Alexa, Who's the Bomber?

Episode 4.06: Entering a World of Pain. Original Airdate 7.19.19.

“As Veronica learns more about Nicole's past, her suspicion deepens. A frantic phone call from Paris leads to a search for Matty. Veronica unwittingly does legwork for Leo.”

Daniel's Thoughts:

• That title’s not ominous or anything. 
• Veronica’s listening to Kirby with the bug she planted.
• Also she found out Matty avoided going to Paris with her mom and step dad, Home Alone style.
• "Alexa, Who’s the bomber?"  "We don’t have one of those." "Then who the hell’s been talking to me when you’re not here?"
• Veronica may be joking, but I also think she’s going a little nutso. 
• This episode? Co-written by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. 
• Matty thinks Dick Sr is the bomber but Veronica doesn’t.  I’m kinda siding with Matty on this one.  It makes the most sense right now. 
• Some great dialogue this episode.  Good job, Kareem. 
• AGENT LEO.  HE’S IN MORE THAN ONE EPISODE. 
• Did Veronica bring Leo McDonalds?  IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE PIZZA.  In fact, Z and I ordered pizza for this watch considering how often they mention it this season. [And it was delicious. Thanks Dani's! - Z]
• And Leo should know better than to  leave Veronica alone in his office.  She takes pictures of his files.   
• Oh no, more fratboys. It always comes down to the fratboys.
• PATTON BROUGHT PIZZA. 
• He’s bringing info to the Mars’ because the police chief refused to hear it. 
• Veronica is SUCH a mom to Matty.  It’s totally adorable the way Veronica looks at her. 

I shall call her mini-me.

•  Oh, Veronica.  How has she not gone to therapy with everything she’s been through.  I admire Logan for doing it, though. He’s definitely been through a lot and considering his childhood, really needs it. 
• And Veronica goes to a strip club. To meet Vinnie. 
• She tells him to stay away from Matty in no uncertain terms. 
• And Veronica goes to interview the frat bros.   She doesn’t get very far and gets thrown out eventually.  One plays the lawyer card.  The reactions are worth it, though. I’m sure we'll get back to this.
• JK Simmons & Big Dick are talking about the bombings and HOLY SHIT DID HE JUST CONFESS?  DID DICK SR CONFESS TO THE FIRST BOMB?  ZELDA TO THE HULU REWIND. 
• Yeah, I think he just confessed.   At least to the first bombing.  It went off by accident. It was supposed to go off later in the night when no one was there.  I mean, he doesn't seem that fussed about it.
• But Dick Sr. thinks JK Simmons killed Perry Walsh to cover it up.  It doesn’t seem like JK Simmons did that. 
• Keith’s good at playing Good Cop – and then getting to the real questions. 
• “Sometimes I feel like I’m prostituting myself…” Keith says to illicit a reaction.  It doesn’t. And Big Dick is lucky he has JK Simmons who knows what Keith is doing. 
• I never thought a conversation with Veronica & Weevil would involve so many Mary Poppins references. 

• But the fight between them is intense.  They both make great points.  Weevil feels like he’s in a hole and has to do what he has to do. Veronica feels he's better than that and he sold himself out. 
• Logan in uniform.  Men in uniform in front of computers.

• Oh man, and it seems the one who blackmailed Maloof is some teenager. 
• Logan takes Keith’s good cop routine and gets him to confess.  But he finds out about Maloof transferring money to our Cartel Hitmen. 
• He reports to it all to Veronica. 
• Once again, Veronica scoffs therapy.  Once again, Logan looks extremely hurt. 
• Oh wow.  Logan’s been called back into active duty. That was quick and unexpected. 
• Before he leaves, Logan finally admits he speaks Arabic in response to Mama Maloof saying in Arabic that she’ll miss seeing Logan. 
• The name of the strip club is Peepers.  What?  
• Veronica pours a glass of wine and it’s awesome because she purposefully pours it to the brim.

• Veronica breaks into the cartels’ room.  Haha oh man, Keith fakes a heart attack to get Veronica out of the room before the maid (Weevil’s sister) goes in there.  Veronica is really worried that he might not be faking it.  And that’s scary, considering. 
• But of course Claudia recognizes Veronica and tells Weevil, while Alonzo is there. 
• And then Veronica visits Kirby, her only female friend.   
• “What’s the destructive gene in your relationship?” “I think it might be me.”  Sad. 
• AHHHH Leo did it on purpose!  He knows her well. He left out those papers because he knew she’d photograph them and do some leg work for him.  He also tracked her bag.  He’s learning from her. 
• And then they all get really drunk and dance a lot. 
• And Leo is walking her home and it’s getting weirdly romantic.  And while I theoretically don’t mind a Leo/Veronica pairing…  she’s still with Logan.  And who’s to say the relationship wouldn’t mirror hers and Logan’s. 
• Matty breaks in.  She surprises Veronica.  
• Clarence Wiedman!  And just when Maloof says he’s out of danger, our trashy potential-inlaw survivor shows up and shoots him in the shoulder. Maloof will be all right.  But more importantly Clarence is there at the perfect time because he shoots the guy.   

Zelda’s Thoughts:

• I’m sure with a title like this, everything will be fine.
• Ah right, we are suspecting Nicole now, per the previouslies.
• “Maybe Logan was right. I should have sought professional help right then.” Yes, V. Good idea. Go get it!
• “Well, that person, whoever it was is a real asshole.” I love the Marses.
• “Alexa, who’s the bomber?” // “Uh we don’t have one of those.” // “Then who the hell’s been talking to me when you’re not here?”God I just. I love them. Please don’t hurt Keith.
• Ah, this episode is cowritten by renaissance man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!
• Matty asks V if she knows about Big Dick marrying Cordelia Chase. “I know everything” Then she’s got the bombshell about Cassidy. And it’s like … kid, the whole series is on Hulu now. Have a good binge and catch up.
• Aw damn, V is giving Matty her own taser. Do we need a new stat of Matty tases someone? I thought Veronica didn’t want Matty to become her?
• Leo’s bummed bc the FBI has them going after the wrong guy (he thinks), and I just finished S2 of Mindhunter so I’m sure Groff can relate.
• Meanwhile V is taking photos of confidential files like a Mars.
• And Pizza Patton disobeys Murderhead Head’s orders and takes Prostitute Yourself to Langdon—who throws him out of her office in a rage, “you are the pizza boy who cried wolf!”
• And rejected by Langdon, Patton brings his theory to the Marses. Is he gonna bug them again?
• Patton’s evidence that he’s onto something is the dead duck in his bed. But what if it’s just Clyde wanting him to stop making waves? I’ll do anything to not give him credit.
• “I must have missed the part where I said I would go see your therapist.” Dammit, Veronica, listen to your own voiceover and go to therapy.
• Please Veronica please just go to therapy. Get past your whatever and recognize that you could be emotionally healthier.
• Vinnie’s getting paid $3k a day to hang out at a strip club.
• Ugh stupid Southern Stereotype Chattanooga Charlie.
• Clyde is so mad at how dumbass Big Dick is, with his “special coded” messages of using initials.
• Whoa whoa whoa Big Dick is behind the bombings????? For actual factual? He’s just openly confessing to us, the Hulu watchers, with two and a half episodes to go????? And he hired Perry? Everything Veronica said is right? But she’s never right this early in the arc! THAT’S NOT HOW DETECTIVE FICTION WORKS.
• Apparently no one was supposed to die in the Sea Sprite bombing, but the timer was off.
• That tells me he can’t be behind the Saw-style bombing, if his plan was never human carnage. And if he’s the bomber, it doesn’t make sense that Comrade Quacks was bombed after he’d already purchased it … does it?
• Okay we paused and talked it through and we think we know only that Big Dick/Perry Walsh are behind the first bombing but not necessarily any of the others.
• Also I call bullshit that a bomb in an office set to go off in the middle of the night wouldn’t hurt anyone. There’s always a night desk person in a hotel. Someone was always gonna get hurt, Big Dick. (I’m calling bullshit not shenanigans because I’m calling it on a character, not the writers)
• And now, fresh from confessing to us, the Hulu public, Big Dick and Clyde welcome Keith into their den.
• And he shows up with names of Casablancas Realty subsidiaries, and Clyde admits it readily because he knows better than to play dumb.

Smart criminal, dumb af criminal.

• Keith: “This job. Sometimes I feel like I’m prostituting myself.” *crickets* ugh that didn’t work
• “He knew, Dick. He knew. That’s why he asked. He just wanted to see if you were gonna lie about it.” I do enjoy how not-stupid Clyde is.
• Weevil is steaming furious at V, because Juan Diego has vamoosed.
• The thing is, they’re both calling each out in justified ways. V abandoned her expensive degrees to live in a town she hates. And Weevil lost his legal legitimacy, turning fully to the criminal life.
• Oh look at our budget, we have a fancy tech military base full of tall built boys in camo, including our Logan.
• And because the potential blackmailer is a probable white supremacist, Logan shows up in full military gear.

• And while we may be neutering the blackmailer, Logan now knows that Maloof paid off Alonzo and Dodie for something.
• He brings it to V. “I definitely owe you one.” // “I’d like to cash in now.” With a visit to Jane the Therapist! Please, V, please. You have 2.5 episodes left to get to some emotional growth this season.
• Oh damn, Logan got called back into active duty.
• LOL Logan finally reveals he speaks Arabic by responding to Mama Maloof objectifying him.

• The Marses are in matching plaid, what is happening.

• And as the Marses pull out of a parking lot, the surviving Carr brother pulls in … and gets his gun.
• And when V pays a visit to the cartel hotel room, she finds that Dodie has been using the Carr brothers’ licenses as bookmarks to the bible.
• Now the risk with this ploy is if that it's Claudia, Weevil's sister, whom they're distracting, and there’s a chance she’ll remember Veronica.
• Aw fuck, Claudia got fired. Oh because there’s no customers. I was worried she got fired because V broke into the room.
• YUP she recognized her all right. And she’s fully wise. She tells them V was in Alonzo’s hotel room.
• And Alonzo says he’ll pay her a visit. Weevil looks conflicted. Will he give her a heads up?
• At least we’re ending the episode with our best friend and possible bomber Nicole Malloy.
• Ahahaha I love that Leo deliberately left out the files that V snooped. I like that he knows her that well, and wasn’t played for a fool.
• See, the writing on Leo is much better this episode. The humor and chemistry are landing.
• Did V ever party this hard when she was a teen or in college? She really super didn’t, and it feels like a very different character and show.

• Please don’t hook up with Leo, V. Don’t be that person.
• Matty broke into V’s apartment? At least she cockblocked any hooking-up-with-Leo-ness.
• Matty: “So have I met all your boyfriends now, or are there more?” Me: *looks around for Piz*
• HOLY SHIT CLARENCE WIEDMAN IS MALOOF’S NEW BODYGUARD
• Just in time for the return of a Carr.
• Well, fuck, everybody’s been shot.

Crossfire!

Big Dick: *has a twitter handle called BigDickProps*

Daniel: *scoffs* of course he does

Veronica: What? You’re always saying we don’t do enough father-daughter stuff.

Zelda: It’s called daddy-daughter time!

Favorite Lines:

Daniel & Zelda: "Alexa, Who’s the bomber?"  "We don’t have one of those." "Then who the hell’s been talking to me when you’re not here?"  Veronica/Keith

Arc/Continuity:

First Appearance: Blake Long

Recurring: Weevil, Alonzo Lozano, Agent Leo D'Amato, Daniel Maloof, Nicole Malloy, Police Chief Marcia Langdon, Penn Epner, Richard Casablancas, Matty Ross, Amalia Maloof, Alex Maloof, Clyde Pickett, Vinnie Van Lowe, Don, Chattanooga Charlie, Clarence Wiedman, Claudia, Tyler Carr, Hector, Booker Woods

Stats:

Dead Humans - 1

Pony Sighting - 1

Veronica Breaks In -1

Matty Breaks In - 1

Veronica Tases Someone - 0

Mac Hacks - 0

Who's Your Daddy? - 0

Wallace Does Veronica a Favor -0

Logan Punches Someone - 0

Dick's Single Entendres - 0

Shenanigans Called - 0

VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 1 (Big Dick and Clyde are behind at least one of the bombings)

VERONICA WAS WRONG - 0