Ladyghosts: Veronica Mars, 1.18, “Weapons of Class Destruction”

I am suspect already since this episode starts off with Leo making out with Veronica, smiling his stupid stoner smile and talking in his stupid stoner voice and telling Veronica he wants to go into her apartment because he wants to “check out her bedroom ceiling.” Really, Veronica? Look at your life. Look at your choices.

Love is in the air for both of the Marses, it looks like, because after Veronica comes in from her make-out sesh and Leo has presumbaly gone off to get Taco Bell, Papa Mars lets Veronica know he’s dating Alicia, Wallace’s mom.  Wallace and Veronica are predictably disturbed.  Veronica is less disturbed, probably because it’s possible that she was dating her half-brother. So her dad dating her best friend’s mom isn’t even a thing.

Anyway, over at school Veronica is doing some investigative reporting for The Navigator, because there have been several fire drills recently  She interviews Mr. Clemmons who insists it’s just procedure, but when Veronica calls the school board they say that the school is only required to do one a year (or semester– I wasn’t paying that close attention).  Clemmons is a terrible liar.  In my personal favorite undercover move of Veronica’s, she then calls Principal Clemmons pretending to be the school board lady, who has a voice like Joey’s agent on Friends, and Clemmons discloses that they’ve been getting bomb threats.  That explains the KillEmAll.net graffiti that’s written all over the school. Under the guidance of the new journalism subsititute (played by Joey Lauren Adams, speaking of distinctive voices), they print it in the school newspaper, which raises Clemmons’s ire.  He’s all snippy with Ms. Stafford the journalism teacher. I bet she’s lost her job by the end of the episode.

Oh hey! Here’s the episode that JTT was in!  He’s Ben, some disaffected, smarmy new classmate of Veronica’s.  I wonder if this is like Law & Order where the celebrity guest star is always the doer.

Back at the Mars abode, we learn why Veronica isn’t bovvered about Papa Mars’ new lady love.  She thinks as soon as her mom gets sober, she’ll come back and they’ll be one big happy family again.  Sometimes you remember that Veronica is just a kid.  Wallace is pissed, though, because he doesn’t want his mom to get hurt, but Veronica asks him to not say anything.  And Wallace steps up and tells V that he’s tired of doing her favors, which he probably should have said like 10 episodes ago.  Too bad for him Wallace that even after he says that, Veronica STILL asks him to go get Ben’s file after some kid says he saw Ben throwing explosive tennis balls at cats with Norris, another kid who has a reputation as a bully.  Wallace can’t find Ben’s file and Norris hasn’t been in any trouble since middle school.  But the KillEmAll website is just a countdown clock, so we know that Veronica has 46 hours to find the culprit.

This whole episode, Duncan’s been a big grump to Veronica and he finally comes out and says that Logan spilled that Veronica has a file on him in connection with Lilly’s murder.  Veronica tells Duncan that she knows about his epilepsy and “violent mood swings.”  Duncan is pissed, especially when he makes the connection that Veronica thinks Abel Koontz was paid off by the Kanes.  Veronica asks him if he remembers the night Lilly dies and he says, “You think I killed Lilly??”  I know from watching Lie To Me that this is a non-answer and is used to deflect.  Then he completely loses his shit and yells at Veronica, asking if she thinks he’ll kill her too and runs out of the room.  I do love that Duncan is cray-cray story line!! (No I don’t).

Veronica decides to deal with her emotions by trailing JTT.  I’m surprised she didn’t put a tracker on his car.  But she follows him to the Camelot Hotel (Neptune’s skeezy hotel, as opposed to the Neptune Grand – the fancy hotel).  After that, she catches him buying massive amounts of fertilizer.  Presumably he doesn’t have a backyard at the Camelot so he must be up to something.  However, the most prominent suspect is rarely the actual culprit and there are 15 minutes left in the show. Sooo. While ever-vigilant Veronica is on her stake-out, ever-helpful Logan calls to let her know that Duncan knows about the files.  Thanks, Logan. Really.  Logan also overhears when Ben (or Teen Kaczynski according to the oh-so-clever writers) jumps into Veronica’s car.  You don’t keep that locked when you’re on a stakeout?? So that’s scary and they drive off to the Camelot where Logan is waiting to beat the shit out of Ben and they find out that Ben is an undercover cop, 21 Jump Street-style.

Ben, who I guess doesn’t care about his cover or his sooper sekrit mission just goes ahead and discloses that Norris has a website where they think he is the leader of a national trench coat mafia.  I guess he needs Norris’s help because he effed up his job, Norris doesn’t trust him, and now he needs Veronica to get into Norris’s house.  Oh, I forgot about this! After Veronica leaves the hotel, she and Logan share a tongue kiss. But what about dumb Leo?? I know you Logan/Veronica shippers liked that.

So Veronica gets into Norris’s house by exploiting his crush on her (of course) and pretending that she wants to look at his weapons (not a euphemism) and using some random story about how she needs his advice about weapons for a case for her dad or something. Veronica cases the joint for a pipe bomb, but all she manages to get is an awkward date invite from Norris.  But he has Wi-Fi, V! One of the first families in the area to get it!  Anyway, because she sees some nerdy kid named Joe that Mac was flirting with earlier this episode, she somehow deduces that he set up the whole thing as a hoax to screw with Norris because he bullied him in junior high.  But too bad for Norris, Ben already planted evidence in Norris’ car.  Why, JTT, why!!!  So they print the story in the school paper, which I guess pissed off Clemmons because Joey Lauren Adams has to stop being the journalism teacher.  I knew she wouldn’t make it.

But more distressing than that is that Duncan has gone missing after withdrawing $10,000 from the bank, presumably in response to the fear that he is a suspect in Lilly’s death.  It’s not looking good for Duncan, you guys!  I’m trying to remember if I thought he did it when I was watching this show the first time or if I thought it was a red herring, and I just can’t remember.  What about you all?