Go Pirates: Veronica Mars

It's time to turn those tassels, for both our heroine and her friends and for Go Pirates!'s coverage of Season 2, as the evil mastermind behind the bus crash -- and other transportational demises -- is revealed. The less-evil mastermind behind another timely death is also uncovered, as the long arm of the Kane taps Aaron Echolls from Australia. And while Weevil does manage to get gowned, the graduation he promised his grandmother is not to be. Instead, we're given a pointless and baffling coda to Jackie's story, out-of-character blundering by Veronica, a LoVe reunion whose lead-up seems to have been left on the cutting-room floor, and an unexpected reward for Kendall.Were we as traumatized as Mac by the scrambled writing? Did the acting achieve summa status? And does nobody on the production understand how air travel works? All these questions, plus an announcement, in our podcast on Veronica Mars S02.E22, "Not Pictured."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucky finally cracks under the strain of his secret -- but Veronica Mars is on the case, with Keith, and while they haven't quite solved for X on the bus crash, they're getting closer to why (and Woody) thanks to a blackmail recording and a...health final exam? Meanwhile, Aaron Echolls's trial is dragging everyone through the sociopathic mud, and the chlamydia a pitiless universe saddled Veronica with in a previous episode comes back to haunt her -- but not only her -- in a big way. In the end, Aaron gets acquitted; Weevil gets the math B he needs to graduate for his gramma; Mac and Beaver get closer again; Terrence gets alibi'd by Leonard Lobo; and Wallace gets the rug pulled out from under him when Terrence is the worst at father.Is "Happy Go Lucky" the worst at set-up? Not really...but we're impatient to arrive at the fireworks factory in our podcast on S02.E21.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terrence Cook's secret is out, but he's still able to bond with Jackie. A secret of Woody's is out, too, and he tries to blame Keith for the passed-out lady he wakes up next to. And the secret of who's stalking Gia leads to a break in the bus-crash case at last! ...Just kidding; it doesn't, because Lamp soap-opera-ishly interrupts, but at least we get to see Former Deputy Leo again!And Veronica Mars could probably see a whole lot of Leo, but whether she's still mooning over Duncan, distracted by the anti-prom party Logan's throwing in his suite, or concerned that Kendall's going to get Keith arrested for stealing her hard drive, she lets Leo go -- again -- in favor of hearing Logan's slurry feels, then fleeing before he can kiss her. And she should have stayed fled, but a lot of things should have happened in this episode that didn't, and we still have a murder trial to get through before the season finale's big reveals.Wallace and Jackie are happy and cute, which is more than you can say for your co-hosts and/or this episode in an all-new Go Pirates!.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The search for a hit-and-run dog killer leads Veronica, annoyingly, to Weevil first, and then to the Fitzpatricks, who haven't responded to the recent leadership vacuum as graciously as one might hope. They're also not keen on Keith unearthing Kendall's true identity: Priscilla Banks, a grifter whose association with a senior Fitzpatrick puts her rahhhh-ther close to the bus crash case herself. And while it seems Mac isn't over Beaver yet, she's still over Butters's attempts to date her -- and Wallace isn't faring much better with Jackie, especially with his tactless assessment of her social situation. As the prom and the season's end both approach, there's a lot to get turned around, and Hector's acting may not be on the list as we run down S02.E19, "Never Mind The Buttocks."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veronica's struggling with insomnia and bad dreams in S02.E18, as nightmares about her dead classmates -- nightmares that, in our opinion, she should have started having a dozen eps ago -- haunt her at night, not to mention give her red-herring clues about the crash. Counselor Rebecca returns to help her sort through it, and to drag a red herring of her own through Keith's romantic life when Keith's "date outfit" confuses a separate case.Elsewhere, Veronica gets into Stanford, but can't count on the Kane scholarship as long as Madison-level 09er beeyotch (that's a compliment, actually) Angie is getting extensions and college credit for semesters at sea, and Logan and Wallace finally share enough screentime to try to take Angie down. And Dick is inserted (sorry) (kiiiind of?) into the bus-crash investigation. All this AND an omelet of problematic stereotypes in S02.E18, "I Am God."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only on TV do this many Sadie Hawkins dances happen -- or cause this much trouble for our teenage heroes, as Wallace struggles with his feelings for two ladies, Mac struggles with Cassidy's lack of R-rated actions with HER, and Logan struggles with liking Gia? Because he's...a monster?But Logan's on the case as Woody's winning-essay intern, and unearths a creepy stalker video taken inside Woody's house. Keith is detailed to figure out who took it and why, but when Woody "cracks the case," it's clear there's more to the story.Not to Thumper's story, though. Weevil finagles some help with the real bridge witness from Veronica, then sets his former lieutenant up to take an explosive Fitzpatrick fall. And through it all, John and Sarah are sourcing fashion in the latest Go Pirates! podcast.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Veronica and Wallace head to Hearst for a prospectives' weekend, we're thrilled to see Troy Vandegraff amongst their fellow future frosh...but Veronica is not, and she's even less stoked when he asks for her help in clearing his name when he's accused of raping a student, then shaving her head. The dumbest, frattiest dumb frat in California doesn't cover itself with glory, but unfortunately, the investigation doesn't end with their shitty behavior.Speaking of which, Keith has to get Cliff out of cuffs after an encounter at an OBGYN conference goes an unexpected way. Trying to figure out why Cliff's special lady friend stole his briefcase, they acquire some leverage on Lamb, but he's even less capable of shame than we thought when confronted with his Madison make-out sesh.And another make-out sesh blows up in Logan's face when he tries to renege on his deal with Griffith and keep seeing Hannah. Too bad Griffith grows a spine at last, and Hannah's just one of the characters we'll neeeeever see again in the latest Go Pirates! podcast.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Jane's sister goes missing days before her wedding to a Richie Rich, Veronica is tasked with tracking her down...and while everyone's kinda casual vis-a-vis the possibility that Heidi came to a bad end, what she does find out about her fye-ance isn't great. Neither is Sheriff Lamb's reaction when Keith and Veronica decide they have to share their bus-crash intel with local law "enforcement," but in the decidedly-great department, "The Quick & The Wed"'s got priceless Vinnie bowling faces; Hamlin doing Echolls doing Lecter; Lamb getting his smug on; and a so-called "expensive" engagement ring that steals the all-time-hiddy crown from Jackie Taylor's uggo setting on Beverly Hills, 90210.Will Logan's dating-blackmail scheme work on Dr. G? Why was Terrence Cook shot offscreen? The answers to all these questions and...fewer? In the latest Go Pirates! podcast.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It looks like a string of pizza-delivery muggings and the blackmailing of a group of Neptune High's LGBTQ+ community are related, but as Kristen Cavallari joins the list of VM characters who are bad actors in more than one sense, it turns out there's both more and less to these crimes than meets the eye. That said, it's a welcome cavalcade of past case-of-the-week characters, and a VERY welcome shout-out to our own John Ramos.Terrence's attempt to clear his name in the bus crash doesn't go so well, as Native Americans get impugned once again via a gangster casino owner who has Terrence's number, and a Lamb who doesn't respond to Terrence and Keith's blackmail -- involving, well, Lamb's blackmail of Terrence -- the way they'd hoped. Veronica's friend-date with Jackie ends with an UN-welcome discovery, and Logan's hard-won movie hang with Hannah isn't really a victory for anyone in the Griffith household. It's getting Corny in an all-new deep-dish episode of Go Pirates!.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the NHS senior-trip fund goes missing at Winter Carnival, Veronica is tasked -- sort of, and to Ms. Hauser's dismay -- with tracking it down, a chore that puts her at odds with academic rival JB; nemesis Madison; Ms. Hauser herself; and Weevil, except not really, except maybe? But she's on Jackie's side, which is nice, and so is Wallace, which ditto.While justice is getting served on Ms. Hauser (and her student aide), Keith is serving some T to Terrence Cook about his case, including how excellent his motive is for causing the bus crash, and how disappointing his gambling issues are for super-fan Keith. Almost as disappointing, in fact, as the show's take on sex-worker-related revenge, as Beav gets back at Dick for teasing him by hiring a trans pro to gay-panic him. Poorly played, especially in comparison to Weevil's Thumper-framing shell game -- and Logan's possibly nefarious meet-cute -- in an all-new Go Pirates! on S02.E13, "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wallace has decided what kind of man he's planning on being. Unfortunately, Rashard isn't cooperating, letting his uncle pin the blame for the hit-and-run on Wallace -- and it requires a Rube Goldbergian, but still pretty satisfying, assist from both Deputy X. Machina and Jackie to get to the truth. And Weevil probably should have seen the truth he's obliged to confront some weeks ago, but by the time he figures out who killed Felix, a PCH coup has pretty much already taken place. Having gotten thrown under the bus, he's stuck riding it to school. And speaking of buses, Keith is pulling a very Veronica-esque stunt to get to that truth, but do the rats and red herrings of "Rashard & Wallace Go To White Castle" lead anywhere? John and Sarah on all these plots, plus a contemplation of the season's midway point, in an all-new Go Pirates!.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duncan takes baby matters into his own hands -- and Veronica helps out with an elaborate break-up con, and assists from Astrid and a P.I. rival. But when she feels obligated to dupe Keith as well, the longterm results could get ugly.Wallace is also struggling with doing the right thing when the real reason for his return to Neptune is revealed, and while we always welcome a Logan/Weevil pairs skate, we kinda wish Weevil didn't keep falling down on the job of catching his snap. Committed extras, canonical shout-outs, and a baby-friendly log add up to a packed episode as we hit the midway point of Season 2.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Veronica gets jury duty, any resemblance to real life -- or interest in various Season 2 mysteries -- gets shunted to the side in favor of crappy legal plotting, wretched acting (with two exceptions), expedient out-of-character behavior, and shirtless Lamb. ...Okay, it's not ALL bad, but "One Angry Veronica" definitely leads to a couple of angry co-hosts, and only the glorious return of Wallace kept John and Sarah from tying the episode to a cinderblock and throwing it off a bridge. In other news, the Haaron/Lilly sex tapes get stolen for exactly no good reason; nobody in the writers' room seems to have interacted with the holidays at any time; and Lamb takes his shirt off. ...Right, right, we mentioned that already. Look, we're clinging to anything positive, but it's one of the series' worst eps, so deck the halls with boughs of folly for the latest all-new ep of Go Pirates!.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We can't say we were looking forward to another Lianne-centric episode...but she's not in it, even in flashback, and when Veronica investigates her mom's 1979 suspension, there are so many payoffs, we're not sure where to begin. Trina's mom is the lunch lady! Ms. Hauser's an even bigger hag than we thought! Duncan hid his relationship with Veronica from HIS mother! And the Meg-nancy is about seven months along! And...also that's a thing that's happening!All this plus a glorious Buffy-reunion catfight; a sharply observed ACTUAL fight; more suspicious minds amongst the PCHers; and the promising beginning of a Bea/Mac romance, and there's a lot going on -- and it's pretty much all good, so share your earbuds with your Yorick skull and give the latest ep of Go Pirates! a listen.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Veronica follows a lead on Dr. Griffith to the Fitzpatricks' lair, even she can't talk her way out of it -- except with an assist from Logan and his gun, and that volatile pairing is no match for the PCHers' determination to make him pay for his supposed crimes on the bridge. But Weevil may have kicked the wrong hornets' nest when he tries to torture info out of Logan...not to mention the snake pit he finds himself in with his own crew.But enough with the pestilent imagery, because we've got plenty of other things to discuss, like the case of the week, which puts gay "conversion" camps on blast but inadvertently shines a light on the show's weird approach to gay characters; Duncan's dreams of Meg, and why TV thinks it's normal for couples not to really care when one half is acting weird; and why it took Veronica Mars of all shows so long to add a PIRATE radio station to its intel mix.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prompted by Duncan, Veronica goes undercover as a babysitter to try to figure out which of Meg's charges Meg thought was being abused...but the hollow-eyes makeup from a previous episode goes off in this one when it turns out the endangered child is very close to home. Unfortunately, we all learn a lot about the epidemic of dysfunctional parenting going on in Neptune along the way.But the Casablancas brothers already knew all about that, and it's confirmed when 1) their pops remains MIA, and left Kendall nothing but her t-- er, "wits" to live by, and 2) their mom declines to take custody of them. But if she's going to throw money at any problem, she should maybe start with the plotting of Felix's murder, which is still meandering around like a country holiday. This and many other NSFW topics in our latest podcast on S02.E07, "Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner"!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Abel Koontz reappears asking Veronica to track down his daughter, she's obliged to team up with Clarence Wiedman in one of John and Sarah's all-time favorite strange-bedfellows pairings -- and what they find isn't pretty. Meanwhile, Lilly's actual killer, Aaron, is back to point fingers at Duncan and try to annoy Keith, and Keith's already plenty annoyed at the results of the election, plus Cliff drank all his booze and he found an actual rat in the wreckage of the bus.And speaking of wreckage, the PCHers burned down Chateau Echolls, so now Logan's bunkin' with Duncan. Awk-wood! See how our heroes put the "argh!" back in "argyle" in the latest Go Pirates! episode on "Rat Saw God."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Wallace struggles with new information about his bio dad, Nathan Woods, and what that means for his relationship with Adele Fennel(l) Hardell, Veronica is supportive...in that Veronica way that means she's distracted by the season-long mystery, and projecting her own issues with Lianne onto the proceedings....Well, when she's not demanding that Wallace pick a side between her and Jackie, whose elaborate and public (access) punking of Veronica leads to a homecoming-dance meltdown that isn't a good look on anyone -- and to Wallace pulling a modified Kelly Taylor and choosing himself.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When an heiress driven around the bend by suspicion hires Veronica to see if her BF really loves her, the BF's the one who gets some unwelcome information about his erstwhile intended -- and in the course of Veronica digging up the phantom dirt on the guy, Jackie discovers that she may not have Wallace's full attention, and while she doesn't like that one bit, John and Sarah kind of like the claw-unsheathing it prompts.Veronica also finds out that Duncan's been visiting Meg; that Meg has a secret laptop; and that Weevil and his rogue earring are crossed up in the bus crash somehow. And Keith finds out Veronica's defied him again, but he's distracted by even more unwanted intel about Alicia's past, in the form of an ex(-con?) who isn't going to be scared off.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beaver hires Veronica to dig up some dirt on his stepmother, Kendall -- but he doesn't just find out who she's screwing; he ends up screwing himself, and his dad's Ponzi scheme, and his teacher. Oops. Elsewhere, Kendall and Logan are accidentally outed, and Veronica is a bitch about it, but with a lot more reason than she's a bitch about Jackie, who may be screwing Wallace...it's complicated, and it's not going to get any simpler for Wallace, it looks like, as D'Shawn Hardell is lurking around a romantic trip Keith and Alicia take to Chicago.In other news, a scuffle between Duncan and Logan leads to some of Teddy Dunn's best work in the series to date; the show puts another couple of spinning plates in the air when the dead guy has a connection to Aaron Echolls; and gremlins gnawed on John's internet, so Sarah's going solo for this episode, which as a result is short -- but no sweeter than usual as I tackle "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang" (with help from John's notes).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices