Episode #02.22: Not Pictured
Original Air Date: May 09, 2006
Written by: John Enbom & Rob Thomas, Story by Thomas
Directed by: John Kretchmer
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 (74.0% / 50 votes)
The good that Not Pictured delivers is so very, very good that it's quite easy to overlook the so very much that is not. There are loose ends and gaps where clearly needed scenes are required -- not so much for the content of getting the story told, but for the emotional connection necessary. However, at the end of the day, we have an answer to the season's main mystery and it makes a fair amount of sense, history is rewritten but in a compelling fashion that works -- considering the way the original information was offered. There is resolution in the Logan/Veronica relationship and it is a happy resolution!
When reviewing this final episode, we have to ask what is most important ... what is shown, what is not shown or how we feel once the rush has settled and we're left with the overall memory of the viewing experience? For most viewers, it's the latter. And for most viewers, that feeling is one of exhilaration over the twisting ride and happiness that Logan and Veronica are kissing and spinning once more. So, what is good wins the day and the second season of Veronica Mars goes out on a high note.
Recurring Guest Stars (Previous Episode Appearances)
Adam Bitterman - Curly Moran
- Driver Ed
- Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang
- Plan B
Corinne Bohrer - Lianne Mars
- Season One Appearances
Charisma Carpenter - Kendall Casablancas
- Normal is the Watchword
- Driver Ed
- Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang
- Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
- Ahoy Mateys!
- Donut Run
- The Quick and the Wed
- Nevermind the Buttocks
- Look Who's Stalking
Jonathan Chesner Corny
- Season One Appearances
- Blast From the Past
- Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough
- Versatile Toppings
- Look Who's Stalking
Duane Daniels Principle Van Clemmons
- Season One Appearances
- Normal is the Watchword
- Ahoy Mateys!
- My Mother, the Fiend
- Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough
- I Am God
Christopher B. Duncan - Clarence Weidman
- Season One Appearances
- Rat Saw God
Luke Fryden - Peter Ferrer
- I Am God
Erica Gimpel - Alicia Fennel
- Season One Appearances- Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang
- Green-Eyed Monster
- Blast From the Past
Steve Guttenberg - Woody Goodman
- Normal is the Watchword
- Driver Ed
- Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
- One Angry Veronica
- Plan B
- Look Who's Stalking
- Happy Go Lucky
Harry Hamlin - Aaron Echolls
- Season One Appearances- Rat Saw God
- The Quick and the Wed
- Happy Go Lucky
Tina Majorino Mac
- Season One Appearances- Green-Eyed Monster
- Ahoy Mateys!
- My Mother, The Fiend
- Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough
- Versatile Toppings
- Plan B
- Nevermind the Buttocks
- Look Who's Stalking
- Happy Go Lucky
Ken Marino - Vinnie Van Lowe
- Season One Appearances
- Donut Run
- The Quick and the Wed
Michael Muhney - Sheriff Lamb
- Season One Appearances
- Driver Ed
- Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang
- Green-Eyed Monster
- Blast from the Past
- Rat Saw God
- Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
- Donut Run
- Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle
- Versatile Toppings
- The Quick and the Wed
- The Rapes of Graff
- Plan B
- Look Who's Stalking
- Happy Go Lucky
Amanda Seyfried - Lilly Kane
- Season One Appearances
- Normal is the Watchword
Graham Sterling Reporter
- Season One Appearances
- Happy Go Lucky
Jeremy Ray Valdez - Marcos Oliveres
- Ahoy Mateys!
- I Am God
Guest Stars
Jennifer Austin - Assistant
Michael Crider Bill Lee
Scott Knight - Johnny Ludden
Rebecca Rhae Larsen - Desk Clerk
Glenda Redfield Kim
Carsyn Spencer - Young Veronica
Who's Who in Neptune
Assistant Bill Lee's assistant that informed him that "Gia" was requesting a return call.
Bill Lee Attorney to both Woody Goodman and the Casablancas' family.
Johnny Ludden One of the kids in the picture of Woody's little league team that Veronica questioned in exchange for free gelato.
Desk Clerk Front desk clerk at the Neptune Grand that refused to give Veronica Beaver's room number.
Kim Jackie's mother and a waitress at Brooklyn Dan's, a diner in Brooklyn, New York.
Young Veronica Adorable toddler Veronica from Veronica's dream flashback from when Keith performed a sock puppet show for her.
Highlights
It's Raining Highlights! Hallelujah! -- It's Raining Highlights! Amen! To paraphrase the opening lyrics from It's Raining Men, this episode is "raining" magnificent acting performances and highlights. Almost everyone in the cast brought their A game to the finale, resulting in a veritable smorgasbord of acting delights.
Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) - Kristen Bell may have spent the early part of the season phoning her performance in, but she has come roaring back in the second half with episode after episode of spectacular performances. Every nuance, every expression, every movement of her body in Not Pictured enhanced and enriched the storyline. This was Veronica's episode and she owned the screen. Subtly shading her dream self back to trusting Veronica 1.0, delightfully guessing pony (sheer magic!) after receiving her father's gift, steely and trembling before a menacing Aaron Echolls, barely holding it together as the realization of rape sinks in, breaking down in crumpled heartbreak as Cassidy seemingly kills her father by blowing up the plane and the subsequent tearful reunion -- Bell held the viewer in the palm of her hand.
Cassidy may have been sarcastically taunting Veronica when he told her she was simply marvelous but in truth she was -- or rather, her portrayer. Marvelous, magnificent, spectacular ... you can choose your own adjective, but sometimes words are just not enough. I'm standing; I'm cheering -- bravo, bravo!
Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls) - Jason Dohring is, in my opinion, the best young male actor on television today. He has mastered such a comprehensive range of emotions that at times, the sheer artistry he displays is overwhelming.
His performance on the roof with Veronica was so perfect that mere words seem inadequate. As Logan gazed at Cassidy, unable to give him a reason to live, a myriad of emotions flew across his face. We knew he was anguished at losing someone who had been a friend. We knew that Logan could think of no reason to give him to live. We knew that this knowledge was causing him pain. And we knew that he was also feeling anger and shock at what Cassidy had done, coupled with the pain from the tasering and fighting and the emotional havoc his fear for Veronica brought. We knew all these things and yet Dohring didn't say a word.
And yet this was just one moment in an episode filled with numerous other moments of perfect acting. From his sweet kiss of Veronica in the dream graduation, to his breaking voice as he talks her out of seeking revenge, to his yearning gaze at Keith and Veronica as they share something he has never had, to his swooping, giddy kiss in the hallway, Dohring joined Bell in filling us with delight.
In the theatre, the leads of a show get a solo curtain call. They walk to the center of the stage as the audience rises to its feet and cheers with a loud burst of applause. For Jason Dohring, I'm standing, I'm cheering and I'm clapping so hard my hands hurt. Thanks for a magnificent performance in a season filled with dramatic highlights.
Kyle Gallner (Cassidy 'Beaver' Casablancas) - In an ultimately heartbreaking performance, Gallner finally took off the mask he has been wearing all season in his portrayal of Beaver in the final dramatic rooftop confrontation in Not Pictured. Playing the role of the sweet, savvy, and slightly nerdy younger brother of Dick Casablancas, Gallner had endeared himself to viewers this year, especially with the advent of his romance with Mac.
Although Beaver's transformation from sad sexual failure to evil manipulator was a bit abrupt, Gallner was able to effectively sell the transition so that in moments the violent, amoral boy who cared more about keeping his secrets than the sanctity of life was completely convincing. With empty eyes and sneering sarcasm, Gallner chillingly acknowledged the murders and rape. But it was in his final anguished "My name is Cassidy!" that Gallner achieved his finest dramatic moment. Bravo, nice work!
Group Bow - A big round of applause for the ensemble also, especially Tina Majorino (Mac) -- heartbreakingly anguished, Francis Capra (Weevil) -- angrily demanding, Harry Hamlin (Aaron) -- coldly menacing, Steve Gutenberg (Woody) -- loathsomely sincere, Ryan Hansen (Dick) -- cheerfully commando, Tessa Thompson (Jackie) -- finally honest, and Enrico Colantino (Keith) -- every move he makes.
Alright everyone join hands and bow. What a year! What a ride! What a show!
Scene One: Veronica and Logan Versions 1.0 Sitting in the Quad ... K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Hmm, it feels almost-odd writing up an analysis of the dream-sequence featuring this Logan and Veronica because it's so clearly not them. Many have referred to Veronica 1.0 in regards to this scene, but I chose to title it in reference to Veronica and Logan 1.0 because we saw that Veronica was not the only one who had really changed. Duncan, Dick and Lilly were all still the same (okay, obviously in Lilly's case, duh!), but both Logan and Veronica were clearly different.
For one thing, Logan's comment towards Veronica wasn't schmoopy; it was a tad patronizing ... which is something that Logan is NEVER like with Veronica. Why? Because he respects her, even when he was in the hate portion of their love/hate relationship, it was obvious that he respected her, even if it wasn't acknowledged. This Logan doesn't respect this Veronica ... he just sees her as ditzy, innocent blonde. And this Veronica IS a ditzy, innocent blonde. Our Veronica wouldn't stand there and be talked down to and accept a kiss after such a comment. But this one not only did, she bought the story, and then took no offense to the teasing and acted as if there were no insult in the commentary on her gullibility.
So, in other words, as horrible as all of the horrible stuff has been, it has, in many ways -- although it's been a longer road for Logan -- made both Logan and Veronica more complete, substantial people. They aren't typical high-schoolers anymore; they understand the heft and weight of the world and it has made them both stronger and wiser (and Logan, despite all of his faults, more respectful of women who deserve respect).
So, if this isn't Logan and this isn't Veronica and these two saccharine versions of the two aren't much fun, what was the point of this dream and why should we, as LoVe fans, be positive about it? Because it wasn't about who they would have been had Lilly not died -- it was about what Veronica wanted in her heart. This was Rob Thomas giving us Veronica's subconscious wish ... to be with the people she loved, the people she realized mattered most to her.
Her parents were number one on that list because she is still a young woman, a teenager. Obviously, she loves Keith and he matters to her, but the inclusion of Lianne? Well, yes. Lianne is a terrible mother, but despite all she's done that is something I can see Veronica always wanting back. Despite her words in Leave it to Beaver (and Lianne's actions), in her heart, Veronica can always blame it on the booze and not Lianne's lack of love for her ... which leaves that door open.
And then, of course, Wallace would hold permanence in her heart. Lilly had been her best friend, but it was clear in this dream that the two of them had drifted apart and in her fantasy, Veronica met Wallace, found him and that connection was made. So maybe Veronica hasn't vocalized (and probably never will) that Lilly wasn't who she thought she was, but this was her subconscious acknowledging that while Lilly may have been her childhood BFF, whether she had lived or not, Wallace Fennel was the best friend of her heart.
And Logan, finally Logan -- who was shown second in the dream sequence if you want to go by the chronological appearance as a sign of the degree to which each individual mattered the most to Veronica. Duncan was just one of the guys, holding as much presence in her dream as did Dick -- Logan was her boyfriend, but not just her boyfriend. In her fantasy, Logan Echolls was the boyfriend who told her that he loved her and one with whom she was clearly in love.
So, as a LoVe fan, that's what we take from this. On television, dreams matter and illustrate what is truly in the heart of the dreamer. And this dream of Veronica's illustrated that in her heart what Veronica wanted was Logan.
Scene Two: Looks Like We Made It!
It was a small moment and admittedly it would have been nicer if we had had actual interaction at the graduation, but hey, it was something. Logan's look of pride as he applauded Veronica was sweet and also held a tinge of regret because he hadn't seen the end of the episode yet, so he pretty much thought this was it. They never were going to get that epic. Yet despite what he believed was the probable ending of any 'us' between them, he was still proud of her.
Of course, we've never been in doubt in regards to Logan's feelings for Veronica. So the question we do ask is was Veronica's near-conspiratorial smile directed towards Logan or rather Keith or Wallace? Simply because it was Logan that we saw right before the shot of Veronica, I'll go with my bias and conclude that it was indeed the luscious Logan she was looking at with a glint in her eye and a smile on her lips.
And that tinge of conspiracy in the curve? That I put down to perhaps a memory of the fab four and the acknowledgement that they are the only two that made it. And it's certainly worth noting that Logan is the one person who has been a major factor in ALL aspects of Veronica's life since she was twelve years old. That's not even something that Keith can claim -- as he doesn't know about the rape (or rather *both* rapes) or the true extent of her ostracism at school. Logan -- good and bad -- has been there through it all, sometimes as hero, sometimes as heel ... but he's been right there alongside Veronica every step of the way. And she's been just as much a part of his life. So I do believe her smile is a subtle acknowledgement of that fact.
Scene Three: Where's Beaver?
Not much here except that we saw Veronica showing trust and comfort with Logan and that's always nice to see. First when she singled him out to ask where Beaver was and secondly, when she clearly was going to tell him exactly why she wanted to find Beaver. That's a pretty big thing to share with a guy whom she knows may well have a level of loyalty to the kid. (Remember in Normal is the Watchword, she included Beaver as one of Logan's toadies.) So her choosing to tell him without even making the choice was a subtle way of showing that she does trust him.
Scene Four: Instinct for LoVe
Like so many in this episode, this is another short scene, but it's a good one. Yes, logistically, who else could Veronica have forwarded that call to? Logan was pretty much it, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Veronica, in the midst of all that was going on -- when we'd already seen evidence that her emotions were all over the place and she wasn't thinking clearly -- instinctively sent the call to Logan. In her time of need, without thought, she reached out for Logan.
And for his part -- he came running.
Also, there was a lovely, little aha! moment for the LoVe fan in the irony in that just as Beaver was telling Veronica that she had no one left to live for, she was calling Logan. It was yet another little subtle push about the importance that Logan was in her life and when push came to shove ... Veronica knew it.
Scene Five: Rescue Me
More than a few times this season, characters have been given the opportunity to cause the death of another human being -- Veronica, Weevil and in this episode alone, Beaver (in the past and present), Duncan, Logan and again, Veronica. Of these characters, only Veronica and Logan have chosen to not take that course. Yes, Veronica had some help from Logan on the rooftop. He was there to remind her what we (and she) know is true ... that at her core she is not a killer. And neither is Logan -- who had the opportunity to not stop Veronica, to take the gun from her and do it himself or keep his mouth shut when Beaver was about to jump. (Yeah, that last one didn't quite work, but the attempt was made and that is the point.) Okay, that's all wonderful in regards to the innate goodness of both Veronica and Logan, but what does this have to with an analysis of LoVe?
Well, since boy wonder, the great Donut, was one of the characters given this opportunity and chose to take it, it is telling in that it shows quite clearly that at the core, Veronica and Logan are of the same constitution on such a black and white issue. Duncan is not and I honestly believe that while both Veronica and Logan would understand (and even be contented with) the motivation behind Duncan's action, I don't think that either one would be able to live comfortably with him in their lives knowing what he is capable of ... because neither one of them is. By showcasing the non-fatal tendencies of both Logan and Veronica contrasted with the opposite of Duncan, it was another subtle show that Duncan is most definitely NOT the one for Veronica and will simply never be an option again. Unlike Logan -- who is the one.
Which brings us back to the roof. Logan could have had no idea what was awaiting him after he received the message, but still he went and there he was. So for the second and last time this season, we once more saw ...
... in a much more traditional sense (closer to the actions of Ahoy Mateys! as opposed to A Trip to the Dentist). Upon seeing Veronica in danger he didn't cower, he didn't leave her to deal with what was going on, instead he put himself right there in the fray. Calling out, he made himself the target, giving Veronica the opportunity the get away. And a target he did become and one had to be thankful for the moment for Big Dick's sissifying attitude toward the Beav -- who wasn't invited to the shooting range -- because he missed the target that was Logan. In doing so, he gave Veronica the opportunity to take on the hero role herself. And she did! Throwing herself against Beaver with all the force her tiny form could muster, she took him down as he was taking aim at Logan once more. And this time, it was Logan's turn to be grateful for Veronica's heroics.
But Veronica is a tiny, blonde one after all and not much of a match for even the less-than-bulky Beaver, so Logan was back in the mix once more. It was a tag-team effort. Veronica about to be taken out, Logan stepped in -- Logan was shot at, Veronica rushed to the fore. The gun was out of Beaver's grasp, but desperation and the taser kept Beaver in the game and once more Logan was out and then it was Veronica's turn to take charge yet again. Holding onto the gun that had been knocked away during Logan's last altercation with the junior psychopath, Veronica was poised to finish this all and then Logan came into play one final time.
In this moment, he was doing what he does best when playing the hero -- wearing his heart on his sleeve, emotional and sincere, telling Veronica exactly what she needed to hear so that she could win the final round and not descend to Beaver's level and become a murderer too. So as much as physically, Logan was there for Veronica spiritually as well.
And emotionally.
Once Beaver was no longer an equation, Veronica practically melted into Logan's arms, the two merging into each other as if they were one. Veronica clung to Logan and when he stepped away to try and stop Beaver from jumping, there was a flash of anguished terror as she watched him step away. It was gone quickly as she realized what he was doing, her concentration -- a weary, sorrow-drenched apathy -- on Beaver, but before she knew why he'd walked away, it was clear that with her belief in Keith's death, Veronica, in that moment, was looking to Logan for strength. Such a reaction showed the continuing trend we had been seeing in measures throughout the episode -- and one that would become impossible to ignore by the end -- that the words spoken over a year ago in response to his heartfelt plea:
Scene Six: There For Her
Another very short scene and the focus was all on Mac and Veronica, but it definitely is worth noting that Logan was there with Veronica. He didn't stop at his suite to talk to Dick or call the police or any of the myriad of things he could have done. He stayed by Veronica's side. He doesn't know Mac so he wasn't there for her. He was sticking with Veronica and clearly that is where Veronica wanted him or he wouldn't have been there. I really do think it's as simple as that. Even in the rush of going to the manager and getting to Mac, there would have been enough time for her to tell him that she wanted to see Mac by herself, but she didn't. Veronica was understandably worried about Mac, but she needed Logan there with her for her.
And so he was.
Scene Seven: The Intimacy of Trust
I believe we have director, John Kretchmer, to thank for the beautiful symmetry of the first shot of Logan and Veronica in the Mars apartment, as seen below ...
... with the similarity to this shot -- with positions reversed -- in Normal is the Watchword ...
... also directed by Kretchmer. Without the artistic reference (see Michelangelo's Pieta), the viewer is still left with an emotional connection despite the brevity of the scene. In Normal is the Watchword, we saw a compassionate Veronica there for Logan in his time of need -- despite the tension between them. In Not Pictured we were given the reverse of that. Here, Veronica was suffering and Logan was the one offering support.
There is an implicit trust in sleeping in someone's arms -- it is at that point that one is at their most vulnerable and whereas Logan wasn't asleep in Normal is the Watchword, Veronica was here. Which, considering Veronica's trust issues, adds a level of intimacy that is more telling than any words could ever be as to how she felt about him now. Whether it was the thought of losing her father, the overall anguish of the evening's events, the fact that Logan was there for her -- physically, emotionally and spiritually -- doing everything he possibly could to be there for her, Veronica trusted Logan. Completely and absolutely. And that was conveyed in the simple act of lying in slumber in his arms.
Scene Eight: Pancakes and Joy
Another small scene, but one that again shows the level of comfort that Veronica allowed Logan after the harrowing events they'd experienced. Whether Logan put Veronica to bed the night before or if she awoke and went on her own (personally, I'm leaning towards the former), the fact that Veronica allowed herself to sleep -- either so deeply when he carried her or easily with him in her home -- showed the depth of trust that Veronica had finally placed in him.
And Logan clearly felt that trust -- most likely for the first time -- because he stayed, because he was assuming the role of caretaker, cooking her breakfast, comforting her in her time of need. We'll just ignore the question of why Logan wouldn't know that Keith was alive as it's highly unlikely that Keith wouldn't have at least woken Logan up to find out why he was there sleeping on his couch. No, instead, we'll just concentrate on the fact that Logan was there for Veronica when she needed him. And more than that, she was allowing him to be there ... wholeheartedly. Completely and absolutely.
As was Keith -- which was another nice touch. The last time Logan had been in the apartment, Keith had bodily threatened him to never come back again. Now, a little less than a year later, he came home to find Logan on his couch and he was able to joke about not finding the boy in Veronica's bed. And that comment alone was enough to show that Keith gets how important and clearly entwined in each other's lives these two are .. and probably always will be. In other words, Keith has accepted Logan. Yay!
Another small thing I really liked was Logan leaving while Veronica reunited with her father. I think it showed a depth of maturity and caring on Logan's part. Yes, I don't deny that part of it may have very well stemmed from a dose of self-pity, but I think the overriding factor by far was that he knew her well enough and cared enough to walk out and give her this moment with Keith. That action was a subtle show of Logan's love for Veronica. Beautiful.
Scene Nine: Everything Will Be Fine
To analyze this scene on its own, it would get a thoroughly positive write-up. However, one has to take into consideration what has come before -- or in this case, what hasn't come before. So, a heads-up ... if you don't want to read a less-than-positive take of what we weren't shown addressed before getting into the overall positive of what we were, skip right along to here. For those who want to read both the good and the bad, carry on.
Some viewers were able to view Logan and Veronica's interactions in this scene as a spontaneous reunion of sorts, done without the 'talking.' Many viewers -- including myself -- were unable to do so. Personally, I simply could not believe that the first kiss shared between these two -- who are so very passionate with one another -- after almost a year apart romantically would be this comfortable, this non-dramatic, this ... passion-less. It was merely a couple of seconds long and there was no intensity. It was too casual, too non-capitalization-worthy unlike their first which is known throughout the fandom as The Kiss. I expected their reunion kiss to become ... The Kiss 2.0. Well, this first kiss -- we witnessed -- played as just another one and so I can not believe that it was their first post-reunion kiss.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I especially loved the spinning as they kissed. I loved how you could hear the smiles and joy in their voices. The comfort level, the schmoopiness, the surety of Veronica's response were all wonderful and adored and I've already watched the scene countless, countless times, but ... yes, but, it came out of left field. It was a resolution without the fourth stage -- the climax! -- of the literary story arc (beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution).
Of course, it makes sense after the events on the roof and the aftermath that we saw in the apartment that the two would hook up again. Of course, it makes sense that their issues of the past just wouldn't matter compared to all of that. And so it was quite, quite easy to fanwank the discussion they had. In fact, I would hazard to say that the vast, vast majority of viewers have about the same approximation of the kind of discussion they had that put them where they were in that hallway.
The thing is that we should have witnessed that discussion -- whether or not we can all easily imagine how it took place. The bottom-line is that I don't care if I can fill in the gaps, viewers should not ever be expected to fill in the gaps with something like this. It was bad storytelling ... period.
I loved the kissing and spinning, but it was bad storytelling and it simply was not earned. We DESERVED to see that scene and any writer/showrunner who knew what the hell they were doing, actually gave a damn about what their fanbase wanted or knew how to give their fanbase what they wanted, would have known that a scene explaining how they got from A to E needed to be shown! (Which scenario fits Rob Thomas is up for each individual viewer to decide.)
This was our climax. When Veronica finally told Logan she didn't care about the past, she realized that she just wanted to be with him, when Logan realized that he could put all of the past behind him and start fresh as the one she wanted to be with, no secrets, no lies between them ... we should have been there. When they shared The Kiss 2.0, with swelling music, with a swooping, majestic camera sweep, with passion and intensity and YES! YES! YES! ... we should have been there.
We were not. Sigh. However ...
What we were there for, the resolution (so to speak) was definitely wonderful. The casual, yet caring way that Keith asked about Logan, Veronica's almost-throwaway comment that Logan was picking her up -- something that surely wouldn't have happened before the events on the roof, were signs that there was a level of comfort now. And that comfort was not just between Logan and Veronica, but also between Keith and the idea of Logan and Veronica. That is something that we simply did not get any prior sense of at any point during their relationship, in flashback or otherwise. All of these things were conveyed subtly through the dialogue and delivery by Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni.
And then we got what was my second favorite part of the whole scene: Veronica's reaction when Logan came to pick her up. We have countless looks from Logan directed toward Veronica that could easily be classified as adoring, schmoopy, sappy and crazy in love. Not so much with Veronica. Her reaction when she saw him standing in the doorway gets added to her much shorter list in a big, BIG way. Her eyes were soft and shining, the smile that curved her mouth was one of almost tremulous joy.
She was so happy to see him just standing there and since it wasn't immediately after all of the drama, but a few days past and it had already been made clear through dialogue that they had spoken/almost definitely seen one another, that smile was not based upon gratitude. A smile of such emotion would have already happened in the days between the morning after Keith's 'resurrection' and this airport pick-up. So, the smile, the joy radiant upon her face was reserved for Logan, and not in gratitude, but out of love.
Which overall is what this episode showed us and it was truly wonderful seeing that resolution in this final scene of the season between them. Veronica does love Logan. She may have not said it yet (as far as we know), but yes, Veronica is very much in love with Logan and she knows that he is, indeed, very much in love with her. Despite all that has happened, especially the events of the roof and more importantly, the way he took care of her afterwards, absolutely made that affection between the two crystal clear. Honestly, after that look on Veronica's face as she looked at Logan, the kissing and spinning, the sweetness and schmoopiness of what followed was merely icing on the cake.
Ah, but what sweet, welcome icing!
Logan holding the door open for her, playing the gentleman as he gestured her through and then the dropping of the bags, the pulling her back into his arms and kissing her (so reminiscent in a softer fashion) of The Kiss in Weapons of Class Destruction was just beautiful. And the spinning ... the spinning, the spinning. Who does NOT love the spinning? It just added such a carefree, giddy joy to the moment. And joy was the watchword.
She was happy, Logan was happy and they were clearly happy together. Veronica knew it -- declared it and them so. Hearing Veronica state that "everything would be fine" and following that up with a very confident, "I know" was a wonderful final moment between just the two that put an end to Veronica's doubt about their relationship definitively. And how could any shipper not love that?
Finally, it wasn't as much as anyone was hoping for in terms of the resolution of the Look Who's Stalking cliffhanger, but the inclusion of Kendall in the scene was actually welcome if only because it put to rest the remaining glitch in their relationship this year. Veronica seemed a bit embarrassed to be caught by Kendall, but other than that, there was no reaction that it being Kendall was an issue. Whatever discussion or understanding had passed between Veronica and Logan in a scene we hadn't seen, it was clear that Kendall simply was not a factor in their relationship.
Throughout most of the discussion with Mrs. C., Logan and (presumably) Veronica still had their hands on one another. (We saw Logan drop his hands as Kendall brushed by, but Veronica was out of frame, so it's likely that she dropped hers at the same time.) They were comfortable with one another and comfortable in showing a display of affection even while being mocked by Kendall ... and in fact, both mocked her in return in a show of snarky solidarity.
It was nice ... quite a wonderful way to end this rather rocky season in terms of LoVe. The straws have all been added up and yeah, we got a pretty comfortable haystack after all.
- Wallace sits and broods at the Hut, a big piece of chocolate cake sitting neglected before him. (Man, he really must be depressed.) Veronica takes a break to join him and encourages him to eat the free cake management gave him. He sits and stares at Jackie's goodbye letter, miserable over the abrupt way she left town. He tells Veronica that Jackie wrote that she was afraid if she saw him she wouldn't be able to get on the plane. Veronica suggests he try the method of coping used by women through the ages -- gorge on cake.
After graduation, Veronica walks to her LeBaron and takes off her graduation gown to reveal the sexy black dress she has on underneath. (She was hiding this under the gown? Was she planning on wearing it later to the party? It seems a shame to wear it when no one coughLogancough can see that seriously plunging neckline.) As she gets ready to start the car, Alicia angrily walks up and demands to know if Veronica knows anything about the note she's holding in her hand. Veronica assures her she doesn't know what's going on, so Alicia explains that Wallace left a note on her windshield, saying he's on his way to Paris to find Jackie. (Maybe the Hut should have given him the whole cake?)
In Brooklyn, New York, a little boy runs in to Brooklyn Dan's diner, calling out "Mommy" to a waitress behind the counter. Following him inside is Jackie, looking none too pleased. The waitress, who happens to be Jackie's mother, Kim, chastises her for being ten minutes late. Complaining that she hasn't even been back two days, Jackie asks if she couldn't cut her a little slack. Kim reminds her she's no longer in Neptune and the Terrance Cook fantasy camp is over, so it's back to real life. As her mother answers the phone, Jackie removes her coat and reveals that she's also wearing a waitress uniform.
The phone call is for Jackie, who dons her nametag and picks up the receiver. Her hesitant "Hello?" is countered by Veronica's "Why no 'bonjour?'" Jackie is surprised that Veronica knew to reach her there. (Obviously, she's been too busy lying about her past to pay attention this past year.) It seems Veronica figured things out awhile ago, piecing together bits of information like Jackie's 3.1 GPA not being Sorbonne-worthy and Jackie's professional skills at the Hut being far too good for the never-employed daughter of a model living on the Upper West Side. Jackie admits she lied about her life, but swears she never lied to Wallace about her feelings. Veronica tells Jackie that Wallace is on a plane to Paris, but has a four hour layover at JFK. So that's time enough for Jackie to go tell him the truth.
Wallace stands, watching the boards announce the flights coming and going from JFK International Airport. Jackie walks up to him and he smiles in surprise, hugging her and telling her that he's headed to Paris with her. Jackie breaks it to him that she's only there courtesy of a ticket to the Philly shuttle she had to buy to get past security. That's not the end of her confession, though.
She explains that her mother is not a model, but a waitress who had a one night stand with Terrance eighteen years ago. Jackie's a Brooklyn kid who screwed up her life with drugs and alcohol and the wrong friends. Wallace interrupts her confession to say he really doesn't care about her past. But then she drops the big truth. She has a two-year-old son. When he was born, Jackie was sent to live with Terrance, while her mother raised the baby. Jackie realized she was being a hypocrite to be so upset over her father dropping her from his life, so she knew she had to return home to her baby. She knows she has to stay, but Wallace? He belongs in Neptune.
- Aaron triumphantly walks out of the courthouse, as the press and assembled masses of (idiot) fans cheer and applaud his victory. Keith holds on to Veronica in the crowd, as she glares at the monster who is getting away with murder, proving that the innocent suffer, the guilty go free, and truth and fiction are interchangeable. Aaron poses for the press, expressing his relief at having his name cleared of this horrible crime. His performance is received with more cheers and flashing cameras and he raises up his hands in victory as Keith leads his daughter away from the spectacle.
Aaron's winning mug makes the cover of the Neptune Register, shouting the news: "Aaron Echolls Acquitted. Movie star found not guilty in teen's murder." Veronica is sitting at her Mars Investigations desk, burning a hole in his photograph with the mere power of her hateful stare. Keith stands over her shoulder and insists that they won't do this. They won't obsess, he says, as he grabs the paper from her white-knuckled grip.
He reminds her they're people with lives, who will move on and Aaron will get justice served to him in his own way. Veronica remains skeptical, but Keith believes it and tells her they need to get back to their business. And back to work he goes, as he walks to his desk, sits down and resumes the photograph-burning stare his daughter had begun. He's caught in the act of not taking his own advice, though, when Veronica brings a fax in to his office and asks him what happened to "moving on?" Pointedly, he sets the paper aside and out of the range of their death-glares.
Aaron approaches Logan in the lobby of the Neptune Grand. Attempting to avoid looking at his father, Logan nevertheless asks Aaron what he's doing there. Father and son walk to the elevator as Aaron explains that he needs a place to stay and wonders what Logan thinks of the suites. While Logan thinks it'll probably be an improvement over Aaron's jail cell, it might be a little weird since he assumes the other guests aren't killers.
Pushing the elevator call button, Aaron warns his son that he should make more of an effort to be civil to him now. Logan, barely containing his anger, throws his candy wrapper down, asking if just because he beat a murder rap, he's suddenly his father again. Aaron insists that he never has and never will stop being his father and, more importantly, he has regained control of the purse strings, so Logan is once again his dependant. Aaron claps Logan on the shoulder as the elevator doors open. Logan is on his way up, so Aaron gets in alone and begins his inevitable descent to hell. Or his suite. Take your pick.
Later, Veronica, distractedly pressing the numbers on her phone, walks into the Neptune Grand elevator and pushes the button to go to the roof. The doors close, her phone beeps and she curses in frustration. Suddenly, Aaron says hello. He's in the elevator. With her. Alone. He tells her not to look so surprised. It's a small town and now that he's no longer in jail, they might just run in to each other from time to time. (Tell me he didn't just twink at her?!)
Veronica steels herself and promises to pay better attention to where she's going from now on. He smiles as he begins extolling the virtues of freedom. Walking a little closer to her, with a menacing smile, he tells her that freedom is pretty damn sweet and he likes it. Not even flinching, she points out that Lilly loved freedom, too, so it's a bummer that he killed her. Aaron tells her he gets it now why she and Lilly were such good friends. They're alike in that they're not afraid to speak their minds. In fact, the best part of the day he smashed Lilly's head in with an ashtray was knowing that she would finally shut the hell up, once and for all. The elevator bell rings, as Veronica remains silent. Aaron smiles, bids her a nice night, then leaves. Relieved, Veronica shakily starts to breathe again.
Aaron and Kendall share some post-coital laughs on the sofa in his hotel suite, as he lets her know just how much he loves freedom. (Enjoy it while you can, you smug bastard.) Kendall enjoys freedom, too, but any more "freedoming" and she claims she's going to need a wheelchair. (And there really isn't enough "yuck" in the world for this.) Deciding it's a pretty damn good time to go take a shower (can't say I blame her), she leaves him there to light up a cigar and turn on the television.
Putting his feet up, he surfs the channels until he finds a movie starring himself, in his younger days. He sits there, wallowing in narcissism. A drink in one hand, a cigar in the other and completely unaware of the gun pointed at the back of his head. Two muffled shots ring out and Aaron's blood splatters the television screen. Clarence Weidman, dressed all in black, leaves the room, his mission accomplished.
On a sunny beach in Mollymook, Australia, Duncan builds a sand castle for his baby daughter, topping it off with a tiny flag of Australia. His phone rings and he answers it. "CW?" Clarence, from the elevator of the Neptune Grand, reports that "It's a done deal." Weidman hangs up and, as he exits the elevator, unblocks the elevator's security camera as soon as he's past detection on it and leaves. On the other side of the world, Duncan puts the phone down and closes his eyes for a moment, knowing that justice has finally been dealt to his sister's killer. his daughter plays as her daddy smiles at her.
- Veronica's Dreamscape: It's 6:30 am and, much to Veronica's irritation, her alarm clock is going off. She covers her head with a pillow, trying to drown out the noise, but her attempt to postpone the day is thwarted as Lianne brings in some laundry and cheerily tells her daughter to get up. The big day is finally here. Veronica looks a little confused, but starts to get out of bed.
In a nice house, Veronica, wearing a light flowery summer dress, walks to the breakfast table, where Keith is sitting, wearing his Sheriff's uniform. Lianne loads Veronica's plate with pancakes as Veronica questions if she's trying to give her an early jump on "the Freshman 15." Lianne advises her to eat these up while she can because the dining hall at San Diego State isn't going to feed her like this.
Lianne barely finishes putting the dishes on the counter before Keith grabs her and pulls her onto his lap, heartily telling her how much he loves pancakes. They start kissing as Veronica watches them with a wistful smile. Keith notices the look on her face and wonders why she isn't telling them to get a room or some other typically teenage comment. Lianne giggles and Veronica just shakes her head, letting them know that she thinks it's nice. Lianne feels her forehead and jokingly asks her if she's okay. Veronica brushes her off with a laugh and Lianne goes to get a camera.
Veronica asks Keith how the sheriff business is. Keith says it's sweet, which may have something to do with Lamb's current duties for the week -- wearing the Clete the Crime-Fighting Canine costume to all the local elementary schools. Needless to say, Veronica appears amused at the idea. (And I would pay to see it, myself!) As she retakes her spot in Keith's lap, Lianne asks Veronica to not run off with "that boy" after the ceremony because they want to take lots of pictures. Veronica smiles that she can't wait. Thinking they should practice, Lianne takes her picture as ...
... A girl in cap and gown takes a picture of her friends in the school quad. Veronica, carrying a bagged cap and gown, rushes up to Logan, who's not yet outfitted in his own gown. Duncan and Dick, both decked out in their graduation attire, are hanging out with him. Veronica complains that she was given the wrong clothes. Logan's not sure how she can tell, looking at his cap for its own distinguishing marks. Veronica explains that someone else's name is on her bag. Dick, always one to stay on topic, asks them to guess who is going commando right now. Duncan would rather not.
Veronica reads the label and asks if anyone knows a Wallace Fennel. Duncan says he has P.E. with him; he's an awesome baller who works at the Sac-n-Pac. Not exactly useful information, so she asks if any of them can just point the guy out for her. Dick asks if she heard what happened to Wallace. The Sac-n-Pac got held up and the robber forced him in to the walk-in cooler and he got frostbite. Duncan adds that Wallace lost three fingers. Veronica's horrified, then Duncan and Dick crack up and shake hands over their successful foolin.' She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the little boys. Logan laughs and tells his sweetie that he loves her, but she's the most gullible girl he's ever met. He kisses her and she admits that she's trusting.
Duncan points out Wallace, who's wearing glasses and walking around looking at his cap and gown bag in confusion. Veronica calls out his name and goes to him, pointing out that she has his cap and gown. He looks at his bag and says she must be Veronica Mars, then. They switch bags and he asks if she's looking forward to getting out of there. She guesses she is, but high school was a blast. Wallace realizes she's "one of those," which Veronica doesn't seem to understand. Wallace shrugs it off as nothing and tells her to have a good life; he's sure she will.
As he walks away, Veronica sees Lilly standing in front of the memorial fountain. Excited, Veronica calls out her name and runs up to her. They hug as Veronica eagerly asks for the latest info on her life, particularly about the new guy and life at Vassar. Lilly says the guy is gone because they had a disagreement over fooling around with his ex. Veronica calls him a bastard, as any girlfriend would, but Lilly laughs and explains that it was actually her fooling around with his ex.
Veronica's shocked, but Lilly's surprised it was even an issue because she thought that guys would dig that kind of thing. Seeing the expression on Veronica's face, she tells her that it's expected in college and that she'll see for herself. Veronica says it's good to see her, but then Lilly turns around and asks what the Lilly Kane Memorial Fountain is? And, more importantly, does she smell bacon?
Keith bursts into Veronica's room, waking her up from her dream to tell her it's graduation day, there's lots to do and he's making breakfast!
The Neptune High Class of 2006 and their loved ones are gathered in the high school gym, milling about as the band tunes their instruments. Eventually, Clemmons takes the stage as the band plays Pomp and Circumstance. Students are called up to receive their diplomas as the audience applauds. First up in our gang is Wallace Fennel. Alicia stands up, applauding her son as Veronica cheers loudly from her seat. Next to make it to the stage is Cindy Mackenzie, with Beaver and non-graduating Dick applauding happily from their seats.
Finally, Veronica's name is called. Keith, adorable proud papa extraordinaire, stands and cheers and claps louder than anyone. Which is saying something because there is much applause, to Veronica's obvious astonishment. As she stands on the stage, Mac "whoos!" her, Wallace shouts an "All right, V!," Logan half-smiles while he watches her adoringly, and there are many others cheering her on. Veronica smiles a moment, then goes to Clemmons to receive her diploma.
He asks her if she was expecting some other reaction. For once, she's at a loss for words. He covers the microphone and leans in to confide that he's not sure if his life will be easier or more difficult with her gone. He asks for advice in case he gets another one like her some day (as if!). She suggests he not keep all of his passwords taped to the bottom of his stapler and that he should stay cool. Switching her cap tassel to the other side, Veronica smiles and walks away. (Sniffle. I miss Mr. C. already.)
Outside, Keith makes his way through the crowd to Veronica as she laughs at his efforts. He presents her with an envelope for this momentous occasion. She feels it, shakes it, smells it. "A pony?!" (Hey, at least she keeps trying!) She opens the envelope to find tickets to New York. They leave Tuesday. Thrilled, she throws her arms around him, thanking him for the awesome present. After Keith leaves to hunt down Woody, Dick smacks her butt as he walks past her, telling her to put on her dancing shoes because tonight they're gonna "upchuck the boogie." Upchuck? You heard him, Veronica. He may have screwed up the lyrics, but if he plans to bring the Party Pig again, he may have meant it quite literally.
- Veronica sits at her office desk reading a New Yorker magazine as Keith walks in, cheerily saying he can feel the little town blues melting away. Likewise, she is packed and ready to go, with her vagabond shoes and her Donald Trump repellant pepper spray. Keith wonders if she's sure she doesn't want to drive with him to the airport, but she reminds him that Logan is giving her a ride so they can "talk."
Keith asks how Logan took the news about Aaron's murder. She says he shrugs it off and calls himself Little Orphan Annie -- meaning he's taking it badly. She checks her watch and says she should go out front, so Keith kisses the top of Veronica's head and promises to meet her at the gate, then goes into his office. Veronica stands up as Logan walks in and picks up her luggage. "So?" he asks. She looks up and, dare I say it, positively beams at him.
Veronica walks out into the hall, followed by Logan, who closes the door behind him and checks around quickly, smiling, as she looks for something in her bag. He drops her bags, startling her, and grabs her, kisses her, spinning as only they can spin. She giggles, "What are you doing?" He laughs and spins her until her back is to the wall. He's not gonna see her for a whole week, which is going to feel like a month to him. She assures him that then she'll be back and everything will be fine. Happily kissing her neck and cheek, he's not so sure. But Veronica knows it; she can feel it. When he questions her track record, she tells him she's never wrong. Giggling, she bumps noses with him.
Suddenly, another light flips on and a mocking voice says, "Aww, young love." Veronica tenses as they turn to see their rude interruption is in a Kendall-shaped form. Mrs. C. tells them not to move -- to hold their position because Norman Rockwell wants to come in and paint them. Cutting off Kendall's snark, Veronica wonders why she's there. Logan wonders how it's possible for her to come out during the daylight hours, without bursting into flames or something. Ignoring them, Kendall states she has a business proposition for Keith and walks past them as Veronica warns her that he doesn't carry much cash.
In his office, Keith is facing Kendall who urgently says she needs him to do something for her. Right now. He informs her he'll be back in a week, but he's meeting his daughter in an hour, so he can't help her now. Kendall places a briefcase on his desk and says she thinks he'll change his mind. She opens it. Keith stares at the contents. Surprised? Awed? "Oh." Like she said, it's important.
At the airport, Veronica waits for her father. She checks her phone, but there's no signal. (It's June 6, 9:12 am. Do you know where your father is?) The boarding sign flashes as Veronica waits alone.
- Based on the cell phone displays shown throughout the episode, graduation day was on Saturday, June 3 and Veronica and Keith's trip was to begin on Tuesday, June 6.
- The phone messages throughout the episode:
- Veronica's working at the Hut while simultaneously trying to console Wallace in his Jackie-induced misery with compassion and chocolate cake when she spots Johnny Ludden hovering in the doorway. I know what you are thinking -- who the hell is Johnny Ludden? And why has Veronica apparently offered him free gelato? And how desperate must the poor kid be that the prospect of free gelato has him this excited?
Veronica pulls out her copy of the team picture for Woody's little league Sharks when Marcos and Peter were on the team. She confirms that Johnny is one of the kids pictured (most are now identified by name in the photo), and tells him she's going to need to ask him a few more questions before she'll gift him with the free gelato. Alas, we don't get to find out what those questions are.
Veronica arrives home that night and finds Keith sitting in the living room reading. No sooner has she shut the door than the phone rings. Veronica, still staring at the little league photo, answers the phone a bit distractedly. However, her face quickly transforms from distraction, to confusion, to a derisive smirk. She puts the phone against her shoulder and tells her father that he's got a call -- from Vinnie Van Lowe. Keith's expression of baffled disgust is exquisitely hilarious.
Whatever Vinnie tells Keith on that call must be pretty good, because the next time we see him, Keith is chatting with Vinnie. Vinnie reminds Keith that the Manning family has posted a $20,000 reward for the capture of Woody Goodman. He goes on to say that he knows a lot of top guys are out there, and thinks that perhaps he and Keith should pool their resources to capture the fugitive child molester and possible killer.
Keith shakes his head at Vinnie and reminds him that the Sheriff caught him on tape breaking into Woody's house. As Vinnie steps closer to Keith, we realize that they are standing on opposite sides of jailhouse bars -- and that Vinnie is currently a guest of the Balboa County jail. Vinnie saunters closer and gestures Keith in to hear his whispered confession: Johnny Law don't know what he's got. And what he's got is a lot.
Vinnie was apparently able to abscond with quite a bit of stuff from the Woodster's home: Medical records, tax records, corporate documents, you name it -- the whole enchilada. He thinks that he and Keith could use this stuff to track Woody down, and split the bounty 60/40. Keith pauses for a moment before agreeing, but only to a 50/50 split if the info is good, and only if the action can wait until after Veronica's graduation. (Seriously -- how much do we love Keith?) Vinnie whines that he deserves 60% because he's in jail! Keith, knowing Vinnie's feeling is as hard to hurt as Kendall's, plays him the world's smallest violin. And Mars and Van Lowe are in business.
Back at the Mars Investigations office, Veronica and Keith are pouring through the plethora of documents Vinnie stole from Woody. Veronica informs Keith that Woody has at least ten credit cards in different corporate names, so they are gonna have to arrange for a trace on each card. Plus, it seems that Woody has a pilot's license. Keith, working from a different angle, is reviewing Woody's health records. It seems that the Woodster's been plagued by a number of common ailments: Seasonal allergies, bad arches, heart arrhythmia, and, oh yeah, he had the Clap. The mayor was treated twice for Chlamydia.
Veronica's expression indicates that, like us, a distant bell is sounding in her head at the mention of Woody's history of STD's. She doesn't say anything to Keith, but you can see the wheels turning in her head. I don't think Veronica's quite sure what this new information means, or how it might relate to her, but she looks convinced that it's going to be important.
Completely unaware of Veronica's internal dilemma, Keith remarks that the heart arrhythmia is exactly what they were looking for. Veronica snarks at Keith that she wonders if his great plan is to wait for Woody to drop dead? Keith ignores the sarcasm and tells Veronica that Woody has to take a pill every day for his condition, and wonders if Veronica can get Gia's cell-phone access code. Veronica seems a bit puzzled by Keith's seemly unrelated question, but he clarifies when he tells her that Woody's lawyer is also an old college buddy so if Woody was going to call anyone while on the lam, it would be him. If they had Gia's code, they could forward her calls. Veronica muses that she'd bet money on the fact that Gia hasn't changed the factory preset, and Keith grins that he's got a plan.
Early in the morning on graduation day, Keith is sitting outside a city office building watching a man head inside. He gives Veronica a quick call to let her know it's almost time -- for what, we don't know. Inside the building, the man, who we soon learn is Woody's attorney Billy Lee, heads into his office and is told by his secretary that Gia Goodman called him and asked that he call her on her cell. He sits down behind his desk, puts on his hands-free headset and places the call.
The phone clicks as his call connects, and Billy greets Gia in the way you'd expect from an old family friend. Here's the catch: Billy isn't actually talking to Gia. As we flash over to the Mars' apartment, we realize that Billy is, in fact, chatting away with Veronica, who is doing a mean Gia Goodman impersonation. "Gia" tells Billy that she's trying to get a hold of her dad, but he didn't leave a forwarding ... whatever. She goes on to explain that they got a call from Dr. Hoover saying that Woody's heart pills are 50 millisomething this time instead of 100, so it's important that her dear old dad take two. Billy tells her he'll see what he can do.
We flash out to Keith's car as the call ends and realize he's somehow monitoring Billy's calls. He records the tones of Billy's next outgoing call to the Quail Creek Lodge and using one of his finer spy gadgets, plays back the tones to determine the number called. Billy tells the operator at the lodge that he needs to leave a message for Mr. Underhill. I'm guessing that's supposed to be Woody's alias, which is kind of funny when you think about it. It makes me wonder if Billy will tell the operator that Samwise Gamgee called when he leaves the message.
As Keith escorts Veronica into the Neptune High gym for the graduation ceremony, he tells her about Billy's call to the Quail Creek Lodge. The lodge is apparently located 20 miles outside of Reno, and is generally a hunting retreat for wealthy businessmen. Veronica seems skeptical that Woody would be there, but Keith tells her that he checked GoogleEarth and the lodge has a landing strip and a building big enough to hide a plane. You know, the evolution of the internet must have many gadget crafting side-kicks quivering in fear that one day they will become obsolete to their stealthy counterparts in the face of this kind of technological advance. I mean, with GoogleEarth at your fingertips, who needs to hack into the government's spy satellite network? Not Keith Mars.
Keith tells Veronica that he's going after Woody as soon as graduation is over. Veronica grouses that she's not sure she likes the idea of him running off to a place of armed, drunk businessmen. Keith quips that that is why he rarely goes to Texas. Ha! He assures Veronica that he'll be fine, and that he'll call as soon as he has Woody in custody.
At the Quail Creek Lodge, we find Woody lounging around his room in nothing but a wife-beater and his boxers (*shudder*) watching The Dukes of Hazzard. He heads into the bathroom to take a leak. As he stands in front of the toilet, he realizes that the bathroom window is open. He turns to look around the room in a panic, and Keith comes out from hiding behind the shower curtain. So Woody does what any fugitive would do in this situation: He grabs the deer head off the wall and chucks it at Keith. Hah!
Keith artfully dodges the flying deer head and manages to taser Woody before he can crawl out the window. Where he thought he was going in that ensemble with only tubesocks on his feet, I'm not sure, but based on the distressed noise he made when Keith zapped him and the way he slumped to the floor, I suppose it doesn't much matter now. Keith calmly opens his cell phone, calls directory assistance, and asks for the number of the local sheriff's office.
Later, outside the lodge, Woody sits with his hands bound behind him, waiting to face his doom. Keith finishes talking to one of the deputies and heads back to Woody's side. Keith's figured out now that Woody set him up with the whole "girl in a motel room thing" in order to kill the incorporation because he was being blackmailed. He set Keith up to keep his special secret safe. Woody tries to protest that he knows how this must look, but Keith won't allow him to finish. He tells Woody that if he's about to try and protest that this is all some big misunderstanding, Keith's pretty sure that Woody doesn't know how this must look at all.
Woody goes all earnest and swears to Keith that he didn't crash the bus -- he could never have hurt all those kids! Pretty funny from a guy who molested and emotionally scarred only God knows how many boys over the years. Keith is clearly on the same wavelength because he notes that the welfare of children doesn't seem to have been terribly high on Woody's list of priorities.
Woody, in the self-delusional way that most child molesters have perfected, protests that he was good to those boys. He never hurt them. He listened to them, cared for them, paid attention to them -- he gave them what their own fathers couldn't. Yeah, sure Woody, we get it -- you're a giver. Only you don't seem to realize that what you gave them was emotionally, physically and mentally scarring, you sick bastard. It's not the kind of 'gift' anyone is going to thank you for. Keith tells Woody to just stop, as their disturbing heart-to-heart is cut short by the arrival of the deputy.
Meanwhile, Veronica is in her room, intently studying the little league photo when her phone rings. She smiles when she sees Keith's number, and answers the phone by saying "You caught him." On the other end of the line, Keith smiles and tells her they are loading Woody on to his personal plane at that moment, and as soon as the pilot arrives, they'll be on their way. Veronica asks if Woody confessed to orchestrating the bus crash, and Keith tells her the unfortunate truth: Woody's claming his innocence and they are going to need a lot more evidence to nail him.
Veronica updates Keith on her search for third guy on the blackmail recording. Apparently she has only one Shark left to identify, and she's pretty sure she knows where she can find him. Keith tells her that the pilot has arrived, and they are getting ready to leave. He'll be home late so she shouldn't wait up. They both hang up their phones and we watch Keith begin to board the plane.
Veronica pulls up in the parking lot at Woody's Burgers. She enters the restaurant and heads right for Woody's own personal wall-of-fame. She skims the trophies and photographs with her eyes until she finds what she came for: Another copy of the little league photo, hopefully listing the names of all the players. She runs her fingers over the lines at the bottom of the page and discovers that Derek Applegate is the Shark she's been missing. As she muses over who and where Derek is, one line at the bottom of the photograph catches her eye. The camera zooms in and pans across the photo as we read four words that will change everything:
"Not pictured: Cassidy Casablancas."
As the room shifts around her, Veronica's face betrays her shock and denial as the pieces of this very complex puzzle begin to fall into place.
Veronica pulls herself together in the bathroom at Woody's before charging out to face this problem the way she's faced every problem since her evolution into Veronica 2.0 ... head on. She heads for her car and places a call on her cell. We flash to Logan's graduation party at the Neptune Grand, which is in full swing. Mac and Beaver stroll by holding hands as we realize that Mac's phone is ringing -- and that she can't hear it over the music.
Back to Veronica as she gets into her car and her call goes to Mac's voicemail. With a controlled sense of urgency, Veronica tells Mac to get away from Beaver any way she can because he's dangerous, and then to call her as soon as she gets the message. She hangs up and immediately places another call where she asks for a listing for Hart Hanson, who you may recall is Beaver's friend who unexpectedly caught Lynn Echolls' plunge from the Coronado Bridge on tape.
Beaver and Dick have brotherly bonding over the chugging of beer, while Mac watches on with fond amusement. Beaver asks Mac if she wants to go check out the room, and Mac marvels that the beer he consumed was clearly a batch of liquid courage. Beaver smiles and tells her there isn't anything up in that room that he's afraid of. Grinning adorably, the two head out.
As Mac and Beaver cross the lobby to head up to their room at the hotel, Corny snags them to share big news. In typically spastic Corny fashion, he tells Mac and Beav that Veronica's dad caught the mayor and it's all over the news. Word is that they are flying the Woodster back on his own plane. He then comments, with childish glee and accompanying sound effects, that the sleazoid is gonna fry!
Veronica has arrived at Logan's party and still can't get Mac on the phone. Pushing through the throng of party goers, she finds Logan playing with a helium balloon and asks if he's seen Beaver and Mac. He tells her that they were there earlier, and asks what's wrong once he realizes that Veronica's upset. Before she can tell him of her suspicions, Dick comes over. Veronica asks him if he knows where Beaver is.
Dick smirks and tells her that Beav took "Ghost World" up to a room where he suspects that they are either A) making sweet love, B) playing D&D, or C) perhaps both at the same time because, you know, they are both 12th level dorks. Nothing like the love and support of an older brother, eh? Dick's typically oblivious to Veronica's agitation, but by the look on Logan's face as he watches Veronica walk away we know he suspects that something is really wrong.
Up in Beaver's room it appears that the sex has not gone quite as well as one would have hoped. Beav looks devastated, but Mac's being sweet and supportive. She tells him that everything's okay and that she's having a good time, but now she's going to take a shower and then they can head back down to the party. Meanwhile, Veronica is down at the front desk trying to find out which room the lovebirds are in. The woman at the desk tells Veronica that she can't give out that information, but offers to call the room. Of course, there is a 'Do Not Disturb' on the room.
Veronica stomps away and sends Mac a text message from her sidekick. Up in the room, Beaver is sitting on the bed in only his jeans, waiting for Mac to finish showering. (Side note: I know he's on the small side, but DAMN! Where did Beav pick up that six-pack??) He hears Mac's phone vibrate and picks it up off the table to look at the display.
In what can only be described as a moment of sheer stupidity, it appears that Veronica has sent Mac the following message: "Get away from Beaver. Now. He's a killer. I'm in the lobby." Nice one, Veronica. In a chilling metamorphosis, we watch Beaver's face transform in the space of a heartbeat from sweet and unassuming to dark and menacing. With the ominous music swelling in the background, Beaver reaches into his suitcase and pulls out a handgun. Back in the lobby, Veronica's sidekick reveals a message that she thinks is from Mac reading "Meet me on the roof now."
Veronica heads out onto the roof, searching for Mac and calling out her friend's name. But instead of Mac's voice, Veronica is greeted by Cassidy Casablancas -- but not the Cassidy we've come to know and love. She turns to find the boy she thought she knew standing behind her with his gun trained on her. Veronica asks where Mac is, and we all shudder when Beaver calmly tells her that Mac's in a better place, and unfortunately never got a chance to read Veronica's message. Beaver demands that Veronica throw him her bag, and neither his gun nor his resolve waver in the slightest.
Veronica throws her bag at Beaver's feet. He paws through the bag, pulls out her taser, and tosses the bag aside. He pulls out Mac's phone and waves it at Veronica, and recaps her message that he's a killer. He comments that it's a pretty harsh accusation and asks what Veronica thinks she knows. Veronica takes a deep breath and begins to tell the story that will leave us all with dropped jaws.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, Beaver played on Woody's little league team with Marcos and Peter. Woody molested all three boys and Marcos and Peter, after years of denial, had finally decided to come forward and tell their story. We flash back to a scene where Marcos and Peter are having the conversation we heard in the blackmail email audio file. Marcos and Peter are trying to convince Beaver to come forward about the abuse, but Beaver is afraid of what will happen when people find out. Peter (who, by the way, is SO pretty) tells him that it can't stay a secret for much longer. Beaver begs them not to drag him into this, but they remind him that he's already in it -- and he'll thank them later for it. Beaver, not surprisingly, does not look convinced.
We flash back to the present where Veronica concludes that Beaver decided that Marcos and Peter had to die so that Woody's abuse would never be revealed. Veronica figured out that Beaver got the explosives from his dad's mechanic, former stunt coordinator, Curly Moran. Beaver's friend Hart -- the kid she recently saw hanging out with Beaver when he discovered his car had been scratched -- confirmed that Beaver frequently helped him make his war movies and was responsible for blowing stuff up. Hart told Veronica that Beaver said he knew a guy that told him how to do it.
We flash back again, this time to the day of the crash, where we find Beaver riding in the limo behind the bus with Dick and the rest of the 09er crew. As the bus rounds the curve on the PCH, Beaver presses the send button on his cell phone and triggers the explosion we now know sent the bus and its eight occupants hurtling over the cliff and into the sea. Back on the rooftop, Veronica continues her tale. It seems that Curly shared with Weevil that he thought he had figured out who was responsible for the crash, which obviously meant that Curly had to go too.
Beaver managed to convince the PCHers that Curly was responsible for the crash, letting them believe that he had been hired by the Fitzpatricks to silence Eduardo's bragging about fleecing Liam. We flash back to the night Curly was beaten in the parking lot at the Road Hog and learn that it was Beaver himself in the car that scared the PCHers away before they could finish Curly off. As the PCHers fled the scene, Beaver gunned the engine and ran Curly down. Climbing out of his car, Beaver wrote Veronica's name on Curly's hand to muddy the investigative waters before using his car to hurl Curly's dead body over the cliff and into the ocean.
But there's more. On the roof Veronica also tells Beaver that she's realized he didn't hire her to catch Kendall cheating on his dad. Veronica knows now that Beaver knew all along what Big Dick was up to, and he was looking to punish his old man for treating him like a second class citizen -- or worse, a girl. And he used Veronica to do it. Beaver smiles a wicked smile and cheekily tells Veronica that she was marvelous, confirming every word of Veronica's outrageous tale. In that moment it becomes completely clear that we never really knew Beaver at all.
Just when we think it can't get any worse, Veronica asks Beaver a jaw-dropping question: How is it that she got Chlamydia? Woody had it, she got it. And as Veronica rehashes that horrible night two years ago at Shelly Pomeroy's, we all begin to feel a little sick. Veronica reminds Beaver that he told her that Dick pushed him into a room with her, but he didn't want to take advantage and so he ran away. Only it is quite clear by the Beaver's raised eyebrows and quick grin that Veronica's right -- he didn't run away that night. Instead, he stayed behind to prove to himself that he was a man. Veronica cries out in pain and anger that he raped her, and Beaver only laughs that Dick still thinks he's a virgin. Because he can keep a secret.
That's what it all boils down to: Beaver killed nine people in an effort to keep the abuse secret. Veronica tells him it's too late now because his secret has been found out. Beaver's pretty sure she won't be telling anybody -- but Veronica tells him she already has; she told her dad. Beaver shakes his head and marvels that it's a shame that she told her dad because right now he's on Woody's plane. Apparently, Beaver no longer has any use for Woody. Remember the bomb under Woody's car? Turns out Beav planted one on the plane too, and can blow all of them out of the sky with just the touch of a button on his cell. He offers Veronica a minute to call her dad and say goodbye before he presses "Send."
Veronica starts to cry in earnest, shaking her head, denying that Beaver could really mean it. But the cold expression on his face and the methodical way he begins to count down those 60 precious seconds leaves no doubt that he'll kill again without even blinking. Veronica dials her phone, crying and begging for Keith to pick up his phone -- but he never does. In a moment that rocks the very foundation of this show, Beaver nonchalantly presses the send button on his phone, and simultaneously we see a huge explosion in the sky over Veronica's shoulder. As she turns to see the fireball in the sky, our hearts break as Veronica realizes that her beloved father is dead and collapses to the ground on her knees.
Beaver kneels down to a grieving, sobbing Veronica and asks her for a favor. Since she has no one left to live for, he wonders idly if she'll just roll herself off the ledge for him because he really doesn't want her DNA all over his shirt. But what Beaver has failed to take into account is that Veronica may be beaten, but she isn't broken -- and she isn't alone at all. Beaver is oblivious to the fact that with her right hand, out of his line of site, Veronica is sending an SOS via sidekick to the one person she knows she can count on to be there for her in her time of need.
Inside the hotel, Logan is kneeling in front of the mini-fridge when his phone rings. He checks the display and sees Veronica's number. He opens the message and finds a forward of Beaver's text message asking Veronica to meet him on the roof. I don't think Logan is quite sure what's going on, but he clearly knows it isn't good -- and that Veronica needs him.
Back on the roof, Beaver continues to chatter, seemingly enjoying Veronica's misery. Looking at her taser, Beaver wonders aloud if Veronica knows what the people she tasers feel like and then decides that perhaps it is time she found out. He presses the taser to her arm and Veronica cries out, falling all the way to the ground and cradling her arm. Beaver's really enjoying himself immensely now and reminds Veronica that they are the Neptune Pirates. In his mind, it's like she's walking the plank, but instead of poking her with a sword he's hitting her with 300,000 volts. He hits her again and tells her to jump. She rolls to her back, desperately crying and begging him "please, don't."
Beaver gets to his feet and trains the gun on our fallen heroine, clearly disappointed that she isn't going to make this easy on him. He muses aloud that Aaron Echolls is staying at the hotel that night, and asks Veronica what she wants to bet the odds are that he can get Aaron convicted of her murder. Before he can pull the trigger, a white knight in a green hoodie materializes on the roof, calling out a desperate "NO!" Beaver turns fluidly at the sound of Logan's voice and takes a shot. As Logan safely ducks behind one of the atrium windows, we all thank the good lord that Beaver didn't spend more time at the range.
As Beaver takes another shot at Logan, Veronica takes him down in a flying tackle that would make Wallace proud. They wrestle and Beaver manages to knock Veronica off his back. Before he can fully regain his feet, Logan comes flying out of the darkness. The gun skitters across the rooftop as Logan and Beaver wrestle for control. Beaver gets the upper hand by tasering Logan in the side, but he's too late. Veronica's got the gun now and she fires a warning shot into the air before turning the gun on Beaver. Despite her emotional state, I'd be willing to bet money that the daughter of the former Sheriff is a hell of a lot better shot than the youngest Casablancas brother.
Veronica, although crying, calmly tells Logan to get away from Beaver, and her intentions are clear. The boys stand, but when Logan quietly begs Veronica to stop, she momentarily loses control and heartbreakingly screams "he killed my father!" (I don't know about the rest of you, but I was crying buckets at this point.) Logan looks terrified for Veronica and inches closer, begging her to give him the gun. As Veronica continues to rail that Beaver killed everyone on the bus, and that he raped her, Beaver merely looks resigned to his fate. Despite his shock over these announcements, Logan never loses his focus, slowly inching closer and closer, continually telling Veronica that she's not a killer, begging her to give him the gun.
You can see the torment on Veronica's features as she realizes that Logan's right -- she isn't a killer. But with all she's learned tonight, with all she's lost at the hands of Cassidy Casablancas, you can see that there is a small part of her that wishes she was. That wishes she was capable of pulling the trigger and ending the life of the boy responsible for so much pain and devastation. In all honesty, at that moment, there was a small part of me that wished she was too. Fully succumbing to her grief, Veronica lowers her hands and allows Logan to take the gun away before turning into his embrace. Veronica sobs into Logan's chest as he cradles her lovingly in his arms.
Beaver turns and approaches the rooftop ledge, looking down into the dark street below. He climbs over the metal railing and faces Logan and Veronica one last time. Logan, realizing Beaver's intention, implores him not to jump, using his hated nickname. Beaver cries out in anguish and frustration, "My name is Cassidy!" and we remember, for a moment, the boy we loved and lost this night; we remember that Beaver was a victim too.
Logan tries again -- "Cassidy, don't." With red-rimmed and tear-soaked eyes, Beaver asks Logan, "Why not?" With all that has happened, all he has learned, and all he knows that will be waiting for Beaver when this night is over, Logan is aware that there is nothing he can say -- no magic answer that will right all the wrongs and make order out of this chaos. Beaver grimaces, and quietly whispers, "That's what I thought" as he steps backwards off the edge of the roof, disappearing into the darkness below.
Logan stands rooted to the spot, stunned by this last turn of events, until Veronica comes to him and they go into each others arms again. Both devastated, both grieving, Veronica and Logan stand alone on the rooftop all but melting into one another seeking the comfort that they know only the other can provide. After a brief eternity, Veronica gasps Mac's name as she remembers that she may have lost another friend to Beaver's evil tonight.
Veronica, with Logan right on her heels, bursts into the room at the Neptune Grand that Beaver had rented for the evening. There she finds Mac, tearful, cowering, confused and heartbroken -- but most importantly, she finds her alive. Poor Mac is huddled on the floor next to the stripped mattress, huddling in only the shower curtain. As Veronica kneels in front of her, Mac tearfully tells Veronica that Beaver took her clothes, took everything. Veronica presses a hand to her mouth in an effort to control her tears, as Mac wonders aloud "Why?" Veronica has no answer, and pulls her friend into a hug, knowing that for Mac, the worst is yet to come.
We next see Veronica and Logan sleeping on the couch at the Mars apartment, clearly exhausted. Veronica is laying across Logan's lap in a heartbreakingly beautiful moment that almost perfectly mirrors the scene from Normal Is The Watchword where Veronica cradled Logan on her lap and tended to his emotional and physical wounds. The moment is both haunting and tender, nearly perfect in its simplicity, and speaks volumes about the love and trust and compassion that these two people have for one another. The love and intimacy expressed filled my shipper heart to overflowing, but my joy was tempered by the sadness over the devastation that had lead them both there.
In her dreams, Veronica is a little girl again enraptured by the puppet show her beloved father is performing for her. In an echo of her earlier dream, this dream is interrupted by the smell of bacon, the smell of breakfast. Veronica bolts up in bed and runs out to the kitchen to find Logan standing over the stove preparing a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
As Logan turns to face her, we see all of Veronica's fragile hopes come crashing down again as she is confronted by the realization that her father is still dead. Logan rushes to her side, perhaps remembering both his pain at the moment he realized his mother was dead, and the comfort that Veronica so generously provided. He gathers her in his arms once again, enfolding her in his embrace and whispering "I'm sorry" into her hair in an attempt to offer her comfort and solace.
All of the sudden, we hear Keith's voice from down the hall inquiring about breakfast, and our hearts soar as Veronica turns to find her beloved father -- he's alive! -- standing behind her. She turns and throws herself into Keith's arms, sobbing her joy that he's alive and telling him how much she loves him. Keith sounds as baffled as we feel when he tells Veronica that he doesn't understand. She explains that Beaver blew up Woody's plane. Shocked by this revelation, Keith hugs Veronica close, marveling over this latest tragedy.
Keith tells Veronica that he never got on the plane because Lamb decided he didn't want Keith arriving in Neptune with Woody so he had the police remove him at the last minute. Instead, he rented a car and drove home, clearly arriving home late the previous evening. Keith jokes that he was surprised to find Logan on the couch, but hey, it was better than finding him elsewhere. The sound of the door closing catches our attention, and Keith and Veronica turn to find that Logan has slipped out of the apartment, giving them privacy at this very emotional time.
Sometime later, we find Kendall in an attorney's office (is that Billy Lee?) discussing Beaver's death. The attorney tells her that it will most likely be ruled a suicide so the insurance money is pretty much a wash. However, the police found documents for the Phoenix Land Trust in Beaver's room, all of which were in Kendall's name. After a moment of confusion, Kendall realizes that the attorney is talking about Beaver's real estate company and wonders how she's doing.
The attorney informs her that she's doing pretty well. "Eight million dollars and change" pretty well. He then tells her to give his compliments to Big Dick. After another moment of confusion, the attorney clarifies that betting against incorporation was a ballsy move -- very Richard Casablancas. But we know better. As the final piece of the puzzle falls into place we realize that Cassidy was more like his father than anyone ever knew.
- As the row of "M"-named graduates stand and line up by the stage, Lamb strides into the gym and walks right past Veronica. Lamb heads right over to Weevil with Sacks right on his heels to inform Weevil that he's under arrest in connection with the murder of Eduardo Orosco, aka Thumper -- only minutes before the graduates with last names starting with the letter "N", like Navarro, will be called to cross the stage.
Knowing his grandmother is in the stands anxiously waiting to see her beloved Eli complete the graduation ceremony, Weevil all but begs Lamb to give him ten minutes. Lamb, big asshole that he is, revels in Weevil's discomfort and continues to read him his rights in the most condescending, eye-rolling manner possible. Weevil loses his temper and yells at Lamb to just let him graduate, but Lamb merely finishes his recitation and asks Weevil if he understands his rights. Weevil tries one last time, pleading with Lamb to just let him graduate, but Lamb ignores his pleas and tells Sacks to cuff him.
Weevil momentarily makes like he's going to resist and Lamb trots out the old trite and true "easy way/hard way" speech. Weevil turns to look at his grandmother in the stands, hugging two small children (who I'm assuming are probably cousins of Weevil's or something), watching the drama with her grandson unfold before her. Weevil hangs his head and decides not to make this any harder on his grandmother, and succumbs. Sacks slaps the cuffs on and Lamb leads him out of the gym. As he passes Veronica, who has been watching the entire exchange intently, they share an enigmatic look.
Veronica, I know he's done wrong and you don't approve of his methodologies, but I beseech you: Help him, Mars-Kenobi. You're his only hope.
- Peter, Marcos and Beaver discussing outing Woody. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Beaver and Hart at Beaver's scratched car. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- The bus traveling down the highway, and the limo inhabitants, including Beaver as he punches the number to blow the bus up. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Curly being beaten up by the PCHers before being scared off by Beaver's headlights. Beaver hitting Curly with the car, writing Veronica's name on his palm and then driving him over the cliff. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Veronica and Beaver at Shelly Pomroy's party. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Keith performing a puppet show for a toddler Veronica. (Read detailed breakdown.)
"Pomp and Circumstance" (Edward Elgar)
Scene: It's graduation time and the crew (well most of them) are at the end of their high school high (or low) experience.
"Virtual Booty Machine" (Lovewhip)
Scene: Ah, when Mac and Beaver were young and in love and many a viewer squeed as they arrived at the grad party hand in hand. Stupid Beaver being all psycho on us. Bad, Beaver, bad!
"G.L.S." (Salme Dahlstrom)
Scene: Veronica interrupts Logan's too-cute balloon play (and feels the need to grab and hold, squeeze and caress, stroke ... and ahem, sorry, grab, she just grabs his delicious forearm ... siiiiigh) to find out the whereabouts of Mac and the Beav. Alas, before she can tell Logan why, Dick joins the party and so off she goes on her own. Bad call, V. Bad call.
"Stranglehold" (Ted Nugent)
Scene: Beaver the psycho flashes his headlights at some PCHers, runs Curly the mechanic/stuntman down and does a little doodle on a dead man's hand before driving him into the ocean.
"See My Friends" (Gravenhurst)
Scene: With nothing to look forward to but a lifetime of lock-up or death, Beaver (he doesn't deserve the dignity of his real name) takes a graceful backstep off of a very tall building.
"Time Flies Tomorrow" (Paul Westerberg)
Scene: Ahh! There's spontaneity and kissing and twirling and schmoopiness with the LoVe! Squee!! And then Kendall shows up! Boo! But lookee-see, Logan and Veronica don't care about her because ... "everything will be fine."
LoVe Lines
(Dream) Logan: Ah, sweetie ... I love you, but you have to be the most gullible girl I've ever met.
(Dream) Veronica: I'm trusting ... Sue me!
Veronica: (Firing into the air and aiming the gun at Cassidy.) Logan, move away from him.
Logan: Veronica, don't.
Veronica: He killed my father!
Logan: Give me the gun, Veronica.
Veronica: He killed everyone on the bus! He raped me!
Logan: (Walking slowly to Veronica.) You are not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun. You're not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun. (Taking the gun, he embraces Veronica.)
Veronica: (Waking at the smell of breakfast and running into the kitchen.) Dad! (She stands stricken when she sees Logan instead.)
Logan: (Hugging her and stroking her hair.) Hey. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Veronica: (Logan tossing her bags to the side, grabs Veronica and kisses her, spinning, spinning, spinning.) What are you doing?
Logan: I'm not gonna see you for a whole week. That's like, a month.
Veronica: Yeah, but then I'll be back and everything will be fine.
Logan: (Kissing her on the cheek.) Yeah. (Kissing her cheek again.) You say that, but I don't know.
Veronica: I know. I can feel it.
Logan: And you're never wrong? (Veronica shaking her head.) Yeah?
Quotable Quotes
Veronica Mars Voiceover: There is neither a Santa Claus nor an Easter Bunny, and there are no angels watching over us. Things just happen for no reason ... and nothing makes any sense.
Veronica: (To Wallace regarding his depression about Jackie leaving for Paris.) You could use a method time tested by women through the ages ... cake.
Vinnie: We nail him, we split 60/40 ... I'm the 60, by the way.
Keith: 50/50. If ... the stuff you have pans out and no action until my daughter's graduation.
Vinnie: I'm in jail. I deserve 60.
Vinnie: (As Keith mimes the world's tiniest violin.) I risk my life to bring a fugitive to justice and you're giving me world's smallest violin.
Keith: Guess, I'm just heartless.
Keith: We will not do this. (Taking away the newspaper about Aaron.) You can't let this stick in your head, however wrong it turned out. It's done. We're people with lives and we will not obsess. We move on. Aaron Echolls will get his justice in his own way.
Veronica: You really believe that?
Keith: Yes.
Veronica: Posted today: Meg's day offering twenty grand for the capture of Woody Goodman.
Keith: Well, I'm sure someone will get him.
Veronica: Didn't you say something about we have a business to run? Shouldn't you be out hurting him down like the dog he is?
Keith: I also said something about us being people with lives. See, I have this kid who's gonna graduate from high school. I don't want to miss it.
Principal Clemmons: (Referring to the rousing cheers Veronica is getting from her classmates.) You were expecting some other reaction?
Veronica: (Clearly at a loss.) I ...
Principal Clemmons: I can't decide if my life is going to be easier or more difficult with you gone. Anything I should know in case I get another one like you someday?
Veronica: Don't keep all your passwords taped on the bottom of your stapler. (Reaching up, she moves her tassel with a roguish grin.) And stay cool Mr. C.
Keith: (Handing Veronica an envelope.) For you on this momentous occasion.
Veronica: (Shaking, sniffing and manhandling the envelope.) A pony?!?! (Opening the envelope, she finds a ticket inside.) New York?
Keith: We leave Tuesday.
Veronica: Broadway? SoHo? The MoMA?!?!
Keith: Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Madison Square Garden.
Dick: (Smacking Veronica's ass!) Put on your dancin' shoes Mars 'cause tonight we're gonna "upchuck the boogie to rhythm of the boogie, the beat."
Veronica: "Up-chuck?"
Dick: You heard me.
Jackie: (Answering the phone.) Hello?
Veronica: What, no bonjour?
Jackie: Veronica? How did you know?
Veronica: Well, first, 3.1 GPA doesn't scream Sorbonne. And the Java Job. You're a mighty good service industry worker for the daughter of a model living on the upper-west side who never held a job before. I've known for awhile.
Jackie: Look, I might have lied about my life but I never lied to Wallace about how I felt.
Veronica: Whatever you told him, it really did the trick because he just got on a plane to Paris. The good news is he has a four-hour layover at JFK, so you can go tell him the truth before he's forced to endure several ugly days of rude waiters for nothing.
Aaron: Hello, Logan.
Logan: What are you doing here?
Aaron: Well, I need a place to stay. How are the suites?
Logan: Probably an improvement over your previous digs. Might be a little weird though. I don't think any of the other guests killed anyone.
Aaron: You know, you should really make more of an effort to be civil to me now Logan.
Logan: Why? Because you beat a murder rap and suddenly you're my father again?
Aaron: No, Logan. I never stopped being your father and I never will. But I got the purse-strings back. You're my dependent again, son. (Stepping into the elevator) Going down?
Logan: No, going up.
Mac: All I ask is that you don't follow that performance with a belch.
Beaver: Do you wanna go check out the room?
Mac: It's liquid. It's courage. It's liquid courage!
Veronica: Where's your brother?
Dick: I think he took Ghost World up to his room. They're probably up there making loooove. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Or both. At the same time. They're both like 12th level dorks.
Aaron: Hello, Veronica. Oh, don't look so surprised. It's a small town. Now that I'm no longer in jail, we might just run into each other from time to time.
Veronica: I'll have to pay better attention to where I'm going then.
Aaron: (Shrugging.) Well, it's a free country. (Slowly approaching Veronica.) Those founding fathers were on to something. Freedom, (Sighing deeply) is pretty damn sweet. I like it.
Veronica: So did Lilly. Bummer you murdered her.
Aaron: You know, I can see why the two of you were such good friends. You're so much alike. Not afraid to speak your minds. You know, that just may be the best part about the day I smashed her head in with an ashtray. Knowing that once and for all she would finally shut the hell up.
Beaver: (Crouching beside Veronica, who has crumpled to her knees.) Yeah, sorry about that. I know this might be a (chuckling) bad time to ask for a favor. How would you feel, now that you've got nothing left to live for, about just rolling yourself off? I just really don't want your DNA all over my shirt.
Beaver: (Holding taser.) I sure like this thing. Ever wonder what it feels like to the people you actually taser? Let's give it a whirl. What do you say? (Zapping her arm with the taser, causing her to cry out in pain.) You know what I was just thinking? We're Neptune Pirates, right? And this is like I'll make you walk the plank. Except, instead of jabbing you with a sword, I'm sending 300,000 volts through you. Now, jump. (Tasering her again, causing her to roll onto her side in pain. Standing up, he points the gun at her.) You couldn't do this the easy way? You know, Aaron Echolls is staying here. What do you want to bet that I can get him convicted for the death of this teenage girl?
Logan: Beaver, don't!
Beaver: My name is Cassidy!
Logan: Cassidy, don't.
Beaver: Why not? (Logan's is silent, clearly unable to come up with a reason.) That's what I thought. (Hopping backwards off the ledge of building.)
Mac: He took my clothes. He took everything. Why?
Duncan: (Answering phone.) CW?
Weidman: It's a done deal.
Jackie: I need to tell you some things, Wallace. I never lived on the upper East Side. My mom isn't a model, she's a waitress who had a one night stand with Terrance eighteen years ago. I'm just another kid from Brooklyn who got screwed up on drugs, and booze, and all the wrong friends. By the time I was a Sophomore --
Wallace: The past really doesn't matter to me.
Jackie: I have a son, Wallace! Yeah. He's two. When he was born my mom contacted my dad and made a deal, I'd go to California and try to start over and she'd raise my baby. When my dad just dropped me from his life I realized that I was being a hypocrite. Here I was torn up that I wasn't the center of my dad's universe when my mom was raising my kid three thousand miles away. I can't be that person, Wallace. I had to come back. And I have to stay. And your life, is in Neptune, and you have to go.
Keith: Is that breakfast I smell?
Veronica: (Running and hugging Keith.) You're alive! Oh, I thought you were dead. I love you so much!
Keith: What's wrong? I don't understand.
Veronica: Woody's plane. Cassidy Casablancas blew it up.
Keith: Oh, honey. I wasn't on the plane. Lamb didn't want me arriving with Woody getting met by the press so he had them take me off the plane at the last minute. I rented a car, I drove home. I was a little surprised to find, you know, Logan on the couch, but it was better than finding him elsewhere. I mean ... (Logan's walked out of the apartment.) Now, what were you saying about the Casablancas boy?
Kendall: Right. Phoenix. The real estate thing. How am I doing these days?
Lawyer: Eight million and change. Tell him I said "Nice going."
Kendall: Him?
Lawyer: Betting against incorporation? Ballsy. Feels like a Richard Casablancas move to me.
Keith: I can feel it already, the little town blues are melting away. You all packed?
Veronica: Vagabond shoes and all. And pepper spray. For if we run into that Trump character.
Keith: You sure you don't wanna drive with the old man?
Veronica: Logan's giving me a ride. We're supposed to "talk."
Keith: How'd he take, umm, what happened?
Veronica: Shrugs it off. Calls himself Little Orphan Annie. Which I think means badly. I should go out front.
Keith: I should get my autograph book. Carol Channing's still alive, isn't she? (Kissing the top of Veronica's head.) I'll see you at the gate.
Kendall: Ah, young love. No, no! Hold that position, Norman Rockwell wants to come in and paint you two. Did he pin on his pin, or was he too shy?
Veronica: Why are you here?
Logan: Yeah, I didn't know you could come out during daylight hours.
Kendall: I have a business proposition for your father.
Veronica: Okay, but I'm warning you, he doesn't carry much cash.
Johnny Law (Referenced by Vinnie to Keith as he tells him the police don't know what he has on Woody.)
Johnny Law is a character featured in two series of comic books. From June 1937 - June 1939, More Fun Comics issues #21-44 told the story of a young lower East Side Manhattan policeman, named Johnny Law. Humble, determined and sincere, Law was written by Will Ely as a heroic member of the working poor.
In 1951, a new series of Johnny Law tales were featured in Big Town magazine, issues #1-20 (January 1951 - April 1953). It was one of three stories included in each issue. This Johnny Law was older than the 1930's version and may not actually be the same character, but he was also a New York City police detective.
The Clap ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica when reading Woody's medical records.)
"The Clap" is the slang term for the STD, gonorrhea. Much like chlamydia, gonorrhea is among the most common curable sexually transmitted diseases in the world, and is caused by the bacterium Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year. Only about half of these infections are reported to CDC. In 2004, 330,132 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC. In the period from 1975 to 1997, the national gonorrhea rate declined, following the implementation of the national gonorrhea control program in the mid-1970s. After a small increase in 1998, the gonorrhea rate has decreased slightly since 1999. In 2004, the rate of reported gonorrheal infections was 113.5 per 100,000 persons.
Infection with gonorrhea increases the risk of becoming infected with HIV, and is likely due to weakening of the mucosal surface which is secondary to the gonorrhea infection. Infected women also can pass gonorrhea to their newborn infants during delivery, causing eye infections in their babies. This complication is now rare because newborn babies generally receive eye medicine to prevent infection. When the infection occurs in the genital tract, mouth, or rectum of a child, it is most commonly due to sexual abuse. I'm going to do my darndest not to think about that too hard in the context of what we now know of Woody and the Beav.
There are several theories on the origin of the nickname "The Clap." A likely explanation is that the term is derived from the Old French word clapier meaning brothel. In a related theory, it has been suggested that the source of the term is from a notorious 18th century keeper of a brothel, Margaret Clap (better known as "Mother Clap"), although it can be speculated that her name came from the slang term rather than the other way around. It could also refer to the painful sting in the male urethra, which feels like the sting of a clap when infected with the disease. Another suggests that the name refers to a traditional treatment used to clear the blockage in the urethra from gonorrhea pus, where the penis would be "clapped" on both sides simultaneously -- which, ewww.
This term has, in recent years, come to be used by extension to refer to any unspecified sexually transmitted disease. It is likely that Keith used the term in this manner and was referring to Woody's two outbreaks of chlamydia rather than to an unrelated outbreak of gonorrhea.
Chlamydia ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding Woody's medical records; Veronica tells Beaver about it on the rooftop.)
Okay, kids -- get ready to learn probably more than you ever wanted to know about chlamydia. After this, I expect that you'll be able to ace Ms. Hauser's health class final. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STD in the U.S., and is caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. An estimated 2.8 million Americans are infected with chlamydia each year.
Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because about three quarters of infected women and about half of infected men have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within one to three weeks after exposure. (I guess Veronica really was symptom free then.) If untreated, chlamydial infections can progress to serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences.
Like the disease itself, the damage that chlamydia causes is often "silent." In women, untreated infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which occurs in up to 40% of women with untreated chlamydia. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed. Complications among men are rare. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (a tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and, rarely, sterility.
Chlamydia can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth. In pregnant women, there is some evidence that untreated chlamydial infections can lead to premature delivery. Babies who are born to infected mothers can get chlamydial infections in their eyes and respiratory tracts. Chlamydia is a leading cause of early infant pneumonia and conjunctivitis in newborns.
The Freshman 15 ... (Referenced by Veronica to Lianne in her dream about her pancake breakfast.)
During the freshman year of college, many students commonly experience a small weight gain of approximately 10 to 15 pounds, commonly referred to as "the Freshman 15." Recent studies found that some first-year students are indeed likely to gain weight. Researchers at Cornell University found that students gained an average of four pounds during the first twelve weeks of their freshman year -- a rate of gain that is eleven times higher than the typical weight gain for 17- and 18-year-olds.
This trend can be attributed to a number of factors. As many of you know, college offers numerous temptations. Most students, on their own for the first time, indulge in their newfound freedom to eat what they want, when they want it. It is also common for students to pile on the portions in the dining hall in an effort to maximize their use of meal plans, and indulge in sugary and/or salty snacks to fuel late-night study sessions. Not to mention a general increase in high calorie alcohol consumption in the form of that tried and true college staple -- beer.
In addition, many students do not get as much exercise as they did in high school. College is also a time of change, and the stress of acclimating to school can trigger overeating. People sometimes eat in response to anxiety, homesickness, sadness, or stress, and all of these can be part of adapting to being away at school.
San Diego State ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream by Lianne to Veronica about the college she'll be attending.)
San Diego State University is, not surprisingly, a college in San Diego, California. The university seems fairly competitive academically, with admitted freshmen having an average GPA of 3.5. Their football team, the Aztecs, is significantly less competitive, winning only 5 of their 12 games during the 2005 season.
Otis (from The Andy Griffith Show) Sleeping It Off in his Cell ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream when Keith jokes to Veronica about things at the sheriff's department.)
The Andy Griffith Show, which aired from 1960 to 1968, became an instant hit with its American audience. Viewers immediately felt a connection with Taylor (Griffith), his son "Opie" (Ron Howard), "Aunt Bee" (Frances Bavier), Deputy "Barney Fife" (Don Knotts), "Gomer Pyle" (Jim Nabors), Goober Pyle (George Lindsey) and the entire town of Mayberry. It is a look at a simpler and more innocent time of television history. The show is well loved o this day and currently runs in syndication on the "TV Land" network.
Keith's reference to an "Otis" sleeping it off in a cell seems to be a clear shout-out to The Andy Griffith Show, due to the fact that they had a happy town drunk named "Otis." This just adds another layer to Veronica's wish to have a "Mayberry" type life, full of innocence and simplicity. Her dream included her Sheriff father and a seemly safe town, who she sees or wants to see, doesn't have anything more interesting going on than a town fixture, boozed up and safely tucked away in a clean cell. Well, welcome to reality, Veronica and Neptune is definitely not Mayberry.
Vassar ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream when Veronica asked Lilly about her college life.)
Vassar College is a private, highly selective, co-educational liberal arts college situated in Poughkeepsie, New York. Formerly a women's college, it is the only fully co-educational member of the Seven Sisters, with a student body that is nearly 44% male (national average is currently about 40:60). It costs roughly $41,000 per year for tuition, not including boarding. The college mascot is interestingly enough called the "Brewer." (Does that mean the high cost of tuition has to do with the ratio of beer consumption? Sounds like there is some additional research to be done on that one, dirty work, but someone has to do it.)
Vassar is internationally renowned for its rigorous liberal arts curriculum, and is one of the nation's leaders in producing doctoral candidates. The college is known in particular for its stellar programs in English, history, psychology, biology, and political science. A number of Nobel Prize winners, Poet Laureates, and Macarthur "Genius" Award recipients reside on the Vassar faculty. (Vassar is the leader in doctoral candidates, huh? Lilly chose this college because she likes anatomy, right? Sounds like there is some fanfic to be found in that one ... )
Reno ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding where Woody's hiding.)
Reno, Nevada is frequently referred to as "The Biggest Little City in the World," as its 85.2 square miles is dense with a diverse arts and entertainment scene, year-round outdoor recreation and exciting nightlife and gaming opportunities. Reno was settled in 1859 and was settled rapidly over the next 40 years with the addition of a Central Pacific Railroad station, the relocation of the University of Nevada to the city, as well as the legalization of gambling in 1879.
Reno is home to approximately 200,000 people and a booming tourism industry. Situated less than 30 miles from the California border in the western part of Nevada, Reno is approximately 45 minutes north of Lake Tahoe and 15 well-known winter sports resorts. Reno is nestled 4,400 feet above sea level and enjoys a mild climate with roughly 300 sunny days per year, which facilitates an extremely active recreational atmosphere.
Google Earth ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding the search for Woody's hideout.)
Combining satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search, Google Earth allows PC and Mac users to view any geographical location on the planet. Streaming technology delivers the data as soon as the user needs it. Utilizing 3D data imagery is used to depict cities around the world in hi-resolution detail. You can search locally for hotels, restaurants, parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shopping centers, driving directions, and more. Their data exchange format lets the user share in helpful annotations and view thousands of data points created by other Google Earth users.
Texas ... (Referenced by Keith as a place to find plenty o' armed, drunk businessmen.)
Texas is a state in the South and Southwest regions of the United States. It joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state, after nearly ten years as the Republic of Texas, an independent country. The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tysha (or tejas, as the Spaniards spelled it), meaning "those who are friends," friends or allies. Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location.
With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km) and a population of 22.5 million, Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states in area. (Alaska is the largest U.S. state in area and California is the most populous.) Texas has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.
Other information on the state of Texas: The state flower is the bluebonnet, the state motto is "friendship," it is often referenced as "The Lone Star State" and the state bird is the mockingbird. A fun fact relating to Veronica Mars is that show creator, Rob Thomas, grew up in Texas. Also, before he created Veronica Mars, he was a high school teacher and journalism advisor for a high school in Texas.
'Close Your Eyes and Think of England' ... (Referenced by Veronica in her advice to Mac regarding her hotel plans with Beaver.)
The true origin of this particular phrase is a bit unclear. According to the Dictionary of Catchphrases, this was traditional advice given to women when confronted with the inevitability of sexual intercourse (sex for heirs, not pleasure) or jocular encouragement to either sex about doing anything unpleasant.
The book Salome Dear, Not With a Porcupine, by Arthur Marshall includes a passage in which the newlywed Mrs. Stanley Baldwyn, when questioned about her wedding night, declared: "I shut my eyes tight and thought of the Empire." Many believe that the phrase derives from a 1912 journal entry by Lady Alice Hillingdon (1857-1940) wife of the second Baron Hillingdon, but the journal itself has never been traced.
Happy Days / "Stay cool, Mr. C." ... (Referenced by Veronica to Mr. Clemmons at graduation.)
Originally airing on the ABC network between 1974-84, Happy Days was a popular sitcom that presented and idealized version of life in the late 50's, early 60's America. The show focused on a middle class family, the Cunninghams, who lived in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Parents, Howard, a hardware store owner, and Marion, a homemaker had two teenage children, Richie and his younger sister, Joanie. Another main character was Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, the Fonz, who started out as a local thug but soon became one of Richie's best friends and close to the Cunningham family. Fonzie always referred to Howard as "Mr. C."
New York ... (Referenced by Veronica as the destination of her graduation present.)
Officially the City of New York, New York City (also known by the initials NYC) is the highest populated city in the United States and the most densely populated major city in North America. Located in the state of New York, it has a population of over eight million in a 321 square mile radius. Overwhelmingly considered to be one of the world's major global cities, NYC is a center for international finance, fashion, entertainment, and culture with an exceptional array of museums, galleries, media outlets, performance venues, international corporations and financial markets. NYC is also the home to the United Nations headquarters.
New York City proper is made up of five boroughs: Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan. Each borough is home to at least a million people and each would be considered as some of the nation's largest cities if considered separate of the others.
Since the 1970's the city has commonly been referred to by the nickname "The Big Apple" due to a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitor's Bureau, although the true origins of this alternate toponym are less clear. The city has attracted a large number of immigrants, with over a third of its population born outside of the United States. NYC also attracts people from all over the U.S. because of its culture, energy, cosmopolitan feel and economic opportunities. Currently NYC has the lowest crime rate among the nations 25 largest cities.
Broadway ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
Broadway or Broadway theater (along with London's West End theatre) is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. Broadway theater, or a Broadway show, refers to a performance (usually a play or musical) staged in one of the thirty-nine larger professional theaters located in the New York City borough of Manhattan, with 500 seats or more, that appeal to the mass audience.
While the term "Broadway" comes from the street, Broadway, it is best described as a theater district as not all Broadway theaters are located on this street. With roots in 1882, and expansions and new construction by the turn of the century Broadway, was the center of American theater. It was also fast becoming the most important theater commercially in the world, enticing European stars such as Sarah Bernhardt. Some of the important early investors and developers of the Broadway theater district include Henry Abbey, A.L. Erlanger, Marcus Klaw, Florenz Ziegfeld, Rudolf Aronson, David Belasco, Charles Frohman, Daniel Frohman, Oscar Hammerstein, and the Shubert family.
Broadway theater played an important role in 20th century American cultural history, as it featured the work of some of the most influential American composers of classical music, such as George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein, as well as many of the famous American playwrights like Edward Albee, George S. Kaufman, Eugene O'Neill and Neil Simon.
* Note to Rob Thomas and company: Kristen Bell can sing her butt off it might not be a bad idea to put more of her Broadway experience to good use. Thanks for caring enough to send the very best, The Veronica Mars Music Club.
SoHo ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
SoHo is a historic district in Manhattan that is officially bounded by Houston Street, West Broadway, Canal Street and Lafayette Street. The name is a play on that of the famous London shopping district, justifying its name as being the area 'South of Houston Street.' It is noted for the elaborate cast-iron architecture of many of its buildings which date from the late 19th century, and mainly housed warehouses and factories. The area is also well-known for its cobblestone streets. Sadly, with the exception of Wooster Street and part of Howard Street, most of these streets have been repaved.
The neighborhood rose to fame as a neighborhood for artists during the 1960s and 1970s, when the cheap spaces vacated by departing factories were converted by artists into lofts and studios. SoHo's lofts were especially appealing to artists because they could use the wide spaces and tall ceilings that factories and warehouses required to create and store their work.
During this period, which lasted into the 1980s, living in SoHo was often of dubious legality, as the area was zoned for light industrial and commercial uses rather than residential, and many residents had to convert their apartments into livable spaces on their own, with little money. However, beginning in the 1980s, in a way that would later apply elsewhere, the neighborhood rapidly rose up the socio-economic scale. This eventually led to an exodus of most actual artists, leaving galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and young urban professionals.
SoHo's location, the appeal of lofts as living spaces, its architecture and, ironically, its "hip" reputation as a haven for artists all contributed to this change. The pattern of gentrification is typically known as the "SoHo Effect" and has been observed in several cities around the United States. Thirty years ago a backwater of poor artists and small factories, SoHo is now a popular tourist destination for people looking for fashionable (and expensive) clothing and exquisite architecture.
I can bet you money that Veronica would adore SoHo -- but wouldn't be able to afford to do much more than browse and sigh loudly over the gorgeous window displays. Trust me -- I've been there. Of course, if she decided at the last minute to bring along her hot and devoted boyfriend (and heir to the Echolls' fortune) to New York when her dad failed to show at the airport, I'm thinking he might be willing to spoil her a little in the name of love and fashion. Hey, even in SoHo, dreams are free.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
The Museum of Modern Art, commonly referred to by the acronym MoMA, was founded in 1929 by a trio of wealthy patrons: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Mary Sullivan and Lillie P. Bliss. These three extraordinary women perceived a need to challenge the conservative policies of traditional museums and to establish an institution devoted exclusively to modern art. When The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929, its founding Director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., intended the Museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and enjoy the visual arts of our time, and that it might provide New York with "the greatest museum of modern art in the world." It has succeeded marvelously in this endeavor.
The rich and varied collection of The Museum of Modern Art constitutes one of the most comprehensive and panoramic views into modern art. Under Barr's guidance, the museum's holdings quickly expanded from an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, and has grown to include over 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects.
This extensive collection includes everything from Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," to the General Electric GE90-115B fan blade. Seriously. MoMA also owns approximately 22,000 films and four million film stills, and MoMA's Library and Archives, the premier research facilities of their kind in the world, hold over 300,000 books, artist books, and periodicals, and extensive individual files on more than 70,000 artists. The Museum Archives contains primary source material related to the history of MoMA and modern and contemporary art.
The Museum maintains an active schedule of exhibitions addressing a wide range of subject matter, mediums, and time periods, highlighting significant recent developments in the visual arts and new interpretations of major artists and art historical movements. Works of art from its collection are displayed in rotating installations so that the public may regularly expect to find new works on display. Ongoing programs of classic and contemporary films range from retrospectives and historical surveys to introductions of the work of independent and experimental film and videomakers.
The Museum is also dedicated to its role as an educational institution and provides a complete program of activities intended to assist both the general public and special segments of the community in approaching and understanding the world of modern art. The Museum's Library and Archives contain the leading concentration of research material on modern art in the world, and each of the curatorial departments maintains a study center available to students, scholars and researchers. In addition, the Museum has one of the most active publishing programs of any art museum and has published more than 1,200 editions appearing in twenty languages.
Yankee Stadium ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Famed home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium was built on land purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor in 1921, just one year after the team acquired Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox. Construction began in May 1922 and, incredibly, was completed in only 284 working days, to be ready for its inaugural game on April 18, 1923, against the Boston Red Sox. Because it was Ruth's power that made the new stadium a reality to begin with, it quickly became known as "The House That Ruth Built." It hosted its first World Series that fall, when the Yankees won their first championship. Yankee Stadium went on to host a total of thirty-three World Series and twenty-six World titles for the home team, leading to another nickname, "The Home of Champions."
The stadium has undergone various changes through the years, including a remodel after the 1973 season, when the stadium was almost completely demolished and then rebuilt. The biggest change was the removal of the many obstructive steel columns that had supported the second and third decks and the roof. Sightlines for fans were dramatically improved by the new cantilevering of the upper decks, the lowered playing field, and the increased slope of the lower stands.
To retain the Stadium's most recognizable feature, the facade, the new design included an exact replica of the facade atop the new scoreboard at the rear of the bleachers. The exterior also changed, with the addition of three escalator towers and ten more rows of seats on the upper deck, giving Yankee Stadium an even more majestic look. The remodeled Yankee Stadium opened April 15, 1976 and, again, hosted a World Series that first season.
Memorable baseball events at Yankee Stadium include Babe Ruth's then-record 60th home run in 1927, Lou Gehrig's tearful farewell address in 1939, Don Larsen's perfect World Series game in 1956, Roger Maris's then-record 61st home run in 1961, and Reggie Jackson's three home runs in a World Series game in 1977.
One of Yankee Stadium's most interesting features is Monument Park, behind the left-center field fence, which includes monuments and plaques dedicated to great figures in Yankee history. Awarded to the greatest of the great after their deaths, monuments memorialize players Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Joe DiMaggio. Plaques have been dedicated to others, including Casey Stengel, Thurman Munson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Reggie Jackson.
Many other events have been held at Yankee Stadium through the years. Among these are thirty championship boxing bouts, including a Muhammad Ali fight in 1976. Perhaps the most memorable was the famous bout between Joe Louis and Germany's Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938, where Louis avenged a previous loss to Schmeling by scoring a stunning first-round knockout. College football has also been a fixture at Yankee Stadium, starting with the 1923 Army-Navy game.
In fact, Yankee Stadium was the site of the legendary Knute Rockne's famous "win one for the Gipper" halftime pep talk, after which his Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Army Cadets 12-6. The New York football Giants called Yankee Stadium home from 1956 to 1973 and there played what is called "the greatest game ever played" on December 28, 1958, when they beat the Baltimore Colts in the first ever sudden-death overtime. Non-sporting events at Yankee Stadium include a visit from Pope Paul VI in 1965 and another from John Paul II in 1979.
The Yankees are planning to begin construction in 2006 on a new Yankee Stadium adjacent to the current Stadium, scheduled to be completed in time for the 2009 season. The old Yankee Stadium will be torn down.
Shea Stadium ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Officially William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, Shea Stadium was opened as home of the New York Mets on April 17, 1964, after twenty-nine months of construction. Located in Flushing, it was originally to be named Flushing Meadows Stadium Park, but was instead named after the man who brought National League baseball back to New York after the departure of the Giants.
The stadium could be converted from a baseball stadium to a football stadium by using two motorized stands that moved on underground tracks. The New York Jets played there from 1964 to 1983. They moved to Giants Stadium in 1984, and Shea Stadium has not been used for football since. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated, and one other game in 1998 after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium.
Because of its proximity to LaGuardia Airport, Shea Stadium is considered one of the loudest in baseball. A fun feature at Shea is a red Big Apple that emerges from the Mets Magic Top Hat and flashes whenever a Mets player hits a home run. Also, the team's theme song, "Meet the Mets," plays before every home game.
On August 15, 1965, Shea Stadium was the site of the world's first stadium concert, featuring the Beatles in front of a record crowd of 56,000. Numerous concerts have been held here since. Several famous professional wrestling events from the World Wide Wrestling Entertainment have also been held at Shea Stadium, including the final one in 1980 that featured an undercard match-up between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan.
Coincidentally, just like the Yankees, the Mets are planning to begin construction in 2006 on a new stadium to be built in the parking lot of Shea Stadium and completed in time for the 2009 season. The current Shea Stadium will be demolished.
Madison Square Garden ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Often abbreviated to MSG or shortened to The Garden, Madison Square Garden has been the name of four New York City arenas: At 23rd and Madison (1879-1890 and again 1980-1825), at 50th Street and 8th Avenue (1925-1968), and now at 33rd Street and 8th Avenue (1968-Present) on top of Pennsylvania Station. Madison Square Garden is also the name of the company that owns the arena and the cable network that broadcasts most of the arena's sporting events.
The current arena was opened on February 11, 1968, and is home to the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers, both owned by the Garden itself. The arena also hosts the New York Liberty of the WNBA, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus when in town, the St. John's Red Storm (college basketball), the annual pre- and post-season NIT college basketball tournaments, the NBA Draft, and any other type of indoor activity that attracts large audiences.
These other events include national convents of the Republican (in 2004) and Democratic (1976, 1980, and 1992) parties, and many World Wrestling Entertainment events, boxing matches (famous fights include the first and second Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali bouts). Most large music concerts in New York occur at Madison Square Garden. Famous ones include The Concert for New York City following the 9/11 attacks and John Lennon's final concert before his murder in 1980. Many musical acts, including Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Pearl Jam, have released live albums recorded at MSG.
Today's Madison Square Garden includes more venues than just the arena, including The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Expo Center (for trade shows, etc.), and two restaurants (the Garden Club and the Play-by-Play).
Interesting notable events at Madison Square Garden:
"Rapper's Delight" (Referenced by Dick to Veronica as he tells her they're going to "upchuck the boogie" at their graduation party.)
Released in 1979, "Rapper's Delight" is widely considered the first major rap record. Built on a sample of Chic's disco hit "Good Times," the single featured the rap vocals of Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee, collectively known as The Sugarhill Gang. The single reached #4 on the U.S. R&B charts and eventually sold more than eight million copies.
A portion of the lyrics somewhat mangled by Dick:
The capital and largest city of France, Paris is also the capital of the le-de-France rgion, as well as having the distinction of being the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 11.5 million. A leading global cultural, business and political center, the city is well known for its defining neo-classical architecture as well as its unparalleled influence in fashion and the arts. Paris has a reputation for being a "romantic" city and has held the nickname "The City of Light" (la Ville Lumire) since the 19th century.
Located on the river Seine in north central France, Paris is home to many museums, galleries, churches, and nightlife helping to make it the most visited city in the world with more than thirty million visitors a year. Paris' most recognizable symbol is the 1,063 foot Eiffel Tower on the banks of the river Seine.
The original Latin name of the city was Lutetia or Lutetia Parisiorum, which was later dropped in favor of simply Paris. The origins of the name are uncertain. It may be derived from the Gallic Parisii tribe, whose name might be from the Celtic Gallic word parios, meaning "cauldron." Paris might also be derived from Celtic language parisio meaning "the working people" or "the craftsmen."
Brooklyn ... (Referenced as where Jackie is really from.)
Brooklyn, a beautiful and wonderfully diverse community, is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City with about 2.5 million inhabitants. An independent city prior to 1898, Brooklyn developed out of the small Dutch-founded town of "Breuckelen" on the East River shore of Long Island, named after Breukelen in the Netherlands. Were it still a city, and not a borough, it would be the fourth-largest city in the United States after New York City itself, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Despite being part of the city of New York, Brooklyn in character is its own city, as opposed to the Bronx which historically and characteristically could be better described as a northern extension of Manhattan. The loss of Brooklyn's separate identity as a city was met with some consternation by some residents at the time, and later, the merger became known as the "Great Mistake of 1898," as it was called by many newspapers of the day. The phrase still denotes Brooklyn pride among old-time Brooklynites.
Variously called the "City of Trees," "City of Homes," or the "City of Churches" in the 19th century, Brooklyn is now often styled the "Borough of Homes and Churches." As a former resident, I can attest to the fact the Brooklyn is home to more churches than you can possibly imagine. There is at least one on every block, for every religion you can think of. Brooklyn has also been called "The Planet," a nickname made popular by Guru from the rap duo Gangstarr, for its large diversity, population, and size. Represent!
Brooklyn can be understood as a collection of neighborhoods, many historically descended from the old towns and villages of Dutch times. The borough's striking diversity plays host to a bustle of ethnic and multi-ethnic neighborhoods that both preserve a flavor of 'the old country,' of whatever latitude, and create spaces for interaction between individuals and communities. For example, Borough Park is largely Orthodox Jewish, Bedford-Stuyvesant: African American, Bensonhurst: Italian American, and Sunset Park: Hispanic and Chinese American. My old neighborhood, Bay Ridge, is a charming mixture of Italian, Irish and Greek-American.
Evidencing Brooklyn's character and sense of humor, distinctive traffic signage was recently posted along major traffic arteries at Brooklyn's border crossings as a promotional gesture by the current 2006 borough administration. They incorporate colorful expressions associated with Brooklyn, including: "Fugheddaboudit," "Oy Vey!," and "How Sweet It Is." One sign identifies the borough as: "Home to Everyone From Everywhere!" -- and I can personally attest to that.
Sorbonne ... (Referenced by Veronica when she tells Jackie she knows she's not going there.)
A college founded by Robert de Sorbon in 1257 for theology students without any money. The Collge de Sorbonne stood as the celebrated theological college of the French capital until it closed in 1882 and became a part of the University of Paris. It is the most famous of colleges that currently constitute the University of Paris, and its name is often still used to refer to the entire university system in the city. The Sorbonne University today houses the Arts and Human Sciences faculties of the University of Paris. The Sorbonne's international reputation has always placed it among Europe's most important universities.
JFK International Airport ... (Referenced by Veronica telling Jackie where Wallace's layover is.)
Located in Jamaica/Rosedale, Queens, in the southeastern part of New York City, the airport is the top international air passenger gateway to the U.S. as well as the leading freight gateway to the country by value of shipments. Home to JetBlue Airways, it is also a major hub for American and Delta Airlines; British Airways with eight flights a day and United Airlines with sixteen flights a day also have a strong presence. The airport has been operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 1947.
Beginning construction in 1942 the airport initially cost around $60 million on only 1,000 acres of land on the site of Idlewild golf course. The course provided the airport's original name, Idlewild Airport. The first commercial flight was on July 1, 1948 and was dedicated as New York International Airport on July 31 of the same year. The airport was again renamed in 1963 one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The airport received the new IATA airport code of JFK and has since become widely referred to by this abbreviation. JFK now generates an estimated $6.6 billion in economic activity and provides approximately 207,000 jobs in the metropolitan New York area.
Currently, JFK is undergoing a $10.3 billion redevelopment, one of the largest airport reconstruction projects in the world. It recently opened a new Terminal One, Terminal Four and Terminal Eight, and construction has already begun on a new Terminal Five. The remaining five terminals are scheduled for demolition or reconstruction. In 2004, JFK's outbound international travel accounted for 17% of all U.S. travelers who flew overseas. The JFK London Heathrow route is the top U.S. international airport pair with other top destinations including Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Close to one hundred airlines from over fifty countries operate regular flights from JFK. In 2005, the airport handled approximately forty-one million passengers and in combination with LaGuardia and Newark airports, saw nearly one hundred million travelers pass through New York airports, surpassing Chicago to become the busiest in the U.S.
The Dukes of Hazzard ... (Referenced onscreen as what Woody is watching on TV at the Quail Creek Lodge.)
The Dukes of Hazzard is a television series that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985. The show followed the adventures of two good ol' boys, Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat). They lived in an unincorporated area of the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia racing around in their souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. The cast also featured other Duke family members, Uncle Jesse and cousin Daisy --the hot gal responsible for ultra-short jean shorts now known as 'Daisy Dukes.'
Many episodes revolved around Boss trying to engage in an illegal scheme with criminal associates. Some of them were "get-rich schemes," though many others affected the financial security of the Duke farm -- property which Boss long wanted to acquire for various reasons. Other times, Boss hired known criminals to frame Bo and Luke for crimes such as bank robbery which resulted in probation revocation and allowed Boss to easily acquire the Duke farm. It was always up to Bo and Luke to uncover the schemes and foil the criminals.
In 2005, Warner Bros. released the big screen adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard starring Sean-William Scott as Bo Duke, Johnny Knoxville as Luke Duke, Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse, and Burt Reynolds as Boss Hog. Despite grossing $113.5 million world-wide, the film was largely panned by critics. Richard Roeper (of Ebert & Roeper) named it the worst movie of 2005, and it was nominated for seven 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Supporting Actress.
Ghost World ... (Referenced by Dick to Veronica, his nickname for Mac.)
Ghost World is the 2001 movie about two high-school misfit friends, Enid and Rebecca, played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson respectively, and is based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes of the same name. Set in the summer after graduation, Enid and Rebecca are both outsiders in a world slowly being engulfed by fake 50's diners and Starbucks. Enid must attend an art class to officially graduate high school as Rebecca gets a job. When the two play a mean joke on a much older, geeky record collector, Enid finds a fellow soul and begins to discover the complexities of becoming an adult in the modern world.
Dick's reference to Mac as "that girl from Ghost World" is a nod to both Mac's personal style, and her attitudes concerning high school and the majority of her peers, both of which are reminiscent of the character Enid in Ghost World. The major difference in my book is that Mac is not apathetic and miserable, just quirky and not impressed by the mainstream or popularity -- things that Dick couldn't begin to understand.
Dungeons and Dragons ... (Referenced by Dick to Veronica, suggesting Mac and Beaver may be playing it or having sex ... or doing both at the same time.)
Have you ever gone to Denny's late at night and looked at the people next to you and noticed that they were throwing around dice and talking about spells, elves, and wizardry? They weren't crazy. They were playing Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D for short. D&D is the grandfather of all role-playing games. Players engage in a narrated "campaign" or adventure, in which they roll die to determine the fate of their characters. Warning: Although a seemingly harmless game, it quickly can become a socially crippling obsession that has literally inspired legions of grown men and women to dress up in costumes and congregate in basements across the country.
PCHers (Referenced by Veronica as she tells Beaver she knows he tried to convince the bikers that Curly blew up the bus.)
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.
Roofie(d) ... (Referenced by Veronica to Cassidy as she confronts him about Shelly's party.)
Flunitrazepam -- marketed under the trade name Rohypnol -- is manufactured worldwide, particularly in Europe and Latin America. Its most common street name is roofie and it generally sells for below $5.00 per small white tablet. It is ten times more potent than valium and can be habit forming, one of the reasons that it is illegal to own in the U.S. Rohypnol is one of the drugs most commonly implicated in drug-facilitated rape and due to its high usage, blue dye was added to it in 1999 so that it would no longer be clear in liquid. Common effects from usage are memory impairment, drowsiness, visual disturbances, dizziness, confusion, excitability or aggressive behavior and it can mentally and physically paralyze an individual. Effects of the drug are of particular concern in combination with alcohol and can lead to amnesia, where events that occurred during the time the drug was in effect are forgotten.
In response to Rohypnol abuse and use of the drug to facilitate sexual assaults, the U.S. Congress passed the Drug Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act, effective October 13, 1996. The law provides for harsher penalties regarding the distribution of a controlled substance to an individual without the individual's consent and with the intent to commit a crime of violence, including rape. The law imposes a penalty of up to twenty years in prison and a fine for the importation and distribution of one gram or more of Rohypnol. Simple possession is punishable by three years in prison and a fine.
Mollymook, Australia ... (Referenced onscreen as where Duncan and Meg's baby are living.)
Located on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, Mollymook is part of the Milton-Ulladulla area, approximately three hours south of Sydney. It forms part of a seven kilometer stretch of unbroken urban development from the south of Ulladulla to Narrawalle inlet. Geographically, Mollymook is made up of Mollymook beach with the Mollymook golf club and lifeguard club located at the southern end to Banister Head and the southern section of Narrawalle beach. Accommodation and retail are the only industry in Mollymook, but due to its proximity to Ulladlla with a large commercial fishing fleet, it supports a relatively large population and economy. During the busy holiday seasons, both North and South Mollymook beach and Narrawalle are staffed with lifeguards.
California (Referenced by Jackie as she explains to Wallace why she moved in with her dad.)
California is the thirty-first state in the United States and spans the southern half of the Pacific Coast. It is the largest state in population (thirty-seven million) and the third largest in area (158,402 square miles). California is home to several significant economic regions such as Hollywood, the California Central Valley, Silicon Valley, and the Wine Country. It is also home to several important cities and towns (Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, etc).
The name is believed to be a derivation of the mythical paradise of Calafia portrayed in Amadis de Guala, a sixteenth century Spanish romance by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. Others believe the name to be a play on the Spanish words for "hot as an oven;" "cali" meaning "hot" and "fornus" meaning oven.
Different regions of California have very different climates, depending the latitude and proximity to the coast. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. 60.5% of the population speaks English, 25.8% speak Spanish, 2.6% speak Chinese, and the rest speak Tagalog, Vietnamese, or some other language. The languages of the indigenous people number more than one hundred, making California one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world.
Michelangelo's Pieta ... (Referenced by Logan and Veronica's positions on the couch in the Mars apartment.)
This famous work of art shows the body of Jesus Christ in the arms of his mother Mary after his Crucifixion. The Piet (1498-99) is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo, the first of several works of the same subject by the artist. Commissioned by the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, a representative in Rome, the statue was made for the cardinal's funeral service. It was moved to its current location in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the first chapel on the right as one enters the basilica, in the 18th century.
The sculpture takes to the extreme the Renaissance ideal of classical harmony, beauty and restraint. Highly finished compared to other works by Michelangelo, it is also the only work the artist ever signed. Marks of the Crucifixion are shown as very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side, and the nail imprints in the feet don't go all the way through. The sculpture shows amazing detail and a palpable emotion from Mary.
Both figures in the sculpture are grossly unproportional and clearly showcase the difficulty of depicting a fully grown man lying full length in a woman's lap. If the figure of Christ were done to human scale, the Virgin, standing, would be roughly sixteen feet tall. Much of the Virgin's size is concealed in her drapery, and so the figures look quite natural.
Obviously the addition of this scene in the episode was meant to mirror that from Normal is the Watchword with Logan and Veronica's positions reversed, but it's also possible that Kretchmer staged this shot because of the emotions Michelangelo's Piet evokes in its viewer; feelings of grief, loss, mourning, sorrow, as well as love and compassion.
(Click to see larger image.)
The New Yorker (Referenced as Veronica reads the magazine at her desk on the morning of her flight to New York.)
Founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, and first published on February 17, 1925, The New Yorker is an American magazine which offers commentaries and reporting on politics, culture, and events; humor and one-line gag cartoons; short story fiction and poetry; as well as reviews of books, movies, theater, music, art, and fashion, with a focus on the New York City scene.
The New Yorker's first cover featured "Eustace Tilley." The character was used as part of "The Making of a Magazine" series and became the signature emblem of the magazine. Some versions of the Tilley illustration are used on the cover of the magazine's anniversary issues.
New York, New York / "Little town blues/Vagabond shoes" ... (Referenced by Keith and Veronica as they discuss the New York trip.)
The theme song from the 1977 Martin Scorsese film New York, New York, it was originally performed for the movie by Liza Minnelli. With music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the song was more famously recorded in 1979 by Frank Sinatra.
The lyrics (Keith and Veronica's references italicized):
In 1986 Queen recorded a popular version of the song for the movie Highlander as lead singer Freddie Mercury was an avowed Liza Minnelli fan. Despite the familiarity of Sinatra's version, Minnelli has had two of the song's most memorable live performances; during the July 4, 1986 rededication of the Statue of Liberty and in the middle of the seventh inning New York Mets game that was the first pro sports event in NY after 9/11.
Donald Trump ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith as she says she'll bring pepper spray in case they run into him.)
Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York) is a business executive, founder and CEO of Trump Organization of the USA, mainly involved in the premium American real estate segment. Trump is of German, Scottish and Swedish ancestry. He has recently enjoyed a great deal of publicity following the success of his reality television show, The Apprentice (in which he serves as both executive producer and host for the show).
Trump is almost as well known for his hair, as he is for his business acumen. He is the king of the "comb-over" hair helmet and there are websites whose sole purpose is to comment on the current status of his "hair wave." (That may not be true, but it should be ... there is something quite sinister about that hair of his. The FBI should investigate for missing children and laundered money up there.)
Little Orphan Annie ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding how Logan's taking Aaron's death.)
Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray, is a full page (later half page or tab) American comic strip, first appearing on August 5, 1924. Gray's character was loosely based on James Whitcomb Riley's eponymous character from his 1885 poem "Little Orphan Annie."
In Gray's version, Annie, an orphan, was taken in by "Daddy" Oliver Warbucks, a prototypical capitalist of almost unlimited wealth and influence. With his right-hand men, Punjab (an eight-foot native of India) and The Asp (an inscrutably generalized Oriental), Warbucks tackled international intrigue and the never-ending plots to kidnap or harm Annie. The strip, and Gray in his discussions of it, glorified the American business ethic, although corrupt businessmen often appeared as villains. Warbucks repeatedly suffered seeming death at the hands of his enemies, leaving Annie to fend for herself until his next appearance.
In 1977, Little Orphan Annie became a Broadway musical, called Annie. The musical has since been filmed several times, notably in a 1982 version, starring Albert Finney as Warbucks, Aileen Quinn as Annie, and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, the matron of the orphanage.
Carol Channing ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica as he says he needs his autograph book in case she's alive.)
Carol Channing was born on January 31, 1921. She initially made her mark on Broadway in Gentleman Prefer Blondes playing Lorelei Lee. In Hello Dolly! she played Dolly Gallagher Levi, the witty, manipulative widow intent upon finding a wealthy husband. That musical won ten Tony awards in 1964, including Channing's for best actress in a comedy.
Channing was associated with these two characters her entire career and performed the plays thousands of times. She has appeared on TV and been in a handful of movies (notably in 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie and 1994's animated Thumbelina), but her career as an entertainer has been focused on the stage. Her distinctive appearance and voice have made her a favorite of both male and female impersonators.
And yes, Keith, as of this case file's compilation, she is indeed still alive.
Norman Rockwell ... (Referenced by Kendall suggesting he'd want to paint Veronica and Logan.)
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 November 8, 1978) was an early 20th century American painter. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are Rosie the Riveter (the less-reproduced of two works generally given that title) and the Four Freedoms series, as seen below.
(Click to see larger images.)
Norman's ability to "get the point across" in one picture, and his flair for painstaking detail made him a favorite of the advertising industry. Rockwell produced over 2000 original works, most of which have been either destroyed by fire or are in permanent collections. Original magazines in mint condition that contain his work are extremely rare and can command thousands of dollars today.
Rockwell's talent in relating America's old values to the events of a rapidly changing world made him a hero and friend to millions of his compatriots. Like his contemporary, filmmaker Frank Capra (Yes, this is the grandfather of our very own Francis Capra or Weevil, if you're nasty Oh, and Janet Jackson called and asked us to move on.), Rockwell had the ability to depict twentieth-century Americans as they preferred to see themselves. Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life.
Logan and Veronica in their most happy, giddy state, really do remind one of a "Rockwell image." However, as we know, Veronica Mars is all about the happy illusion being stripped away and the cold, hard truths of life smacking you in the face and back to the realities of life. Ah, young, angsty, epic LoVe ... ain't it grand?
"The Telephone Hour" / "Did he pin the pin on? Or was he too shy?" from Bye Bye Birdie ... (Referenced by Kendall to Veronica regarding Logan.)
"The Telephone Hour" is a song from the musical Bye, Bye Birdie. Bye, Bye Birdie was produced in 1963, starring Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margaret. It is the story of a rock singer who travels to a small Ohio town to make his "farewell" television performance and kiss his biggest fan (Ann-Margaret's Kim) before he is drafted. The song, "The Telephone Hour," is sung by delighted members of the community as they gossip about Hugo and Kim -- the couple everyone in town is interested in.
The lyrics referenced by Kendall go like this (with the specific lines italicized):
- The awesome visual transitions between scenes in this episode -- from Aaron's courthouse steps pose to the photo on the newspaper's front page; from Lianne taking a picture of Veronica to a girl's camera taking pictures of her friends at graduation.
- You can hear Vinnie (or a stagehand) saying "Hey, Veronica Mars" when she answers Vinnie's phone call.
- Keith's hilarious expression when Veronica tells him Vinnie is on the phone.
- Ken Marino's delivery of the word "enchilada" when Vinnie is talking to Keith.
- In Veronica's dream, the version 1.0 of herself has little blue sequins on one pillow and a flower stitched into another white pillowcase.
- Lianne's comment about not staying with "that boy" is a throwback boyfriend misdirection similar to Normal is the Watchword. Fortunately, this time it worked out for us (even if in a dream, but hey! we got it in real-life too!)
- In her dream, Lianne made Veronica pancakes. The following morning in real-time, Logan made Veronica pancakes.
- When DreamVeronica is trying to get Wallace's attention, she does a cute little wave.
- DreamWallace is wearing his glasses. Aww, he looks so scholarly.
- Kristen Bell and Amanda Seyfried did not film their scene together. They are never in the same shot and you can tell the difference between Bell's hair and her double's.
- When Veronica woke up from her dream, it was the smell of Keith cooking bacon that awoke her. Veronica woke the next morning to the smell of Logan cooking bacon. So taking the DreamLianne and this, Logan made the same breakfast that both of her parents did (dream and real-life).
- Veronica 1.0 was wearing a light-colored flowery dress. Veronica 2.0 was wearing a sexy, black dress on graduation day.
- Kristen Bell did an excellent impersonation of Krysten Ritter's Gia's voice. Until I saw Veronica, I really thought that it was Gia answering the phone and that Keith was just using some other method of getting the number off of her cell.
- Despite Aaron's claim that he wanted to be Logan's father still, notice how he was not at his son's graduation, despite being free.
- Speaking of Logan's graduation, we did not hear or see his name called to graduate (we heard Wallace, Mac's and Veronica's).
- We've heard several mentions of John Enbom as a student (whose name we heard called for graduation) throughout the series; in this episode we also heard "Phil Klemmer" called out as a graduating student (followed by a "Yo, Klemmer!" from the crowd.) Both Enbom and Klemmer are Veronica Mars writers. Enbom co-wrote this episode, in fact.
- Dick's shirt at the graduation said: "Trust me, I'm rich."
- Logan sure gets a lot of mail.
- When Aaron said, "Hello, Logan" as Logan was reading his mail, Logan jumped as if startled. Nice realism there by Jason Dohring.
- Logan in tight, yellow tee-shirt = HOT!
- The lovely symbolism of Logan going up, while Aaron went down.
- Woody is watching what is very possibly the "Mason Dixon's Girls" episode of The Dukes of Hazzard, which coincidentally was episode 2x22 of that series.
- The hilarious defense of Woody by pulling the deer mounted on the wall off and throwing it at Keith.
- Enrico Colantoni's beautiful delivery of "Woody, just stop," as Woody tried to defend the indefensible.
- In Leave it to Beaver, Keith receives a reward from the Kanes. In Not Pictured, he earns a reward from the Mannings. Both are families who dislike Veronica.
- Corny. Dude, just Corny. Bbbzzzztttt!
- The balloons at Logan's party are green and gold, the Neptune High school colors.
- You can hear Logan's voice talking about something being stupid (in his cute, happy voice) before Veronica reaches him at the party and as she pulls him away, you can see balloons in his hand. Heeheehee, Logan playing with balloons = cute!
- Logan changed from his yellow tee to a dark one for the party. Did he change it because Aaron had touched it?
- Veronica really does need to pay better attention to her surroundings when she's just solved a murder. First, Aaron surprises her by hiding in her backseat in Leave it to Beaver and then, on her way to save Mac from Beaver, she's again caught off guard -- and alone -- with Aaron, in the elevator.
- During Veronica's elevator ride with Aaron, you first hear the elevator music, then the score turns menacing as Aaron speaks, then as soon as the elevator bell rings, it goes back to the muzak.
- Aaron twinked! In the elevator with Veronica just after he tells her they'll be running into each other from time to time. It's hereditary! (Or Harry Hamlin had something in his eye.)
- While in the elevator speaking to Aaron, Veronica's voice sounded thick with emotion. Great job by Kristen Bell.
- Both Logan and Veronica have their final confrontations with Aaron at the Neptune Grand's elevator, on the same night.
- This is the first episode where we learn Hart's last name. It's Hanson -- which is the name of the former writer of Joan of Arcadia and current producer/writer of Bones, Hart Hanson. The connection to Veronica Mars is that Hanson is also a producer who worked on Cupid and Snoops with Rob Thomas.
- Veronica's name didn't pop up on Logan's phone because she forwarded Mac's (actually Beaver's) text to Logan.
- Keith's and Veronica's tasers were both a part of the action this week.
- Logan looked toward Beaver (the only time he took his eyes off of Veronica when she had the gun) when she said that Beaver had raped her.
- Logan's repeated use of Veronica's name as he talks her out of shooting Beaver is a smart and effective reminder that she's Veronica, not a killer.
- While trying to convince Veronica to not shoot, Logan's voice sounded thick with emotion. Great job by Jason Dohring.
- After Veronica's pained concern for Logan in Ahoy Mateys! when she discovered he had an illegal gun in his possession, she ended up being the one who needed Logan to talk the gun out of her hands.
- The way Logan and Veronica hugged after he got the gun from her was similar to the Veronica/Donut hug after the bus crash. (But Logan and Veronica look a LOT better together!!) This makes the second parallel allusion to Normal is the Watchword. (The first being the boyfriend misdirection.)
- Kyle Gallner's almost-casual step off of the building had a haunting grace to it.
- Logan muttered "Oh my God" after Beaver jumped.
- In a parallel within the show, Beaver tried to persuade Veronica to just "walk off the plank" and basically step off the roof to end her life because with Keith gone, she had nothing to live for and in the end it was Beaver who did exactly that.
- Due to Beaver's earlier comment about Mac being in a better place, Veronica clearly thought that Mac might be dead.
- In the over the shoulder shot of Aaron watching TV, you can see the same bracelet on his wrist that was visible in the Return of the Kane gas station scene with Logan and then later in bed with Lilly on the tapes in Leave it to Beaver.
- The eerie visual of a young Aaron on the television screen looking back over his shoulder just after present day Aaron was murdered from behind.
- In another parallel allusion, the shot of Veronica laying across Logan is almost exactly like the shot of Logan laying across Veronica's lap in Normal is the Watchword. (See, the similarity of the shots in the chemistry scene write-up.)
- Right before Logan stepped out of the Mars Investigations office and dropped the bags, he looked over his shoulder presumably to make sure that Keith wasn't coming out after them.
- When Logan kissed Veronica's cheek (after the neck nuzzle) he does so along with a low, long "Mmmm." Yum.
- Right after Veronica says, "I can feel it," Logan and Veronica's noses touch in a teeny, tiny eskimo kiss.
- In the last parallel allusion to Normal is the Watchword, Kendall remarks, "Ah, young love," when she sees Logan and Veronica. Logan had said the same thing, in the same mocking tone, after witnessing Duncan and Veronica in the premiere, while wearing a similar shirt to the one in this scene.
- Every boyfriend parallel in this episode contrasts with Normal is the Watchword in our favor. All instances in the premiere indicated Duncan as Veronica's boyfriend, while in this episode, Logan is her boyfriend.
- First, there is Logan and Veronica's Piet imagery on the sofa, then Kendall snarks that Normal Rockwell wants to paint them as the picture of young love. So, LoVe is a work of art?
- Showing just how late Keith is, you can see the "Now Boarding" sign flashing behind Veronica at the airport.
- Logan's nickname for himself is "Little Orphan Annie" -- while the origin is derived from a comic strip, it is best known in terms of the musical Annie. So yet again, our young Mr. Echolls is showing off his musical theater background. As stated before, alone it doesn't mean anything, but alongside all of his other rather fey attributes, it does make one go 'hmm ....'
- In Veronica's dream, why was she planning to attend San Diego State instead of Hearst? Did her 09er status prevent her from being as scholastically motivated as she is in present day?
- What are Logan's post-graduation plans? Did he even apply to college?
- How come we saw Wallace and Mac receive their diplomas, but we never witnessed Logan receive his diploma? (We even heard John Enbom -- Logan would have been right before him -- receive his.)
- How was Wallace able to afford a spur of the moment plane ticket to Paris?
- So if Beaver (oops, sorry, CASSIDY), was betting against incorporation, then was he the one who sent the "Kill incorporation or else" email to Woody?
- Why did the Manning Family offer to pay $20,000 for Woody Goodman's capture?
- How did Veronica figure all of that out just because Beaver was (not) in the picture? There was one other kid who she didn't know ... why couldn't it have been him?
- In their final scene in Happy Go Lucky, Jackie tells Terrance that she's decided not to go to Paris, for at least a semester, so it would seem that he thought she really was going to the Sorbonne. If Jackie never planned to go to there, why did Terrance seem to not be in on it?
- Of the thousands of diners located in New York City, how did Veronica manage to uncover the specific diner in which Jackie worked?
- Why would Veronica even think to talk to Hart?
- Did Beaver have genuine feelings for Mac or was she simply a way to prove that he could maintain a normal relationship with a girl?
- Wouldn't Veronica think it unusual that "Mac" wanted to meet on the Neptune Grand roof top?
- Why did Beaver have a gun in his bag for a graduation party?
- Why did Beaver imply that Mac was dead ("She's in a better place.") to Veronica? Was it just another way to hurt her before he killed her?
- Why did Beaver keep the recording of his conversation with Peter and Marcos? For a rainy day when he might need to blackmail Woody?
- Whose car did Beaver use to kill Curly? How did he explain the damage?
- How did Beaver get Curly onto the hood of his car? Curly's a BIG guy, Beaver's, uhm, not.
- Was Kendall working with Clarence, thus Duncan, in executing Aaron?
- When Logan received Veronica's text message, the phone number was listed as unavailable. Who then, did he think the message was coming from?
- Why was Logan apologizing when Veronica came out for breakfast unless he didn't know that Keith was alive? So did Keith just let Logan sleep on the couch and not wake him when he got home? (Which really seems out of character for Keith ... especially in regard to Logan.)
- When Logan abruptly left the Mars' apartment after Keith's reappearance, did his departure stem from wanting to give Veronica and Keith some crucial daddy-daughter time or did he believe Keith wouldn't want him there because of their tumultuous history?
- Was the hallway kissing scene between Logan and Veronica the official reconciliation or are we supposed to assume some kind of discussion regarding their relationship status occurred before this point?
- Who won the FBLA contest? Did Beaver take it all or did Logan bounce back?
- What was Dick's reaction upon discovering his brother was a psychotic murderer and rapist who later committed suicide?
- What was inside the briefcase Kendall showed Keith?
- As a child, Cassidy Casablancas was on Woody Goodman's Little League Team. During this time he was sexually abused by Goodman and as a result, contracted chlamydia. He later spread the chlamydia to Veronica after he raped her at Shelly Pomroy's party.
- Peter Ferrer and Marcos Oliveres, two of Woody's other victims, wanted to come forward about the sexual abuse, but Beaver didn't want this information revealed. In order to prevent the news of his sexual abuse from being leaked, he orchestrated the bus crash to kill both Peter and Marcos.
- Beaver learned how to rig explosives from Curly Moran, a skill which he later practiced by blowing things up while helping to make Hart Hanson's war movies.
- Beaver obtained the explosives for the bus crash from Curly. He convinced the PCHers that Curly blew up the bus because of Cervando cheating Liam Fitzpatrick out of money. Beaver later murdered Curly by running him over with his car and dropping the body off a cliff.
duchessjms (Jayne): Social Science; Literature
holly96 (Holly): Social Science
JenniferH: Report Card; Chemistry; Band Class (Scene Description); Literature; Philosophy; Homeroom; Pep Squad Practice; History
Katrina: Social Science; Literature
Krissy215 (Krissy): Band Class (Song Identifier)
Pixigal (Gerrie): Drama Club; Social Science
ramwitz (Margarita): Yearbook
SeluciaV (Alli): Social Science; Literature; Extra Credit
Tar Frimmer (Joanne): Literature; Social Science; Study Hall; Philosophy; Homeroom
Original Air Date: May 09, 2006
Written by: John Enbom & Rob Thomas, Story by Thomas
Directed by: John Kretchmer
Grade: A-
Membership Grade: A (74.0% / 50 votes)
The good that Not Pictured delivers is so very, very good that it's quite easy to overlook the so very much that is not. There are loose ends and gaps where clearly needed scenes are required -- not so much for the content of getting the story told, but for the emotional connection necessary. However, at the end of the day, we have an answer to the season's main mystery and it makes a fair amount of sense, history is rewritten but in a compelling fashion that works -- considering the way the original information was offered. There is resolution in the Logan/Veronica relationship and it is a happy resolution!
When reviewing this final episode, we have to ask what is most important ... what is shown, what is not shown or how we feel once the rush has settled and we're left with the overall memory of the viewing experience? For most viewers, it's the latter. And for most viewers, that feeling is one of exhilaration over the twisting ride and happiness that Logan and Veronica are kissing and spinning once more. So, what is good wins the day and the second season of Veronica Mars goes out on a high note.
Recurring Guest Stars (Previous Episode Appearances)
Adam Bitterman - Curly Moran
Corinne Bohrer - Lianne Mars
Charisma Carpenter - Kendall Casablancas
Jonathan Chesner Corny
Duane Daniels Principle Van Clemmons
Christopher B. Duncan - Clarence Weidman
Luke Fryden - Peter Ferrer
Erica Gimpel - Alicia Fennel
Steve Guttenberg - Woody Goodman
Harry Hamlin - Aaron Echolls
Tina Majorino Mac
Ken Marino - Vinnie Van Lowe
Michael Muhney - Sheriff Lamb
Amanda Seyfried - Lilly Kane
Graham Sterling Reporter
Jeremy Ray Valdez - Marcos Oliveres
Guest Stars
Jennifer Austin - Assistant
Michael Crider Bill Lee
Scott Knight - Johnny Ludden
Rebecca Rhae Larsen - Desk Clerk
Glenda Redfield Kim
Carsyn Spencer - Young Veronica
Who's Who in Neptune
Assistant Bill Lee's assistant that informed him that "Gia" was requesting a return call.
Bill Lee Attorney to both Woody Goodman and the Casablancas' family.
Johnny Ludden One of the kids in the picture of Woody's little league team that Veronica questioned in exchange for free gelato.
Desk Clerk Front desk clerk at the Neptune Grand that refused to give Veronica Beaver's room number.
Kim Jackie's mother and a waitress at Brooklyn Dan's, a diner in Brooklyn, New York.
Young Veronica Adorable toddler Veronica from Veronica's dream flashback from when Keith performed a sock puppet show for her.
Highlights
It's Raining Highlights! Hallelujah! -- It's Raining Highlights! Amen! To paraphrase the opening lyrics from It's Raining Men, this episode is "raining" magnificent acting performances and highlights. Almost everyone in the cast brought their A game to the finale, resulting in a veritable smorgasbord of acting delights.
Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) - Kristen Bell may have spent the early part of the season phoning her performance in, but she has come roaring back in the second half with episode after episode of spectacular performances. Every nuance, every expression, every movement of her body in Not Pictured enhanced and enriched the storyline. This was Veronica's episode and she owned the screen. Subtly shading her dream self back to trusting Veronica 1.0, delightfully guessing pony (sheer magic!) after receiving her father's gift, steely and trembling before a menacing Aaron Echolls, barely holding it together as the realization of rape sinks in, breaking down in crumpled heartbreak as Cassidy seemingly kills her father by blowing up the plane and the subsequent tearful reunion -- Bell held the viewer in the palm of her hand.
Cassidy may have been sarcastically taunting Veronica when he told her she was simply marvelous but in truth she was -- or rather, her portrayer. Marvelous, magnificent, spectacular ... you can choose your own adjective, but sometimes words are just not enough. I'm standing; I'm cheering -- bravo, bravo!
Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls) - Jason Dohring is, in my opinion, the best young male actor on television today. He has mastered such a comprehensive range of emotions that at times, the sheer artistry he displays is overwhelming.
His performance on the roof with Veronica was so perfect that mere words seem inadequate. As Logan gazed at Cassidy, unable to give him a reason to live, a myriad of emotions flew across his face. We knew he was anguished at losing someone who had been a friend. We knew that Logan could think of no reason to give him to live. We knew that this knowledge was causing him pain. And we knew that he was also feeling anger and shock at what Cassidy had done, coupled with the pain from the tasering and fighting and the emotional havoc his fear for Veronica brought. We knew all these things and yet Dohring didn't say a word.
And yet this was just one moment in an episode filled with numerous other moments of perfect acting. From his sweet kiss of Veronica in the dream graduation, to his breaking voice as he talks her out of seeking revenge, to his yearning gaze at Keith and Veronica as they share something he has never had, to his swooping, giddy kiss in the hallway, Dohring joined Bell in filling us with delight.
In the theatre, the leads of a show get a solo curtain call. They walk to the center of the stage as the audience rises to its feet and cheers with a loud burst of applause. For Jason Dohring, I'm standing, I'm cheering and I'm clapping so hard my hands hurt. Thanks for a magnificent performance in a season filled with dramatic highlights.
Kyle Gallner (Cassidy 'Beaver' Casablancas) - In an ultimately heartbreaking performance, Gallner finally took off the mask he has been wearing all season in his portrayal of Beaver in the final dramatic rooftop confrontation in Not Pictured. Playing the role of the sweet, savvy, and slightly nerdy younger brother of Dick Casablancas, Gallner had endeared himself to viewers this year, especially with the advent of his romance with Mac.
Although Beaver's transformation from sad sexual failure to evil manipulator was a bit abrupt, Gallner was able to effectively sell the transition so that in moments the violent, amoral boy who cared more about keeping his secrets than the sanctity of life was completely convincing. With empty eyes and sneering sarcasm, Gallner chillingly acknowledged the murders and rape. But it was in his final anguished "My name is Cassidy!" that Gallner achieved his finest dramatic moment. Bravo, nice work!
Group Bow - A big round of applause for the ensemble also, especially Tina Majorino (Mac) -- heartbreakingly anguished, Francis Capra (Weevil) -- angrily demanding, Harry Hamlin (Aaron) -- coldly menacing, Steve Gutenberg (Woody) -- loathsomely sincere, Ryan Hansen (Dick) -- cheerfully commando, Tessa Thompson (Jackie) -- finally honest, and Enrico Colantino (Keith) -- every move he makes.
Alright everyone join hands and bow. What a year! What a ride! What a show!
Scene One: Veronica and Logan Versions 1.0 Sitting in the Quad ... K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Hmm, it feels almost-odd writing up an analysis of the dream-sequence featuring this Logan and Veronica because it's so clearly not them. Many have referred to Veronica 1.0 in regards to this scene, but I chose to title it in reference to Veronica and Logan 1.0 because we saw that Veronica was not the only one who had really changed. Duncan, Dick and Lilly were all still the same (okay, obviously in Lilly's case, duh!), but both Logan and Veronica were clearly different.
For one thing, Logan's comment towards Veronica wasn't schmoopy; it was a tad patronizing ... which is something that Logan is NEVER like with Veronica. Why? Because he respects her, even when he was in the hate portion of their love/hate relationship, it was obvious that he respected her, even if it wasn't acknowledged. This Logan doesn't respect this Veronica ... he just sees her as ditzy, innocent blonde. And this Veronica IS a ditzy, innocent blonde. Our Veronica wouldn't stand there and be talked down to and accept a kiss after such a comment. But this one not only did, she bought the story, and then took no offense to the teasing and acted as if there were no insult in the commentary on her gullibility.
So, in other words, as horrible as all of the horrible stuff has been, it has, in many ways -- although it's been a longer road for Logan -- made both Logan and Veronica more complete, substantial people. They aren't typical high-schoolers anymore; they understand the heft and weight of the world and it has made them both stronger and wiser (and Logan, despite all of his faults, more respectful of women who deserve respect).
So, if this isn't Logan and this isn't Veronica and these two saccharine versions of the two aren't much fun, what was the point of this dream and why should we, as LoVe fans, be positive about it? Because it wasn't about who they would have been had Lilly not died -- it was about what Veronica wanted in her heart. This was Rob Thomas giving us Veronica's subconscious wish ... to be with the people she loved, the people she realized mattered most to her.
Her parents were number one on that list because she is still a young woman, a teenager. Obviously, she loves Keith and he matters to her, but the inclusion of Lianne? Well, yes. Lianne is a terrible mother, but despite all she's done that is something I can see Veronica always wanting back. Despite her words in Leave it to Beaver (and Lianne's actions), in her heart, Veronica can always blame it on the booze and not Lianne's lack of love for her ... which leaves that door open.
And then, of course, Wallace would hold permanence in her heart. Lilly had been her best friend, but it was clear in this dream that the two of them had drifted apart and in her fantasy, Veronica met Wallace, found him and that connection was made. So maybe Veronica hasn't vocalized (and probably never will) that Lilly wasn't who she thought she was, but this was her subconscious acknowledging that while Lilly may have been her childhood BFF, whether she had lived or not, Wallace Fennel was the best friend of her heart.
And Logan, finally Logan -- who was shown second in the dream sequence if you want to go by the chronological appearance as a sign of the degree to which each individual mattered the most to Veronica. Duncan was just one of the guys, holding as much presence in her dream as did Dick -- Logan was her boyfriend, but not just her boyfriend. In her fantasy, Logan Echolls was the boyfriend who told her that he loved her and one with whom she was clearly in love.
So, as a LoVe fan, that's what we take from this. On television, dreams matter and illustrate what is truly in the heart of the dreamer. And this dream of Veronica's illustrated that in her heart what Veronica wanted was Logan.
Scene Two: Looks Like We Made It!
It was a small moment and admittedly it would have been nicer if we had had actual interaction at the graduation, but hey, it was something. Logan's look of pride as he applauded Veronica was sweet and also held a tinge of regret because he hadn't seen the end of the episode yet, so he pretty much thought this was it. They never were going to get that epic. Yet despite what he believed was the probable ending of any 'us' between them, he was still proud of her.
Of course, we've never been in doubt in regards to Logan's feelings for Veronica. So the question we do ask is was Veronica's near-conspiratorial smile directed towards Logan or rather Keith or Wallace? Simply because it was Logan that we saw right before the shot of Veronica, I'll go with my bias and conclude that it was indeed the luscious Logan she was looking at with a glint in her eye and a smile on her lips.
And that tinge of conspiracy in the curve? That I put down to perhaps a memory of the fab four and the acknowledgement that they are the only two that made it. And it's certainly worth noting that Logan is the one person who has been a major factor in ALL aspects of Veronica's life since she was twelve years old. That's not even something that Keith can claim -- as he doesn't know about the rape (or rather *both* rapes) or the true extent of her ostracism at school. Logan -- good and bad -- has been there through it all, sometimes as hero, sometimes as heel ... but he's been right there alongside Veronica every step of the way. And she's been just as much a part of his life. So I do believe her smile is a subtle acknowledgement of that fact.
Scene Three: Where's Beaver?
Not much here except that we saw Veronica showing trust and comfort with Logan and that's always nice to see. First when she singled him out to ask where Beaver was and secondly, when she clearly was going to tell him exactly why she wanted to find Beaver. That's a pretty big thing to share with a guy whom she knows may well have a level of loyalty to the kid. (Remember in Normal is the Watchword, she included Beaver as one of Logan's toadies.) So her choosing to tell him without even making the choice was a subtle way of showing that she does trust him.
Scene Four: Instinct for LoVe
Like so many in this episode, this is another short scene, but it's a good one. Yes, logistically, who else could Veronica have forwarded that call to? Logan was pretty much it, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Veronica, in the midst of all that was going on -- when we'd already seen evidence that her emotions were all over the place and she wasn't thinking clearly -- instinctively sent the call to Logan. In her time of need, without thought, she reached out for Logan.
And for his part -- he came running.
Also, there was a lovely, little aha! moment for the LoVe fan in the irony in that just as Beaver was telling Veronica that she had no one left to live for, she was calling Logan. It was yet another little subtle push about the importance that Logan was in her life and when push came to shove ... Veronica knew it.
Scene Five: Rescue Me
More than a few times this season, characters have been given the opportunity to cause the death of another human being -- Veronica, Weevil and in this episode alone, Beaver (in the past and present), Duncan, Logan and again, Veronica. Of these characters, only Veronica and Logan have chosen to not take that course. Yes, Veronica had some help from Logan on the rooftop. He was there to remind her what we (and she) know is true ... that at her core she is not a killer. And neither is Logan -- who had the opportunity to not stop Veronica, to take the gun from her and do it himself or keep his mouth shut when Beaver was about to jump. (Yeah, that last one didn't quite work, but the attempt was made and that is the point.) Okay, that's all wonderful in regards to the innate goodness of both Veronica and Logan, but what does this have to with an analysis of LoVe?
Well, since boy wonder, the great Donut, was one of the characters given this opportunity and chose to take it, it is telling in that it shows quite clearly that at the core, Veronica and Logan are of the same constitution on such a black and white issue. Duncan is not and I honestly believe that while both Veronica and Logan would understand (and even be contented with) the motivation behind Duncan's action, I don't think that either one would be able to live comfortably with him in their lives knowing what he is capable of ... because neither one of them is. By showcasing the non-fatal tendencies of both Logan and Veronica contrasted with the opposite of Duncan, it was another subtle show that Duncan is most definitely NOT the one for Veronica and will simply never be an option again. Unlike Logan -- who is the one.
Which brings us back to the roof. Logan could have had no idea what was awaiting him after he received the message, but still he went and there he was. So for the second and last time this season, we once more saw ...
... in a much more traditional sense (closer to the actions of Ahoy Mateys! as opposed to A Trip to the Dentist). Upon seeing Veronica in danger he didn't cower, he didn't leave her to deal with what was going on, instead he put himself right there in the fray. Calling out, he made himself the target, giving Veronica the opportunity the get away. And a target he did become and one had to be thankful for the moment for Big Dick's sissifying attitude toward the Beav -- who wasn't invited to the shooting range -- because he missed the target that was Logan. In doing so, he gave Veronica the opportunity to take on the hero role herself. And she did! Throwing herself against Beaver with all the force her tiny form could muster, she took him down as he was taking aim at Logan once more. And this time, it was Logan's turn to be grateful for Veronica's heroics.
But Veronica is a tiny, blonde one after all and not much of a match for even the less-than-bulky Beaver, so Logan was back in the mix once more. It was a tag-team effort. Veronica about to be taken out, Logan stepped in -- Logan was shot at, Veronica rushed to the fore. The gun was out of Beaver's grasp, but desperation and the taser kept Beaver in the game and once more Logan was out and then it was Veronica's turn to take charge yet again. Holding onto the gun that had been knocked away during Logan's last altercation with the junior psychopath, Veronica was poised to finish this all and then Logan came into play one final time.
In this moment, he was doing what he does best when playing the hero -- wearing his heart on his sleeve, emotional and sincere, telling Veronica exactly what she needed to hear so that she could win the final round and not descend to Beaver's level and become a murderer too. So as much as physically, Logan was there for Veronica spiritually as well.
And emotionally.
Once Beaver was no longer an equation, Veronica practically melted into Logan's arms, the two merging into each other as if they were one. Veronica clung to Logan and when he stepped away to try and stop Beaver from jumping, there was a flash of anguished terror as she watched him step away. It was gone quickly as she realized what he was doing, her concentration -- a weary, sorrow-drenched apathy -- on Beaver, but before she knew why he'd walked away, it was clear that with her belief in Keith's death, Veronica, in that moment, was looking to Logan for strength. Such a reaction showed the continuing trend we had been seeing in measures throughout the episode -- and one that would become impossible to ignore by the end -- that the words spoken over a year ago in response to his heartfelt plea:
- Logan: I want you to trust me.
Veronica: I do.
Scene Six: There For Her
Another very short scene and the focus was all on Mac and Veronica, but it definitely is worth noting that Logan was there with Veronica. He didn't stop at his suite to talk to Dick or call the police or any of the myriad of things he could have done. He stayed by Veronica's side. He doesn't know Mac so he wasn't there for her. He was sticking with Veronica and clearly that is where Veronica wanted him or he wouldn't have been there. I really do think it's as simple as that. Even in the rush of going to the manager and getting to Mac, there would have been enough time for her to tell him that she wanted to see Mac by herself, but she didn't. Veronica was understandably worried about Mac, but she needed Logan there with her for her.
And so he was.
Scene Seven: The Intimacy of Trust
I believe we have director, John Kretchmer, to thank for the beautiful symmetry of the first shot of Logan and Veronica in the Mars apartment, as seen below ...
... with the similarity to this shot -- with positions reversed -- in Normal is the Watchword ...
... also directed by Kretchmer. Without the artistic reference (see Michelangelo's Pieta), the viewer is still left with an emotional connection despite the brevity of the scene. In Normal is the Watchword, we saw a compassionate Veronica there for Logan in his time of need -- despite the tension between them. In Not Pictured we were given the reverse of that. Here, Veronica was suffering and Logan was the one offering support.
There is an implicit trust in sleeping in someone's arms -- it is at that point that one is at their most vulnerable and whereas Logan wasn't asleep in Normal is the Watchword, Veronica was here. Which, considering Veronica's trust issues, adds a level of intimacy that is more telling than any words could ever be as to how she felt about him now. Whether it was the thought of losing her father, the overall anguish of the evening's events, the fact that Logan was there for her -- physically, emotionally and spiritually -- doing everything he possibly could to be there for her, Veronica trusted Logan. Completely and absolutely. And that was conveyed in the simple act of lying in slumber in his arms.
Scene Eight: Pancakes and Joy
Another small scene, but one that again shows the level of comfort that Veronica allowed Logan after the harrowing events they'd experienced. Whether Logan put Veronica to bed the night before or if she awoke and went on her own (personally, I'm leaning towards the former), the fact that Veronica allowed herself to sleep -- either so deeply when he carried her or easily with him in her home -- showed the depth of trust that Veronica had finally placed in him.
And Logan clearly felt that trust -- most likely for the first time -- because he stayed, because he was assuming the role of caretaker, cooking her breakfast, comforting her in her time of need. We'll just ignore the question of why Logan wouldn't know that Keith was alive as it's highly unlikely that Keith wouldn't have at least woken Logan up to find out why he was there sleeping on his couch. No, instead, we'll just concentrate on the fact that Logan was there for Veronica when she needed him. And more than that, she was allowing him to be there ... wholeheartedly. Completely and absolutely.
As was Keith -- which was another nice touch. The last time Logan had been in the apartment, Keith had bodily threatened him to never come back again. Now, a little less than a year later, he came home to find Logan on his couch and he was able to joke about not finding the boy in Veronica's bed. And that comment alone was enough to show that Keith gets how important and clearly entwined in each other's lives these two are .. and probably always will be. In other words, Keith has accepted Logan. Yay!
Another small thing I really liked was Logan leaving while Veronica reunited with her father. I think it showed a depth of maturity and caring on Logan's part. Yes, I don't deny that part of it may have very well stemmed from a dose of self-pity, but I think the overriding factor by far was that he knew her well enough and cared enough to walk out and give her this moment with Keith. That action was a subtle show of Logan's love for Veronica. Beautiful.
Scene Nine: Everything Will Be Fine
To analyze this scene on its own, it would get a thoroughly positive write-up. However, one has to take into consideration what has come before -- or in this case, what hasn't come before. So, a heads-up ... if you don't want to read a less-than-positive take of what we weren't shown addressed before getting into the overall positive of what we were, skip right along to here. For those who want to read both the good and the bad, carry on.
Some viewers were able to view Logan and Veronica's interactions in this scene as a spontaneous reunion of sorts, done without the 'talking.' Many viewers -- including myself -- were unable to do so. Personally, I simply could not believe that the first kiss shared between these two -- who are so very passionate with one another -- after almost a year apart romantically would be this comfortable, this non-dramatic, this ... passion-less. It was merely a couple of seconds long and there was no intensity. It was too casual, too non-capitalization-worthy unlike their first which is known throughout the fandom as The Kiss. I expected their reunion kiss to become ... The Kiss 2.0. Well, this first kiss -- we witnessed -- played as just another one and so I can not believe that it was their first post-reunion kiss.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I especially loved the spinning as they kissed. I loved how you could hear the smiles and joy in their voices. The comfort level, the schmoopiness, the surety of Veronica's response were all wonderful and adored and I've already watched the scene countless, countless times, but ... yes, but, it came out of left field. It was a resolution without the fourth stage -- the climax! -- of the literary story arc (beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution).
Of course, it makes sense after the events on the roof and the aftermath that we saw in the apartment that the two would hook up again. Of course, it makes sense that their issues of the past just wouldn't matter compared to all of that. And so it was quite, quite easy to fanwank the discussion they had. In fact, I would hazard to say that the vast, vast majority of viewers have about the same approximation of the kind of discussion they had that put them where they were in that hallway.
The thing is that we should have witnessed that discussion -- whether or not we can all easily imagine how it took place. The bottom-line is that I don't care if I can fill in the gaps, viewers should not ever be expected to fill in the gaps with something like this. It was bad storytelling ... period.
I loved the kissing and spinning, but it was bad storytelling and it simply was not earned. We DESERVED to see that scene and any writer/showrunner who knew what the hell they were doing, actually gave a damn about what their fanbase wanted or knew how to give their fanbase what they wanted, would have known that a scene explaining how they got from A to E needed to be shown! (Which scenario fits Rob Thomas is up for each individual viewer to decide.)
This was our climax. When Veronica finally told Logan she didn't care about the past, she realized that she just wanted to be with him, when Logan realized that he could put all of the past behind him and start fresh as the one she wanted to be with, no secrets, no lies between them ... we should have been there. When they shared The Kiss 2.0, with swelling music, with a swooping, majestic camera sweep, with passion and intensity and YES! YES! YES! ... we should have been there.
We were not. Sigh. However ...
What we were there for, the resolution (so to speak) was definitely wonderful. The casual, yet caring way that Keith asked about Logan, Veronica's almost-throwaway comment that Logan was picking her up -- something that surely wouldn't have happened before the events on the roof, were signs that there was a level of comfort now. And that comfort was not just between Logan and Veronica, but also between Keith and the idea of Logan and Veronica. That is something that we simply did not get any prior sense of at any point during their relationship, in flashback or otherwise. All of these things were conveyed subtly through the dialogue and delivery by Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni.
And then we got what was my second favorite part of the whole scene: Veronica's reaction when Logan came to pick her up. We have countless looks from Logan directed toward Veronica that could easily be classified as adoring, schmoopy, sappy and crazy in love. Not so much with Veronica. Her reaction when she saw him standing in the doorway gets added to her much shorter list in a big, BIG way. Her eyes were soft and shining, the smile that curved her mouth was one of almost tremulous joy.
She was so happy to see him just standing there and since it wasn't immediately after all of the drama, but a few days past and it had already been made clear through dialogue that they had spoken/almost definitely seen one another, that smile was not based upon gratitude. A smile of such emotion would have already happened in the days between the morning after Keith's 'resurrection' and this airport pick-up. So, the smile, the joy radiant upon her face was reserved for Logan, and not in gratitude, but out of love.
Which overall is what this episode showed us and it was truly wonderful seeing that resolution in this final scene of the season between them. Veronica does love Logan. She may have not said it yet (as far as we know), but yes, Veronica is very much in love with Logan and she knows that he is, indeed, very much in love with her. Despite all that has happened, especially the events of the roof and more importantly, the way he took care of her afterwards, absolutely made that affection between the two crystal clear. Honestly, after that look on Veronica's face as she looked at Logan, the kissing and spinning, the sweetness and schmoopiness of what followed was merely icing on the cake.
Ah, but what sweet, welcome icing!
Logan holding the door open for her, playing the gentleman as he gestured her through and then the dropping of the bags, the pulling her back into his arms and kissing her (so reminiscent in a softer fashion) of The Kiss in Weapons of Class Destruction was just beautiful. And the spinning ... the spinning, the spinning. Who does NOT love the spinning? It just added such a carefree, giddy joy to the moment. And joy was the watchword.
She was happy, Logan was happy and they were clearly happy together. Veronica knew it -- declared it and them so. Hearing Veronica state that "everything would be fine" and following that up with a very confident, "I know" was a wonderful final moment between just the two that put an end to Veronica's doubt about their relationship definitively. And how could any shipper not love that?
Finally, it wasn't as much as anyone was hoping for in terms of the resolution of the Look Who's Stalking cliffhanger, but the inclusion of Kendall in the scene was actually welcome if only because it put to rest the remaining glitch in their relationship this year. Veronica seemed a bit embarrassed to be caught by Kendall, but other than that, there was no reaction that it being Kendall was an issue. Whatever discussion or understanding had passed between Veronica and Logan in a scene we hadn't seen, it was clear that Kendall simply was not a factor in their relationship.
Throughout most of the discussion with Mrs. C., Logan and (presumably) Veronica still had their hands on one another. (We saw Logan drop his hands as Kendall brushed by, but Veronica was out of frame, so it's likely that she dropped hers at the same time.) They were comfortable with one another and comfortable in showing a display of affection even while being mocked by Kendall ... and in fact, both mocked her in return in a show of snarky solidarity.
It was nice ... quite a wonderful way to end this rather rocky season in terms of LoVe. The straws have all been added up and yeah, we got a pretty comfortable haystack after all.
- Wallace sits and broods at the Hut, a big piece of chocolate cake sitting neglected before him. (Man, he really must be depressed.) Veronica takes a break to join him and encourages him to eat the free cake management gave him. He sits and stares at Jackie's goodbye letter, miserable over the abrupt way she left town. He tells Veronica that Jackie wrote that she was afraid if she saw him she wouldn't be able to get on the plane. Veronica suggests he try the method of coping used by women through the ages -- gorge on cake.
After graduation, Veronica walks to her LeBaron and takes off her graduation gown to reveal the sexy black dress she has on underneath. (She was hiding this under the gown? Was she planning on wearing it later to the party? It seems a shame to wear it when no one coughLogancough can see that seriously plunging neckline.) As she gets ready to start the car, Alicia angrily walks up and demands to know if Veronica knows anything about the note she's holding in her hand. Veronica assures her she doesn't know what's going on, so Alicia explains that Wallace left a note on her windshield, saying he's on his way to Paris to find Jackie. (Maybe the Hut should have given him the whole cake?)
In Brooklyn, New York, a little boy runs in to Brooklyn Dan's diner, calling out "Mommy" to a waitress behind the counter. Following him inside is Jackie, looking none too pleased. The waitress, who happens to be Jackie's mother, Kim, chastises her for being ten minutes late. Complaining that she hasn't even been back two days, Jackie asks if she couldn't cut her a little slack. Kim reminds her she's no longer in Neptune and the Terrance Cook fantasy camp is over, so it's back to real life. As her mother answers the phone, Jackie removes her coat and reveals that she's also wearing a waitress uniform.
The phone call is for Jackie, who dons her nametag and picks up the receiver. Her hesitant "Hello?" is countered by Veronica's "Why no 'bonjour?'" Jackie is surprised that Veronica knew to reach her there. (Obviously, she's been too busy lying about her past to pay attention this past year.) It seems Veronica figured things out awhile ago, piecing together bits of information like Jackie's 3.1 GPA not being Sorbonne-worthy and Jackie's professional skills at the Hut being far too good for the never-employed daughter of a model living on the Upper West Side. Jackie admits she lied about her life, but swears she never lied to Wallace about her feelings. Veronica tells Jackie that Wallace is on a plane to Paris, but has a four hour layover at JFK. So that's time enough for Jackie to go tell him the truth.
Wallace stands, watching the boards announce the flights coming and going from JFK International Airport. Jackie walks up to him and he smiles in surprise, hugging her and telling her that he's headed to Paris with her. Jackie breaks it to him that she's only there courtesy of a ticket to the Philly shuttle she had to buy to get past security. That's not the end of her confession, though.
She explains that her mother is not a model, but a waitress who had a one night stand with Terrance eighteen years ago. Jackie's a Brooklyn kid who screwed up her life with drugs and alcohol and the wrong friends. Wallace interrupts her confession to say he really doesn't care about her past. But then she drops the big truth. She has a two-year-old son. When he was born, Jackie was sent to live with Terrance, while her mother raised the baby. Jackie realized she was being a hypocrite to be so upset over her father dropping her from his life, so she knew she had to return home to her baby. She knows she has to stay, but Wallace? He belongs in Neptune.
- Aaron triumphantly walks out of the courthouse, as the press and assembled masses of (idiot) fans cheer and applaud his victory. Keith holds on to Veronica in the crowd, as she glares at the monster who is getting away with murder, proving that the innocent suffer, the guilty go free, and truth and fiction are interchangeable. Aaron poses for the press, expressing his relief at having his name cleared of this horrible crime. His performance is received with more cheers and flashing cameras and he raises up his hands in victory as Keith leads his daughter away from the spectacle.
Aaron's winning mug makes the cover of the Neptune Register, shouting the news: "Aaron Echolls Acquitted. Movie star found not guilty in teen's murder." Veronica is sitting at her Mars Investigations desk, burning a hole in his photograph with the mere power of her hateful stare. Keith stands over her shoulder and insists that they won't do this. They won't obsess, he says, as he grabs the paper from her white-knuckled grip.
He reminds her they're people with lives, who will move on and Aaron will get justice served to him in his own way. Veronica remains skeptical, but Keith believes it and tells her they need to get back to their business. And back to work he goes, as he walks to his desk, sits down and resumes the photograph-burning stare his daughter had begun. He's caught in the act of not taking his own advice, though, when Veronica brings a fax in to his office and asks him what happened to "moving on?" Pointedly, he sets the paper aside and out of the range of their death-glares.
Aaron approaches Logan in the lobby of the Neptune Grand. Attempting to avoid looking at his father, Logan nevertheless asks Aaron what he's doing there. Father and son walk to the elevator as Aaron explains that he needs a place to stay and wonders what Logan thinks of the suites. While Logan thinks it'll probably be an improvement over Aaron's jail cell, it might be a little weird since he assumes the other guests aren't killers.
Pushing the elevator call button, Aaron warns his son that he should make more of an effort to be civil to him now. Logan, barely containing his anger, throws his candy wrapper down, asking if just because he beat a murder rap, he's suddenly his father again. Aaron insists that he never has and never will stop being his father and, more importantly, he has regained control of the purse strings, so Logan is once again his dependant. Aaron claps Logan on the shoulder as the elevator doors open. Logan is on his way up, so Aaron gets in alone and begins his inevitable descent to hell. Or his suite. Take your pick.
Later, Veronica, distractedly pressing the numbers on her phone, walks into the Neptune Grand elevator and pushes the button to go to the roof. The doors close, her phone beeps and she curses in frustration. Suddenly, Aaron says hello. He's in the elevator. With her. Alone. He tells her not to look so surprised. It's a small town and now that he's no longer in jail, they might just run in to each other from time to time. (Tell me he didn't just twink at her?!)
Veronica steels herself and promises to pay better attention to where she's going from now on. He smiles as he begins extolling the virtues of freedom. Walking a little closer to her, with a menacing smile, he tells her that freedom is pretty damn sweet and he likes it. Not even flinching, she points out that Lilly loved freedom, too, so it's a bummer that he killed her. Aaron tells her he gets it now why she and Lilly were such good friends. They're alike in that they're not afraid to speak their minds. In fact, the best part of the day he smashed Lilly's head in with an ashtray was knowing that she would finally shut the hell up, once and for all. The elevator bell rings, as Veronica remains silent. Aaron smiles, bids her a nice night, then leaves. Relieved, Veronica shakily starts to breathe again.
Aaron and Kendall share some post-coital laughs on the sofa in his hotel suite, as he lets her know just how much he loves freedom. (Enjoy it while you can, you smug bastard.) Kendall enjoys freedom, too, but any more "freedoming" and she claims she's going to need a wheelchair. (And there really isn't enough "yuck" in the world for this.) Deciding it's a pretty damn good time to go take a shower (can't say I blame her), she leaves him there to light up a cigar and turn on the television.
Putting his feet up, he surfs the channels until he finds a movie starring himself, in his younger days. He sits there, wallowing in narcissism. A drink in one hand, a cigar in the other and completely unaware of the gun pointed at the back of his head. Two muffled shots ring out and Aaron's blood splatters the television screen. Clarence Weidman, dressed all in black, leaves the room, his mission accomplished.
On a sunny beach in Mollymook, Australia, Duncan builds a sand castle for his baby daughter, topping it off with a tiny flag of Australia. His phone rings and he answers it. "CW?" Clarence, from the elevator of the Neptune Grand, reports that "It's a done deal." Weidman hangs up and, as he exits the elevator, unblocks the elevator's security camera as soon as he's past detection on it and leaves. On the other side of the world, Duncan puts the phone down and closes his eyes for a moment, knowing that justice has finally been dealt to his sister's killer. his daughter plays as her daddy smiles at her.
- Veronica's Dreamscape: It's 6:30 am and, much to Veronica's irritation, her alarm clock is going off. She covers her head with a pillow, trying to drown out the noise, but her attempt to postpone the day is thwarted as Lianne brings in some laundry and cheerily tells her daughter to get up. The big day is finally here. Veronica looks a little confused, but starts to get out of bed.
In a nice house, Veronica, wearing a light flowery summer dress, walks to the breakfast table, where Keith is sitting, wearing his Sheriff's uniform. Lianne loads Veronica's plate with pancakes as Veronica questions if she's trying to give her an early jump on "the Freshman 15." Lianne advises her to eat these up while she can because the dining hall at San Diego State isn't going to feed her like this.
Lianne barely finishes putting the dishes on the counter before Keith grabs her and pulls her onto his lap, heartily telling her how much he loves pancakes. They start kissing as Veronica watches them with a wistful smile. Keith notices the look on her face and wonders why she isn't telling them to get a room or some other typically teenage comment. Lianne giggles and Veronica just shakes her head, letting them know that she thinks it's nice. Lianne feels her forehead and jokingly asks her if she's okay. Veronica brushes her off with a laugh and Lianne goes to get a camera.
Veronica asks Keith how the sheriff business is. Keith says it's sweet, which may have something to do with Lamb's current duties for the week -- wearing the Clete the Crime-Fighting Canine costume to all the local elementary schools. Needless to say, Veronica appears amused at the idea. (And I would pay to see it, myself!) As she retakes her spot in Keith's lap, Lianne asks Veronica to not run off with "that boy" after the ceremony because they want to take lots of pictures. Veronica smiles that she can't wait. Thinking they should practice, Lianne takes her picture as ...
... A girl in cap and gown takes a picture of her friends in the school quad. Veronica, carrying a bagged cap and gown, rushes up to Logan, who's not yet outfitted in his own gown. Duncan and Dick, both decked out in their graduation attire, are hanging out with him. Veronica complains that she was given the wrong clothes. Logan's not sure how she can tell, looking at his cap for its own distinguishing marks. Veronica explains that someone else's name is on her bag. Dick, always one to stay on topic, asks them to guess who is going commando right now. Duncan would rather not.
Veronica reads the label and asks if anyone knows a Wallace Fennel. Duncan says he has P.E. with him; he's an awesome baller who works at the Sac-n-Pac. Not exactly useful information, so she asks if any of them can just point the guy out for her. Dick asks if she heard what happened to Wallace. The Sac-n-Pac got held up and the robber forced him in to the walk-in cooler and he got frostbite. Duncan adds that Wallace lost three fingers. Veronica's horrified, then Duncan and Dick crack up and shake hands over their successful foolin.' She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the little boys. Logan laughs and tells his sweetie that he loves her, but she's the most gullible girl he's ever met. He kisses her and she admits that she's trusting.
Duncan points out Wallace, who's wearing glasses and walking around looking at his cap and gown bag in confusion. Veronica calls out his name and goes to him, pointing out that she has his cap and gown. He looks at his bag and says she must be Veronica Mars, then. They switch bags and he asks if she's looking forward to getting out of there. She guesses she is, but high school was a blast. Wallace realizes she's "one of those," which Veronica doesn't seem to understand. Wallace shrugs it off as nothing and tells her to have a good life; he's sure she will.
As he walks away, Veronica sees Lilly standing in front of the memorial fountain. Excited, Veronica calls out her name and runs up to her. They hug as Veronica eagerly asks for the latest info on her life, particularly about the new guy and life at Vassar. Lilly says the guy is gone because they had a disagreement over fooling around with his ex. Veronica calls him a bastard, as any girlfriend would, but Lilly laughs and explains that it was actually her fooling around with his ex.
Veronica's shocked, but Lilly's surprised it was even an issue because she thought that guys would dig that kind of thing. Seeing the expression on Veronica's face, she tells her that it's expected in college and that she'll see for herself. Veronica says it's good to see her, but then Lilly turns around and asks what the Lilly Kane Memorial Fountain is? And, more importantly, does she smell bacon?
Keith bursts into Veronica's room, waking her up from her dream to tell her it's graduation day, there's lots to do and he's making breakfast!
The Neptune High Class of 2006 and their loved ones are gathered in the high school gym, milling about as the band tunes their instruments. Eventually, Clemmons takes the stage as the band plays Pomp and Circumstance. Students are called up to receive their diplomas as the audience applauds. First up in our gang is Wallace Fennel. Alicia stands up, applauding her son as Veronica cheers loudly from her seat. Next to make it to the stage is Cindy Mackenzie, with Beaver and non-graduating Dick applauding happily from their seats.
Finally, Veronica's name is called. Keith, adorable proud papa extraordinaire, stands and cheers and claps louder than anyone. Which is saying something because there is much applause, to Veronica's obvious astonishment. As she stands on the stage, Mac "whoos!" her, Wallace shouts an "All right, V!," Logan half-smiles while he watches her adoringly, and there are many others cheering her on. Veronica smiles a moment, then goes to Clemmons to receive her diploma.
He asks her if she was expecting some other reaction. For once, she's at a loss for words. He covers the microphone and leans in to confide that he's not sure if his life will be easier or more difficult with her gone. He asks for advice in case he gets another one like her some day (as if!). She suggests he not keep all of his passwords taped to the bottom of his stapler and that he should stay cool. Switching her cap tassel to the other side, Veronica smiles and walks away. (Sniffle. I miss Mr. C. already.)
Outside, Keith makes his way through the crowd to Veronica as she laughs at his efforts. He presents her with an envelope for this momentous occasion. She feels it, shakes it, smells it. "A pony?!" (Hey, at least she keeps trying!) She opens the envelope to find tickets to New York. They leave Tuesday. Thrilled, she throws her arms around him, thanking him for the awesome present. After Keith leaves to hunt down Woody, Dick smacks her butt as he walks past her, telling her to put on her dancing shoes because tonight they're gonna "upchuck the boogie." Upchuck? You heard him, Veronica. He may have screwed up the lyrics, but if he plans to bring the Party Pig again, he may have meant it quite literally.
- Veronica sits at her office desk reading a New Yorker magazine as Keith walks in, cheerily saying he can feel the little town blues melting away. Likewise, she is packed and ready to go, with her vagabond shoes and her Donald Trump repellant pepper spray. Keith wonders if she's sure she doesn't want to drive with him to the airport, but she reminds him that Logan is giving her a ride so they can "talk."
Keith asks how Logan took the news about Aaron's murder. She says he shrugs it off and calls himself Little Orphan Annie -- meaning he's taking it badly. She checks her watch and says she should go out front, so Keith kisses the top of Veronica's head and promises to meet her at the gate, then goes into his office. Veronica stands up as Logan walks in and picks up her luggage. "So?" he asks. She looks up and, dare I say it, positively beams at him.
Veronica walks out into the hall, followed by Logan, who closes the door behind him and checks around quickly, smiling, as she looks for something in her bag. He drops her bags, startling her, and grabs her, kisses her, spinning as only they can spin. She giggles, "What are you doing?" He laughs and spins her until her back is to the wall. He's not gonna see her for a whole week, which is going to feel like a month to him. She assures him that then she'll be back and everything will be fine. Happily kissing her neck and cheek, he's not so sure. But Veronica knows it; she can feel it. When he questions her track record, she tells him she's never wrong. Giggling, she bumps noses with him.
Suddenly, another light flips on and a mocking voice says, "Aww, young love." Veronica tenses as they turn to see their rude interruption is in a Kendall-shaped form. Mrs. C. tells them not to move -- to hold their position because Norman Rockwell wants to come in and paint them. Cutting off Kendall's snark, Veronica wonders why she's there. Logan wonders how it's possible for her to come out during the daylight hours, without bursting into flames or something. Ignoring them, Kendall states she has a business proposition for Keith and walks past them as Veronica warns her that he doesn't carry much cash.
In his office, Keith is facing Kendall who urgently says she needs him to do something for her. Right now. He informs her he'll be back in a week, but he's meeting his daughter in an hour, so he can't help her now. Kendall places a briefcase on his desk and says she thinks he'll change his mind. She opens it. Keith stares at the contents. Surprised? Awed? "Oh." Like she said, it's important.
At the airport, Veronica waits for her father. She checks her phone, but there's no signal. (It's June 6, 9:12 am. Do you know where your father is?) The boarding sign flashes as Veronica waits alone.
- Based on the cell phone displays shown throughout the episode, graduation day was on Saturday, June 3 and Veronica and Keith's trip was to begin on Tuesday, June 6.
- The phone messages throughout the episode:
- Mac's phone:
Veronica Mars: 06/03 8:12 ("Get away from Beaver. Now. He's a killer. I'm in the lobby.")
Veronica's phone:
Mac 1-619-555-0107 06/03 8:15 ("Meet me on the roof.")
Cassidy's phone:
555-0107 - 12:21am (the call used to trigger the bomb)
555-0180 - 12:19am
555-0175 - 06/01
Veronica (M) - 06/01
Logan's phone:
619-555-0123 (No name) 8:21pm 06/03
Veronica's phone:
06/06 9:12am - No Signal (waiting for Keith at the Airport)
- Veronica's working at the Hut while simultaneously trying to console Wallace in his Jackie-induced misery with compassion and chocolate cake when she spots Johnny Ludden hovering in the doorway. I know what you are thinking -- who the hell is Johnny Ludden? And why has Veronica apparently offered him free gelato? And how desperate must the poor kid be that the prospect of free gelato has him this excited?
Veronica pulls out her copy of the team picture for Woody's little league Sharks when Marcos and Peter were on the team. She confirms that Johnny is one of the kids pictured (most are now identified by name in the photo), and tells him she's going to need to ask him a few more questions before she'll gift him with the free gelato. Alas, we don't get to find out what those questions are.
Veronica arrives home that night and finds Keith sitting in the living room reading. No sooner has she shut the door than the phone rings. Veronica, still staring at the little league photo, answers the phone a bit distractedly. However, her face quickly transforms from distraction, to confusion, to a derisive smirk. She puts the phone against her shoulder and tells her father that he's got a call -- from Vinnie Van Lowe. Keith's expression of baffled disgust is exquisitely hilarious.
Whatever Vinnie tells Keith on that call must be pretty good, because the next time we see him, Keith is chatting with Vinnie. Vinnie reminds Keith that the Manning family has posted a $20,000 reward for the capture of Woody Goodman. He goes on to say that he knows a lot of top guys are out there, and thinks that perhaps he and Keith should pool their resources to capture the fugitive child molester and possible killer.
Keith shakes his head at Vinnie and reminds him that the Sheriff caught him on tape breaking into Woody's house. As Vinnie steps closer to Keith, we realize that they are standing on opposite sides of jailhouse bars -- and that Vinnie is currently a guest of the Balboa County jail. Vinnie saunters closer and gestures Keith in to hear his whispered confession: Johnny Law don't know what he's got. And what he's got is a lot.
Vinnie was apparently able to abscond with quite a bit of stuff from the Woodster's home: Medical records, tax records, corporate documents, you name it -- the whole enchilada. He thinks that he and Keith could use this stuff to track Woody down, and split the bounty 60/40. Keith pauses for a moment before agreeing, but only to a 50/50 split if the info is good, and only if the action can wait until after Veronica's graduation. (Seriously -- how much do we love Keith?) Vinnie whines that he deserves 60% because he's in jail! Keith, knowing Vinnie's feeling is as hard to hurt as Kendall's, plays him the world's smallest violin. And Mars and Van Lowe are in business.
Back at the Mars Investigations office, Veronica and Keith are pouring through the plethora of documents Vinnie stole from Woody. Veronica informs Keith that Woody has at least ten credit cards in different corporate names, so they are gonna have to arrange for a trace on each card. Plus, it seems that Woody has a pilot's license. Keith, working from a different angle, is reviewing Woody's health records. It seems that the Woodster's been plagued by a number of common ailments: Seasonal allergies, bad arches, heart arrhythmia, and, oh yeah, he had the Clap. The mayor was treated twice for Chlamydia.
Veronica's expression indicates that, like us, a distant bell is sounding in her head at the mention of Woody's history of STD's. She doesn't say anything to Keith, but you can see the wheels turning in her head. I don't think Veronica's quite sure what this new information means, or how it might relate to her, but she looks convinced that it's going to be important.
Completely unaware of Veronica's internal dilemma, Keith remarks that the heart arrhythmia is exactly what they were looking for. Veronica snarks at Keith that she wonders if his great plan is to wait for Woody to drop dead? Keith ignores the sarcasm and tells Veronica that Woody has to take a pill every day for his condition, and wonders if Veronica can get Gia's cell-phone access code. Veronica seems a bit puzzled by Keith's seemly unrelated question, but he clarifies when he tells her that Woody's lawyer is also an old college buddy so if Woody was going to call anyone while on the lam, it would be him. If they had Gia's code, they could forward her calls. Veronica muses that she'd bet money on the fact that Gia hasn't changed the factory preset, and Keith grins that he's got a plan.
Early in the morning on graduation day, Keith is sitting outside a city office building watching a man head inside. He gives Veronica a quick call to let her know it's almost time -- for what, we don't know. Inside the building, the man, who we soon learn is Woody's attorney Billy Lee, heads into his office and is told by his secretary that Gia Goodman called him and asked that he call her on her cell. He sits down behind his desk, puts on his hands-free headset and places the call.
The phone clicks as his call connects, and Billy greets Gia in the way you'd expect from an old family friend. Here's the catch: Billy isn't actually talking to Gia. As we flash over to the Mars' apartment, we realize that Billy is, in fact, chatting away with Veronica, who is doing a mean Gia Goodman impersonation. "Gia" tells Billy that she's trying to get a hold of her dad, but he didn't leave a forwarding ... whatever. She goes on to explain that they got a call from Dr. Hoover saying that Woody's heart pills are 50 millisomething this time instead of 100, so it's important that her dear old dad take two. Billy tells her he'll see what he can do.
We flash out to Keith's car as the call ends and realize he's somehow monitoring Billy's calls. He records the tones of Billy's next outgoing call to the Quail Creek Lodge and using one of his finer spy gadgets, plays back the tones to determine the number called. Billy tells the operator at the lodge that he needs to leave a message for Mr. Underhill. I'm guessing that's supposed to be Woody's alias, which is kind of funny when you think about it. It makes me wonder if Billy will tell the operator that Samwise Gamgee called when he leaves the message.
As Keith escorts Veronica into the Neptune High gym for the graduation ceremony, he tells her about Billy's call to the Quail Creek Lodge. The lodge is apparently located 20 miles outside of Reno, and is generally a hunting retreat for wealthy businessmen. Veronica seems skeptical that Woody would be there, but Keith tells her that he checked GoogleEarth and the lodge has a landing strip and a building big enough to hide a plane. You know, the evolution of the internet must have many gadget crafting side-kicks quivering in fear that one day they will become obsolete to their stealthy counterparts in the face of this kind of technological advance. I mean, with GoogleEarth at your fingertips, who needs to hack into the government's spy satellite network? Not Keith Mars.
Keith tells Veronica that he's going after Woody as soon as graduation is over. Veronica grouses that she's not sure she likes the idea of him running off to a place of armed, drunk businessmen. Keith quips that that is why he rarely goes to Texas. Ha! He assures Veronica that he'll be fine, and that he'll call as soon as he has Woody in custody.
At the Quail Creek Lodge, we find Woody lounging around his room in nothing but a wife-beater and his boxers (*shudder*) watching The Dukes of Hazzard. He heads into the bathroom to take a leak. As he stands in front of the toilet, he realizes that the bathroom window is open. He turns to look around the room in a panic, and Keith comes out from hiding behind the shower curtain. So Woody does what any fugitive would do in this situation: He grabs the deer head off the wall and chucks it at Keith. Hah!
Keith artfully dodges the flying deer head and manages to taser Woody before he can crawl out the window. Where he thought he was going in that ensemble with only tubesocks on his feet, I'm not sure, but based on the distressed noise he made when Keith zapped him and the way he slumped to the floor, I suppose it doesn't much matter now. Keith calmly opens his cell phone, calls directory assistance, and asks for the number of the local sheriff's office.
Later, outside the lodge, Woody sits with his hands bound behind him, waiting to face his doom. Keith finishes talking to one of the deputies and heads back to Woody's side. Keith's figured out now that Woody set him up with the whole "girl in a motel room thing" in order to kill the incorporation because he was being blackmailed. He set Keith up to keep his special secret safe. Woody tries to protest that he knows how this must look, but Keith won't allow him to finish. He tells Woody that if he's about to try and protest that this is all some big misunderstanding, Keith's pretty sure that Woody doesn't know how this must look at all.
Woody goes all earnest and swears to Keith that he didn't crash the bus -- he could never have hurt all those kids! Pretty funny from a guy who molested and emotionally scarred only God knows how many boys over the years. Keith is clearly on the same wavelength because he notes that the welfare of children doesn't seem to have been terribly high on Woody's list of priorities.
Woody, in the self-delusional way that most child molesters have perfected, protests that he was good to those boys. He never hurt them. He listened to them, cared for them, paid attention to them -- he gave them what their own fathers couldn't. Yeah, sure Woody, we get it -- you're a giver. Only you don't seem to realize that what you gave them was emotionally, physically and mentally scarring, you sick bastard. It's not the kind of 'gift' anyone is going to thank you for. Keith tells Woody to just stop, as their disturbing heart-to-heart is cut short by the arrival of the deputy.
Meanwhile, Veronica is in her room, intently studying the little league photo when her phone rings. She smiles when she sees Keith's number, and answers the phone by saying "You caught him." On the other end of the line, Keith smiles and tells her they are loading Woody on to his personal plane at that moment, and as soon as the pilot arrives, they'll be on their way. Veronica asks if Woody confessed to orchestrating the bus crash, and Keith tells her the unfortunate truth: Woody's claming his innocence and they are going to need a lot more evidence to nail him.
Veronica updates Keith on her search for third guy on the blackmail recording. Apparently she has only one Shark left to identify, and she's pretty sure she knows where she can find him. Keith tells her that the pilot has arrived, and they are getting ready to leave. He'll be home late so she shouldn't wait up. They both hang up their phones and we watch Keith begin to board the plane.
Veronica pulls up in the parking lot at Woody's Burgers. She enters the restaurant and heads right for Woody's own personal wall-of-fame. She skims the trophies and photographs with her eyes until she finds what she came for: Another copy of the little league photo, hopefully listing the names of all the players. She runs her fingers over the lines at the bottom of the page and discovers that Derek Applegate is the Shark she's been missing. As she muses over who and where Derek is, one line at the bottom of the photograph catches her eye. The camera zooms in and pans across the photo as we read four words that will change everything:
As the room shifts around her, Veronica's face betrays her shock and denial as the pieces of this very complex puzzle begin to fall into place.
Veronica pulls herself together in the bathroom at Woody's before charging out to face this problem the way she's faced every problem since her evolution into Veronica 2.0 ... head on. She heads for her car and places a call on her cell. We flash to Logan's graduation party at the Neptune Grand, which is in full swing. Mac and Beaver stroll by holding hands as we realize that Mac's phone is ringing -- and that she can't hear it over the music.
Back to Veronica as she gets into her car and her call goes to Mac's voicemail. With a controlled sense of urgency, Veronica tells Mac to get away from Beaver any way she can because he's dangerous, and then to call her as soon as she gets the message. She hangs up and immediately places another call where she asks for a listing for Hart Hanson, who you may recall is Beaver's friend who unexpectedly caught Lynn Echolls' plunge from the Coronado Bridge on tape.
Beaver and Dick have brotherly bonding over the chugging of beer, while Mac watches on with fond amusement. Beaver asks Mac if she wants to go check out the room, and Mac marvels that the beer he consumed was clearly a batch of liquid courage. Beaver smiles and tells her there isn't anything up in that room that he's afraid of. Grinning adorably, the two head out.
As Mac and Beaver cross the lobby to head up to their room at the hotel, Corny snags them to share big news. In typically spastic Corny fashion, he tells Mac and Beav that Veronica's dad caught the mayor and it's all over the news. Word is that they are flying the Woodster back on his own plane. He then comments, with childish glee and accompanying sound effects, that the sleazoid is gonna fry!
Veronica has arrived at Logan's party and still can't get Mac on the phone. Pushing through the throng of party goers, she finds Logan playing with a helium balloon and asks if he's seen Beaver and Mac. He tells her that they were there earlier, and asks what's wrong once he realizes that Veronica's upset. Before she can tell him of her suspicions, Dick comes over. Veronica asks him if he knows where Beaver is.
Dick smirks and tells her that Beav took "Ghost World" up to a room where he suspects that they are either A) making sweet love, B) playing D&D, or C) perhaps both at the same time because, you know, they are both 12th level dorks. Nothing like the love and support of an older brother, eh? Dick's typically oblivious to Veronica's agitation, but by the look on Logan's face as he watches Veronica walk away we know he suspects that something is really wrong.
Up in Beaver's room it appears that the sex has not gone quite as well as one would have hoped. Beav looks devastated, but Mac's being sweet and supportive. She tells him that everything's okay and that she's having a good time, but now she's going to take a shower and then they can head back down to the party. Meanwhile, Veronica is down at the front desk trying to find out which room the lovebirds are in. The woman at the desk tells Veronica that she can't give out that information, but offers to call the room. Of course, there is a 'Do Not Disturb' on the room.
Veronica stomps away and sends Mac a text message from her sidekick. Up in the room, Beaver is sitting on the bed in only his jeans, waiting for Mac to finish showering. (Side note: I know he's on the small side, but DAMN! Where did Beav pick up that six-pack??) He hears Mac's phone vibrate and picks it up off the table to look at the display.
In what can only be described as a moment of sheer stupidity, it appears that Veronica has sent Mac the following message: "Get away from Beaver. Now. He's a killer. I'm in the lobby." Nice one, Veronica. In a chilling metamorphosis, we watch Beaver's face transform in the space of a heartbeat from sweet and unassuming to dark and menacing. With the ominous music swelling in the background, Beaver reaches into his suitcase and pulls out a handgun. Back in the lobby, Veronica's sidekick reveals a message that she thinks is from Mac reading "Meet me on the roof now."
Veronica heads out onto the roof, searching for Mac and calling out her friend's name. But instead of Mac's voice, Veronica is greeted by Cassidy Casablancas -- but not the Cassidy we've come to know and love. She turns to find the boy she thought she knew standing behind her with his gun trained on her. Veronica asks where Mac is, and we all shudder when Beaver calmly tells her that Mac's in a better place, and unfortunately never got a chance to read Veronica's message. Beaver demands that Veronica throw him her bag, and neither his gun nor his resolve waver in the slightest.
Veronica throws her bag at Beaver's feet. He paws through the bag, pulls out her taser, and tosses the bag aside. He pulls out Mac's phone and waves it at Veronica, and recaps her message that he's a killer. He comments that it's a pretty harsh accusation and asks what Veronica thinks she knows. Veronica takes a deep breath and begins to tell the story that will leave us all with dropped jaws.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, Beaver played on Woody's little league team with Marcos and Peter. Woody molested all three boys and Marcos and Peter, after years of denial, had finally decided to come forward and tell their story. We flash back to a scene where Marcos and Peter are having the conversation we heard in the blackmail email audio file. Marcos and Peter are trying to convince Beaver to come forward about the abuse, but Beaver is afraid of what will happen when people find out. Peter (who, by the way, is SO pretty) tells him that it can't stay a secret for much longer. Beaver begs them not to drag him into this, but they remind him that he's already in it -- and he'll thank them later for it. Beaver, not surprisingly, does not look convinced.
We flash back to the present where Veronica concludes that Beaver decided that Marcos and Peter had to die so that Woody's abuse would never be revealed. Veronica figured out that Beaver got the explosives from his dad's mechanic, former stunt coordinator, Curly Moran. Beaver's friend Hart -- the kid she recently saw hanging out with Beaver when he discovered his car had been scratched -- confirmed that Beaver frequently helped him make his war movies and was responsible for blowing stuff up. Hart told Veronica that Beaver said he knew a guy that told him how to do it.
We flash back again, this time to the day of the crash, where we find Beaver riding in the limo behind the bus with Dick and the rest of the 09er crew. As the bus rounds the curve on the PCH, Beaver presses the send button on his cell phone and triggers the explosion we now know sent the bus and its eight occupants hurtling over the cliff and into the sea. Back on the rooftop, Veronica continues her tale. It seems that Curly shared with Weevil that he thought he had figured out who was responsible for the crash, which obviously meant that Curly had to go too.
Beaver managed to convince the PCHers that Curly was responsible for the crash, letting them believe that he had been hired by the Fitzpatricks to silence Eduardo's bragging about fleecing Liam. We flash back to the night Curly was beaten in the parking lot at the Road Hog and learn that it was Beaver himself in the car that scared the PCHers away before they could finish Curly off. As the PCHers fled the scene, Beaver gunned the engine and ran Curly down. Climbing out of his car, Beaver wrote Veronica's name on Curly's hand to muddy the investigative waters before using his car to hurl Curly's dead body over the cliff and into the ocean.
But there's more. On the roof Veronica also tells Beaver that she's realized he didn't hire her to catch Kendall cheating on his dad. Veronica knows now that Beaver knew all along what Big Dick was up to, and he was looking to punish his old man for treating him like a second class citizen -- or worse, a girl. And he used Veronica to do it. Beaver smiles a wicked smile and cheekily tells Veronica that she was marvelous, confirming every word of Veronica's outrageous tale. In that moment it becomes completely clear that we never really knew Beaver at all.
Just when we think it can't get any worse, Veronica asks Beaver a jaw-dropping question: How is it that she got Chlamydia? Woody had it, she got it. And as Veronica rehashes that horrible night two years ago at Shelly Pomeroy's, we all begin to feel a little sick. Veronica reminds Beaver that he told her that Dick pushed him into a room with her, but he didn't want to take advantage and so he ran away. Only it is quite clear by the Beaver's raised eyebrows and quick grin that Veronica's right -- he didn't run away that night. Instead, he stayed behind to prove to himself that he was a man. Veronica cries out in pain and anger that he raped her, and Beaver only laughs that Dick still thinks he's a virgin. Because he can keep a secret.
That's what it all boils down to: Beaver killed nine people in an effort to keep the abuse secret. Veronica tells him it's too late now because his secret has been found out. Beaver's pretty sure she won't be telling anybody -- but Veronica tells him she already has; she told her dad. Beaver shakes his head and marvels that it's a shame that she told her dad because right now he's on Woody's plane. Apparently, Beaver no longer has any use for Woody. Remember the bomb under Woody's car? Turns out Beav planted one on the plane too, and can blow all of them out of the sky with just the touch of a button on his cell. He offers Veronica a minute to call her dad and say goodbye before he presses "Send."
Veronica starts to cry in earnest, shaking her head, denying that Beaver could really mean it. But the cold expression on his face and the methodical way he begins to count down those 60 precious seconds leaves no doubt that he'll kill again without even blinking. Veronica dials her phone, crying and begging for Keith to pick up his phone -- but he never does. In a moment that rocks the very foundation of this show, Beaver nonchalantly presses the send button on his phone, and simultaneously we see a huge explosion in the sky over Veronica's shoulder. As she turns to see the fireball in the sky, our hearts break as Veronica realizes that her beloved father is dead and collapses to the ground on her knees.
Beaver kneels down to a grieving, sobbing Veronica and asks her for a favor. Since she has no one left to live for, he wonders idly if she'll just roll herself off the ledge for him because he really doesn't want her DNA all over his shirt. But what Beaver has failed to take into account is that Veronica may be beaten, but she isn't broken -- and she isn't alone at all. Beaver is oblivious to the fact that with her right hand, out of his line of site, Veronica is sending an SOS via sidekick to the one person she knows she can count on to be there for her in her time of need.
Inside the hotel, Logan is kneeling in front of the mini-fridge when his phone rings. He checks the display and sees Veronica's number. He opens the message and finds a forward of Beaver's text message asking Veronica to meet him on the roof. I don't think Logan is quite sure what's going on, but he clearly knows it isn't good -- and that Veronica needs him.
Back on the roof, Beaver continues to chatter, seemingly enjoying Veronica's misery. Looking at her taser, Beaver wonders aloud if Veronica knows what the people she tasers feel like and then decides that perhaps it is time she found out. He presses the taser to her arm and Veronica cries out, falling all the way to the ground and cradling her arm. Beaver's really enjoying himself immensely now and reminds Veronica that they are the Neptune Pirates. In his mind, it's like she's walking the plank, but instead of poking her with a sword he's hitting her with 300,000 volts. He hits her again and tells her to jump. She rolls to her back, desperately crying and begging him "please, don't."
Beaver gets to his feet and trains the gun on our fallen heroine, clearly disappointed that she isn't going to make this easy on him. He muses aloud that Aaron Echolls is staying at the hotel that night, and asks Veronica what she wants to bet the odds are that he can get Aaron convicted of her murder. Before he can pull the trigger, a white knight in a green hoodie materializes on the roof, calling out a desperate "NO!" Beaver turns fluidly at the sound of Logan's voice and takes a shot. As Logan safely ducks behind one of the atrium windows, we all thank the good lord that Beaver didn't spend more time at the range.
As Beaver takes another shot at Logan, Veronica takes him down in a flying tackle that would make Wallace proud. They wrestle and Beaver manages to knock Veronica off his back. Before he can fully regain his feet, Logan comes flying out of the darkness. The gun skitters across the rooftop as Logan and Beaver wrestle for control. Beaver gets the upper hand by tasering Logan in the side, but he's too late. Veronica's got the gun now and she fires a warning shot into the air before turning the gun on Beaver. Despite her emotional state, I'd be willing to bet money that the daughter of the former Sheriff is a hell of a lot better shot than the youngest Casablancas brother.
Veronica, although crying, calmly tells Logan to get away from Beaver, and her intentions are clear. The boys stand, but when Logan quietly begs Veronica to stop, she momentarily loses control and heartbreakingly screams "he killed my father!" (I don't know about the rest of you, but I was crying buckets at this point.) Logan looks terrified for Veronica and inches closer, begging her to give him the gun. As Veronica continues to rail that Beaver killed everyone on the bus, and that he raped her, Beaver merely looks resigned to his fate. Despite his shock over these announcements, Logan never loses his focus, slowly inching closer and closer, continually telling Veronica that she's not a killer, begging her to give him the gun.
You can see the torment on Veronica's features as she realizes that Logan's right -- she isn't a killer. But with all she's learned tonight, with all she's lost at the hands of Cassidy Casablancas, you can see that there is a small part of her that wishes she was. That wishes she was capable of pulling the trigger and ending the life of the boy responsible for so much pain and devastation. In all honesty, at that moment, there was a small part of me that wished she was too. Fully succumbing to her grief, Veronica lowers her hands and allows Logan to take the gun away before turning into his embrace. Veronica sobs into Logan's chest as he cradles her lovingly in his arms.
Beaver turns and approaches the rooftop ledge, looking down into the dark street below. He climbs over the metal railing and faces Logan and Veronica one last time. Logan, realizing Beaver's intention, implores him not to jump, using his hated nickname. Beaver cries out in anguish and frustration, "My name is Cassidy!" and we remember, for a moment, the boy we loved and lost this night; we remember that Beaver was a victim too.
Logan tries again -- "Cassidy, don't." With red-rimmed and tear-soaked eyes, Beaver asks Logan, "Why not?" With all that has happened, all he has learned, and all he knows that will be waiting for Beaver when this night is over, Logan is aware that there is nothing he can say -- no magic answer that will right all the wrongs and make order out of this chaos. Beaver grimaces, and quietly whispers, "That's what I thought" as he steps backwards off the edge of the roof, disappearing into the darkness below.
Logan stands rooted to the spot, stunned by this last turn of events, until Veronica comes to him and they go into each others arms again. Both devastated, both grieving, Veronica and Logan stand alone on the rooftop all but melting into one another seeking the comfort that they know only the other can provide. After a brief eternity, Veronica gasps Mac's name as she remembers that she may have lost another friend to Beaver's evil tonight.
Veronica, with Logan right on her heels, bursts into the room at the Neptune Grand that Beaver had rented for the evening. There she finds Mac, tearful, cowering, confused and heartbroken -- but most importantly, she finds her alive. Poor Mac is huddled on the floor next to the stripped mattress, huddling in only the shower curtain. As Veronica kneels in front of her, Mac tearfully tells Veronica that Beaver took her clothes, took everything. Veronica presses a hand to her mouth in an effort to control her tears, as Mac wonders aloud "Why?" Veronica has no answer, and pulls her friend into a hug, knowing that for Mac, the worst is yet to come.
We next see Veronica and Logan sleeping on the couch at the Mars apartment, clearly exhausted. Veronica is laying across Logan's lap in a heartbreakingly beautiful moment that almost perfectly mirrors the scene from Normal Is The Watchword where Veronica cradled Logan on her lap and tended to his emotional and physical wounds. The moment is both haunting and tender, nearly perfect in its simplicity, and speaks volumes about the love and trust and compassion that these two people have for one another. The love and intimacy expressed filled my shipper heart to overflowing, but my joy was tempered by the sadness over the devastation that had lead them both there.
In her dreams, Veronica is a little girl again enraptured by the puppet show her beloved father is performing for her. In an echo of her earlier dream, this dream is interrupted by the smell of bacon, the smell of breakfast. Veronica bolts up in bed and runs out to the kitchen to find Logan standing over the stove preparing a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
As Logan turns to face her, we see all of Veronica's fragile hopes come crashing down again as she is confronted by the realization that her father is still dead. Logan rushes to her side, perhaps remembering both his pain at the moment he realized his mother was dead, and the comfort that Veronica so generously provided. He gathers her in his arms once again, enfolding her in his embrace and whispering "I'm sorry" into her hair in an attempt to offer her comfort and solace.
All of the sudden, we hear Keith's voice from down the hall inquiring about breakfast, and our hearts soar as Veronica turns to find her beloved father -- he's alive! -- standing behind her. She turns and throws herself into Keith's arms, sobbing her joy that he's alive and telling him how much she loves him. Keith sounds as baffled as we feel when he tells Veronica that he doesn't understand. She explains that Beaver blew up Woody's plane. Shocked by this revelation, Keith hugs Veronica close, marveling over this latest tragedy.
Keith tells Veronica that he never got on the plane because Lamb decided he didn't want Keith arriving in Neptune with Woody so he had the police remove him at the last minute. Instead, he rented a car and drove home, clearly arriving home late the previous evening. Keith jokes that he was surprised to find Logan on the couch, but hey, it was better than finding him elsewhere. The sound of the door closing catches our attention, and Keith and Veronica turn to find that Logan has slipped out of the apartment, giving them privacy at this very emotional time.
Sometime later, we find Kendall in an attorney's office (is that Billy Lee?) discussing Beaver's death. The attorney tells her that it will most likely be ruled a suicide so the insurance money is pretty much a wash. However, the police found documents for the Phoenix Land Trust in Beaver's room, all of which were in Kendall's name. After a moment of confusion, Kendall realizes that the attorney is talking about Beaver's real estate company and wonders how she's doing.
The attorney informs her that she's doing pretty well. "Eight million dollars and change" pretty well. He then tells her to give his compliments to Big Dick. After another moment of confusion, the attorney clarifies that betting against incorporation was a ballsy move -- very Richard Casablancas. But we know better. As the final piece of the puzzle falls into place we realize that Cassidy was more like his father than anyone ever knew.
- As the row of "M"-named graduates stand and line up by the stage, Lamb strides into the gym and walks right past Veronica. Lamb heads right over to Weevil with Sacks right on his heels to inform Weevil that he's under arrest in connection with the murder of Eduardo Orosco, aka Thumper -- only minutes before the graduates with last names starting with the letter "N", like Navarro, will be called to cross the stage.
Knowing his grandmother is in the stands anxiously waiting to see her beloved Eli complete the graduation ceremony, Weevil all but begs Lamb to give him ten minutes. Lamb, big asshole that he is, revels in Weevil's discomfort and continues to read him his rights in the most condescending, eye-rolling manner possible. Weevil loses his temper and yells at Lamb to just let him graduate, but Lamb merely finishes his recitation and asks Weevil if he understands his rights. Weevil tries one last time, pleading with Lamb to just let him graduate, but Lamb ignores his pleas and tells Sacks to cuff him.
Weevil momentarily makes like he's going to resist and Lamb trots out the old trite and true "easy way/hard way" speech. Weevil turns to look at his grandmother in the stands, hugging two small children (who I'm assuming are probably cousins of Weevil's or something), watching the drama with her grandson unfold before her. Weevil hangs his head and decides not to make this any harder on his grandmother, and succumbs. Sacks slaps the cuffs on and Lamb leads him out of the gym. As he passes Veronica, who has been watching the entire exchange intently, they share an enigmatic look.
Veronica, I know he's done wrong and you don't approve of his methodologies, but I beseech you: Help him, Mars-Kenobi. You're his only hope.
- Peter, Marcos and Beaver discussing outing Woody. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Beaver and Hart at Beaver's scratched car. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- The bus traveling down the highway, and the limo inhabitants, including Beaver as he punches the number to blow the bus up. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Curly being beaten up by the PCHers before being scared off by Beaver's headlights. Beaver hitting Curly with the car, writing Veronica's name on his palm and then driving him over the cliff. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Veronica and Beaver at Shelly Pomroy's party. (Read detailed breakdown.)
- Keith performing a puppet show for a toddler Veronica. (Read detailed breakdown.)
"Pomp and Circumstance" (Edward Elgar)
Scene: It's graduation time and the crew (well most of them) are at the end of their high school high (or low) experience.
"Virtual Booty Machine" (Lovewhip)
Scene: Ah, when Mac and Beaver were young and in love and many a viewer squeed as they arrived at the grad party hand in hand. Stupid Beaver being all psycho on us. Bad, Beaver, bad!
"G.L.S." (Salme Dahlstrom)
Scene: Veronica interrupts Logan's too-cute balloon play (and feels the need to grab and hold, squeeze and caress, stroke ... and ahem, sorry, grab, she just grabs his delicious forearm ... siiiiigh) to find out the whereabouts of Mac and the Beav. Alas, before she can tell Logan why, Dick joins the party and so off she goes on her own. Bad call, V. Bad call.
"Stranglehold" (Ted Nugent)
Scene: Beaver the psycho flashes his headlights at some PCHers, runs Curly the mechanic/stuntman down and does a little doodle on a dead man's hand before driving him into the ocean.
"See My Friends" (Gravenhurst)
Scene: With nothing to look forward to but a lifetime of lock-up or death, Beaver (he doesn't deserve the dignity of his real name) takes a graceful backstep off of a very tall building.
"Time Flies Tomorrow" (Paul Westerberg)
Scene: Ahh! There's spontaneity and kissing and twirling and schmoopiness with the LoVe! Squee!! And then Kendall shows up! Boo! But lookee-see, Logan and Veronica don't care about her because ... "everything will be fine."
LoVe Lines
(Dream) Logan: Ah, sweetie ... I love you, but you have to be the most gullible girl I've ever met.
(Dream) Veronica: I'm trusting ... Sue me!
Veronica: (Firing into the air and aiming the gun at Cassidy.) Logan, move away from him.
Logan: Veronica, don't.
Veronica: He killed my father!
Logan: Give me the gun, Veronica.
Veronica: He killed everyone on the bus! He raped me!
Logan: (Walking slowly to Veronica.) You are not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun. You're not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun. (Taking the gun, he embraces Veronica.)
Veronica: (Waking at the smell of breakfast and running into the kitchen.) Dad! (She stands stricken when she sees Logan instead.)
Logan: (Hugging her and stroking her hair.) Hey. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Veronica: (Logan tossing her bags to the side, grabs Veronica and kisses her, spinning, spinning, spinning.) What are you doing?
Logan: I'm not gonna see you for a whole week. That's like, a month.
Veronica: Yeah, but then I'll be back and everything will be fine.
Logan: (Kissing her on the cheek.) Yeah. (Kissing her cheek again.) You say that, but I don't know.
Veronica: I know. I can feel it.
Logan: And you're never wrong? (Veronica shaking her head.) Yeah?
Quotable Quotes
Veronica Mars Voiceover: There is neither a Santa Claus nor an Easter Bunny, and there are no angels watching over us. Things just happen for no reason ... and nothing makes any sense.
Veronica: (To Wallace regarding his depression about Jackie leaving for Paris.) You could use a method time tested by women through the ages ... cake.
Vinnie: We nail him, we split 60/40 ... I'm the 60, by the way.
Keith: 50/50. If ... the stuff you have pans out and no action until my daughter's graduation.
Vinnie: I'm in jail. I deserve 60.
Vinnie: (As Keith mimes the world's tiniest violin.) I risk my life to bring a fugitive to justice and you're giving me world's smallest violin.
Keith: Guess, I'm just heartless.
Keith: We will not do this. (Taking away the newspaper about Aaron.) You can't let this stick in your head, however wrong it turned out. It's done. We're people with lives and we will not obsess. We move on. Aaron Echolls will get his justice in his own way.
Veronica: You really believe that?
Keith: Yes.
Veronica: Posted today: Meg's day offering twenty grand for the capture of Woody Goodman.
Keith: Well, I'm sure someone will get him.
Veronica: Didn't you say something about we have a business to run? Shouldn't you be out hurting him down like the dog he is?
Keith: I also said something about us being people with lives. See, I have this kid who's gonna graduate from high school. I don't want to miss it.
Principal Clemmons: (Referring to the rousing cheers Veronica is getting from her classmates.) You were expecting some other reaction?
Veronica: (Clearly at a loss.) I ...
Principal Clemmons: I can't decide if my life is going to be easier or more difficult with you gone. Anything I should know in case I get another one like you someday?
Veronica: Don't keep all your passwords taped on the bottom of your stapler. (Reaching up, she moves her tassel with a roguish grin.) And stay cool Mr. C.
Keith: (Handing Veronica an envelope.) For you on this momentous occasion.
Veronica: (Shaking, sniffing and manhandling the envelope.) A pony?!?! (Opening the envelope, she finds a ticket inside.) New York?
Keith: We leave Tuesday.
Veronica: Broadway? SoHo? The MoMA?!?!
Keith: Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Madison Square Garden.
Dick: (Smacking Veronica's ass!) Put on your dancin' shoes Mars 'cause tonight we're gonna "upchuck the boogie to rhythm of the boogie, the beat."
Veronica: "Up-chuck?"
Dick: You heard me.
Jackie: (Answering the phone.) Hello?
Veronica: What, no bonjour?
Jackie: Veronica? How did you know?
Veronica: Well, first, 3.1 GPA doesn't scream Sorbonne. And the Java Job. You're a mighty good service industry worker for the daughter of a model living on the upper-west side who never held a job before. I've known for awhile.
Jackie: Look, I might have lied about my life but I never lied to Wallace about how I felt.
Veronica: Whatever you told him, it really did the trick because he just got on a plane to Paris. The good news is he has a four-hour layover at JFK, so you can go tell him the truth before he's forced to endure several ugly days of rude waiters for nothing.
Aaron: Hello, Logan.
Logan: What are you doing here?
Aaron: Well, I need a place to stay. How are the suites?
Logan: Probably an improvement over your previous digs. Might be a little weird though. I don't think any of the other guests killed anyone.
Aaron: You know, you should really make more of an effort to be civil to me now Logan.
Logan: Why? Because you beat a murder rap and suddenly you're my father again?
Aaron: No, Logan. I never stopped being your father and I never will. But I got the purse-strings back. You're my dependent again, son. (Stepping into the elevator) Going down?
Logan: No, going up.
Mac: All I ask is that you don't follow that performance with a belch.
Beaver: Do you wanna go check out the room?
Mac: It's liquid. It's courage. It's liquid courage!
Veronica: Where's your brother?
Dick: I think he took Ghost World up to his room. They're probably up there making loooove. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Or both. At the same time. They're both like 12th level dorks.
Aaron: Hello, Veronica. Oh, don't look so surprised. It's a small town. Now that I'm no longer in jail, we might just run into each other from time to time.
Veronica: I'll have to pay better attention to where I'm going then.
Aaron: (Shrugging.) Well, it's a free country. (Slowly approaching Veronica.) Those founding fathers were on to something. Freedom, (Sighing deeply) is pretty damn sweet. I like it.
Veronica: So did Lilly. Bummer you murdered her.
Aaron: You know, I can see why the two of you were such good friends. You're so much alike. Not afraid to speak your minds. You know, that just may be the best part about the day I smashed her head in with an ashtray. Knowing that once and for all she would finally shut the hell up.
Beaver: (Crouching beside Veronica, who has crumpled to her knees.) Yeah, sorry about that. I know this might be a (chuckling) bad time to ask for a favor. How would you feel, now that you've got nothing left to live for, about just rolling yourself off? I just really don't want your DNA all over my shirt.
Beaver: (Holding taser.) I sure like this thing. Ever wonder what it feels like to the people you actually taser? Let's give it a whirl. What do you say? (Zapping her arm with the taser, causing her to cry out in pain.) You know what I was just thinking? We're Neptune Pirates, right? And this is like I'll make you walk the plank. Except, instead of jabbing you with a sword, I'm sending 300,000 volts through you. Now, jump. (Tasering her again, causing her to roll onto her side in pain. Standing up, he points the gun at her.) You couldn't do this the easy way? You know, Aaron Echolls is staying here. What do you want to bet that I can get him convicted for the death of this teenage girl?
Logan: Beaver, don't!
Beaver: My name is Cassidy!
Logan: Cassidy, don't.
Beaver: Why not? (Logan's is silent, clearly unable to come up with a reason.) That's what I thought. (Hopping backwards off the ledge of building.)
Mac: He took my clothes. He took everything. Why?
Duncan: (Answering phone.) CW?
Weidman: It's a done deal.
Jackie: I need to tell you some things, Wallace. I never lived on the upper East Side. My mom isn't a model, she's a waitress who had a one night stand with Terrance eighteen years ago. I'm just another kid from Brooklyn who got screwed up on drugs, and booze, and all the wrong friends. By the time I was a Sophomore --
Wallace: The past really doesn't matter to me.
Jackie: I have a son, Wallace! Yeah. He's two. When he was born my mom contacted my dad and made a deal, I'd go to California and try to start over and she'd raise my baby. When my dad just dropped me from his life I realized that I was being a hypocrite. Here I was torn up that I wasn't the center of my dad's universe when my mom was raising my kid three thousand miles away. I can't be that person, Wallace. I had to come back. And I have to stay. And your life, is in Neptune, and you have to go.
Keith: Is that breakfast I smell?
Veronica: (Running and hugging Keith.) You're alive! Oh, I thought you were dead. I love you so much!
Keith: What's wrong? I don't understand.
Veronica: Woody's plane. Cassidy Casablancas blew it up.
Keith: Oh, honey. I wasn't on the plane. Lamb didn't want me arriving with Woody getting met by the press so he had them take me off the plane at the last minute. I rented a car, I drove home. I was a little surprised to find, you know, Logan on the couch, but it was better than finding him elsewhere. I mean ... (Logan's walked out of the apartment.) Now, what were you saying about the Casablancas boy?
Kendall: Right. Phoenix. The real estate thing. How am I doing these days?
Lawyer: Eight million and change. Tell him I said "Nice going."
Kendall: Him?
Lawyer: Betting against incorporation? Ballsy. Feels like a Richard Casablancas move to me.
Keith: I can feel it already, the little town blues are melting away. You all packed?
Veronica: Vagabond shoes and all. And pepper spray. For if we run into that Trump character.
Keith: You sure you don't wanna drive with the old man?
Veronica: Logan's giving me a ride. We're supposed to "talk."
Keith: How'd he take, umm, what happened?
Veronica: Shrugs it off. Calls himself Little Orphan Annie. Which I think means badly. I should go out front.
Keith: I should get my autograph book. Carol Channing's still alive, isn't she? (Kissing the top of Veronica's head.) I'll see you at the gate.
Kendall: Ah, young love. No, no! Hold that position, Norman Rockwell wants to come in and paint you two. Did he pin on his pin, or was he too shy?
Veronica: Why are you here?
Logan: Yeah, I didn't know you could come out during daylight hours.
Kendall: I have a business proposition for your father.
Veronica: Okay, but I'm warning you, he doesn't carry much cash.
Johnny Law (Referenced by Vinnie to Keith as he tells him the police don't know what he has on Woody.)
Johnny Law is a character featured in two series of comic books. From June 1937 - June 1939, More Fun Comics issues #21-44 told the story of a young lower East Side Manhattan policeman, named Johnny Law. Humble, determined and sincere, Law was written by Will Ely as a heroic member of the working poor.
In 1951, a new series of Johnny Law tales were featured in Big Town magazine, issues #1-20 (January 1951 - April 1953). It was one of three stories included in each issue. This Johnny Law was older than the 1930's version and may not actually be the same character, but he was also a New York City police detective.
The Clap ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica when reading Woody's medical records.)
"The Clap" is the slang term for the STD, gonorrhea. Much like chlamydia, gonorrhea is among the most common curable sexually transmitted diseases in the world, and is caused by the bacterium Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year. Only about half of these infections are reported to CDC. In 2004, 330,132 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC. In the period from 1975 to 1997, the national gonorrhea rate declined, following the implementation of the national gonorrhea control program in the mid-1970s. After a small increase in 1998, the gonorrhea rate has decreased slightly since 1999. In 2004, the rate of reported gonorrheal infections was 113.5 per 100,000 persons.
Infection with gonorrhea increases the risk of becoming infected with HIV, and is likely due to weakening of the mucosal surface which is secondary to the gonorrhea infection. Infected women also can pass gonorrhea to their newborn infants during delivery, causing eye infections in their babies. This complication is now rare because newborn babies generally receive eye medicine to prevent infection. When the infection occurs in the genital tract, mouth, or rectum of a child, it is most commonly due to sexual abuse. I'm going to do my darndest not to think about that too hard in the context of what we now know of Woody and the Beav.
There are several theories on the origin of the nickname "The Clap." A likely explanation is that the term is derived from the Old French word clapier meaning brothel. In a related theory, it has been suggested that the source of the term is from a notorious 18th century keeper of a brothel, Margaret Clap (better known as "Mother Clap"), although it can be speculated that her name came from the slang term rather than the other way around. It could also refer to the painful sting in the male urethra, which feels like the sting of a clap when infected with the disease. Another suggests that the name refers to a traditional treatment used to clear the blockage in the urethra from gonorrhea pus, where the penis would be "clapped" on both sides simultaneously -- which, ewww.
This term has, in recent years, come to be used by extension to refer to any unspecified sexually transmitted disease. It is likely that Keith used the term in this manner and was referring to Woody's two outbreaks of chlamydia rather than to an unrelated outbreak of gonorrhea.
Chlamydia ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding Woody's medical records; Veronica tells Beaver about it on the rooftop.)
Okay, kids -- get ready to learn probably more than you ever wanted to know about chlamydia. After this, I expect that you'll be able to ace Ms. Hauser's health class final. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STD in the U.S., and is caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. An estimated 2.8 million Americans are infected with chlamydia each year.
Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because about three quarters of infected women and about half of infected men have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within one to three weeks after exposure. (I guess Veronica really was symptom free then.) If untreated, chlamydial infections can progress to serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences.
Like the disease itself, the damage that chlamydia causes is often "silent." In women, untreated infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which occurs in up to 40% of women with untreated chlamydia. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed. Complications among men are rare. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (a tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and, rarely, sterility.
Chlamydia can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth. In pregnant women, there is some evidence that untreated chlamydial infections can lead to premature delivery. Babies who are born to infected mothers can get chlamydial infections in their eyes and respiratory tracts. Chlamydia is a leading cause of early infant pneumonia and conjunctivitis in newborns.
The Freshman 15 ... (Referenced by Veronica to Lianne in her dream about her pancake breakfast.)
During the freshman year of college, many students commonly experience a small weight gain of approximately 10 to 15 pounds, commonly referred to as "the Freshman 15." Recent studies found that some first-year students are indeed likely to gain weight. Researchers at Cornell University found that students gained an average of four pounds during the first twelve weeks of their freshman year -- a rate of gain that is eleven times higher than the typical weight gain for 17- and 18-year-olds.
This trend can be attributed to a number of factors. As many of you know, college offers numerous temptations. Most students, on their own for the first time, indulge in their newfound freedom to eat what they want, when they want it. It is also common for students to pile on the portions in the dining hall in an effort to maximize their use of meal plans, and indulge in sugary and/or salty snacks to fuel late-night study sessions. Not to mention a general increase in high calorie alcohol consumption in the form of that tried and true college staple -- beer.
In addition, many students do not get as much exercise as they did in high school. College is also a time of change, and the stress of acclimating to school can trigger overeating. People sometimes eat in response to anxiety, homesickness, sadness, or stress, and all of these can be part of adapting to being away at school.
San Diego State ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream by Lianne to Veronica about the college she'll be attending.)
San Diego State University is, not surprisingly, a college in San Diego, California. The university seems fairly competitive academically, with admitted freshmen having an average GPA of 3.5. Their football team, the Aztecs, is significantly less competitive, winning only 5 of their 12 games during the 2005 season.
Otis (from The Andy Griffith Show) Sleeping It Off in his Cell ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream when Keith jokes to Veronica about things at the sheriff's department.)
The Andy Griffith Show, which aired from 1960 to 1968, became an instant hit with its American audience. Viewers immediately felt a connection with Taylor (Griffith), his son "Opie" (Ron Howard), "Aunt Bee" (Frances Bavier), Deputy "Barney Fife" (Don Knotts), "Gomer Pyle" (Jim Nabors), Goober Pyle (George Lindsey) and the entire town of Mayberry. It is a look at a simpler and more innocent time of television history. The show is well loved o this day and currently runs in syndication on the "TV Land" network.
Keith's reference to an "Otis" sleeping it off in a cell seems to be a clear shout-out to The Andy Griffith Show, due to the fact that they had a happy town drunk named "Otis." This just adds another layer to Veronica's wish to have a "Mayberry" type life, full of innocence and simplicity. Her dream included her Sheriff father and a seemly safe town, who she sees or wants to see, doesn't have anything more interesting going on than a town fixture, boozed up and safely tucked away in a clean cell. Well, welcome to reality, Veronica and Neptune is definitely not Mayberry.
Vassar ... (Referenced in Veronica's dream when Veronica asked Lilly about her college life.)
Vassar College is a private, highly selective, co-educational liberal arts college situated in Poughkeepsie, New York. Formerly a women's college, it is the only fully co-educational member of the Seven Sisters, with a student body that is nearly 44% male (national average is currently about 40:60). It costs roughly $41,000 per year for tuition, not including boarding. The college mascot is interestingly enough called the "Brewer." (Does that mean the high cost of tuition has to do with the ratio of beer consumption? Sounds like there is some additional research to be done on that one, dirty work, but someone has to do it.)
Vassar is internationally renowned for its rigorous liberal arts curriculum, and is one of the nation's leaders in producing doctoral candidates. The college is known in particular for its stellar programs in English, history, psychology, biology, and political science. A number of Nobel Prize winners, Poet Laureates, and Macarthur "Genius" Award recipients reside on the Vassar faculty. (Vassar is the leader in doctoral candidates, huh? Lilly chose this college because she likes anatomy, right? Sounds like there is some fanfic to be found in that one ... )
Reno ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding where Woody's hiding.)
Reno, Nevada is frequently referred to as "The Biggest Little City in the World," as its 85.2 square miles is dense with a diverse arts and entertainment scene, year-round outdoor recreation and exciting nightlife and gaming opportunities. Reno was settled in 1859 and was settled rapidly over the next 40 years with the addition of a Central Pacific Railroad station, the relocation of the University of Nevada to the city, as well as the legalization of gambling in 1879.
Reno is home to approximately 200,000 people and a booming tourism industry. Situated less than 30 miles from the California border in the western part of Nevada, Reno is approximately 45 minutes north of Lake Tahoe and 15 well-known winter sports resorts. Reno is nestled 4,400 feet above sea level and enjoys a mild climate with roughly 300 sunny days per year, which facilitates an extremely active recreational atmosphere.
Google Earth ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica regarding the search for Woody's hideout.)
Combining satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search, Google Earth allows PC and Mac users to view any geographical location on the planet. Streaming technology delivers the data as soon as the user needs it. Utilizing 3D data imagery is used to depict cities around the world in hi-resolution detail. You can search locally for hotels, restaurants, parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shopping centers, driving directions, and more. Their data exchange format lets the user share in helpful annotations and view thousands of data points created by other Google Earth users.
Texas ... (Referenced by Keith as a place to find plenty o' armed, drunk businessmen.)
Texas is a state in the South and Southwest regions of the United States. It joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state, after nearly ten years as the Republic of Texas, an independent country. The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tysha (or tejas, as the Spaniards spelled it), meaning "those who are friends," friends or allies. Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location.
With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km) and a population of 22.5 million, Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states in area. (Alaska is the largest U.S. state in area and California is the most populous.) Texas has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.
Other information on the state of Texas: The state flower is the bluebonnet, the state motto is "friendship," it is often referenced as "The Lone Star State" and the state bird is the mockingbird. A fun fact relating to Veronica Mars is that show creator, Rob Thomas, grew up in Texas. Also, before he created Veronica Mars, he was a high school teacher and journalism advisor for a high school in Texas.
'Close Your Eyes and Think of England' ... (Referenced by Veronica in her advice to Mac regarding her hotel plans with Beaver.)
The true origin of this particular phrase is a bit unclear. According to the Dictionary of Catchphrases, this was traditional advice given to women when confronted with the inevitability of sexual intercourse (sex for heirs, not pleasure) or jocular encouragement to either sex about doing anything unpleasant.
The book Salome Dear, Not With a Porcupine, by Arthur Marshall includes a passage in which the newlywed Mrs. Stanley Baldwyn, when questioned about her wedding night, declared: "I shut my eyes tight and thought of the Empire." Many believe that the phrase derives from a 1912 journal entry by Lady Alice Hillingdon (1857-1940) wife of the second Baron Hillingdon, but the journal itself has never been traced.
Happy Days / "Stay cool, Mr. C." ... (Referenced by Veronica to Mr. Clemmons at graduation.)
Originally airing on the ABC network between 1974-84, Happy Days was a popular sitcom that presented and idealized version of life in the late 50's, early 60's America. The show focused on a middle class family, the Cunninghams, who lived in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Parents, Howard, a hardware store owner, and Marion, a homemaker had two teenage children, Richie and his younger sister, Joanie. Another main character was Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, the Fonz, who started out as a local thug but soon became one of Richie's best friends and close to the Cunningham family. Fonzie always referred to Howard as "Mr. C."
New York ... (Referenced by Veronica as the destination of her graduation present.)
Officially the City of New York, New York City (also known by the initials NYC) is the highest populated city in the United States and the most densely populated major city in North America. Located in the state of New York, it has a population of over eight million in a 321 square mile radius. Overwhelmingly considered to be one of the world's major global cities, NYC is a center for international finance, fashion, entertainment, and culture with an exceptional array of museums, galleries, media outlets, performance venues, international corporations and financial markets. NYC is also the home to the United Nations headquarters.
New York City proper is made up of five boroughs: Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan. Each borough is home to at least a million people and each would be considered as some of the nation's largest cities if considered separate of the others.
Since the 1970's the city has commonly been referred to by the nickname "The Big Apple" due to a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitor's Bureau, although the true origins of this alternate toponym are less clear. The city has attracted a large number of immigrants, with over a third of its population born outside of the United States. NYC also attracts people from all over the U.S. because of its culture, energy, cosmopolitan feel and economic opportunities. Currently NYC has the lowest crime rate among the nations 25 largest cities.
Broadway ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
Broadway or Broadway theater (along with London's West End theatre) is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. Broadway theater, or a Broadway show, refers to a performance (usually a play or musical) staged in one of the thirty-nine larger professional theaters located in the New York City borough of Manhattan, with 500 seats or more, that appeal to the mass audience.
While the term "Broadway" comes from the street, Broadway, it is best described as a theater district as not all Broadway theaters are located on this street. With roots in 1882, and expansions and new construction by the turn of the century Broadway, was the center of American theater. It was also fast becoming the most important theater commercially in the world, enticing European stars such as Sarah Bernhardt. Some of the important early investors and developers of the Broadway theater district include Henry Abbey, A.L. Erlanger, Marcus Klaw, Florenz Ziegfeld, Rudolf Aronson, David Belasco, Charles Frohman, Daniel Frohman, Oscar Hammerstein, and the Shubert family.
Broadway theater played an important role in 20th century American cultural history, as it featured the work of some of the most influential American composers of classical music, such as George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein, as well as many of the famous American playwrights like Edward Albee, George S. Kaufman, Eugene O'Neill and Neil Simon.
* Note to Rob Thomas and company: Kristen Bell can sing her butt off it might not be a bad idea to put more of her Broadway experience to good use. Thanks for caring enough to send the very best, The Veronica Mars Music Club.
SoHo ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
SoHo is a historic district in Manhattan that is officially bounded by Houston Street, West Broadway, Canal Street and Lafayette Street. The name is a play on that of the famous London shopping district, justifying its name as being the area 'South of Houston Street.' It is noted for the elaborate cast-iron architecture of many of its buildings which date from the late 19th century, and mainly housed warehouses and factories. The area is also well-known for its cobblestone streets. Sadly, with the exception of Wooster Street and part of Howard Street, most of these streets have been repaved.
The neighborhood rose to fame as a neighborhood for artists during the 1960s and 1970s, when the cheap spaces vacated by departing factories were converted by artists into lofts and studios. SoHo's lofts were especially appealing to artists because they could use the wide spaces and tall ceilings that factories and warehouses required to create and store their work.
During this period, which lasted into the 1980s, living in SoHo was often of dubious legality, as the area was zoned for light industrial and commercial uses rather than residential, and many residents had to convert their apartments into livable spaces on their own, with little money. However, beginning in the 1980s, in a way that would later apply elsewhere, the neighborhood rapidly rose up the socio-economic scale. This eventually led to an exodus of most actual artists, leaving galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and young urban professionals.
SoHo's location, the appeal of lofts as living spaces, its architecture and, ironically, its "hip" reputation as a haven for artists all contributed to this change. The pattern of gentrification is typically known as the "SoHo Effect" and has been observed in several cities around the United States. Thirty years ago a backwater of poor artists and small factories, SoHo is now a popular tourist destination for people looking for fashionable (and expensive) clothing and exquisite architecture.
I can bet you money that Veronica would adore SoHo -- but wouldn't be able to afford to do much more than browse and sigh loudly over the gorgeous window displays. Trust me -- I've been there. Of course, if she decided at the last minute to bring along her hot and devoted boyfriend (and heir to the Echolls' fortune) to New York when her dad failed to show at the airport, I'm thinking he might be willing to spoil her a little in the name of love and fashion. Hey, even in SoHo, dreams are free.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding the trip to New York.)
The Museum of Modern Art, commonly referred to by the acronym MoMA, was founded in 1929 by a trio of wealthy patrons: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Mary Sullivan and Lillie P. Bliss. These three extraordinary women perceived a need to challenge the conservative policies of traditional museums and to establish an institution devoted exclusively to modern art. When The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929, its founding Director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., intended the Museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and enjoy the visual arts of our time, and that it might provide New York with "the greatest museum of modern art in the world." It has succeeded marvelously in this endeavor.
The rich and varied collection of The Museum of Modern Art constitutes one of the most comprehensive and panoramic views into modern art. Under Barr's guidance, the museum's holdings quickly expanded from an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, and has grown to include over 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects.
This extensive collection includes everything from Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and Dali's "The Persistence of Memory," to the General Electric GE90-115B fan blade. Seriously. MoMA also owns approximately 22,000 films and four million film stills, and MoMA's Library and Archives, the premier research facilities of their kind in the world, hold over 300,000 books, artist books, and periodicals, and extensive individual files on more than 70,000 artists. The Museum Archives contains primary source material related to the history of MoMA and modern and contemporary art.
The Museum maintains an active schedule of exhibitions addressing a wide range of subject matter, mediums, and time periods, highlighting significant recent developments in the visual arts and new interpretations of major artists and art historical movements. Works of art from its collection are displayed in rotating installations so that the public may regularly expect to find new works on display. Ongoing programs of classic and contemporary films range from retrospectives and historical surveys to introductions of the work of independent and experimental film and videomakers.
The Museum is also dedicated to its role as an educational institution and provides a complete program of activities intended to assist both the general public and special segments of the community in approaching and understanding the world of modern art. The Museum's Library and Archives contain the leading concentration of research material on modern art in the world, and each of the curatorial departments maintains a study center available to students, scholars and researchers. In addition, the Museum has one of the most active publishing programs of any art museum and has published more than 1,200 editions appearing in twenty languages.
Yankee Stadium ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Famed home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium was built on land purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor in 1921, just one year after the team acquired Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox. Construction began in May 1922 and, incredibly, was completed in only 284 working days, to be ready for its inaugural game on April 18, 1923, against the Boston Red Sox. Because it was Ruth's power that made the new stadium a reality to begin with, it quickly became known as "The House That Ruth Built." It hosted its first World Series that fall, when the Yankees won their first championship. Yankee Stadium went on to host a total of thirty-three World Series and twenty-six World titles for the home team, leading to another nickname, "The Home of Champions."
The stadium has undergone various changes through the years, including a remodel after the 1973 season, when the stadium was almost completely demolished and then rebuilt. The biggest change was the removal of the many obstructive steel columns that had supported the second and third decks and the roof. Sightlines for fans were dramatically improved by the new cantilevering of the upper decks, the lowered playing field, and the increased slope of the lower stands.
To retain the Stadium's most recognizable feature, the facade, the new design included an exact replica of the facade atop the new scoreboard at the rear of the bleachers. The exterior also changed, with the addition of three escalator towers and ten more rows of seats on the upper deck, giving Yankee Stadium an even more majestic look. The remodeled Yankee Stadium opened April 15, 1976 and, again, hosted a World Series that first season.
Memorable baseball events at Yankee Stadium include Babe Ruth's then-record 60th home run in 1927, Lou Gehrig's tearful farewell address in 1939, Don Larsen's perfect World Series game in 1956, Roger Maris's then-record 61st home run in 1961, and Reggie Jackson's three home runs in a World Series game in 1977.
One of Yankee Stadium's most interesting features is Monument Park, behind the left-center field fence, which includes monuments and plaques dedicated to great figures in Yankee history. Awarded to the greatest of the great after their deaths, monuments memorialize players Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Joe DiMaggio. Plaques have been dedicated to others, including Casey Stengel, Thurman Munson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Reggie Jackson.
Many other events have been held at Yankee Stadium through the years. Among these are thirty championship boxing bouts, including a Muhammad Ali fight in 1976. Perhaps the most memorable was the famous bout between Joe Louis and Germany's Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938, where Louis avenged a previous loss to Schmeling by scoring a stunning first-round knockout. College football has also been a fixture at Yankee Stadium, starting with the 1923 Army-Navy game.
In fact, Yankee Stadium was the site of the legendary Knute Rockne's famous "win one for the Gipper" halftime pep talk, after which his Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Army Cadets 12-6. The New York football Giants called Yankee Stadium home from 1956 to 1973 and there played what is called "the greatest game ever played" on December 28, 1958, when they beat the Baltimore Colts in the first ever sudden-death overtime. Non-sporting events at Yankee Stadium include a visit from Pope Paul VI in 1965 and another from John Paul II in 1979.
The Yankees are planning to begin construction in 2006 on a new Yankee Stadium adjacent to the current Stadium, scheduled to be completed in time for the 2009 season. The old Yankee Stadium will be torn down.
Shea Stadium ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Officially William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, Shea Stadium was opened as home of the New York Mets on April 17, 1964, after twenty-nine months of construction. Located in Flushing, it was originally to be named Flushing Meadows Stadium Park, but was instead named after the man who brought National League baseball back to New York after the departure of the Giants.
The stadium could be converted from a baseball stadium to a football stadium by using two motorized stands that moved on underground tracks. The New York Jets played there from 1964 to 1983. They moved to Giants Stadium in 1984, and Shea Stadium has not been used for football since. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium during the 1974 and 1975 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated, and one other game in 1998 after a beam collapsed at Yankee Stadium.
Because of its proximity to LaGuardia Airport, Shea Stadium is considered one of the loudest in baseball. A fun feature at Shea is a red Big Apple that emerges from the Mets Magic Top Hat and flashes whenever a Mets player hits a home run. Also, the team's theme song, "Meet the Mets," plays before every home game.
On August 15, 1965, Shea Stadium was the site of the world's first stadium concert, featuring the Beatles in front of a record crowd of 56,000. Numerous concerts have been held here since. Several famous professional wrestling events from the World Wide Wrestling Entertainment have also been held at Shea Stadium, including the final one in 1980 that featured an undercard match-up between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan.
Coincidentally, just like the Yankees, the Mets are planning to begin construction in 2006 on a new stadium to be built in the parking lot of Shea Stadium and completed in time for the 2009 season. The current Shea Stadium will be demolished.
Madison Square Garden ... (Referenced by Keith about the trip to New York.)
Often abbreviated to MSG or shortened to The Garden, Madison Square Garden has been the name of four New York City arenas: At 23rd and Madison (1879-1890 and again 1980-1825), at 50th Street and 8th Avenue (1925-1968), and now at 33rd Street and 8th Avenue (1968-Present) on top of Pennsylvania Station. Madison Square Garden is also the name of the company that owns the arena and the cable network that broadcasts most of the arena's sporting events.
The current arena was opened on February 11, 1968, and is home to the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers, both owned by the Garden itself. The arena also hosts the New York Liberty of the WNBA, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus when in town, the St. John's Red Storm (college basketball), the annual pre- and post-season NIT college basketball tournaments, the NBA Draft, and any other type of indoor activity that attracts large audiences.
These other events include national convents of the Republican (in 2004) and Democratic (1976, 1980, and 1992) parties, and many World Wrestling Entertainment events, boxing matches (famous fights include the first and second Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali bouts). Most large music concerts in New York occur at Madison Square Garden. Famous ones include The Concert for New York City following the 9/11 attacks and John Lennon's final concert before his murder in 1980. Many musical acts, including Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Pearl Jam, have released live albums recorded at MSG.
Today's Madison Square Garden includes more venues than just the arena, including The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Expo Center (for trade shows, etc.), and two restaurants (the Garden Club and the Play-by-Play).
Interesting notable events at Madison Square Garden:
- - June 25, 1906: Architect Stanford White is shot dead by Harry K. Thaw on the Garden's roof, allegedly because he seduced Thaw's wife, Evelyn Nesbit.
- May 19, 1962: President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, where Marilyn Monroe sang her now famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
- November 28, 1974: John Lennon makes a surprise guest appearance at an Elton John concert, which would be Lennon's last ever concert appearance.
- June 14, 1994: After 54 years, the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
- December 5, 1994: At the Z-100 Christmas benefit show for Aids, the lead singer of Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, came back on stage wearing nothing but his guitar.
"Rapper's Delight" (Referenced by Dick to Veronica as he tells her they're going to "upchuck the boogie" at their graduation party.)
Released in 1979, "Rapper's Delight" is widely considered the first major rap record. Built on a sample of Chic's disco hit "Good Times," the single featured the rap vocals of Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee, collectively known as The Sugarhill Gang. The single reached #4 on the U.S. R&B charts and eventually sold more than eight million copies.
A portion of the lyrics somewhat mangled by Dick:
- With a hip hop the hippie to the hippie
the hip hip a hop a you don't stop the rockin'
to the bang bang boogie
Say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie the beat
I said: Hank? Can ya rock?
Can ya rock to the rhythm that just don't stop?
Can ya hip me to the shoobie doo?
I said: Come on make the make the people move.
The capital and largest city of France, Paris is also the capital of the le-de-France rgion, as well as having the distinction of being the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 11.5 million. A leading global cultural, business and political center, the city is well known for its defining neo-classical architecture as well as its unparalleled influence in fashion and the arts. Paris has a reputation for being a "romantic" city and has held the nickname "The City of Light" (la Ville Lumire) since the 19th century.
Located on the river Seine in north central France, Paris is home to many museums, galleries, churches, and nightlife helping to make it the most visited city in the world with more than thirty million visitors a year. Paris' most recognizable symbol is the 1,063 foot Eiffel Tower on the banks of the river Seine.
The original Latin name of the city was Lutetia or Lutetia Parisiorum, which was later dropped in favor of simply Paris. The origins of the name are uncertain. It may be derived from the Gallic Parisii tribe, whose name might be from the Celtic Gallic word parios, meaning "cauldron." Paris might also be derived from Celtic language parisio meaning "the working people" or "the craftsmen."
Brooklyn ... (Referenced as where Jackie is really from.)
Brooklyn, a beautiful and wonderfully diverse community, is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City with about 2.5 million inhabitants. An independent city prior to 1898, Brooklyn developed out of the small Dutch-founded town of "Breuckelen" on the East River shore of Long Island, named after Breukelen in the Netherlands. Were it still a city, and not a borough, it would be the fourth-largest city in the United States after New York City itself, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Despite being part of the city of New York, Brooklyn in character is its own city, as opposed to the Bronx which historically and characteristically could be better described as a northern extension of Manhattan. The loss of Brooklyn's separate identity as a city was met with some consternation by some residents at the time, and later, the merger became known as the "Great Mistake of 1898," as it was called by many newspapers of the day. The phrase still denotes Brooklyn pride among old-time Brooklynites.
Variously called the "City of Trees," "City of Homes," or the "City of Churches" in the 19th century, Brooklyn is now often styled the "Borough of Homes and Churches." As a former resident, I can attest to the fact the Brooklyn is home to more churches than you can possibly imagine. There is at least one on every block, for every religion you can think of. Brooklyn has also been called "The Planet," a nickname made popular by Guru from the rap duo Gangstarr, for its large diversity, population, and size. Represent!
Brooklyn can be understood as a collection of neighborhoods, many historically descended from the old towns and villages of Dutch times. The borough's striking diversity plays host to a bustle of ethnic and multi-ethnic neighborhoods that both preserve a flavor of 'the old country,' of whatever latitude, and create spaces for interaction between individuals and communities. For example, Borough Park is largely Orthodox Jewish, Bedford-Stuyvesant: African American, Bensonhurst: Italian American, and Sunset Park: Hispanic and Chinese American. My old neighborhood, Bay Ridge, is a charming mixture of Italian, Irish and Greek-American.
Evidencing Brooklyn's character and sense of humor, distinctive traffic signage was recently posted along major traffic arteries at Brooklyn's border crossings as a promotional gesture by the current 2006 borough administration. They incorporate colorful expressions associated with Brooklyn, including: "Fugheddaboudit," "Oy Vey!," and "How Sweet It Is." One sign identifies the borough as: "Home to Everyone From Everywhere!" -- and I can personally attest to that.
Sorbonne ... (Referenced by Veronica when she tells Jackie she knows she's not going there.)
A college founded by Robert de Sorbon in 1257 for theology students without any money. The Collge de Sorbonne stood as the celebrated theological college of the French capital until it closed in 1882 and became a part of the University of Paris. It is the most famous of colleges that currently constitute the University of Paris, and its name is often still used to refer to the entire university system in the city. The Sorbonne University today houses the Arts and Human Sciences faculties of the University of Paris. The Sorbonne's international reputation has always placed it among Europe's most important universities.
JFK International Airport ... (Referenced by Veronica telling Jackie where Wallace's layover is.)
Located in Jamaica/Rosedale, Queens, in the southeastern part of New York City, the airport is the top international air passenger gateway to the U.S. as well as the leading freight gateway to the country by value of shipments. Home to JetBlue Airways, it is also a major hub for American and Delta Airlines; British Airways with eight flights a day and United Airlines with sixteen flights a day also have a strong presence. The airport has been operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 1947.
Beginning construction in 1942 the airport initially cost around $60 million on only 1,000 acres of land on the site of Idlewild golf course. The course provided the airport's original name, Idlewild Airport. The first commercial flight was on July 1, 1948 and was dedicated as New York International Airport on July 31 of the same year. The airport was again renamed in 1963 one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The airport received the new IATA airport code of JFK and has since become widely referred to by this abbreviation. JFK now generates an estimated $6.6 billion in economic activity and provides approximately 207,000 jobs in the metropolitan New York area.
Currently, JFK is undergoing a $10.3 billion redevelopment, one of the largest airport reconstruction projects in the world. It recently opened a new Terminal One, Terminal Four and Terminal Eight, and construction has already begun on a new Terminal Five. The remaining five terminals are scheduled for demolition or reconstruction. In 2004, JFK's outbound international travel accounted for 17% of all U.S. travelers who flew overseas. The JFK London Heathrow route is the top U.S. international airport pair with other top destinations including Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Close to one hundred airlines from over fifty countries operate regular flights from JFK. In 2005, the airport handled approximately forty-one million passengers and in combination with LaGuardia and Newark airports, saw nearly one hundred million travelers pass through New York airports, surpassing Chicago to become the busiest in the U.S.
The Dukes of Hazzard ... (Referenced onscreen as what Woody is watching on TV at the Quail Creek Lodge.)
The Dukes of Hazzard is a television series that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985. The show followed the adventures of two good ol' boys, Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat). They lived in an unincorporated area of the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia racing around in their souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. The cast also featured other Duke family members, Uncle Jesse and cousin Daisy --the hot gal responsible for ultra-short jean shorts now known as 'Daisy Dukes.'
Many episodes revolved around Boss trying to engage in an illegal scheme with criminal associates. Some of them were "get-rich schemes," though many others affected the financial security of the Duke farm -- property which Boss long wanted to acquire for various reasons. Other times, Boss hired known criminals to frame Bo and Luke for crimes such as bank robbery which resulted in probation revocation and allowed Boss to easily acquire the Duke farm. It was always up to Bo and Luke to uncover the schemes and foil the criminals.
In 2005, Warner Bros. released the big screen adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard starring Sean-William Scott as Bo Duke, Johnny Knoxville as Luke Duke, Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse, and Burt Reynolds as Boss Hog. Despite grossing $113.5 million world-wide, the film was largely panned by critics. Richard Roeper (of Ebert & Roeper) named it the worst movie of 2005, and it was nominated for seven 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Supporting Actress.
Ghost World ... (Referenced by Dick to Veronica, his nickname for Mac.)
Ghost World is the 2001 movie about two high-school misfit friends, Enid and Rebecca, played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson respectively, and is based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes of the same name. Set in the summer after graduation, Enid and Rebecca are both outsiders in a world slowly being engulfed by fake 50's diners and Starbucks. Enid must attend an art class to officially graduate high school as Rebecca gets a job. When the two play a mean joke on a much older, geeky record collector, Enid finds a fellow soul and begins to discover the complexities of becoming an adult in the modern world.
Dick's reference to Mac as "that girl from Ghost World" is a nod to both Mac's personal style, and her attitudes concerning high school and the majority of her peers, both of which are reminiscent of the character Enid in Ghost World. The major difference in my book is that Mac is not apathetic and miserable, just quirky and not impressed by the mainstream or popularity -- things that Dick couldn't begin to understand.
Dungeons and Dragons ... (Referenced by Dick to Veronica, suggesting Mac and Beaver may be playing it or having sex ... or doing both at the same time.)
Have you ever gone to Denny's late at night and looked at the people next to you and noticed that they were throwing around dice and talking about spells, elves, and wizardry? They weren't crazy. They were playing Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D for short. D&D is the grandfather of all role-playing games. Players engage in a narrated "campaign" or adventure, in which they roll die to determine the fate of their characters. Warning: Although a seemingly harmless game, it quickly can become a socially crippling obsession that has literally inspired legions of grown men and women to dress up in costumes and congregate in basements across the country.
PCHers (Referenced by Veronica as she tells Beaver she knows he tried to convince the bikers that Curly blew up the bus.)
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.
Roofie(d) ... (Referenced by Veronica to Cassidy as she confronts him about Shelly's party.)
Flunitrazepam -- marketed under the trade name Rohypnol -- is manufactured worldwide, particularly in Europe and Latin America. Its most common street name is roofie and it generally sells for below $5.00 per small white tablet. It is ten times more potent than valium and can be habit forming, one of the reasons that it is illegal to own in the U.S. Rohypnol is one of the drugs most commonly implicated in drug-facilitated rape and due to its high usage, blue dye was added to it in 1999 so that it would no longer be clear in liquid. Common effects from usage are memory impairment, drowsiness, visual disturbances, dizziness, confusion, excitability or aggressive behavior and it can mentally and physically paralyze an individual. Effects of the drug are of particular concern in combination with alcohol and can lead to amnesia, where events that occurred during the time the drug was in effect are forgotten.
In response to Rohypnol abuse and use of the drug to facilitate sexual assaults, the U.S. Congress passed the Drug Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act, effective October 13, 1996. The law provides for harsher penalties regarding the distribution of a controlled substance to an individual without the individual's consent and with the intent to commit a crime of violence, including rape. The law imposes a penalty of up to twenty years in prison and a fine for the importation and distribution of one gram or more of Rohypnol. Simple possession is punishable by three years in prison and a fine.
Mollymook, Australia ... (Referenced onscreen as where Duncan and Meg's baby are living.)
Located on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, Mollymook is part of the Milton-Ulladulla area, approximately three hours south of Sydney. It forms part of a seven kilometer stretch of unbroken urban development from the south of Ulladulla to Narrawalle inlet. Geographically, Mollymook is made up of Mollymook beach with the Mollymook golf club and lifeguard club located at the southern end to Banister Head and the southern section of Narrawalle beach. Accommodation and retail are the only industry in Mollymook, but due to its proximity to Ulladlla with a large commercial fishing fleet, it supports a relatively large population and economy. During the busy holiday seasons, both North and South Mollymook beach and Narrawalle are staffed with lifeguards.
California (Referenced by Jackie as she explains to Wallace why she moved in with her dad.)
California is the thirty-first state in the United States and spans the southern half of the Pacific Coast. It is the largest state in population (thirty-seven million) and the third largest in area (158,402 square miles). California is home to several significant economic regions such as Hollywood, the California Central Valley, Silicon Valley, and the Wine Country. It is also home to several important cities and towns (Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, etc).
The name is believed to be a derivation of the mythical paradise of Calafia portrayed in Amadis de Guala, a sixteenth century Spanish romance by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. Others believe the name to be a play on the Spanish words for "hot as an oven;" "cali" meaning "hot" and "fornus" meaning oven.
Different regions of California have very different climates, depending the latitude and proximity to the coast. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. 60.5% of the population speaks English, 25.8% speak Spanish, 2.6% speak Chinese, and the rest speak Tagalog, Vietnamese, or some other language. The languages of the indigenous people number more than one hundred, making California one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world.
Michelangelo's Pieta ... (Referenced by Logan and Veronica's positions on the couch in the Mars apartment.)
This famous work of art shows the body of Jesus Christ in the arms of his mother Mary after his Crucifixion. The Piet (1498-99) is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo, the first of several works of the same subject by the artist. Commissioned by the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, a representative in Rome, the statue was made for the cardinal's funeral service. It was moved to its current location in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the first chapel on the right as one enters the basilica, in the 18th century.
The sculpture takes to the extreme the Renaissance ideal of classical harmony, beauty and restraint. Highly finished compared to other works by Michelangelo, it is also the only work the artist ever signed. Marks of the Crucifixion are shown as very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side, and the nail imprints in the feet don't go all the way through. The sculpture shows amazing detail and a palpable emotion from Mary.
Both figures in the sculpture are grossly unproportional and clearly showcase the difficulty of depicting a fully grown man lying full length in a woman's lap. If the figure of Christ were done to human scale, the Virgin, standing, would be roughly sixteen feet tall. Much of the Virgin's size is concealed in her drapery, and so the figures look quite natural.
Obviously the addition of this scene in the episode was meant to mirror that from Normal is the Watchword with Logan and Veronica's positions reversed, but it's also possible that Kretchmer staged this shot because of the emotions Michelangelo's Piet evokes in its viewer; feelings of grief, loss, mourning, sorrow, as well as love and compassion.
(Click to see larger image.)
The New Yorker (Referenced as Veronica reads the magazine at her desk on the morning of her flight to New York.)
Founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, and first published on February 17, 1925, The New Yorker is an American magazine which offers commentaries and reporting on politics, culture, and events; humor and one-line gag cartoons; short story fiction and poetry; as well as reviews of books, movies, theater, music, art, and fashion, with a focus on the New York City scene.
The New Yorker's first cover featured "Eustace Tilley." The character was used as part of "The Making of a Magazine" series and became the signature emblem of the magazine. Some versions of the Tilley illustration are used on the cover of the magazine's anniversary issues.
New York, New York / "Little town blues/Vagabond shoes" ... (Referenced by Keith and Veronica as they discuss the New York trip.)
The theme song from the 1977 Martin Scorsese film New York, New York, it was originally performed for the movie by Liza Minnelli. With music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the song was more famously recorded in 1979 by Frank Sinatra.
The lyrics (Keith and Veronica's references italicized):
- Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York
These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I wanna wake up in a city
That doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap
These little town blues
Are melting a way
I'll make a brand-new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York
New York, New York
I want to wake up
In a city that never sleeps
And find I'm a number one, top of the list
King of the hill, a number one
In 1986 Queen recorded a popular version of the song for the movie Highlander as lead singer Freddie Mercury was an avowed Liza Minnelli fan. Despite the familiarity of Sinatra's version, Minnelli has had two of the song's most memorable live performances; during the July 4, 1986 rededication of the Statue of Liberty and in the middle of the seventh inning New York Mets game that was the first pro sports event in NY after 9/11.
Donald Trump ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith as she says she'll bring pepper spray in case they run into him.)
Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946 in Queens, New York) is a business executive, founder and CEO of Trump Organization of the USA, mainly involved in the premium American real estate segment. Trump is of German, Scottish and Swedish ancestry. He has recently enjoyed a great deal of publicity following the success of his reality television show, The Apprentice (in which he serves as both executive producer and host for the show).
Trump is almost as well known for his hair, as he is for his business acumen. He is the king of the "comb-over" hair helmet and there are websites whose sole purpose is to comment on the current status of his "hair wave." (That may not be true, but it should be ... there is something quite sinister about that hair of his. The FBI should investigate for missing children and laundered money up there.)
Little Orphan Annie ... (Referenced by Veronica to Keith regarding how Logan's taking Aaron's death.)
Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray, is a full page (later half page or tab) American comic strip, first appearing on August 5, 1924. Gray's character was loosely based on James Whitcomb Riley's eponymous character from his 1885 poem "Little Orphan Annie."
In Gray's version, Annie, an orphan, was taken in by "Daddy" Oliver Warbucks, a prototypical capitalist of almost unlimited wealth and influence. With his right-hand men, Punjab (an eight-foot native of India) and The Asp (an inscrutably generalized Oriental), Warbucks tackled international intrigue and the never-ending plots to kidnap or harm Annie. The strip, and Gray in his discussions of it, glorified the American business ethic, although corrupt businessmen often appeared as villains. Warbucks repeatedly suffered seeming death at the hands of his enemies, leaving Annie to fend for herself until his next appearance.
In 1977, Little Orphan Annie became a Broadway musical, called Annie. The musical has since been filmed several times, notably in a 1982 version, starring Albert Finney as Warbucks, Aileen Quinn as Annie, and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, the matron of the orphanage.
Carol Channing ... (Referenced by Keith to Veronica as he says he needs his autograph book in case she's alive.)
Carol Channing was born on January 31, 1921. She initially made her mark on Broadway in Gentleman Prefer Blondes playing Lorelei Lee. In Hello Dolly! she played Dolly Gallagher Levi, the witty, manipulative widow intent upon finding a wealthy husband. That musical won ten Tony awards in 1964, including Channing's for best actress in a comedy.
Channing was associated with these two characters her entire career and performed the plays thousands of times. She has appeared on TV and been in a handful of movies (notably in 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie and 1994's animated Thumbelina), but her career as an entertainer has been focused on the stage. Her distinctive appearance and voice have made her a favorite of both male and female impersonators.
And yes, Keith, as of this case file's compilation, she is indeed still alive.
Norman Rockwell ... (Referenced by Kendall suggesting he'd want to paint Veronica and Logan.)
Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 November 8, 1978) was an early 20th century American painter. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are Rosie the Riveter (the less-reproduced of two works generally given that title) and the Four Freedoms series, as seen below.
(Click to see larger images.)
Norman's ability to "get the point across" in one picture, and his flair for painstaking detail made him a favorite of the advertising industry. Rockwell produced over 2000 original works, most of which have been either destroyed by fire or are in permanent collections. Original magazines in mint condition that contain his work are extremely rare and can command thousands of dollars today.
Rockwell's talent in relating America's old values to the events of a rapidly changing world made him a hero and friend to millions of his compatriots. Like his contemporary, filmmaker Frank Capra (Yes, this is the grandfather of our very own Francis Capra or Weevil, if you're nasty Oh, and Janet Jackson called and asked us to move on.), Rockwell had the ability to depict twentieth-century Americans as they preferred to see themselves. Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American life.
Logan and Veronica in their most happy, giddy state, really do remind one of a "Rockwell image." However, as we know, Veronica Mars is all about the happy illusion being stripped away and the cold, hard truths of life smacking you in the face and back to the realities of life. Ah, young, angsty, epic LoVe ... ain't it grand?
"The Telephone Hour" / "Did he pin the pin on? Or was he too shy?" from Bye Bye Birdie ... (Referenced by Kendall to Veronica regarding Logan.)
"The Telephone Hour" is a song from the musical Bye, Bye Birdie. Bye, Bye Birdie was produced in 1963, starring Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margaret. It is the story of a rock singer who travels to a small Ohio town to make his "farewell" television performance and kiss his biggest fan (Ann-Margaret's Kim) before he is drafted. The song, "The Telephone Hour," is sung by delighted members of the community as they gossip about Hugo and Kim -- the couple everyone in town is interested in.
The lyrics referenced by Kendall go like this (with the specific lines italicized):
- Hi, Nancy!
- Hi, Helen!
What's the story, morning glory?
What's tale, nightingale?
- Tell me quick about Hugo and Kim!
- Hi, Margie!
- Hi, Alice!
What's the story, morning glory?
- What's the word, humming bird?
- Have you heard about Hugo and Kim?
Did they really get pinned?
Did she kiss him and cry?
Did he pin the pin on?
Or was he too shy?
Well, I heard they got pinned
- Yeah! Yeah!
I was hopin' they would!
- Oho!
Now they're livin' at last,
Goin' steady for good.
- The awesome visual transitions between scenes in this episode -- from Aaron's courthouse steps pose to the photo on the newspaper's front page; from Lianne taking a picture of Veronica to a girl's camera taking pictures of her friends at graduation.
- You can hear Vinnie (or a stagehand) saying "Hey, Veronica Mars" when she answers Vinnie's phone call.
- Keith's hilarious expression when Veronica tells him Vinnie is on the phone.
- Ken Marino's delivery of the word "enchilada" when Vinnie is talking to Keith.
- In Veronica's dream, the version 1.0 of herself has little blue sequins on one pillow and a flower stitched into another white pillowcase.
- Lianne's comment about not staying with "that boy" is a throwback boyfriend misdirection similar to Normal is the Watchword. Fortunately, this time it worked out for us (even if in a dream, but hey! we got it in real-life too!)
- In her dream, Lianne made Veronica pancakes. The following morning in real-time, Logan made Veronica pancakes.
- When DreamVeronica is trying to get Wallace's attention, she does a cute little wave.
- DreamWallace is wearing his glasses. Aww, he looks so scholarly.
- Kristen Bell and Amanda Seyfried did not film their scene together. They are never in the same shot and you can tell the difference between Bell's hair and her double's.
- When Veronica woke up from her dream, it was the smell of Keith cooking bacon that awoke her. Veronica woke the next morning to the smell of Logan cooking bacon. So taking the DreamLianne and this, Logan made the same breakfast that both of her parents did (dream and real-life).
- Veronica 1.0 was wearing a light-colored flowery dress. Veronica 2.0 was wearing a sexy, black dress on graduation day.
- Kristen Bell did an excellent impersonation of Krysten Ritter's Gia's voice. Until I saw Veronica, I really thought that it was Gia answering the phone and that Keith was just using some other method of getting the number off of her cell.
- Despite Aaron's claim that he wanted to be Logan's father still, notice how he was not at his son's graduation, despite being free.
- Speaking of Logan's graduation, we did not hear or see his name called to graduate (we heard Wallace, Mac's and Veronica's).
- We've heard several mentions of John Enbom as a student (whose name we heard called for graduation) throughout the series; in this episode we also heard "Phil Klemmer" called out as a graduating student (followed by a "Yo, Klemmer!" from the crowd.) Both Enbom and Klemmer are Veronica Mars writers. Enbom co-wrote this episode, in fact.
- Dick's shirt at the graduation said: "Trust me, I'm rich."
- Logan sure gets a lot of mail.
- When Aaron said, "Hello, Logan" as Logan was reading his mail, Logan jumped as if startled. Nice realism there by Jason Dohring.
- Logan in tight, yellow tee-shirt = HOT!
- The lovely symbolism of Logan going up, while Aaron went down.
- Woody is watching what is very possibly the "Mason Dixon's Girls" episode of The Dukes of Hazzard, which coincidentally was episode 2x22 of that series.
- The hilarious defense of Woody by pulling the deer mounted on the wall off and throwing it at Keith.
- Enrico Colantoni's beautiful delivery of "Woody, just stop," as Woody tried to defend the indefensible.
- In Leave it to Beaver, Keith receives a reward from the Kanes. In Not Pictured, he earns a reward from the Mannings. Both are families who dislike Veronica.
- Corny. Dude, just Corny. Bbbzzzztttt!
- The balloons at Logan's party are green and gold, the Neptune High school colors.
- You can hear Logan's voice talking about something being stupid (in his cute, happy voice) before Veronica reaches him at the party and as she pulls him away, you can see balloons in his hand. Heeheehee, Logan playing with balloons = cute!
- Logan changed from his yellow tee to a dark one for the party. Did he change it because Aaron had touched it?
- Veronica really does need to pay better attention to her surroundings when she's just solved a murder. First, Aaron surprises her by hiding in her backseat in Leave it to Beaver and then, on her way to save Mac from Beaver, she's again caught off guard -- and alone -- with Aaron, in the elevator.
- During Veronica's elevator ride with Aaron, you first hear the elevator music, then the score turns menacing as Aaron speaks, then as soon as the elevator bell rings, it goes back to the muzak.
- Aaron twinked! In the elevator with Veronica just after he tells her they'll be running into each other from time to time. It's hereditary! (Or Harry Hamlin had something in his eye.)
- While in the elevator speaking to Aaron, Veronica's voice sounded thick with emotion. Great job by Kristen Bell.
- Both Logan and Veronica have their final confrontations with Aaron at the Neptune Grand's elevator, on the same night.
- This is the first episode where we learn Hart's last name. It's Hanson -- which is the name of the former writer of Joan of Arcadia and current producer/writer of Bones, Hart Hanson. The connection to Veronica Mars is that Hanson is also a producer who worked on Cupid and Snoops with Rob Thomas.
- Veronica's name didn't pop up on Logan's phone because she forwarded Mac's (actually Beaver's) text to Logan.
- Keith's and Veronica's tasers were both a part of the action this week.
- Logan looked toward Beaver (the only time he took his eyes off of Veronica when she had the gun) when she said that Beaver had raped her.
- Logan's repeated use of Veronica's name as he talks her out of shooting Beaver is a smart and effective reminder that she's Veronica, not a killer.
- While trying to convince Veronica to not shoot, Logan's voice sounded thick with emotion. Great job by Jason Dohring.
- After Veronica's pained concern for Logan in Ahoy Mateys! when she discovered he had an illegal gun in his possession, she ended up being the one who needed Logan to talk the gun out of her hands.
- The way Logan and Veronica hugged after he got the gun from her was similar to the Veronica/Donut hug after the bus crash. (But Logan and Veronica look a LOT better together!!) This makes the second parallel allusion to Normal is the Watchword. (The first being the boyfriend misdirection.)
- Kyle Gallner's almost-casual step off of the building had a haunting grace to it.
- Logan muttered "Oh my God" after Beaver jumped.
- In a parallel within the show, Beaver tried to persuade Veronica to just "walk off the plank" and basically step off the roof to end her life because with Keith gone, she had nothing to live for and in the end it was Beaver who did exactly that.
- Due to Beaver's earlier comment about Mac being in a better place, Veronica clearly thought that Mac might be dead.
- In the over the shoulder shot of Aaron watching TV, you can see the same bracelet on his wrist that was visible in the Return of the Kane gas station scene with Logan and then later in bed with Lilly on the tapes in Leave it to Beaver.
- The eerie visual of a young Aaron on the television screen looking back over his shoulder just after present day Aaron was murdered from behind.
- In another parallel allusion, the shot of Veronica laying across Logan is almost exactly like the shot of Logan laying across Veronica's lap in Normal is the Watchword. (See, the similarity of the shots in the chemistry scene write-up.)
- Right before Logan stepped out of the Mars Investigations office and dropped the bags, he looked over his shoulder presumably to make sure that Keith wasn't coming out after them.
- When Logan kissed Veronica's cheek (after the neck nuzzle) he does so along with a low, long "Mmmm." Yum.
- Right after Veronica says, "I can feel it," Logan and Veronica's noses touch in a teeny, tiny eskimo kiss.
- In the last parallel allusion to Normal is the Watchword, Kendall remarks, "Ah, young love," when she sees Logan and Veronica. Logan had said the same thing, in the same mocking tone, after witnessing Duncan and Veronica in the premiere, while wearing a similar shirt to the one in this scene.
- Every boyfriend parallel in this episode contrasts with Normal is the Watchword in our favor. All instances in the premiere indicated Duncan as Veronica's boyfriend, while in this episode, Logan is her boyfriend.
- First, there is Logan and Veronica's Piet imagery on the sofa, then Kendall snarks that Normal Rockwell wants to paint them as the picture of young love. So, LoVe is a work of art?
- Showing just how late Keith is, you can see the "Now Boarding" sign flashing behind Veronica at the airport.
- Logan's nickname for himself is "Little Orphan Annie" -- while the origin is derived from a comic strip, it is best known in terms of the musical Annie. So yet again, our young Mr. Echolls is showing off his musical theater background. As stated before, alone it doesn't mean anything, but alongside all of his other rather fey attributes, it does make one go 'hmm ....'
- In Veronica's dream, why was she planning to attend San Diego State instead of Hearst? Did her 09er status prevent her from being as scholastically motivated as she is in present day?
- What are Logan's post-graduation plans? Did he even apply to college?
- How come we saw Wallace and Mac receive their diplomas, but we never witnessed Logan receive his diploma? (We even heard John Enbom -- Logan would have been right before him -- receive his.)
- How was Wallace able to afford a spur of the moment plane ticket to Paris?
- So if Beaver (oops, sorry, CASSIDY), was betting against incorporation, then was he the one who sent the "Kill incorporation or else" email to Woody?
- Why did the Manning Family offer to pay $20,000 for Woody Goodman's capture?
- How did Veronica figure all of that out just because Beaver was (not) in the picture? There was one other kid who she didn't know ... why couldn't it have been him?
- In their final scene in Happy Go Lucky, Jackie tells Terrance that she's decided not to go to Paris, for at least a semester, so it would seem that he thought she really was going to the Sorbonne. If Jackie never planned to go to there, why did Terrance seem to not be in on it?
- Of the thousands of diners located in New York City, how did Veronica manage to uncover the specific diner in which Jackie worked?
- Why would Veronica even think to talk to Hart?
- Did Beaver have genuine feelings for Mac or was she simply a way to prove that he could maintain a normal relationship with a girl?
- Wouldn't Veronica think it unusual that "Mac" wanted to meet on the Neptune Grand roof top?
- Why did Beaver have a gun in his bag for a graduation party?
- Why did Beaver imply that Mac was dead ("She's in a better place.") to Veronica? Was it just another way to hurt her before he killed her?
- Why did Beaver keep the recording of his conversation with Peter and Marcos? For a rainy day when he might need to blackmail Woody?
- Whose car did Beaver use to kill Curly? How did he explain the damage?
- How did Beaver get Curly onto the hood of his car? Curly's a BIG guy, Beaver's, uhm, not.
- Was Kendall working with Clarence, thus Duncan, in executing Aaron?
- When Logan received Veronica's text message, the phone number was listed as unavailable. Who then, did he think the message was coming from?
- Why was Logan apologizing when Veronica came out for breakfast unless he didn't know that Keith was alive? So did Keith just let Logan sleep on the couch and not wake him when he got home? (Which really seems out of character for Keith ... especially in regard to Logan.)
- When Logan abruptly left the Mars' apartment after Keith's reappearance, did his departure stem from wanting to give Veronica and Keith some crucial daddy-daughter time or did he believe Keith wouldn't want him there because of their tumultuous history?
- Was the hallway kissing scene between Logan and Veronica the official reconciliation or are we supposed to assume some kind of discussion regarding their relationship status occurred before this point?
- Who won the FBLA contest? Did Beaver take it all or did Logan bounce back?
- What was Dick's reaction upon discovering his brother was a psychotic murderer and rapist who later committed suicide?
- What was inside the briefcase Kendall showed Keith?
- As a child, Cassidy Casablancas was on Woody Goodman's Little League Team. During this time he was sexually abused by Goodman and as a result, contracted chlamydia. He later spread the chlamydia to Veronica after he raped her at Shelly Pomroy's party.
- Peter Ferrer and Marcos Oliveres, two of Woody's other victims, wanted to come forward about the sexual abuse, but Beaver didn't want this information revealed. In order to prevent the news of his sexual abuse from being leaked, he orchestrated the bus crash to kill both Peter and Marcos.
- Beaver learned how to rig explosives from Curly Moran, a skill which he later practiced by blowing things up while helping to make Hart Hanson's war movies.
- Beaver obtained the explosives for the bus crash from Curly. He convinced the PCHers that Curly blew up the bus because of Cervando cheating Liam Fitzpatrick out of money. Beaver later murdered Curly by running him over with his car and dropping the body off a cliff.
duchessjms (Jayne): Social Science; Literature
holly96 (Holly): Social Science
JenniferH: Report Card; Chemistry; Band Class (Scene Description); Literature; Philosophy; Homeroom; Pep Squad Practice; History
Katrina: Social Science; Literature
Krissy215 (Krissy): Band Class (Song Identifier)
Pixigal (Gerrie): Drama Club; Social Science
ramwitz (Margarita): Yearbook
SeluciaV (Alli): Social Science; Literature; Extra Credit
Tar Frimmer (Joanne): Literature; Social Science; Study Hall; Philosophy; Homeroom
