Hot Damn, Colin Firth Is In It!

Episode 2.03: Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang. Original Airdate 10.12.05

"Beaver hires Veronica to investigate his stepmother, Kendall, who he believes is cheating on his dad and planning to clean him out, but both are shocked by what they discover. Meanwhile, Wallace begins dating Jackie, against Veronica's advice."

We are very excited to welcome our friend Melodie to today's post! Welcome, Melodie!

Melodie's Thoughts:

• Hi everyone! Long time watcher of VM, long time reader of this blog, first time guest! I'm super excited so let's dig right in.
• And I start the episode on Papa Casablancas. Boo.
• But Kristen is so adorable doing her little "excellent"
• Beaver seemed so innocent and sweet but now I'm just creeped out by him and this scene of him sheepishly asking for a favour from Veronica feels so sinister in hindsight.
• Sheriff Lamb is such a jackass. The smug way he's gleefully showing a teenager a dead body with her name on his hand is just gross. Kudos to the actor for being able to play such a skeevy character.
• Aww, Keith and Alicia are so sweet together. Even V can't deny it, much as it weirds her out to see it, understandably.
• "I'm super, thanks for asking!" LOL! Veronica is a South Park fan.
• One of the pics Veornica pulls up for Kendall, looks so much like a photo of Cordelia from Buffy that I'm convinced that's what it is. You can't tell me otherwise.

• I love Veronica and Keith scenes. Veronica LOVES unicorns.
• Aw, Veronica is kind of jealous of Jackie but she still helps Wallace out with her because she wants her friend to be happy. Besties! I love it when they show how much Veronica cares about Wallace.
• Veronica, don't feel bad for Beaver, trust me.
• I used to be impressed by Beaver noticing the switched gym bags, but I know better now. Now I side eye him and get grossed out every time he leans in really close to Veronica. Bleh.
• Curly and Aaron Echolls know each other, but what does it mean?
• Aw, I really like Mr. Pope. He just seems like a really nice and enthusiastic teacher. It sucks what happens to him.
• LMAO! Can I just talk about everything wrong with the Logan/Duncan fight scene? Because I just can't with this.
• First off, SHENANIGANS! There is no door behind Logan so how the hell does Duncan lunging at Logan, end up with them in the hallway? I like to think that they kind of danced around the room a bit, twirling until they reached the door so that they could fight in the hallway, very polite. [Logan and Duncan are competitive dance partners. Headcanon accepted - Z]
• Second, NO ONE reacts to this fight. Literally no one, not even Veronica. Not even the teacher. It's just dead silence and them grunting at the lockers and then hard cut to the nurse's office. It's very awkward.
• But Logan isn't upset about Duncan stealing Veronica, he's more upset that his friend left him twisting in the winds amid all the controversy over the summer. And Duncan is pissed because, duh, Logan's father killed Lilly, his sister.
• Aw, Logan hates Aaron too. Poor baby has no one. I'll hug him.
• Veronica being overly jealous of Jackie is not a good look but at least she is justified later on. And Jackie is annoying with all the name dropping.
• iPod switcheroo! Can we all just take a moment to be amazed at how much technology has changed in just over 10 years? Crazy.
• Hotel switcheroo! The Sandpiper isn't a luxury hotel at all.
• It's heartbreaking watching Veronica try to warn Mr. Pope to sell his stocks but Mr. Pope doesn't want to saddle someone else with the debt. He's a stand up guy and I just hope that he got to retire with his boat eventually.
• Why is some weird guy calling Alicia, Cheri?
• Oof, someone tell this Lars guy that he can't sing. At least his girlfriend liked it though?
• Courtney follows up the sappy love song with "Love Hurts." lol. Side note, is this guy a someone that I should know? They give him a lot of screen time for his singing and it isn't that important so why dwell on him so long? Did he win this? [We weren't quite sure either, but the internet tells us it's Courtney Taylor-Taylor, lead singer for The Dandy Warhols, who also sings the VM theme song]
• Beaver sending V away but then looking through all of the pictures. He knows more than his sweet/innocent schtick is letting on.
• Jackie brought another guy to the coffee shop that Wallace's best friend works at. Not only is that super shitty, that is knowing, blatant shittiness. I hate her. Love hurts, indeed.
• Even after everything, Veronica still tries to warn Logan about Mr. Casablancas. #LoVe
• Uhoh, scary guy has tracked down Alicia!
• Veronica is clearly hurt that Logan doesn't care that he's in danger of being seriously hurt, she still cares. When does she dump Duncan, already?
• Oooh, Aaron and Curly worked together on a film! Curly was the stuntman and the stunt was sending a truck off a cliff. Dun dun DUN!
• Ooops, Mr. Casablancas doesn't care that his wife is cheating on him. He's too worried about being exposed for real estate fraud. SHRED EVERYTHING!!!
• Lol, he just leaves his kids and wife behind. Later suckers!!! What a horrible human being.
• We end the episode with Veronica revealing that the bus crash was meant for her and that all of her classmates died because of her. That is some serious guilt to carry around. Ooof. Poor Veronica.

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Senior year – I’m glad VM did the strict 2 years of high school instead of extending an extra year like a lot of HS shows do.
• Hey it’s Dick Sr. again
• VM: Excellent. 

• Dick Sr. is such an asshole to his younger son.  It’s so gross.
• Ugh, they’re talking about finance and real estate and I’m bored.
• I have Cassidy’s Penguin Polo Shirt. 90s clothes are my jam.
• VM is being hauled into the police department.  Must be Tuesday.
• So this is follow up to the guy found dead with Veronica’s name on his hand.
• Uh oh.  I truly don’t remember the outcome to this particular small mystery so it’ll be exciting when it’s revealed.
• Keith is a best-selling author now but they still live in that shitty little apartment. [Maybe it's going into Veronica's Stanford fund? - Z]
• I don’t like when Veronica keeps secrets from her dad.
• It’s also a shame that Veronica has to do detective work that the Sherriff’s department can’t or won’t do.
• I love VM in detective mode.  Giant cameras getting the shots.
• "Hot bitchy transfer" – Veronica describing Jackie.
• Wallace: "Retract claws"
• Aww, sweet that Veronica is playing wingman despite not really liking Jackie.
• Wow, go Beav.  He noticed something that Veronica completely missed.
• Ooh, Curly knew Aaron Echolls.  I love when evidence is so readily available.  And why didn’t the police know about this?  Right, because they’re useless.
• I know this teacher.  Mr Pope.  He’s just that guy in everything, Michael Kostroff.
• Aww, the clueless nurse asking Logan if the alcohol rub stings because he has tears in his eyes.   LOGAN IS JUST EMOTIONAL.  HE DOESN’T STAND FOR YOUR TOXIC MASCULINITY STANDARDS, NURSE RATCHED.
• "I realize I’m not a 19^th century British woman-" – Wallace
• Oh man, Veronica really doesn’t like Jackie.  And she can’t tell Wallace.
• Oh those little ipod nanos.  They lasted a few years.
• "And your ass looks totally awesome by the way." – Veronica "….oh!" – Cordelia Casablancas.
• Poor Mr. Pope.  He’s gonna get screwed.  And Veronica’s gonna reveal it.  But they’re talking about finance and real estate and it’s boring and over my head and I’m falling asleep.
• But Mr. Pope’s a good guy.  He can’t sell his stock knowing that some other sucker would get stuck with it.  He reminds me of Keith in that way.
• Uh oh.  Wallace’s mom has a secret.
• Aww. This is so cute.  Random guy singing bad karaoke really badly and his girlfriend is looking at him like he’s [insert someone cute and famous here]
• Uh oh.  Jackie is with a random dude.
• Oh no oh no oh no.  I was wondering if Veronica would discover Logan in her investigation.  And she’s devastated. Because she still WUVS him.
• Omg, this wall street scene at the Casablancas company is amazing.  Mr. C leaves in a helicopter and ….doesn’t even take his son. [or his other son. - Z]
• Poor V.  She thinks the bus crash was because of her.  Not everything is about you, Veronica.  But I guess you’d think that given it’s the name of the show.

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a dumb movie and a dumber Broadway show and yes I've seen both shut up let's watch Veronica Mars
• Veronica is a Future Business Leader of America ... with guest speaker Dick Sr. Great. Super.
• They're all eating ... does the club meet during lunch? Is that a thing?
• Wow Dick Sr doesn't acknowledge Beaver. What a ... dick.
• Veronica's the only one who respects Beaver's wish to be called Cassidy. I hate him too much.
• Anyplot, he wants Veronica to prove Cordelia Chase is violating her prenup with Dick Sr.
• Veronica snarking Sheriff Lamb = always a good time.
• It is pretty crazy that Curly had Veronica's name written on his palm ... and that while his body washed up on a beach, that name didn't get blurred or washed away at all ... pretty contrivancy, even. One might even call it ... shenanigany?
• Keith and Alicia are way too cute and lovey dovey, which means something is gonna go wrong soon.
• Seriously, though, how did Veronica manage to make only the unicorn wallpaper on her laptop be open? We saw her just slam down the lid, not close a bunch of windows.
• omg Veronica stop making fun of Wallace's pudding cup. Pudding cups are great!
• Jackie hates Pride and Prejudice! boooooooooo hissssssssssssss
• But Veronica is Wallace's friend and will be a true wingman, inviting him and Jackie to join her P&P-watching party with Duncan.
• Beaver's being sneaky with his observation - pointing out that Kendall's sleazy hotel was one of Dick Sr.'s properties, and that Kendall and Gym Buddy swapped gym bags.
• gasp Curly has a celeb photo with everyone's favorite murderer, Aaron Echolls
• this teacher running FBLA is endearing and charming, therefore bad things will happen to him. poor Mr. Pope
• aww man he's invested in Dick Sr. We who know the future know it won't end well.
• this fight between Logan and Duncan is painful. It's not about Veronica. It's about the fact that Logan was accused of murder this summer, and he felt abandoned by Duncan. But it's not as simple as that. Duncan had to deal with the fact that his best friend's dad murdered his sister, that his parents thought he did it, that they're in trouble for obstruction of justice, and basically everything was shitty for both boys this summer.
• "Your dad murdered my sister." // "I hate him too, you know."
• YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS NOT THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE BBC P&P AND I'M CALLING THEM OUT. Shenanigans. I know what that score sounds like.
• hahaha Veronica's doing one of my biggest pet peeves: people talking at me as if I can hear them when I clearly have earbuds in and can't hear a word they're saying.
• aaaand now the penny drops. Veronica sees that what Dick Sr was selling as the Sandpiper hotel is loads seedier than the brochure.
• oh man, Veronica found an honest guy, so of course he's getting screwed. "You don't dump [stock], Veronica, you sell it ... to somebody else. I'd just be sticking some other sucker with the consequences."
• This episode really is about setting up nice people/relationships before it ruins them. VM is a show with a cynical lens to be sure.
• Uhmmm NO. Just because you have a fancy badge, hotels still aren't supposed to give out guest information without some kind of warrant. Eff this.
• Aw poor Lars and his bad voice. Beginning of the running gag of him being upstaged by real singers on karaoke night.
• Oh shiiiiiiiit. I remembered the Dick Sr. scandal, but forgot this was when Beaver and Veronica found out about Logan and Kendall.
• Interesting, because I was feeling bad for Logan earlier during his fight with Duncan. But he's in full on douche mode when Veronica confronts him.
• "Right, and so you storm out in a burst of professionalism."
• Meanwhile as soon as Dick Sr. realizes there's a private investigator, he knows it's time for his go bag. "Shred it, shred everything."
• wow he's just got a helicopter all fueled and ready to go on the roof? that's ... I guess that's a thing
• Bye, Dick Sr. We hate you!
• Dang, Veronica thinks the bus crash was about her because of Curly's connection to Aaron. Don't worry, Veronica. It's way more awful than you think.

Crossfire!

Dick Sr: That's where Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITS, come in.

D & Z: *gasp of recognition!* (we work at a financial/real estate firm)

D: I can't believe how many times I've typed Casablancas.

Z: Me too, I'm starting to question how to spell it.

D: ... House of White People? Is that what the name means?

Favorite Lines:

Melodie: "Okay, then I have something to admit. I LOVE unicorns. What, Dad? Girls are crazy about unicorns!" - Veronica

Daniel: "I realize I'm not a nineteenth-century British woman." - Wallace

Zelda: Veronica: "It was a job, nothing more." // Logan: "Right, and so you storm out in a burst of professionalism."

Arc/Continuity:

Neptune Roll Call: Wallace, Duncan, Logan, Dick, Beaver, Jackie (Absent: Weevil)

First Appearance: Mr. Pope, Nathan Woods

Recurring: Richard Casablancas, Deputy Jerry Sacks, Sheriff Don Lamb, David "Curly" Moran, Alicia Fennel,  Kendall Casablancas, Lars/Singer

Already (?) Famous Person: Courtney Taylor-Taylor, lead singer of the Dandy Warhols

Generally Known TV Face: Cress Williams, Michael Kostroff

Logan's Inspirational Message: "To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best." - William M. Thackeray

Veronica's Alias: Curly's niece whose name is coincidentally Veronica Mars

Logan's Nicknames: Nurse Ratched (School Nurse)

Stats:

Dead Humans - 0

Backup Sighting - 0

Veronica Breaks In - 0

Veronica Tases Someone - 0

Mac Hacks - 0

Who's Your Daddy? - 0

Wallace Does Veronica a Favor - 0

Veronica Wants a Pony - 0

Logan Punches Someone - 1

Dick's Single Entendres - 

Logan's Single Entendres - 1 "Didn't plug her right the first time, huh?"

Shenanigans Called - 3

VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 0

VERONICA WAS WRONG - 0