Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas.[1] The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network.[2] Balancing murder mystery, high-school and college drama, the series features social commentary with sarcasm and off-beat humor in a style often compared to film noir.[3] Set in the fictional town of Neptune, the series starred Kristen Bell as the title character, a student who progressed from high school to college during the series while moonlighting as a private investigator under the wing of her detective father.
The first season had seven regular characters. As Thomas had conceived the show as a one-year mystery, he decided to introduce and eliminate several characters in order to create an "equally fascinating mystery" for the series' second season. Thomas needed "new blood" since he felt unable to bring back the Kanes and the Echolls and "have them all involved in a new mystery".[4] The third season features a cast of ten actors who receive billing,[5] an increase from the nine actors in the second.[6] Three of the regulars in the second season are written out of the series, two new characters are introduced and two others are upgraded from recurring roles.
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Kristen Bell portrayed the titular Veronica Mars, a high school junior and skilled private detective. Bell was chosen to play Veronica Mars from more than 500 women who auditioned for the role. Bell felt that it was "just luck" that Rob Thomas saw that "I have some sass to me, and that's exactly what he wanted". Bell thought that it was her cheerleader looks and an outsider's attitude that set her apart from the other women who auditioned.[7]
Teddy Dunn portrayed Duncan Kane, Veronica's ex-boyfriend and Lilly's brother. Dunn originally auditioned for Logan, but ended up portraying Duncan Kane.[8] Dunn left the series midway through the second season because Thomas felt that the Logan-Veronica-Duncan love triangle had run its course. He needed to put "other guys in her life" to keep the series fresh and attributed Dunn's removal to fan interest dominating the Logan-Veronica relationship,[9] saying "it became clear that one suitor won out".[10]
Jason Dohring played Logan Echolls, the "bad-boy" 09er son of an A-list actor. Dohring originally auditioned for the role of Duncan Kane. After his audition, the producers asked Dohring to audition for the character of Logan, who at the time was only going to be a guest star in the pilot.[8] Dohring felt that his audition for Duncan "was a little dark",[8] and was told by the producers that it was "not really right". The producers then asked Dohring to read for the role of Logan. The audition process for Logan was originally Duncan, and Dohring acted one scene from the pilot; bashing the headlights of a car in with a crowbar. During the final auditions, Dohring read two times with Bell, and met with the studio and the network. When reading with Bell, Dohring acted the whole scene as if he had raped her, and tried to give the character an evil and fun feel.[11]
Percy Daggs III portrayed Wallace Fennel, Veronica's best friend and frequent partner in mystery solving. Percy Daggs III auditioned for the role of Wallace Fennel two times before being cast, and had to go through three tests with the studio and network executives. During his first audition, Daggs read four scenes from the pilot. Just before his studio test, Daggs read with Bell and had "a great conversation". He said that she "made me feel comfortable about auditioning", and was a big reason why he became more comfortable playing Wallace as the season went on.[12]
Francis Capra portrayed Eli "Weevil" Navarro, the leader of the PCH Biker gang and Veronica's friend.
Enrico Colantoni played Veronica's father Keith Mars, a private investigator and former Balboa County Sheriff.
Sydney Tamiia Poitier played Mallory Dent, Veronica's journalism teacher at Neptune High through the first season's first half.[13] Ms. Dent, as she was commonly referred to, was the only teacher who took Veronica at face value, not based on prejudices. Together with Veronica, she was responsible for uncovering the voting scam that led to Duncan winning the school elections illegally. Ms. Dent left her job after becoming pregnant. Although she was given series regular billing, Poitier appeared in only four episodes, but was given credit for seven. Poitier's removal from the series was rumored to be due to budget issues.[14]
Tessa Thompson portrays Jackie Cook in the second season as a romantic interest of Wallace and the daughter of a famous baseball player. Fan reaction to the character was generally negative, after Veronica witnessed Jackie talking to a guy while dating Wallace. Thomas blamed the character's reception on his error in judgment: he had hoped fans would question whether it was Jackie or Veronica in the wrong, however the audience automatically assumed that it was Jackie. Thomas decided not to change the story arc he had planned for Jackie, as he believed Thompson was "a fantastic actress and she's got more to play." He said that whether fans end up liking Jackie is "up in the air", but he hoped that they did because "she's really, really good".[15] Jackie was subsequently written out of the series at the end of the second season.[5]
Ryan Hansen portrayed Dick Casablancas, an 09er friend of Logan, a womanizer and former high-school bully turned frat boy. Dick was a recurring character in the first season, but was upgraded to a series regular in the second season.
Kyle Gallner acted as Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas, Dick's introverted younger brother. Cassidy was a recurring character in the first season, but was upgraded to a series regular in the second season.[16]
Tina Majorino portrayed Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, a computer expert befriended by Veronica. Mac was a recurring character in the first two seasons, but was upgraded to a series regular in the third.
Julie Gonzalo portrayed Parker Lee, Mac's extroverted roommate at Hearst College, described by Thomas as "everything that Mac is not". Parker was introduced in the third season as a series regular.
Chris Lowell played Stosh "Piz" Piznarski, Wallace's roommate at Hearst College and a music lover with his own campus radio show. Piz was introduced in the third season as a series regular, and was named after the director of the pilot, Mark Piznarski. The character's role was to have another male friend for Veronica who was middle-class, and not upper-class. Thomas used the radio show as a narrative device to capture the mood of the university.[17]
Michael Muhney portrayed Don Lamb, the Balboa County Sheriff who won the office from Keith in the recall election spearheaded by Jake Kane.[10] Lamb was a recurring character in the first two seasons, but was upgraded to a series regular in the third.
Charisma Carpenter portrays Kendall Casablancas, Cassidy and Dick's gold-digging stepmother. Kendall first appears in the second season premiere, having married real estate magnate Richard Casablancas, seemingly for his vast wealth. She becomes the stepmother of Dick and Cassidy, and begins an affair with their friend, Logan. Cassidy hires Veronica to investigate his stepmother, and she discovers that she helped Richard commit real estate fraud. Veronica told Cassidy and gave the information to the S.E.C.; however, Richard fled the country before he could be arrested. Richard's lawyers told Kendall that while the boys both had trust funds, essentially she had nothing. Kendall became desperate for money, and began selling Richard's belongings, and turned to Logan and his roommate Duncan, but to no avail. Cassidy, who had started a real estate company called Phoenix Land Trust, needed Kendall to be his CEO for business purposes, because of his underage status. Although Kendall and Cassidy admitted their mutual dislike of each other, the prospect of the salary eventually made Kendall come around. The business continued, though most people assumed Richard was behind Phoenix Land Trust, not Cassidy. When Cassidy informs Kendall they need to acquire more land, she goes and visits the incarcerated Aaron. She makes a deal with him: he will buy into Phoenix Land Trust if she goes to Duncan and Logan's suite and gets something for him. Kendall goes to the suite, and removes some of Duncan's hair from the shower drain. Aaron later uses the hair to plant false evidence implying Duncan committed the crime for which he was on trial, and Aaron was acquitted.
When Keith discovers that Kendall is the beneficiary of the life insurance policies on her stepsons, who could have been killed in the bus crash that claimed the lives of several people, he began investigating. He and Veronica discover that everything they know about Kendall is a lie; she is not a dumb trophy wife, rather a con artist named Priscilla Banks. She had been working with the Fitzpatrick crime family, and spent time in jail to protect her lover, Cormac Fitzpatrick (Jason Beghe). Keith breaks into Kendall's home, which leads to a dangerous confrontation with Kendall and Liam Fitzpatrick. When Cormac is released from prison, Keith reunites the two, who are trying to escape from Liam Fitzpatrick with the money Kendall received from Phoenix Land Trust. As Keith leaves the two, Cormac shoots and kills Kendall and tries to shoot Keith, who escapes. Keith believes he got Kendall killed, and feels guilty since he and Kendall had formed a cordial relationship while he was working for her. He goes back to the crime scene with the police, but neither the body of Kendall or Cormac are found, who is believed to have been killed by Liam for not giving up the money.
David Starzyk portrays Richard Casablancas, Cassidy and Dick's father. Richard marries Kendall for her to be a trophy wife, and openly favors Dick over Cassidy. When Veronica discovers that he has committed real estate fraud and tells the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Richard flees the country before he can be arrested.
Jeffrey Sams acts as Terrence Cook, ex-major-league baseball player, gambler and Jackie's formerly estranged father.
Harry Hamlin plays Aaron Echolls, an Oscar-winning A-list actor. At the beginning of the series, Aaron is married to his second wife Lynn, with whom he has a son Logan. He adopted his daughter Trina while married to his previous wife. Aaron has numerous female fans, due to his impressive physique and good looks. Aaron cheats on his wife, and easily angered, he physically abuses Logan, but tolerates Trina. Aaron quits acting when Lynn commits suicide, and tries to reconcile with Logan and Trina. Upon learning that Trina is being physically abused by her boyfriend, he beats the boy, threatening more if the boy ever returned. When Veronica exposes him as the man who killed Lilly, Aaron is indicted and held without bail. Logan visits his father in a holding cell after new evidence implicates Logan in a murder case. Aaron claims that he is innocent, and tries to convince his son that he had been wrongfully accused. Logan, who despises his father, does not believe Aaron's story, but recognizes that the evidence against Aaron is circumstantial at best. Later, Kendall visits Aaron in prison, and he agrees to invest in Phoenix Land Trust if she gets some of Duncan's hair. Aaron uses the hair to plant false evidence implying Duncan committed the crime, and Aaron is acquitted. He goes to the Neptune Grand and has sex with Kendall. While she is in the shower, Clarence Wiedman appears and kills Aaron with a silenced pistol on the orders of Duncan.
Lisa Rinna portrays Lynn Echolls, Logan's mother and Trina's stepmother. Lynn was a famous movie star who was married to Aaron Echolls, an even bigger movie star. Lynn tried to ignore Aaron's abuse of Logan by turning to alcohol and pills. After Aaron received several threatening letters, Lynn turned to Keith in an effort to discover who was behind them. It turned out to be a caterer who had seen Aaron having an affair at a party, and he had her fired. At the Echolls's Christmas party, the caterer knifed Aaron in the gut. Aaron recovered, and hired Keith to find out who was leaking stories of his many infidelities to the press, only to discover it was Lynn. When Aaron confronted Lynn, she said that she wanted to hurt him like he hurt her, and went back to her car, took some pills, and drove away. Her car was found abandoned on the Coronado Bridge. Apparently, she had jumped, but no body was found. Even after the funeral, Logan refused to believe that his mother was dead. He believed she left him clues that she was still alive (ex: leaving behind a lighter that was engraved with "Free At Last" that she always kept in her purse), and that she was faking her death to get away from Aaron. Logan hired Veronica to prove his mother was alive; however, a video filmed by a freshman and his friends who were making a movie showed jumping from the bridge in the background, the exact time it was believed Lynn had jumped. Logan finally realizes that she's gone due to the evidence in the video and after discovering that Trina was the one using his mother's credit cards. With all hope gone of his mother being alive, he breaks down crying in Veronica's arms. Later, when Lynn's will was read, it was discovered she had cut Aaron out completely, left nothing to Trina, and given Logan everything she had.
Alyson Hannigan plays Trina Echolls, Logan's adopted sister. Trina is a struggling actress. She is first mentioned by Aaron Echolls in the episode "Clash of the Tritons", who says that she is the only one who will talk to him. Logan asks Veronica to investigate his mother's death, and they discover Trina is staying at the Neptune Grand. The film Trina had been shooting in Australia had not worked out, and she had decided to return home. Trina moves back into the house, and gets into trouble with money after borrowing money from her boyfriend, Dylan. She asks Logan for a loan; however, he does not give her any money. Because Trina can't pay Dylan, he ends up beating her to which Logan finds out about after seeing her limp and has a black eye. Once Dylan arrives to talk to Aaron about starring in his movie, Aaron confronts him and beats him.
In "My Mother, the Fiend", Trina returns to Neptune as the "Special Celebrity Director" of the school play. During this time, Veronica investigates the case of a baby left in the bathroom of Neptune High during the prom of 1980. She believes Celeste Kane is the mother and wants her to own up to abandoning the child. Veronica eventually discovers Trina was the prom baby, and tells Trina the truth, who is excited at the thought of inheriting some of Celeste's wealth. The next day at school, Veronica and Trina are talking when Mary, the deaf lunch lady, begins pointing to herself and then to Trina. Veronica eventually deciphers her sign language: Mary is Trina's biological mother. It turns out then-student Mary had an affair with a teacher, and she left baby Trina at his doorstep. He then left the baby in the bathroom at the prom, knowing they would think it belonged to a student. It turned out the teacher was the current principal, Alan Moorehead. Trina busts him in the middle of a staff meeting, in front of all the other teachers, and he is fired.
As a result of Hannigan's busy schedule, several of her storylines had to be swapped between episodes. Thomas said that he "loved having Alyson in the show", and had "a lot of fun with her".[15]
Erica Gimpel portrays Alicia Fennel, Wallace's mother; dated Keith Mars at the end of season one and the beginning of season two.
Kyle Secor recurs as Jake Kane, Lilly and Duncan's father, a software billionaire. He is Lianne Mars' sweetheart in high school and was having an affair with her at the start of season one. Jake invented streaming video, making him one of the most influential men in Neptune, California via his software company, Kane Software. When Veronica interviews Abel Koontz, he suggests that Veronica is actually Jake's biological daughter rather than Keith's, owing to the fact the Jake and Lianne once dated while in high school. Keith later has a paternity test and is proved to be Veronica's biological father. Jake returns in the series finale as a member of the secret society "The Castle".
Lisa Thornhill acts as Celeste Kane, Lilly and Duncan's mother. Celeste loathed Veronica because of her husband's affair with Veronica's mother. She disapproved of Veronica and Duncan's relationship, and told Duncan that Veronica could have been his half-sister, because of Jake's affair with Lianne. This caused Duncan to break up with Veronica. Before Lilly died, Celeste had shown some resentment towards her daughters' way of life, and blamed every problem her family faced with was on Lilly. In her last appearance, in Donut Run, she hired Vinnie Van Lowe to find Duncan.
Amanda Seyfried portrays Lilly Kane, Duncan's older sister,[18] Veronica's best friend, and Logan's girlfriend. Lilly was the daughter of Jake and Celeste Kane. She was murdered roughly eight months prior to the time of the show's first episode. Abel Koontz, a disgruntled employee fired from Jake's firm, confessed to the crime and was awaiting execution. Lilly is seen on the show throughout a series of flashbacks and Veronica's daydreams, which portray her as a fun, wild, and stylish teenage girl. She was Veronica's best friend, who was dating Lilly's brother, Duncan. Prior to her death, Lilly had been dating Logan, but had also been in a relationship with Eli "Weevil" Navarro, as Lilly did not like to be tied down. Lilly's murder changes Veronica's life completely. It was the catalyst for a series of events that include Veronica's father Keith losing his job, Veronica's mother Lianne leaving town, and all of Veronica's friends abandoning her. Through the first season, Veronica investigates Lilly's murder, and finds that nothing is what it seems. All three of the Kanes falsified their alibis, and Lilly's time of death was three hours off. Clarence Wiedman, the head of security for Kane Software, called in the tip that got Abel Koontz arrested.
In the episode, "Leave It to Beaver", Veronica and Duncan discover several video tapes in Lilly's bedroom. They show Lilly in bed with Aaron, Logan's father. Veronica realizes that Aaron killed Lilly to get the tapes back. When Duncan found her body, he went into a catatonic state. When his parents discovered him reeling over Lilly's dead body they assumed he had killed Lilly in an epileptic fit. To protect their son, they began an elaborate cover-up of the murder. However, before Veronica is able to take the tapes to the police, Aaron tries to kill her. After a chase, Keith arrives and he manages to subdue Aaron, and he is arrested. Later that night, Veronica has a dream about Lilly. The two of them are floating in a lily-covered pool. Leaning back and smiling, Veronica declared this was the way things were supposed to be, and how they were going to be from now on. Lilly smiles sadly and replies, "You know how things are going to be from now on, don't you? You have to know." She then asks Veronica not to forget about her and Veronica turns to see that Lilly has disappeared and she is alone in the pool. Veronica promises that she could never forget her best friend. Lilly also appears as a hallucination in the season two premiere, "Normal Is the Watchword". Distracted by seeing Lilly, Veronica misses the bus and has to ride with Weevil back to town instead; the bus later crashes, and all aboard eventually die. Lilly returns for one last dream sequence in "Not Pictured", wherein Veronica's subconscious suggests that Lilly would have attended Vassar, had she lived. As high-spirited as ever, Lilly brags over her sexual experiments and promises Veronica will understand once she goes to college. A painting of Lilly is seen in the final episode, as an homage to the character.
Thomas described Seyfried as "the biggest surprise of the year". When casting Lilly Kane, who would only appear occasionally as "the dead girl", Thomas did not receive the same level of actors who auditioned for the role of a series regular. Thomas said that he had "never had a more cut and dry audition" than he did with Seyfried. He said that she was "about 100 times better than anyone else that we saw, she was just spectacular". He said that she ended up being so good in the series that he used her three or four more times than he initially planned.[19]
Corinne Bohrer recurs as Lianne Mars, Veronica's estranged and alcoholic mother. Lianne was the high school sweetheart of Jake Kane, who she believed was Veronica's father. At Neptune High, Lianne was credited to being a gossip and a friend to the deaf girl, Mary, who was later revealed to be the biological mother of Trina Echolls. Lianne later marries Keith, however she has an affair with Jake. After the Lilly Kane murder is made public, Lianne develops a drinking problem and leaves town. When she returns, claiming to want to fix her problems, Veronica spends all of her college savings to enter her mother into rehab. Lianne returns to stay, seemingly sober, however Veronica finds out that Lianne did not finish rehab. Veronica asks Lianne to leave, who steals the $50,000 settlement Veronica received from the Kanes. Lianne reappeared in Veronica's dream, where Lilly was never murdered and Lianne is the perfect mother.
Ryan Eggold guest stars as Charlie Stone, Logan's half-brother and Aaron's son. When Logan asks Veronica to investigate his rapidly declining trust fund, she uncovers the fact that Logan's father, movie star Aaron, had an illegitimate child. In order to keep this fact a secret from the tabloids, Aaron arranged for his accountant to deposit $10,000 a month from the Echolls estate into a fake charity set up to funnel the money to his son. After learning this information, Logan reaches out to his half-brother, finding a confidante and potential friend. Veronica continues her investigation to discover that the person Logan believes to be his half-brother (portrayed by Matt Czuchry) is actually a writer for Vanity Fair who posed as Charlie Stone in order to get Logan to share personal details about growing up in the Echolls home. The real Charlie Stone refused to answer the reporter's questions, preferring to remain anonymous. Logan, believing that Charlie set up the reporter, reveals his brother's identity on Larry King Live in an attempt to scoop the magazine profile. After Veronica informs him that the real Charlie had nothing to do with the reporter, Logan tearfully contacts his half-brother again.
Cress Williams appears as Nathan Woods, Wallace's biological father with a shady past as an undercover cop.
Richard Grieco portrays Steve Batando, a struggling actor and drug addict as well as Mindy O'Dell's ex-husband. Killed Lamb with a bat then was shot and killed by Sacks.
Laura San Giacomo recurs as Harmony Chase, a married woman with whom Keith becomes romantically involved.
Max Greenfield recurs as Leo D'Amato, introduced as the new Sheriff's Deputy, who Veronica befriends. Without his consent, Veronica steals a recording of an anonymous tip implicating Abel Koontz in the death of Lilly Kane from the evidence room. Leo is shortly suspended for the break-in, and when Veronica attempts to apologize, he is reluctant to forgive her. When Veronica admits she has fallen for him, he dismisses the claim, however they kiss during her school dance. When Veronica secretly begins to date Logan, she confesses the affair to Leo and ends the relationship. The pair manage to remain on good terms, and Leo assists Veronica in breaking-up a dognapping ring the same night she breaks up with him. To get enough money to send his little sister with Down syndrome to a private school, Leo steals and sells the Aaron Echolls and Lilly Kane sex tapes to Logan. Logan promptly destroys the tapes due to the traumatic nature of them, however he inadvertently compromises the pending case against Aaron. Keith discovers Leo's participation in the theft, however, he covers for him by stating that the tapes were stolen because Leo was not at his post. Leo is promptly fired from the sheriff's department, but is able to keep the money that Logan paid him and help his sister. Leo begins working for a private security company, and finds himself working for Woody Goodman's daughter Gia. Leo contacts Keith when he is concerned that his security company's warehouse is about to be robbed. Leo loses his job for involving Keith, although Keith asks him to return as a deputy.
Rodney Rowland plays Liam Fitzpatrick, a formidable Irish-Catholic gangster and drug dealer. Liam Fitzpatrick is in charge of the Fitzpatrick mafia family, also known as the Fighting Fitzpatricks. He shoots his brother, Cormac Fitzpatrick, in cold blood, after Cormac fails to retrieve an original Van Gogh painting. It has been hinted that he and his family are helping Vinnie Van Lowe win the election for Sherriff. Liam tells Keith that if Vinnie does not win the election, or if Keith does anything to hurt Vinnie's campaign, he will kill Veronica.
Steve Guttenberg portrays Woody Goodman, the owner of the Sharks baseball team and Balboa County Executive. More commonly known as the "Mayor of Neptune", although the position is actually "County Supervisor." Revealed at the end of season two to have molested boys through his involvement with Little League baseball teams. Woody was killed when his private plane was blown up by explosives planted by Cassidy Casablancas.
Rick Peters plays Tom Griffith, a plastic surgeon and coke-addict who was asked by the Fitzpatricks to testify that Logan killed Felix. Logan retaliated by dating his daughter Hannah until he dropped his charges.
Christian Clemenson plays Abel Koontz, Lilly Kane's falsely confessed murderer. Koontz was the person at Kane software who perfected streaming media, but was cheated out of the patent. He then tried to invent a technology that "would put Kane out of business", though he failed and his wife walked out on him. Three months after Lilly's murder, Koontz confessed to murdering her. Lamb found Lilly's backpack and shoes while searching Abel's houseboat, backing up Koontz's confession. Until this point, Keith's investigation was squarely focused on the Kane family as suspects. It was Keith's failure to investigate Koontz that led to his eventual ousting as Neptune's Sheriff. A year later, when Veronica started to conduct her own investigation of Lilly's murder, she visited Koontz on death row twice. She was suspicious of Koontz's confession because he fired his attorney while on death row and she discovered that the same shoes that were found in Koontz houseboat were in Lilly's room at the time of the murder. Veronica sneaked into Koontz's doctor's office, and stole both his and Duncan's medical files. She found out that Duncan had type-4 epilepsy, whose symptoms included violent outbursts and seizures. For the first time, Veronica realized that Duncan was a possible suspect in Lilly's murder. She also found out that Abel Koontz had stomach cancer, and that he was dying. She concluded that Jake Kane paid Koontz to confess to the murder, even though he was not the perpetrator so that Keith Mars' investigation into the Kane family would end. Koontz accepted the offer because he knew he was dying and intended to give the money to his daughter. However, his daughter, Amelia DeLongpré, was murdered by her boyfriend, who stole the money. During Veronica's second visit to Koontz, she told him that she knew that he was not guilty, and he was paid to confess to the murder. Koontz's innocence was further solidified when Keith went to Las Vegas to talk to a prostitute that was with Koontz at the time of Lilly's murder. Koontz was later released from death row, but died from his cancer.
Daran Norris recurs as Cliff McCormack, a Public Defender and Mars family friend. Cliff is a public defender in Neptune who has served as an ally to Keith and Veronica Mars, as well as a steady client of Mars Investigations. Although rarely a key player in the series, he has had some notable and memorable appearances. In "The Rapes of Graff", Cliff was seduced by an escort hired by Aaron Echolls to steal Cliff's briefcase, which contained the Logan Echolls murder case files and keys to the storage locker containing Aaron's personal belongings, including an Oscar statue.
Jaime Ray Newman appears as Mindy O'Dell, Dean O'Dell's wife. Mindy and Cyrus share no children of their own, but parent Cyrus' adolescent son from a previous marriage and Mindy's younger son by her first husband, Steven Batando. In "President Evil", the O'Dells hire Keith to find Steven in the hopes that his bone marrow would be a match to that of his biological son, who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Keith locates Steven, who refuses to donate his marrow. When Batando later disappears, Keith suspects that the O'Dells kidnapped him and took the marrow donation against his will, but looks the other way. In "Hi, Infidelity", Veronica finds Mindy sharing a hotel room with Hank, her criminology professor at Hearst College, and an employee of Cyrus'. Keith puts Mindy under surveillance after Cyrus hired him to find out if she's having an affair. Keith discovers no affair, but Veronica reveals the affair with Landry to her father, Keith, who reveals it to Cyrus. Cyrus confides in Keith, saying that Mindy was too young and too beautiful, and their marriage had been doomed to fail. Mindy is preparing to leave Landry in the Neptune Grand hotel room they shared when Cyrus enters and confronts them both about the affair, brandishing a loaded pistol. When Cyrus is found shot to death in his office, the insurance company rules his death a suicide, leaving the O'Dell family with no compensation for the loss of income, in "Spit & Eggs". Mindy returns to Keith Mars and hires him to prove that Cyrus was murdered, in "Show Me the Monkey". Mindy finally gets the insurance money from her husband's murder, buys a boat and leaves town after being questioned by Acting Sheriff Keith Mars. Hank Landry catches up with Mindy on her boat and he later confesses to accidentally killing her the night before being found, in "Papa's Cabin".
Ken Marino recurs as Vinnie Van Lowe, Keith's rival private investigator. Announced his intentions to run for Sheriff against Keith in the special election. Vinnie Van Lowe is a private investigator in Neptune, California and is the main competition for Keith and Veronica. Vinnie has rather lax moral standards and is often willing to take on cases that the Mars Investigation team would refuse. It is because of this that he has a much larger caseload than the Mars family. The cases that Vinnie Van Lowe takes on have sometimes helped the Mars family, but sometimes his work has been in opposition to the cases of Mars Investigations. In "Kanes and Abel's", Veronica is attempting to find out who has been harassing Sabrina Fuller, the School Board President's daughter, and one of the top candidates for the Kane Scholarship. The Kane Scholarship is a full scholarship named in honor of Lilly, awarded to the valedictorian of Neptune High. In her investigation, Veronica discovers that one of the cars that was used during a harassment was owned by Vinnie Van Lowe's ex-wife, Debra Villareal. From this she was able to figure out that Vinnie Van Lowe was the person hired to harass Sabrina. In "Donut Run" Van Lowe was hired by Celeste Kane to watch Veronica because Celeste suspected that Veronica knew where Duncan took the kidnapped baby. Veronica was able to take advantage of Vinnie's willingness to change clients if he is offered a better deal. Veronica had Duncan offer Vinnie more money to drive the Manning baby and a Veronica look-alike over the Mexican border and to pick Duncan up in Mexico. It was because of this that Duncan was able to successfully escape authorities with the kidnapped baby. In "Not Pictured", Vinnie and Keith team up to catch Woody Goodman. Vinnie had broken into the Goodman house and stole all their records. Vinnie was arrested, but got away with the records. Using his one phone call, he meets with Keith to get him to split the bounty. Vinnie gives the records and Keith gets the man. In "Welcome Wagon", he almost gets Keith killed while working for Liam Fitzpatrick. However, in "Of Vice and Men", Vinnie rescued Veronica and Meryl from serious danger from the Fitzpatricks when the two girls wander into the River Stix searching for Meryl's missing boyfriend.
Christopher B. Duncan recurs as Clarence Wiedman, the Head of Security at Kane Software. He kills Aaron Echolls at the end of season two on Duncan's orders. As Head of Security for Kane Software, Wiedman is known to do the less-than-savory jobs that Jake Kane needs done. It is known that Jake Kane called Wiedman before he reported his daughter's murder and Veronica speculates that he assisted in the cover-up of Lilly's true time of death by lowering the temperature of her body. It is known that Wiedman paid Amelia deLongpre so that her father, Abel Koontz, would falsely confess to the murder of Lilly. When Veronica found Amelia and tried to convince her to reveal the existence of the payoff money, Wiedman got to her first and gave her even more money so that she would leave Neptune, in "Kanes and Abel's". Wiedman also called in the anonymous tip that got Abel Koontz arrested and took photos of Veronica that were sent to Lianne Mars in "You Think You Know Somebody". Unfortunately, Amelia DeLongpre didn't stay away long. When Abel tried to get Veronica to find his daughter, Veronica found out that she had called Kane Software from a payphone across the street and confronted Wiedman about it. Later on, when Veronica found her body, Clarence was there and confessed to her that Amelia had asked for more money. As it turned out, it was Amelia's new boyfriend, Carlos Mercado, who had wanted the money and after he got it, he killed Amelia. Wiedman traced the money to Las Vegas and it was implied that he killed Carlos in "Rat Saw God". Wiedman made another appearance when Aaron was acquitted. In "Not Pictured", Aaron's hotel room, Clarence assassinated him with two bullets. Afterwards, he called Duncan in Australia, who asked "CW?" Wiedman responded, "It's a done deal".
John Bennett Perry plays Alan Moorehead, the Principal of Neptune High. When Moorehead was a teacher, he had an affair with then-student Mary, and she left their baby Trina Echolls at his doorstep. He then left the baby in the bathroom at the prom, knowing they would think it belonged to a student. Many years later, when Veronica discovers that he is Trina's father, Moorehead is fired as principal.
Duane Daniels plays Van Clemmons, the Vice Principal turned Principal of Neptune High. During high school, Veronica constantly gets into trouble and as a result regularly meets with Clemmons. Occasionally, Van Clemmons asks Veronica for help, once asking her to locate the missing school mascot. Clemmons is the one who instructs Veronica to organize some old files, which led to her discovering Moorehead as Trina Echolls' father. When Moorehead is fired as principal, Veronica realizes that it was Clemmons' plan all along to become principal. When Veronica graduates, Clemmons says that he cannot decide if his life will be easier or more difficult with her gone. Clemmons reappears in "Un-American Graffiti", where he is caught on tape being shot with a paintball gun by several Neptune High students.
Adam Hendershott portrays Vincent "Butters" Clemmons, a student at Neptune High and Van Clemmons' son. When he was a freshman, Vincent was pantsed by a bully and given the nickname "Butter". Vincent vowed revenge and that following fall, the jock who had humiliated him and those who did nothing to save him, found themselves having failed mandatory drug tests, essentially barring them from playing sports in their final year of high school. Veronica believed Butters to be behind the crime; however, she discovered the real culprits were a conclave of parents who rigged the drug tests so that their children could gain the spots opened up in the wake of the mass suspension of athletes. Later, when Butter's only friend Marcos Oliveres was killed in the bus crash and his parents sued the school, Veronica thought Butters was targeting the family, leaving them reminders of their son to torment the parents. She discovers that Butters and Marcos secretly ran the local pirate radio station, "Ahoy, Mateys!", which was infamous for its vicious slandering of the popular cliques at school. Butters tells Veronica that he had little contact with Marcos since the summer, when he came back from summer camp and quit the radio show without telling Butters why. Veronica later found out summer camp was an anti–gay camp he was sent to, and that the real culprit was Marcos' friend Ryan, who had a crush on Marcos and who sought to make the Oliveres suffer the same way they made their son suffer in regards to his potential homosexuality. Butters develops a crush on Mac, much to her disgust, and she is forced to attend Logan's "anti-prom" with him.
James Jordan acts as Tommy "Lucky" Dohanic, the deceased former janitor at Neptune High. He previously acted as a bat boy for Woody Goodman's baseball team, the Sharks.
Jonathan Chesner portrays Douglas "Corny", a Stoner, occasional ally of Veronica's. Corny is in the same graduation class as Veronica. Corny makes the bong that Veronica plants in Logan's locker in "Pilot". Resident stoner of Neptune High. Works at Cho's Pizza as a deliveryman. When he is mugged and tasered in "Versatile Toppings" he helps Veronica find the culprit. He appears to have somewhat of a crush on Veronica as seen in "Blast from the Past" when he nominates her for Neptune High's Homecoming Queen. He was the DJ in between the Faders's sets at the Homecoming dance his senior year. He's very proud of his brownie recipe claiming that "it's all in the butter." He appears to go to Logan's Alterna-Prom alone.
Krysten Ritter portrays Gia Goodman, the daughter of the influential Neptune citizen and professional baseball team owner Woody Goodman, and a student at Neptune High. Gia starts attending Neptune High after she transfers from a private boarding school. She attends the class field trip to Shark Field and meets Dick Casablancas, his brother Cassidy, Duncan Kane and Veronica for the first time. Gia rides the school bus on the way to the stadium, however she opts to ride in Dick Casablancas' limo with the other "09ers" on the way back. The bus crashes and all of the passengers die, except for Meg Manning. Later in the year, Gia invites Veronica to her slumber party. Veronica attends, however she has an ulterior motive and is investigating families that Meg babysat for. When Gia is sent footage of herself at her brother's soccer game, she hires Veronica to find the sender. Gia and Veronica's friendship is broken when a feud erupts between their fathers, and she fires Veronica from the case. When Veronica realizes that Gia's stalker is Neptune High's janitor Tommy "Lucky" Dohanic, she rushes to her aid. Lucky is arrested, but he is let go when the Mannings pay for his bail. He comes to school the next day with a gun looking for Gia; however he is shot and killed by school security.
Jessy Schram plays Hannah Griffith, an "09er" high-school sophomore student at Neptune High. Hannah meets Logan at the school carnival, and is surprised when he asks her out. Logan reveals to Hannah that her father, plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Griffith, is a cocaine user. He tells her that he is protecting his dealers, the Fitzpatricks, and has falsely testified against Logan in a murder trial. Hannah decides that she cannot trust Logan, because he is only dating her to get to her father, but she is quick to forgive him. When her father catches her being undressed by Logan, he sends Hannah to a boarding school in Vermont.
Kari Coleman portrays Deborah Hauser, a divorced sex education teacher with a bitter approach to her students, disliking all non-09ers and kissing ass to the 09ers. Veronica baby-sits her demonic son in order to find out if he is being abused. It is also revealed she was friends with Lianne Mars when they attended Neptune High as teenagers, and were suspended together for spreading a "false and malicious rumour". Mrs Hauser maintained that Lianne told her a rumour knowing it was false and Deborah passing it on unknowingly, however Veroncia found out the real story. Lianne's friend had an affair with a teacher at the school and became pregnant, and not knowing how to help, confised in Deborah, who passed the gossip around. This baby would end up being Trina Echolls. Mrs Hauser makes another appearance during the Winter Carnival at school where she steals money from the cashbox and tries to blame Veronica and Jackie. However, she is caught and deservedly fired.
Paula Marshall acts as Rebecca James, the school guidance counselor and briefly dated Keith Mars. Paula had previously worked with series creator Rob Thomas on his earlier series, Cupid. Veronica does not approve of their relationship and digs up information on her to change Keith's mind - information being Ms. James was arrested for passing bad cheques when she was 21. Ms. James and Veronica's relationship is strained because of this, although she does try to help Veronica discover the meaning of her haunting dreams in the second season.
Alona Tal recurs as Meg Manning, an "09er" cheerleader and the daughter of mentally abusive fundamentalist Christian parents. She initially appears when Veronica is the victim of a nasty prank and lends her clothes, and sticks up for her when other 09ers start insulting her. When an online purity test posts all the participants results, Meg's is faked to be unusually low and she gets a reputation as a slut. Veronica finds the person responsible for making this up about Meg (in "Like a Virgin"). When Meg asks Veronica to help find her secret admirer, she is keen to help, until she finds out that her secret admirer is Duncan Kane, Veronica's ex-boyfriend. Eventually, Veronica accepts Meg and Duncan's relationship. ("Ruskie Business") When he finds out that he is not Veronica's half-brother, Duncan breaks up with Meg, who blames Veronica. Afterward, Meg's attitude towards Veronica is openly hostile. On the way back from a field trip to a baseball ground, while Veronica was talking to Weevil during a rest stop, Meg deliberately implied that Veronica had returned to the bus, causing it to leave without her. However, the bus subsequently careened off a cliff and into the ocean. ("Normal Is the Watchword")
Meg was the only survivor, but she remained in a coma for much of the second season. Meg has two younger sisters, Lizzie and Grace. While Meg was in a coma, Lizzie brought Duncan Meg's laptop, asking him to remove Meg's personal files from the system before her parents were able to check them. Duncan and Veronica found that Meg had compiled information about a child whom she often babysat. The young boy was being abused by his parents. Soon, the two uncovered that the abused child (who was referred to by Meg as a boy) was actually Meg's youngest sister Grace. Meg's parents are religious zealots who lock Grace in a closet when they are out, and make her fill out exercise book after exercise book with the phrase: "The path of God is paved with righteousness." Duncan and Veronica found dozens of these books in Grace's room. Veronica visited Meg in the hospital and discovered that Meg was pregnant, this being the reason she was so mad at Veronica. Shortly after she left, Meg awoke from her coma. ("My Mother, the Fiend") Meg apologized to Veronica for her harsh treatment and then asked Veronica to make sure that her baby wouldn't fall into her parents' hands should anything happen to Meg. Later that same episode, Meg died of a blood clot to the heart, but not before giving birth to her daughter Faith, who was later renamed Lilly by the child's father Duncan Kane. ("One Angry Veronica") Duncan flees to Australia with her to escape Meg's parents.
James Molina plays Eduardo "Thumper" Orozco, a PCH biker who betrays Weevil and starts dealing for the Irish gang the Fitzpatricks. Murdered deliberately by the Fitzpatricks and indirectly by Weevil and inadvertently but directly by Logan.
Leighton Meester plays Carrie Bishop, nicknamed the queen of gossip at Neptune High. She appeared in two episodes. She was known for faking an affair with a teacher who Veronica strongly thought was innocent. The teacher is found that he had in fact had a relationship with a previous student who had his baby, whom he denied and left. That student was the reason why Carrie had made these accusations. She also appeared in a later episode when Veronica is searching for the one responsible of raping her at Shelly Pomeroy's party. Carrie had told her that Duncan Kane was the one she saw with Veronica in the bedroom.
Michael Kostroff portrays Samuel Pope, the teacher of Future Business Leaders of America and one of the few ethical people of Neptune. He plans to retire to a life of sailing during the second season, after making a small fortune from real estate investment in Big Dick Casablancas' firm. Veronica discovers that the company is defrauding the investors and encourages Mr. Pope to get rid of his stock before she reports it, but he sadly replies he cannot do this; to get rid of it, he would have to sell it to someone else, and they would pay they price. He sadly admits he cannot do that, and cannot retire as planned. It is assumed he continues teaching at Neptune High.
Amanda Noret plays Madison Sinclair, Dick's ex-girlfriend and Neptune High's resident bitch. Shortly after Lilly's murder, at Shelly Pomeroy's party, Dick dosed Madison's drink with GHB to loosen her up; however, Madison spat in the drink, which she calls "A Trip to the Dentist", and gave it to Veronica. In turn, Veronica drank the soda, and was later raped by Cassidy Casablancas, then consensually had sex with Duncan. The following year, Madison rigged the school election in order to get Duncan Kane elected to student body president. Veronica exposed the plot which resulted in Madison losing her place on the student council and the special privileges granted by the position. Veronica later discovers that Madison was switched at birth with Mac. It is shown that Madison constantly argues with her family, whereas Mac's parents have fully accepted Mac as their daughter, and have shown no signs of wanting anything to do with Madison. After breaking up with Dick, she is secretly involved with Sheriff Don Lamb ("The Rapes of Graff"). Veronica discovers this and mocks Madison about her relationship with Lamb in front of their classmates through innuendo that, while her classmates do not understand, had a meaning that was quite apparent to Madison.
Madison, having gone off to college at USC, is absent from much of Veronica's life at Hearst, until she had several run-ins with her in Neptune in the episode "Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves". Veronica first sees Madison when she arrived unexpectedly at Neptune Grand Suite shared by Logan and Dick; thinking that Madison was simply looking up her ex, Veronica sent her on her way. Later, however, she ran into her again at a lingerie shop where Madison maliciously let slip that she had spent the night with Logan while in Aspen over Christmas break, when Veronica and Logan were split up. In the following episode, Veronica, consumed by images of Madison's tryst with Logan, follows her and eventually plots with Weevil to have Madison's new car crushed and cubed. Veronica has a change of heart, however, and asks him to return it unscathed, save for a can of tuna in her air conditioning.
Brad Bufanda acts as Felix Toombs, Weevil's former right-hand man. Killed supposedly by Logan, but actually by Thumper, a fellow PCHer. Bufanda originally tried out for the role of Weevil. Throughout season 1, Felix was known as a PCH bike gang member and Weevil's (PCH leader) best friend. At the end of season 1 someone knocked on Veronica's door and she smiled saying "I was hoping it would be you." Fans were on the edge of their seat trying to find out who it was. As many fans suspected and hoped it was Logan Echolls. Once there, a beaten Logan told Veronica the story of how he got that way. The PCH gang members beat the living hell out of Logan because: 1. They thought he killed Lilly Kane (Weevil's lover) 2. Logan knocked Weevil out cold. After Logan woke up from the beating he discovered that Felix had been stabbed and bled to death. During season 2 Weevil was on a mission to solve the murder of Felix Toombs. First Weevil suspected Logan, but later on he found out it wasn't Logan so he enlisted Logan's help to try to solve this case. During that time he found out the PCHers had been dealing drugs with the Fitzpatricks. Felix was secretly dating Molly Fitzpatrick (Liam Fitzpatrick's niece). Liam got Thumper (who at the time was Liam's lackey) to stab Felix. Weevil knew that Thumper did it but couldn't prove it. So, Weevil set up Thumper to look like he was stealing drugs and money from the Fitzpatricks. Liam and cousin Danny Boyd locked Thumper in "Shark Stadium" which was blown up by Logan (directly) and Woody Goodman (indirectly) with Thumper and his bike inside. Thus, finally resolving the murder of Felix Toombs.
Aaron Ashmore portrays Troy Vandegraff, the childhood friend of Duncan's; Veronica's boyfriend for the early stretch of season one. He betrays Veronica and leaves town, but he is somewhat reformed by the time they meet again later in the series. Troy and Veronica dated for a short time in Season One, but their relationship didn’t last long because Troy involved an unwitting Veronica in a plot to smuggle steroids from Mexico into the US. Veronica managed to find out his intentions before he was able to successfully complete his plan and run away with his real girlfriend. He later comes back in the episode The Rapes of Graff in Season 2 where he is accused of raping and shaving the head of a girl at Hearst College. Veronica ends up clearing Troy's name but doesn't find out who the real rapist is until the third season. Ashmore thought that Veronica Mars was a "great show", and loved the character of Troy.[21]
Matt McKenzie plays Tom Barry, Wallace's basketball coach and father of Josh Barry. He is allegedly murdered the night after a basketball game during which he fights with Josh and the team loses the game. Josh is believed to be his killer due to the argument and the fact that Mason drove past the area where Coach Barry died and saw someone who appeared to be Josh with him. It is revealed that he was dying of an incurable brain disease that would be slow, painful, humiliating and costly. He arranged for his suicide to appear as a carjacking so that his family would be paid life insurance (which they would not in the case of a suicide) and take care of them financially.
David Tom plays Chip Diller, the President of the Pi Sig frat house. He first appears in season two when Veronica visits Hearst, and she accuses him of raping Stacy. While it turns out he is not a rapist, he is shown to be still a horrible person. He is attacked by the feminists, head shaved and an egg shoved into his rectum on the anniversary of Patrice Pitrelli's attempted suicide for his part in it. Chip is one of the main perpetrators in spreading the sex video of Veronica and Piz, however did not have anything to do with its creation.
James Jordan appears as Tim Foyle, a teaching assistant for Professor Hank Landry at Hearst College. Tim seems to dislike Veronica, possibly because Landry seems to prefer her over him. In the first session of Landry's criminology class (in Welcome Wagon), he has his students play a detective game, "Murder on the Riverboat Queen". Veronica beats Tim's record time for solving the mystery by ten minutes, then embarrasses and annoys him by saying "There is one thing I can't figure out: what did you do with the extra ten minutes?" In Hi, Infidelity, Tim accuses Veronica of plagiarizing her mid-term paper and gives her three days to clear herself. After Veronica figures out what happened, she accuses Tim of setting her up just so that she would discover that Landry was having an affair with Mindy O'Dell, the Dean's wife, but Tim does not explicitly deny it; instead he says that if he HAD set the whole thing it, it would have been to show Veronica what Landry was really like before she became his protege. Tim is also the boyfriend of Bonnie Capistrano, Dick's fling, and is presumably the father of her miscarried baby. In Papa's Cabin, Tim and Veronica team up in an attempt to clear Dr. Landry of the murder of Hearst College's Dean of Students, Cyrus O'Dell. At the end of the episode, however, it is revealed that Tim himself murdered Cyrus O'Dell to take revenge on Landry for ruining his chances at a job at (a fictional version of) Pepperdine University, by giving an unfavorable reference to the prospective employer. Tim's name is, in fact, a joke by the writers. His character was created as a foil for Veronica, and was referred to as "FOIL" during the early drafts. According to Rob Thomas on the DVD extras, they eventually decided to call him Foyle anyway, and Tim as his first name as a play on "tin foil".
Adam Rose portrays Max, a geeky student who provides test answers for cash. While he started out as a one time guest star, turned into a recurring character due to his likability. He makes quite a profit with his business, and does not care when he is expelled from Hearst, planning to make his living from it anyway. Max comes to Veronica with the task of finding his dream girl who he met at ComiCon and had an instant connection with, who left telling him she'd left her details in his hotel room, for him to return and find the hotel cleaners had already been and it had disappeared. It turned out that this girl was actually a hooker hired by his friends so that Max could lose his virginity; he decides to continue trying to find her even when he finds this out. Max convinced Chelsea to leave the prostitution business for him, and he pays off her $10,000 debt to her pimp. However things are not the same when her past keeps being brought up; he finally asks whether she actually left her information and Chelsea is heartbroken when he realises she didn't - "But I really wish I had." She leaves but promises to pay him back - it is implied that she is making her money by stripping. Max comes back into the series as Mac's new boyfriend after she breaks up with Bronson for him.
Ryan Devlin recurs as Mercer Hayes, a friend of Logan and Dick, who runs an illegal casino out of his dorm room called the Benetian. Parker suspects him of being the rapist due to him wearing the same cologne she smelled the night she was raped, and Veronica investigates and finds he owns an electric razor too. She reports this to Lamb, who agrees with her for once, due to finding the same date-rape drugs inside Mercer's money box. However Logan provides Mercer with an incriminating alibi - they accidentally burnt down a Tijuana motel the night of one of the rapes - but Veronica finds other proof that he didn't do it (his live, call in radio show being on at the time of one of the rapes). However when at the Pi Sig party she hears his show being played and recognises electronic distortion and skipping, she realises he IS the rapist, the shows being able to be recorded. She prevents him from raping a 5th girl and stabs him with a ceramic unicorn horn, and eventually Keith arrests Moe and Mercer. He is last seen in a jail cell, with Logan (who smashed a police cruiser to get arrested, get put into a cell with Mercer and get revenge on him for what he did to Veronica and the other girls).
Patrick Fabian portrays Hank Landry, Veronica's Criminology professor and admirer. He is having an affair with Dean O'Dell's wife Mindy O'Dell and accidentally kills her when framed by his TA Tim Foyle for the murder of the Dean. Hank Landry is Veronica's Intro to Criminology professor. Although Veronica has yet to decide on a major, Prof. Landry has been advocating criminal investigations as a career choice for her. Prof. Landry is joined in his Intro to Criminology class by his teaching assistant Tim Foyle. Veronica first impressed Prof. Landry by solving the murder mystery he presented on the first day of class in record time. Later, she impresses him by being the sole person to write an "A" caliber paper in his Intro to Criminology class. After reading the paper, he talks to Veronica about her potential and offers to be her faculty adviser. While Veronica is considering Prof. Landry's offer, she is manipulated by Tim Foyle into finding out one of Landry's secrets: he has been having an affair with Mindy O'Dell, the wife of the Dean of Hearst College. Shortly after this incident, Prof Landry announces his end-of-term research paper: to plan the perfect murder. He then meets with Veronica and tells her that he is going to recommend her for a summer internship with the FBI and that he will accept her application essay for the position as a replacement for the end-of-term assignment. Veronica assumed that Prof. Landry was attempting to buy her silence about Landry's affair with Mindy and turned down the offer. Upon telling this to Prof. Landry, he explained that the internship offer had nothing to do with what she knew about him, but Veronica still opted to write the end-of-term paper. Veronica received one of the three "A"s that Prof. Landry gave out for this paper. When Veronica finds out that her father is investigating whether Dean O'Dell's wife is having an affair she tells Keith what she knows about Prof. Landry and Mindy. Keith tells the Dean who takes a loaded revolver and visits Prof. Landry and Mindy O'Dell in the middle of one of their rendezvous. It is as of now unknown what transpired in the room that night. When Keith takes the Dean O'Dell case, he finds Prof. Landry at a local bar and attempts to entice a confession out of Landry over some drinks. This does not work, however, as Landry informs Keith that he read Keith's book and he knows that Keith is a private investigator.
Krista Kalmus plays Claire Nordhouse, a feminist and member of Lillith house, friends with Nish and Fern. She is one of the protestors who made a front page newspaper picture, of many topless women holding a banner reading "We go to Hearst, go ahead and rape us!" Claire is very attractive, with long blonde hair, making her the target of the rival newspaper's response (topless men holding a banner saying "No thanks! (except maybe the blonde in the middle)"). The three use this response in order to have the Pi Sig house shut down as well as the rival newspaper run by them by faking Claire's rape. However Veronica finds out that it was not real and exposes this - ATM photos showing the guy with her before her rape, who took her home, was actually Claire's boyfriend who helped set it up. She is then expelled from Hearst as a result. She was Patrice Pitrelli's best friend in their freshman year, and was the original source of information about the Theta Beta two-way mirror.
Ed Begley, Jr. portrays Cyrus O'Dell, the Dean of Hearst College. Initially Veronica's adversary, gradually becoming her ally and gaining her respect, and vice versa. Married to much younger Mindy, he suspects her of having an affair, which Keith later proves to be with Hank Landry. He confronts the two, threatening to leave her broke and ruin Landry's career. He is killed by Tim Foyle during the ninth episode in the style of Veronica's Plan a Perfect Murder paper (a fake suicide). After his death it is revealed that he wrote her a referral to the FBI, a statement of what a brilliant student she was and how he had not encountered a student with more talent in all his years in academia. His body is found by Weevil, who is rather gutted, having grown quite fond of the dean while working at Hearst.
Michael Mitchell plays Bronson Pope, an animal rights activist and Mac's first post-Cassidy boyfriend. He is shown to be extremely outdoorsy, encouraging Mac to play Ultimate Frisbee and take early morning hikes. She loses her virginity to him on Valentine's Day, but breaks up with him not much later after falling for Max.
Andrew McClain acts as Moe Slater, the R.A. of the Hearst College dorms. He is very earnest and is always offering oolong tea to everyone - implied to be how he drugs people. He is Mercer's partner, who helped him rape the girls as he was the Safe Ride Home driver. He would take drunk girls home (it is still not clear whether he drugged them at the party or drugged them once they were in their dorms) and then tell Mercer which room, and provide him the keys to get in. The relationship between him and Mercer is implied to be a result of the prison warden experiment that Logan and Wallace underwent, as he keeps a photo of the two of them in their uniforms. Moe was the prisoner and Mercer the warden, who mentally dominated him and controlled him into helping him rape. It was Moe that drugged Veronica and tried to shave her head, in order to give Mercer an alibi.
Chastity Dotson portrays Nish Sweeney, the former Editor of the Hearst Free Press and feminist of Lillith House. She and Veronica are initially friends when she gives Veronica the assignment to go undercover and infiltrate the Theta Beta sorority house. Veronica is supposed to find proof of a two-way mirror in which Theta Betas would make the rushes undress in front of for the Pi Sigs enjoyment. However Nish publishes the article that Veronica asked her not to that she wrote about a cannabis farm at the sorority house, and they become enemies. Nish helps Claire fake the rape, and eggs Dean O'Dells window the night he was murdered. By the end of the semester, Nish and Veronica are on good terms, as Veronica gives her a list of names of members of the secret fraternity the Castle.
The following is a supplementary list of recurring or one-time guest stars, which includes characters that appear briefly in multiple episodes, but have little to no real world content to justify an entire section covering their in-universe histories.
Steve Rankin acts as Lloyd Blankenship, a newspaper reporter and ally of Keith.
Tayler Sheridan plays Danny Boyd, Liam Fitzpatrick's dim-witted cousin and accomplice.
Brandon Hillock plays Jerry Sacks, Sheriff Lamb's right-hand man.
Annie Campbell plays Molly Fitzpatrick, a member of the Fitzpatrick family and Felix's girlfriend until his death.
Kevin Sheridan plays Sean Friedrich, an "09er" with a penchant for thievery and drug dealing.
Cher Ferreyra portrays Fern Delgado, a disgruntled feminist and member of the "Take Back the Night" program. She lives in Lillith house with Nish and Claire, and dislikes Veronica for proving the Pi Sigs weren't rapists. Veronica initially suspects her in the disappearance of Selma Hearst Rose
Robert Ri'Chard plays Mason, a hot-tempered basketball jock and Wallace's new friend. He encourages Wallace to skip studying to hang out with him, and instead puts him in contact with Max to cheat. He is the one who mistakes Josh as being the person out on the overlook with Coach Barry before he is killed.
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