Murder in the 28th Degree

Spoilers

Episode 3.14: Mars, Bars. Original Airdate 2.20.07

"Veronica is let out of jail, while Mac, Parker, Logan, and Bronson go on Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt. Josh decides to flee the country after learning the truth about his dad, and Lamb goes after Steve at Mindy's house."

 Zelda's Thoughts:

• “Where is he, Veronica? Where’s Josh?” / “Think back, Sheriff. Where did you have him last?”
• Oh damn, he was allergic to the peanut butter cookies V brought! We didn’t know he was allergic, but did she?
• Gasp, Coach’s wife has a bill from Vinnie Van Lowe!
• V drew a tattoo on her arm, does push ups, and braided part of her hair, then asks her dad for a couple cartons of smokes. She’s so damn cute. 

• “You think he did it?” // “I don't know. If he didn’t, he sure panicked quickly.”
• But Cliff thinks Josh didn’t do it. Then what’s the story?
• Keith smiles. V: What? K: Just … I thought this sight would be more traumatic for me.
• Gasp, Coach’s wife thought her husband was cheating on her. But no definitive proof.
• And Landry found a bug in his cell. Keith assures him neither he nor V planted it.
• Landry’s also not mentioning that Cyrus showed up at his hotel room the night of the murder, even though he’s claiming total transparency and innocence.
• It’s always so weird when Lamb actually listens to Keith.
• Hmm, neither Mars bugged Landry’s phone. Dooooo we think it was Tim Foyle?
• Aw and Logan comes to visit V and offer to run her errands … and take a cell phone picture of her behind bars. Fair.
• And now Mindy’s calling the Dean’s death a suicide … but that could be because Lamb is questioning her as a suspect.
• Mac! And Mac’s boyfriend! And Parker!
• “Who wants out of jail?” // “I do! I do!”

• Wow WHAT THE FUCK with Wallace’s homophobic joke. Fuck Wallace, fuck the writers, what the fucking hell was that garbage. I was about to compliment the writers on the continuity of Lamb vaguely recognizing Wallace and Wallace reminding him what he said to him in the pilot but THE FUCK.
• This show has NOT had a good track record with the queer politics.
• And speaking of the-fuck decisions, Josh may not be a murderer, but now in additional to be a jail-breaker, he’s an abductor, with Mason duct taped in the trunk of his car.
• V, don’t help this idiot flee the country. Duncan was one thing, but this is definitely wrong.
• Ah, Logan’s been drafted to join Parker and Mac and Mac’s bf on a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt. That sounds kinda fun.
• Okay, good, V isn’t actually gonna help Josh run away, she’s just reeling him in.
• Okay so we’ve worked out that Mindy was back at the hotel by the time the Dean was murdered … but she claims to have been asleep while Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was on the TV. Which opens up Hank Landry as a suspect, especially suspicious when he, like Mindy, is lying about Cyrus showing up.
• As far as cute bonding for Parker and Logan, this works fine enough. They both need something lighthearted to heal from their baggage.
• Gasp! Steve Botando showed up at the Dean’s office?
• And we’ve got the dramatic irony fun of knowing that Cyrus was in the room but the Marses are still speculating who it could be.
• Are … are they still pretending Parker is wearing a wig? No way would she have run into the ocean with it. At least Claire Nordhouse has the short hair. Unless they’re implying Parker has short hair but has extensions? Maybe? I'd be willing to accept extensions.
• Aw, I’m glad Mac has a nice relationship.
• Hahaha Cliff gets Steve off on a technicality and he’s just so adorable doing it, I forget if this is a good thing or not (I mean, it’s always fun to thwart Lamb)
• Ohhhh is this when Lamb dies? Why else have the moment with Keith offering to come along to the B&E at the O’Dell house? Like, why make a point of that?
• It’s a conflicted feeling, definitely. Lamb was an absolute shit, but also I’m not gonna go “yay someone died,” but it’s also not like I’m gonna mourn. It’s just crappy. And Sack shot a probably-high-on-meth Botando, and it’s all crappy.
• Random scene with Weevil in the bowels of campus. THAT MEANS IT’S NEW CLUE TIME.
• Naw, this resolve on the Coach’s death is annoying. And insurance fraud. And annoying. Did we learn nothing from Willy Loman?
• And Keith is acting sheriff now. Farewell, Lamb. Hello, competent Sheriff’s office.
• Man, they made Lamb a series regular only to kill him off? (actually I suspect the actor was threatening that he couldn’t make himself as on-call available if he remained only a recurring, but maybe I’m just cynical. It is odd that with the exception of the Mars family, every series regular on this show is more recurring than regular. Whereas if you look at Buffy, the rarer trivia is the episodes where one of the regulars doesn’t appear, versus our sad excitement here when the show remembers that Mac or Wallace or Weevil exist)
• Anydead

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Oh wow, so we find out Josh escaped because he was allergic to the cookies that Veronica gave him and then he overpowered the ambulance driver.
• Veronica is being weird behind bars, doing pushups and acting all tough….even though she’s by herself.  She has a pen-drawn tattoo – which, how did she get the pen in a cell, but whatever.  She’s got nothing to do: no cases, no cookie-making, no homework- and that’s probably Veronica’s biggest fear.
• Keith brought Cliff, attorney-at-law.
• Vinnie Van Lowe is here as well!
• They’re just taking Dean O’Dell’s name off his office?  It’s been like three months.
• So Veronica didn’t bug Landry. Who did?
• Logan visits Veronica and it’s weird that it’s not weird.
• Jamie Ray Newman looks like Veronica Lake while she’s being interrogated.  Or just like a really glamorous old-timey movie star.

• Wallace makes a really ridiculously awful gay joke at the expense of sheriff douche and Zelda and I are kinda both over it.  It’s gross and beneath this show. And it kinda makes me not want to pay attention to the rest of this episode.
• Ok, so Veronica’s out of jail now and Josh has kidnapped Mason and now has Veronica by gunpoint.  Josh says it’s Mason’s gun and that Mason was the one who killed his dad.
• Mason’s innocent but still wondering why he falsely ID’d Josh.
• Ok so Mac’s back and she still has her cute enviro-boyfriend.  And Logan walks in at the right time.  They (including Parker) need a fourth to do a VDAY scavenger hunt.  Sure, Logan needs some fun-time.
• I think Veronica should be jealous.  I think Parker is Mac’s new bestie. [It's not like Veronica and Mac hang out EVER. - Z]
• And of course Parker and Logan are getting close.
• Hey Veronica does watch prime time tv!  And she’s annoyed, like the rest of us, that her show is being pre-empted by sports ball.  But this gives her a clue! 
• Meanwhile, it’s early morning and this scavenger hunt has lasted all night.  I guess they won?
• Nope, they got third.
• So I guess Mac & cutie-envrio boy haven’t had sex yet.  Oh except, now they have.  Mac lost her v-card. 

• I’m not really paying attention to the main story but Richard Greico is back and I guess his fingerprints were on Dean O’Dell’s keyboard.  He’s convinced he was set up by Mindy.  Did they not take fingerprints earlier?  I guess not, since they thought it was a suicide.
• Veronica is really good at getting troubled boys out of the country.  It’s a very lopsided show.  Sure, it has a Strong Female Lead – but most of the other women on this show are portrayed as flakey or bitchy or femi-naziish.  They’re never as complex as the male characters.  Mac & Parker are two good characters, I guess, but never really get their due.  Plus Veronica was very dismissive of Parker at first.  I don’t think they ever became close.  Not as close as she and Mac, anyway.
• Oh man, I totally forgot.  Sheriff douche was literally just made a contract character and they kill him off half way through the season?  Cray.
• Sachs is totally shaken.  He, too, has a number on him.  Ten years?  SPOILERS.
• So it’s interesting that they’re investigating Dean O’Dell as murder, even though it was a suspected suicide.  And this week’s (two week) mystery is a murder that turned out to be a planned suicide.
• And to top off the episode, Veronica sees Parker & Logan together.  Because Logan can just go from being full on depressed to getting a new girlfriend.  Hate guys like that.
• And Keith’s the acting-sheriff! 
• RIP SHERIFF DOUCHE.

  

Crossfire!

D: That’s what that look was about. With the cookie.

Z: He was deciding to take something he knew he was allergic to.

D: Did he know they were peanut butter?

Z: Yeah, I think he specifically asked for peanut butter cookies.
D: I hope he’s not deathly allergic to peanuts. That’s risky.
Z: Yeah, peanut allergy’s no joke. That’s why we can’t get peanuts on airplanes. I miss airplane peanuts.
D: Me too.

Z: Honey roasted.

D & Z: *share a wistful look*

D: *pointed look at Z's keyboard*

Z: That’s not crossfire!

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: “Who wants out of jail?” // “I do! I do!” - Cliff/Veronica

Daniel:  Logan:  Will this require Math?  // Parker: I hope not // Logan: 'cause I'm bad at math. // Mac: I'll do the math.  You just be male and drive.

Arc/Continuity:

Neptune Roll Call:  Logan, Wallace, Parker, Mac, Sheriff Don Lamb, Weevil (Absent: Dick, Piz)

Recurring: Josh Barry, Tom Barry, Kathleen Barry, Mason, Professor Hank Landry, Mindy O'Dell, Vinnie Van Lowe, Bronson Pope, Cliff McCormack, Steve Botando, Deputy Jerry Sacks, Cora

Stats:

Dead Humans - 2

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 - 0

Dick's Single Entendres - 0

Shenanigans Called - 0

VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 0

VERONICA WAS WRONG - 0