Plan B (''Veronica Mars'')

"Plan B" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the thirty-ninth episode overall. Written by Dayna Lynne North and directed by John T. Kretchmer, the episode premiered on UPN on April 5, 2006.

The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a high school student while moonlighting as a private detective. In this episode, Weevil (Francis Capra) asks Veronica for help in proving that Thumper (James Molina) killed Felix. Meanwhile, Wallace (Percy Daggs III) breaks up with Jane (Valorie Curry), and Mac (Tina Majorino) confronts Cassidy (Kyle Gallner) about his hesitance to engage in an intimate physical relationship with her.

Synopsis

Logan (Jason Dohring) wins Woody Goodman’s (Steve Guttenberg) essay contest, and Veronica snarkily taunts him about it. Weevil flashes back to a scene about a year ago with Felix. After talking to Jane and Wallace, Weevil asks Veronica for help in proving that Thumper killed Felix. Weevil tells Veronica that he beat up David “Curly” Moran. In study hall, Wallace and Jackie (Tessa Thompson) bond, and they agree to hang out together. Mac asks Beaver to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Veronica asks Logan about the night of Felix’s murder, and he says that he saw a San Diego seafood truck. Logan meets Woody Goodman, and he gives Logan menial work. Woody meets with Keith (Enrico Colantoni) before Logan shows threatening footage inside Woody’s house that the office received in the mail. Veronica and Logan track down the truck driver, who is being forced to keep silent. Veronica reports the news to Weevil, and he says that it’s possible that he was killed because of his relationship with Molly Fitzpatrick (Annie Campbell).

Mac asks Veronica for romantic advice. Weevil ends up yelling at Molly when she doesn’t give him any information. Jackie asks a disabled boy to the dance. Molly works at the River Styx bar, and Liam Fitzpatrick insults Molly. However, Veronica and Weevil listen to the conversation through a wire. Veronica and Weevil decide to take the matter to Sheriff Lamb (Michael Muhney). However, Lamb doesn’t take the matter up. Keith examines the footage inside Woody’s house and deduces that it took place earlier in the year—before Woody went public with incorporation, so he thinks that someone would have wanted to get back at Woody for another reason. The Sadie Hawkins dance starts. Weevil mugs Thumper and steals his bags. At the Sadie Hawkins dance, Wallace instinctively kisses Jackie. However, Wallace and Jane reunite. Beaver still pushes away from Mac. Logan and Veronica dance.

Thumper tells the Fitzpatricks that he lost the money, but they find it soon afterwards, indicating that Weevil set up Thumper. The Fitzpatricks cuff him to a urinal. Woody tells Keith a story that a fired gardener probably took the footage. The truck driver resurfaces and agrees to testimony against Thumper. After telling Jane that he still has feelings for Jackie, they break up. However, Jackie spurns Wallace. Mac confronts Beaver about why he’s not being sexually aggressive, but he is hesitant and eventually breaks up with her. Thumper’s motorcycle, a key piece of evidence, is locked in the stadium. It turns out that the Fitzpatricks locked Thumper in the stadium, and he is killed when the stadium is demolished.

Cultural references

The following cultural references are made in the episode:^[1]

• Veronica and Logan watched Easy Rider the previous summer.
• Veronica tries to make the Shocker, but ends up making the scout's honor sign.
• Wallace compares himself to Superman.
• Logan playfully tweaks a famous quote from the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
• Logan also references the Big Stick ideology.
• Veronica calls Logan Deputy Dawg.
• Logan quotes a line from The Breakfast Club.
• When Weevil tells Veronica about Felix's relationship with Molly Fitzpatrick, Veronica responds, "Good Golly, Miss Molly".
• Liam Fitzpatrick sarcastically uses the lyrics to "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to insult Molly.
• Veronica calls Weevil Dirty Harry.
• After Weevil objects to this remark, Veronica calls him Dirty Sanchez.

Arc significance

• The PCHers got an anonymous call saying that "Curly" Moran was responsible for the bus crash. Weevil claims that he beat Curly to save his life—otherwise, the rest of the PCHers would have thrown him off a cliff.
• Woody Goodman receives a video of the inside of his own home. He and Keith figure that it was sent by someone against incorporation, but it turns out that the video was shot in November, months before Woody announced his incorporation plan. Woody says that an angry former gardener is responsible, and asks Keith to stop working on finding the stalker.
• Veronica and Logan contact the real 911 caller from the bridge, but he is reluctant to talk, citing fear that the PCHers will come after his wife and child.
• Weevil thinks the Fitzpatricks ordered the hit on Felix because they found out about Felix's relationship with Molly Fitzpatrick. Weevil thinks Thumper was the one who carried it out.
• Logan takes a piece of paper stamped with Woody Goodman's signature from Woody's office while he's there as Woody's assistant.
• Weevil sabotages Thumper's meeting with the Fitzpatricks, making it look like Thumper tried to cheat the Fitzpatricks out of the money he owed them from dealing for them.
• Veronica talks to the 911 caller's wife to get him to talk to Lamb about what he saw on the bridge. The caller tells Lamb he saw Thumper kill Felix.
• Liam and his cronies beat Thumper and handcuff him to a urinal inside Shark Stadium. A construction worker discovers Thumper's bike there before detonation, but insists that no one is inside. Woody gives the order to detonate, and the stadium subsequently implodes—with Thumper inside.

Music

The following music can be heard in the episode:^[2]

• "If I Were A Storm" by the Wild Seeds
• "Lost Art" by Mere Mortals
• "Sway" by The Perishers
• "Gravity/Falling Down Again" by Alejandro Escovedo

Production

The episode was written by Dayna Lynne North and directed by John T. Kretchmer, marking North's sixth and final writing credit^[3] and Kretchmer's eighth writing credit for the show.^[4] The episode features appearances by many of the important recurring characters of the season, including Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie (Tina Majorino), Gia Goodman (Krysten Ritter), Woody Goodman (Steve Guttenberg), and Liam Fitzpatrick (Rod Rowland). In addition, "Plan B" features the final appearance of Eduardo "Thumper" Orozco (James Molina) after the character is locked in Shark Stadium just before it explodes. The episode features a cameo by Furonda Brasfield, a contestant on the sixth cycle of America's Next Top Model. She won the role as a prize for winning a small competition within one of the episodes.^[5]

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "Plan B" received 2.85 million viewers, marking an increase from the previous episode, "The Rapes of Graff".^[6]

Reviews

Television Without Pity gave the episode an "A".^[7] Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, praised the closure of the Felix-stabbing mystery, stating that "I don't know about you, but I was really ready to be finished with the Felix-stabbing plot line, so this episode was deeply satisfying. […] I'm definitely ready for a fresh set of mysteries for Veronica to solve.^[5]

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave a more mixed review, writing that "It’s amusing that last week I was complaining that Veronica Mars wasn’t ramping up its tension as it headed towards the end of the season. Clearly I jumped the gun slightly, since both of these episodes did exactly that. “Plan B” was a little contrived—you could see the strings being pulled with Logan’s memory and Wallace’s breakup—but strong enough to take us into the home stretch."^[8]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Veronica Mars#Plan B

• "Plan B" on IMDb
• "Plan B" at Mars Investigations