Mail ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica about her letter from Stanford.)
"Youve got mail" is the standard greeting that AOL customers hear when they have new email. It is also the name of a 1998 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as enemies working at different ends of the retail scale in the book industry.
In the film, Kathleen Kelly (Ryan), owns the small children's bookstore "The Shop Around The Corner" that her mother ran before her, whilst Joe Fox (Hanks) carries on the family business in the vast chainstore "Fox Books." When Fox Books expands into the West Side, The Shop Around the Corner is threatened with commercial obliteration and the two battle it out at loggerheads whilst unknowingly continuing an anonymous, flirty relationship with each other through e-mail.
You've Got Mail is a loose remake of the 1940 Jimmy Stuart classic, The Shop Around The Corner, in which two letter-writing lovers are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in fact the co-worker with whom they share a certain degree of animosity.
Stanford ... (Referenced several times throughout the episode.)
Stanford University is a University located in Stanford, California. This institution is known for its strong academic programs and highly competitive admissions process. Nearly 75% of students enrolled in the university attained a score of 700 or better on both the verbal and mathematical portions of the SAT exam. That said, only about 13% of applicants to Stanford are actually admitted. Perhaps more daunting than the rigorous academic barriers facing Stanford hopefuls are the financial ones. Tuition and room and board cost almost $40,000 a year.
A Nightmare on Elm Street ... (Referenced by Veronica when telling Ms. James that she is still having the nightmares.)
"One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door..."
Surreal and atmospheric, this horror film, written and directed by Wes Craven, put New Line Cinema on the map and featured Johnny Depp in his film debut. Released in 1984, the movie centers around Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), one of several teenagers living on Elm Street, who are being haunted by disturbing nightmares of a badly scarred man, wearing a red and green-striped sweater, a hat, and a glove fitted with deadly "finger knives."
As her friends are mysteriously murdered one by one -- while in their nightmares -- Nancy discovers that the dream killer is Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a serial child murderer who was killed many years earlier. Determined to survive, Nancy ignores the disbelief of her Sheriff father and alcoholic mother (no relation to the Mars family, I'm sure) and attempts to bring Freddy out of her nightmares and into the real world where he can be stopped once and for all.
The film spawned a television series, Freddy's Nightmares (1988), and seven additional films, including the most recent, Freddy vs. Jason, a cross-over film pitting Freddy against the Friday the 13th films' serial killer, Jason Voorhees. There is also a recent and continuing series of A Nightmare on Elm Street novels.
Although Freddy began as a truly frightening and monstrous nightmare figure, many of the sequels focus a lot more on Freddy's jokey one-liners, a characteristic that has made Freddy one of the most popular figures in the horror genre.
Mexican Standoff ... (Referenced by Veronica when talking to Wallace regarding the battle shes losing with sleep.)
A 'Mexican standoff' is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse, a confrontation that neither side can win. In popular culture, the Mexican standoff is usually portrayed as two or more opposing men with guns drawn and ready, creating a very tense situation. Exacerbating the tension is that neither side wants to put down its weapons for fear that its opponents will shoot them. This situation forces the participants to resolve the situation either by diplomacy, surrender, or a pre-emptive strike.
This expression came into usage during the last decade of the 19th century, most likely originating in the American southwest, although one reputable source claims that the term is of Australian origin. One possibility is that it may relate to the difficult and paradoxical social and economic conditions of 19th and early 20th century Mexico.
Sandman ... (Referenced by Veronica when talking to Wallace regarding her lack of sleep.)
Traditionally the Sandman is a character in many children's stories, invoked to help or lull children to sleep. He is said to sprinkle sand or dust on or into the eyes of the child at night to bring on dreams and sleep. The grit or 'sleep' in one's eyes upon waking is supposed to be the result of the Sandman's work the previous evening.
Vibe ... (Referenced by Wallace to Veronica about the spread he wants when he dies.)
Created by music mogul, Quincy Jones, Vibe is a popular African-American magazine. The publication contains articles on R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. The self proclaimed "voice and soul of urban music and culture," Vibe was launched in 1993.
Time to a Hog ... (Referenced by Logan to Wallace about having free time to work on their project.)
A man is walking down an old dirt road when he spots a farmer carrying a piglet over to a nearby apple tree. The farmer lifts and holds the animal high up over his head so it can feed on the apples in the tree. When the passerby asks him if it that isn't an extraordinary amount of time to spend feeding a pig, the farmer shrugs and says, "What's time to a hog?"
Although there are many variations of the stories using this particular punch line, the meaning is generally the same. While the ticking of a clock is something we, as human beings, are acutely aware of as we experience the "moments" in our lives, the passing of time to a hog is just simply the passing of time. A hog really doesn't care or notice that time is passing him by.
This saying was also used in the Roger Miller musical "Big River" as a lyric to the song "Hand for the Hog."
- If you took a notion
I'll bet you could teach a hog to smoke a cigarette
Well, it might take a little bit of time
But hell, what's time to a hog
First manufactured in 1953 by Chevrolet, the Corvette is widely regarded as "America's Sports Car." Today it is built exclusively at a General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S.A. For more than fifty years, Corvettes have combined very powerful engines and affordability (well, affordable for a sports car). Corvettes tend to emphasize simplicity over technical complexity, in such areas as their use of a simpler overhead valve (OHV) design coupled with a larger displacement to make up for the lower rev limit pushrods impose. Another example of this philosophy is the continued use of transverse leaf springs in the suspension. This is judged as a lack of sophistication by some automotive purists, and has fueled a "lack of refinement" argument that has plagued the Corvette.
Older generations of the Corvette have been criticized for being crude and lacking in refinement by European sports car standards, and their on-limit handling is a divisive issue garnering both praise and reproach. Recent generations of the Corvette, however, are widely seen as being much improved in these areas.
George/Seinfeld ... (Referenced by Blind Date #2 about who Keith reminds her of.)
George Costanza is the name of a character played by Jason Alexander on the television show Seinfeld from 1990-1998. George is the best friend of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Bald, whiney, neurotic and completely hysterical -- the character of George was based on a combination of the show's co-creator, comedian Larry David, and Jerry's real-life childhood friend Michael Costanza. Episode plots would frequently feature George manufacturing elaborate deceptions at work or in his relationships, in order to gain or maintain some petty advantage. Classic George episodes include The Bubble Boy, Master of my Domain, Shrinkage, and Yada, Yada, Yada.
But other than the baldness -- Keith is nothing like George. Okay, raise your hand if you wanted to seriously slap the annoying woman who compared Keith to George. GRRRRR!!!
Hollywood (Referenced by the Tinseltown Diaries segment on Aaron.)
Hollywood, California is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., situated northwest of Downtown. Due to its fame and identity as the historical center of movie studios and stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used colloquially to refer to the American film industry. Today much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding areas such as Burbank and the Westside, but significant ancillary industries (such as editing, effects, props, post-production, and lighting companies) remain in Hollywood.
Several historic Hollywood theaters are used as venues to premiere major theatrical releases, most famously Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the new Kodak Theater, which opened in November 2001 and is the permanent home of the Academy Awards. It is a popular destination for nightlife and tourism, and home to the Walk of Fame. And of course, you can't be in Hollywood without noticing "The Sign." One of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States was declared a historical landmark in 1973. The original housing development sign was not built to stand forever, and is in great need of repair. So who is helping fund this $27,000 per letter budget? Why no other than Hollywood's finest: Gene Autry, Hugh Hefner, and Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper? Yeah, I definitely associate him with Hollywood.
You gotta love it though. I mean, really -- where else but Hollywood would Gene Autry, The Hef, and scary Alice be pooling their resources for a community beautification project?
Ribwich ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica about where a finger was found and why Woody paid the family off.)
A Simpsons spoof on the McRib, the "Ribwich" -- like the McRib -- appears only on a temporary basis. The McRib was introduced by McDonald's in 1981. The sandwich, consisting of boneless pork, pickles and onions on a bun, did mediocre sales and so Mickey D's pulled it from its permanent menu. It has been brought back on a temporary basis every year since it's pull and has developed quite a cult following. (I know! It's a sandwich!!) Thus, the Simpsons parody. That Homer, always gotta be in on the joke.
Wendy's/Finger in the Chili Hoax ... (Referenced by the lawsuit against Woody's Burgers for the finger in the burger).
On March 22, 2005, Anna Ayala claimed that while eating chili bought at Wendy's, she bit into a finger. Ayala and her husband sued the restaurant chain, but forensics found proof that the woman had never even bitten into the finger (despite her disgust-filled telling of the tale to the media). It was later revealed that Ayala and her husband, Jaime Plascencia, came up with the ploy as a quick-rich scheme. Plascencia got the finger from a co-worker during a workplace accident. It also came to light that the couple offered the co-worker, Brian Rossiter, $250,000 to keep quiet. A jury later found the couple guilty with a prison term of nine years. Wendy's claimed it lost $2.5 million in sales because of the bad publicity, and dozens of workers at the company's Northern California franchises were laid off.
Bozo(ville) (Referenced by one of Keith's blind dates.)
Bozo the Clown is the name of the clown whose blue and red costume, massive red hair and "whiteface" clown makeup lead to widespread syndication in early television. Created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingstone, Bozo the Clown was first broadcast in L.A. in 1949 and subsequently franchised to other stations in the 1950's. Bozo's television success made him the best-known clown character in the U.S. Partly as a result, the word "bozo" has become synonymous with a generic clown or a foolish person, e.g. "Anyone who doesn't love Veronica and Logan together is a Bozo."
Kiss a Lot of Toads ... (Referenced by Keith to Clemmons about finding the deal with the doctor.)
One of the famous Grimm's Fairytales, The Frog Prince tells the story of a young princess who loses her golden ball. A frog retrieves it for her dependent upon her becoming his friend. Despite wanting nothing to do with the frog after he gets her ball, circumstances (and her father) make her follow through with her promise. This includes giving the frog a kiss out of duty. She does so and the frog turns into a handsome prince. Read the fairytale here.
Today, the phrase, "you have to kiss a lot of frogs (toads) ..." is a metaphor for dating a lot of guys before you find The One.
Steve Buscemi ... (Referenced by Logan when talking to Veronica about how tired she looks.)
Steven Vincent Buscemi is an American stage and film actor who has starred in over 40 films. He was born December 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York to John Buscemi, an Italian American Korean War veteran, and an Irish American mother. Buscemi is known for playing characters that are neurotic and paranoid. Quentin Tarantino uses Buscemi (sometimes uncredited) in nearly all his movies. He often appears in films by the Coen Brothers, usually dying in a grisly or unexpected manner (such as being shot in the face with a handgun or dropping dead of a heart attack during a fistfight).
Some of Buscemi's most memorable roles include Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, Rockhound in Armageddon, Donny in The Big Lebowski, Carl Showalter in Fargo, and the voice of Randall in Monsters, Inc. Although usually a supporting actor, he has had critical success as a lead actor, particularly his role as Seymour in Ghost World.
Logan's comment to Veronica was an allusion to Buscemi's hangdog visage and puffy eyes that generally give him the appearance of being very tired or very depressed. Or both.
Rosebud/Sled/Citizen Kane ... (Referenced by Veronica to Ms. James about the mundaneness of the answer to her dreams.)
Citizen Kane (1941) is often referred to as the greatest movie of all time - starring, written and directed by the ground breaking film maker, Orson Welles. Among other things, the film was responsible for introducing deep focus shots to cinematography.
The film tells the story of an eccentric newspaper mogul's life, examined through the eyes of a journalist investigating what his enigmatic final words meant. Those last words were 'rosebud'. The journalist never discovers what 'rosebud' means but as the film closes, and Kane's belongings are destroyed, the audience sees that Rosebud is written on a snow sled that Kane played with as a child before he was taken away from his humble life and turned into a billionaire.
There are two main critical interpretations of what this revelation means. 'Rosebud' could have been muttered because it was the only time Kane was really happy in his entire life - when things were simple and he was with his family. Thus, his words had deep meaning. Or -- as Veronica says -- a sled could just be a sled and there is no deep meaning to the mystery.
Art Instruction Schools / Tippy the Turtle ... (Referenced by Marcos in Veronica's final dream, as he holds up a sketch and asks her if he's got what it takes for art school.)
Founded in 1914, Art Instruction Schools is an American "home study art school" that is best known for their many decades of "Draw Me" advertisements in magazines and comic books, on matchbook covers and more recently in late-night television commercials and online ads. The advertisements offer people a free "art test" to determine if they have the skills to become a serious artist. The traditional ads invite submissions of pen-and-ink sketches of cartoonish characters like Tippy the Turtle, a pirate, Abraham Lincoln, and a Bambi-like deer.
- In a throwback to Ahoy Mateys! (in which we first heard about Marcos) where Keith found a toy schoolbus in the Oliveres' fishtank, Veronica's dream sequences feature the crashed bus in a fishtank-styled ocean, beautifully created by director Martha Mitchell.
- Rhonda's "I [Heart] Dick Casablancas" T-shirt.
- Meg's "Baby on Board" shirt.
- Veronica is wearing an extremely similar outfit to Logan's at the dance (from Plan B, the episode before this) in her dream. (Short-sleeved t-shirt over long-sleeved shirt, similar colors.) Since this was the first night of dreams, maybe it took place after the dance and Veronica was trying to recapture the moment by dressing like Logan?
- From the bumper sticker on her bulletin board, it appears as if Ms. James is a Woody Goodman supporter.
- On the poster dedicated to the bus crash victims, under Cervando's photograph it reads: "Cervando Esparza," however, at the end of the episode, Veronica calls him "Cervando Luna."
- For the past several episodes, the color green has been frequently used in wardrobe. In this week's episode, Veronica, Logan, Wallace, Ms. James, Dick, and even Mr. Wu wear at least one prominently green piece of clothing. Are they simply showing their "Pirate Pride," or could there be a deeper, more symbolic reason for the abundance of green?
- Logan is taking Art History class or at least he's standing by his locker with a book entitled Discovering Art History because he's into art history.
- Logan is once again wearing his Puka Shell necklace.
- Logan's sweet smile and tone when he asked Veronica, "remember?"
- Hallelujah for vidmakers everywhere, there are no credits during the makeout flashback. The credits start during the present-day scene, but take a little break for the making out and don't start up again until the tail-end of the present-day scene. Awesome.
- There are clearly two different shots used during a cut in the makeout of the second flashback. One shot has Veronica and Logan sitting up again, her on his lap, the next shot (when the window is knocked on) has them laying down, Veronica on top.
- Audience? What Audience? Sure the guys are there, but those windows are completely black-tinted, Veronica.
- Heeheehee, check out Dick's hibiscus-emblazoned shorts. Heeheehee!
- It doesn't make much sense that we see Veronica's facial expression when Logan can't see it ... after all, he's the one telling this flashback.
- Logan and Dick are wearing matching Puka shell necklaces. (See Pep Squad Practice.)
- Logan's sweet and sexy "Hi" to Veronica as the window is rolling up.
- The awesomeness that is Mr. Wu throughout the whole episode.
- In their first scene in physics class, Dick and Logan are the only two class members wearing safety goggles.
- Anytime Logan is chewing on a pen, it's just so dang sexy and he does it quite frequently in the science class scenes. Sigh.
- Logan's laughter over Dick's "Score!" upon being paired with Angie. It's one of the few times we've seen Logan genuinely seem to laugh with Dick as opposed to at him.
- Maybe it's just me, but Jason Dohring's acting in the first Neptune Grand scene with Wallace reminded me immensely (and in a good way) of Nicolas Cage. I've never really noticed the similarity before, but it was strikingly hard to miss in this scene if you're a Cage fan. The delivery was so Cage-esque. Again, in a good way.
- Nice nod of continuity to the fact that Logan and Wallace haven't shared any screentime since the headlight-smashing scene in the Pilot. Even if Wallace got it wrong -- they didn't actually speak to one another and it was a tire iron, not a crowbar, Wally.
- In the dream sequence in which Veronica is talking to Peter after her conversation with Mr. Wu, Peter is tossing an egg, and using a baseball mitt to catch it.
- Veronica is listening to the same show in which Cap'n Krunk named Logan "Cock ... of the Walk" forty weeks running as she did in Ahoy Mateys!
- Kristen Bell was incredibly adorable and awesome while reading her acceptance letter.
- The somewhat narrow camera angle on Keith's first "blind date."
- Either Logan or Wallace (or both) are pretty popular because you can really hear the class cheering on their egg-drop effort.
- As in Donut Run, Dick referred to Veronica as "Ronnie."
- The placard behind Mr. Wu in his class reads:
- CAUTION! DO NOT PEER INTO LASER WITH REMAINING GOOD EYE
- Veronica's cute jean jacket. Finally some Veronica Mars-stylin' outerwear!
- Oh my gosh! The return of the Veronica Mars Voiceover -- how we've missed you, ye voiceover of yore. Started up at 9:38 and it just kept on coming throughout the rest of the show.
- The lovely little basketballs on Logan and Wallace's egg-dropping safe container representing Air Fennel. No representin' for Logan. Ah well, whatcha gonna do? I guess, oh, penises (hey, sex does seem to be Logan's best ability) alongside the basketballs would have been a bit much.
- Like PlanetZowie.com, one of the search engines Veronica uses, neptunepirateship.com redirects to UPN's official Veronica Mars website.
- In the flashback, you might notice that Dick and Logan are wearing matching Puka shell necklaces. Now, it's possible what with Dick's ever-present hard-on for Logan that he saw Logan's and went and bought it himself, but it's still a little fishy ... Of course, Logan is sucking face big-time with Veronica while wearing his, so I guess I'm more inclined to lay this one on Dick.
- Yes, yes, it was Dick who paraphrased the oh so famous (and already overused) Brokeback Mountain line ("God, I don't know how I'm gonna quit you" -- redneck accent and all), but Logan didn't seem even remotely upset, offended, surprised, etc. by Dick's casual use of a homosexual sentiment directed towards him from the way-too-obsessed-with-Logan-to-be-just-friendship-Dick-Casablancas. Uh huh.
- Does Veronica take two English classes? We know that Mrs. Murphy is an English teacher. We know that Veronica, Logan and Dick are in Mrs. Murphy's English class. So what does Ms. Taft teach and if it's not another English class, why would she be reading The Golden Bowl?
- If Betina was the girl with whom Dick was secretly having an affair, then who was the girl, Sally, that Beaver threatened Dick with in Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough?
- Is it possible that Betina actually was pregnant when she died on the bus crash? And if so, is it merely a coincidence, that two girls carrying unborn '09er heirs were on the same doomed bus?
- As Peter so helpfully pointed out, why was he on the field trip anyway?
- In one of the dream sequences, Meg says she has "important information." What is this important information?
- Besides his obvious ickiness, was there another reason Meg thought Lucky was creepy and might that reason tie into the bus crash mystery?
- Did the revenge, of which Lucky referred to in the flashback, end up being the pool burning incident?
- Was Lucky behind the Xterra shooting in order to get Logan more involved with the PCHer vendetta?
- Why was Lucky part of the 'Get the PCHers' vendetta? Once an 09er, always an 09er ... even when bankrupt?
- If Beaver and Cervando were both supposed to be very intelligent, then why were they attending summer school?
- If Dick ruined Cervando's jeans with bleach, why did Cervando threaten Beaver? Could a big, bad PCHer, actually be scared by a rich, white boy?
- From the bathroom scene in M.A.D. last season, we learned that Logan was taking Physics. So why is he taking it again this year?
- Let's say, hypothetically, that Big Dick orchestrated the bus crash as a means of cashing in on Dick and Beaver's life insurance policies. If this is true, and the bus crash was intended to kill them, then why did Big Dick send a limo to pick them up?
- Is her name on Curly's hand the main thing still leading Veronica to feel she's somehow to blame for the crash?
- Cervando really did hustle Liam at pool? How dumb was that? The dude's scary. Just ask Thumper.
- Why on earth did Dick have bleach in his squirt gun? To ruin other people's clothing? And he picks a PCHer? What a stupid ass.
- Did Rhonda's phone call somehow trigger the bomb?
- While at Shark Field, Peter Ferrer won a Shark's Memorabilia Gift Bag, which contained the bomb that was detonated on the bus. Peter threw the bag into the trash before leaving the stadium. Dick happened to witness this event, leading him to remove the bag from the trash, and give it to his ex-lover Betina, who then brought it with her on the bus.
- The bomb only killed the bus driver. If the driver, Ed, was the intended target, the perpetrator could have detonated the explosive at almost any time during the drive back to Neptune without harming most students. But the timing of the explosion was such that it killed the bus driver and caused the bus to go over the cliff, ensuring the demise of the students as well. Thus the person detonating the bomb had to be in sight of the bus to know the exact moment when the bus was approaching the cliff.
- Cervando was scamming Liam Fitzpatrick.
holly96: Literature; Homeroom
JenniferH: Report Card; Chemistry; History; Literature; Social Science; Homeroom; Pep Squad Practice; Philosophy
Katrina: Yearbook; Literature; Social Science
Iloveyoubearymuch: Literature; Homeroom; Philosophy; Principles of Democracy
Pixigal (Gerrie): Drama Club; Social Science
PolarTruckin (Belinda): Social Science
SeluciaV (Alli): Extra Credit; Literature; Social Science
Tar Frimmer (Joanne): Study Hall; Literature; Social Science; Homeroom; Philosophy
