<b>OPEN CASE: VERONICA MARS</b>

OPEN CASE: VERONICA MARS

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Season 2

Episode 11

Donut Run For the Border

By Sue

Doing the Right Thing: A Tale of Two Fathers

Duncan Kane did the right thing. And Keith Mars would agree. No ifs, no buts, no maybes, no doubt. A father protects his daughter. Bottom line.

Keith Mars, and some of us, may not entirely agree that Duncan chose the right method of protecting his daughter but none of us, least of all Keith, can disagree that Duncan's motive and his goal were both Right Things: A father loves his daughter; a father protects his daughter. Whether it involves large sums of money, a complicated scam, lies, misdirection and breaking the law; or, more simply, hiding key evidence, lies and breaking the law: a father protects his daughter. Whether she is mere weeks old and entirely helpless or "legal" age and entirely misguided: a father protects his daughter.

Duncan to Veronica: "I love you. I'll always love you." And yet, he must love his baby daughter even more than he loves Veronica because he is leaving Veronica for the sake of protecting the child.

Keith to Veronica: "I love you. I'll always love you."

Implied by both: "And I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

Duncan does what he has to do to protect his baby. Keith does what he has to do to protect Veronica. No matter how angry, fearful or disappointed in her he is. He has to, no matter what the potential cost. It's what parents do. Not all parents, of course. We've seen some pretty awful parenting in Neptune. But not in this episode. In this episode we see parental love at its zenith. There are parents who would die for their child; who would kill for their child; who would obstruct justice to protect their child. (Keith has more in common with the Kanes than he may care to admit.) What's a little kidnapping, bribery, or disposal of evidence?

Duncan has witnessed first hand the horrific results when a father does not protect his daughter. He's seen Stewart Manning's perverted beliefs of how to protect all three of his daughters. He can't allow for any possible chance that the Mannings would be able to maintain custody. Even closer to home he knows that his own father did not protect his sister. Jake did not protect Lilly from Celeste's favoritism and lack of parenting skills, possibly even lack of love. Lilly grew up wild, rebellious and promiscuous. Jake either couldn't or didn't bother to protect Lilly from herself, as Keith does Veronica. And Jake certainly did not protect Lilly from Aaron Echolls. Why would Duncan turn to his parents for help in protecting his Lilly? They failed so miserably with the original. And they don't even want granddaughter Lilly. Duncan has no reason to trust them---he knows them. He doesn't want their help in gaining custody of Lilly Jr, because he knows they can't protect her, or even love her for that matter. Duncan knows his own parents and he most certainly does not want Lilly Jr. to be raised by them or really anywhere near their sphere of influence. In fact, I firmly believe Duncan himself wants to be gone from his parents.

He knows that if he turned to them for help in obtaining legal custody that he would owe them. That they would control him. That they would eventually take over the raising of the baby and fail miserably in the process. He has first hand evidence of their parenting skills---first person experience. And they didn't protect their own daughter. No, he's certainly not going to trust them with his own child.

In the truck Duncan says to Lilly Jr, "Daddy's here, everything is going to be all right."

When Keith says to Veronica, "Looks like they've got you honey. But hey, think of how much we'll save on a Prom dress. I'm going to make a sandwich," it holds the same meaning: "Daddy's here, everything is going to be all right." Or, as he told her earlier, "anything you need honey, I'm here."

Of course some of us may be cynical about Duncan's starry-eyed assessment of their future. We see only serious problems facing them. But Duncan is speaking from his heart. He loves his child more than anything else in the whole world and will do anything to keep her safe. And who knows, maybe he will.

As to why he would name the baby after his sister, I believe he sees his child as a cosmic "do-over." He couldn't protect the original Lilly, even though that was never his job, but now he has been given a second chance to get it right. By loving and protecting baby Lilly he is somehow making it right with the original Lilly.

FBI Agent Morris: " You're a cool man, Mr. Mars. And you have a cool daughter. But kidnapping cases don't go away. You should know that." Man, I hope that comment wasn't gratuitous. I really, really hope that the line was deliberately written by Rob Thomas to promise us an eventual resolution to the question of Duncan living on his own as a single dad with no money and no real prospects. I also believe we were implicitly promised that Lamb would follow up on the abuse of Grace Manning. Her fate still weighs heavily on my mind.

If we are especially lucky, maybe we will also find out if "True Love Stories Truly Never Have An Ending." I'm going to be a starry-eyed optimist here and assume that Rob is not Joss. I'm pulling for Veronica, over the next 6 seasons (praying to the CW-PTB) to grow up and be able to leave behind childish things, even first high-school loves; to some day find a much more mature and healthy relationship.

Besides, I believe that the True Love Stories illustrated in this episode are really the ones between Veronica and Keith, and Duncan and Lilly. And I sincerely hope and believe that those will never end.

Subplots, Ongoing Arcs

The Plan to Write Duncan Off Arc: Being unspoiled I didn't even know this arc existed until it was tied up in this episode. Now, however, it's clear that the arc was plotted back from the beginning of the season. We always knew that Meg looked a bit like Veronica. In fact, this is one possible explanation for why Duncan slept with her. In his dream world he confuses the two. But who knew that the short scene with Astrid back in My Mother the Fiend was a deliberate set up to introduce another blond Veronica look-alike and supply her with a motive to aid Duncan, for a considerable amount of money? I wasn't happy with the "my boyfriend got another girl pregnant" storyline when it was introduced, but in retrospect I find it a much more creative way to write off a character than jumping off a bridge but never finding a body. The thought that Duncan remains "out there" somewhere, yet unattainable and always with the possibility of reviving the character will, I expect, play into future storylines. I do wonder whether, if Kyle Secor had not landed an alternative plum role, the entire Kane family and business might have played a much larger part in Veronica's future. I also wonder whether this means we won't be seeing any more of Celeste or Clarence Weidmann.

Don't Do the Right Thing and your conscience will come back to bite you in the rear.

The scene between Wallace and Veronica where she catches him in a lie about his basketball career and he confesses his real reason for returning to Neptune serves mainly to lay the groundwork for next week's episode. It helps that Wallace is too distracted by the rumbling of his conscience to delve too closely into Veronica's other activities. Not that she would have told him anything about Duncan and the baby anyway. She is clearly keeping the men she cares most about as far away from accessory involvement as possible. As well, his trust in Veronica to always do the right thing stands as a counterpoint to Keith's loss of trust.

The Mystery of Who Killed Felix: At first look there does not appear to be any new evidence introduced regarding the bus crash. I don't believe that Meg and her pregnancy were related to the bus crash. But there is definitely progress related to solving Felix's murder, and it's entirely likely that Felix's murder is somehow tied into the bus crash via the Fitzgeralds, the drugs, and possibly crash victim PCHer Cervando Perez.

In the ongoing storyline of Felix's murder ~~Frank and Joe~~ Logan and Weevil have teamed up to discover which member of the PCH gang is in collusion with the exceedingly violent drug-dealing Fitzgerald family. Here are two young men who, to our knowledge, have not benefited from any paternal protection or guidance. Sadly, we know very little of Weevil's family history or situation. But we have certainly not seen any strong father figure in connection with him. In fact, Weevil has assumed the paternal leadership of his gang and does what he can to protect them. Now he has two concerns: getting revenge for Felix's death and discovering and disciplining the errant gang member who may be connected to Felix's murderers. In the middle of an episode filled with lies and misdirection Logan and Weevil begin to trust and rely on one another. As well, they uncover some real truth that only leads them to a brick wall. Even though Weevil's suspicions focus on Bootsie and Hector, the two gang members supposedly left alone on the bridge with Felix and an unconscious Logan, it seems that neither of them has a connection to the Fitzgeralds. Only by chance does Weevil discover that, contrary to his basic assumption, it was Felix himself who had the direct connection to the Fitzgerald family. This implicates the Fitzgeralds even more directly in Felix's murder and explains their interest in framing Logan. How to prove it though?

Truth, Lies and That Shady Gray Area

Big Fat Lies

Kendall was actually sleeping with Duncan.
Veronica and Duncan's publicly staged break-up fight.
Wallace telling Veronica he came back to Neptune because he couldn't play b-ball in Chicago.
Veronica explains selling the earrings by claiming: "We had a plan. A plan to get custody of the baby, legally. He wanted to hire a lawyer but he needed money."
Duncan fled with the baby on a boat.
Duncan is holed up in a condo complex in Big Bear.
Veronica commits a lie of omission by avoiding Wallace's questions about her depression.
Lamb ducks Veronica's question about knowing that Faith should not be given to the Mannings.
Lamb is lying to himself about his chances of ever getting into the FBI.

Truths

Neither Bootsie nor Hector is involved with the Fitzpatricks.
Felix was involved with Molly Fitzpatrick.
Sean and Dick are serious lowlifes.
Lamb is a big fish in a small pond.
Lamb is correct in believing that "his ass is in a sling if he doesn't find that baby." Although, let's be honest, Celeste is far more interested in finding Duncan and it's possible that the Mannings are just relieved to have the baby gone.
Kidnapping charges never go away.
It's going to take an awfully long time for Keith to trust Veronica again.

Some Gray Areas

Logan: "You're not real complicated are you Dick?” Dick: "I try not to be."

Personally, I'm inclined to believe him. I think Dick is as nasty as he appears on the surface and don't believe he has any deep, hidden depths (good or bad) waiting to be plumbed, but this remains to be seen.

What, exactly, was Felix's connection with the Fitzpatricks, beyond Molly?
Did Duncan and Veronica really do the right thing?

Trust

Lamb never has and never will trust Veronica.
But Veronica trusts Lamb to act predictably.
Vinnie trusts that Veronica will lead him to Duncan.
Veronica trusts Vinnie to go to the highest (reliable) bidder.
Veronica also trusts that Astrid will also be willing to betray her employer.
Weevil trusts Logan to handle the drug buy.
Logan trusts Weevil's explanation about Felix hating the Fitzgerald's
Weevil and Logan trust each other, at least so far as they are united in finding Felix's murderer.
Veronica may have lost trust in Wallace.
Wallace has unwavering trust that Veronica would always "do the right thing."
The biggie: Keith loses trust in Veronica, but lives up to her trust in him.

Miscellaneous

Some of you may have understood the exchange:

Veronica to Vinnie: "Sam."

Vinnie to Veronica: "Ralph."

But I had to resort to good old Google. From Answers.com:

"Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf are animated cartoon characters in the Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Ralph has virtually the same character design as another Warner's character, Wile E. Coyote... but he covets sheep instead of roadrunners. Sam, by contrast, is a large, burly sheepdog with yellow fur and mop of red hair that constantly covers his eyes. Most of the cartoons begin at the beginning of the workday, in which Ralph and Sam go to a meadow where sheep graze, exchange chitchat, and punch into the same time clock. Work having officially begun, Ralph repeatedly tries to abduct the helpless sheep and invariably fails, either through his own ineptitude or the minimal efforts of Sam. (While Sam is always in the right place at the right time to thwart any of Ralph's schemes that don't manage to thwart themselves, he is never shown moving quickly to get there, as if he either knew in advance where he would be needed, or has the power to teleport himself at will.)"

You draw the parallels.

Nitpicky Question of the Week: Since he seems to have cleared them from association with the Fitzpatricks, why doesn't Weevil simply ask Bootsie and Hector for their version of what happened on the bridge after the other PCHers left with Weevil?

* * * * * * *

Finally, for those who come late to the episode or don't have the benefit of pages and pages of livejournal and posting board discussions, I offer the following summary of the main plotline (with a few editorial observations thrown in).

We begin with the "previouslies," necessary reminders because it's been 7 weeks or more: Duncan and Veronica disagree over the relevance of Meg's pregnancy to their relationship; the Manning's abuse of Grace is uncovered; Meg's last request to Veronica is reviewed; and (strangely irrelevant it would seem) we are reminded of Astrid's deal with Celeste Kane.

Day One: Veronica catches the elevator just after Logan enters. [I believe this was carefully timed so that Veronica could be sure that Logan would be there to witness the scene with Kendall. There is no explanation of exactly why Kendall is there, but later remarks make it clear that she is not in on the plan.] Kendall says she was invited. [A lovely set-up for a SLOL (Snarky Logan One-Liner): "You always come."]

Day Two: The next day Dick taunts Veronica with his knowledge of Kendall's visit. [The Kendall thing was clearly staged for Logan's benefit, suggesting that Logan himself was not in on the caper. Duncan would certainly want to keep Logan out of additional trouble because they are best friends and Logan already has plenty of problems of his own. Also, it's pretty clear that Logan is really not all that sympathetic to Duncan's paternal feelings. Veronica and Duncan could certainly have staged their oh-so-public breakup without Dick's intervention. They simply arranged that as the "backstory" if you will. Once the fight was staged Logan could probably be counted on to spread the rumor of what had caused it. Why then use Dick as the foil? Two reasons: it keeps the ugliness one step removed from Logan (we the viewers don't need to see Logan being additionally foul to Veronica---the "ho" comment in the elevator was certainly not endearing.) Secondly, it serves to remind us of just what an extreme low-life Dick is. I wonder if Dick will survive the season?]

At school, Veronica and Duncan have a loud, emotional, very public fight---quite out of character for either of them. Veronica goes home; puts on music to brood by; tells Keith of her breakup. It is sometime during this night that the baby disappears from the Manning household.

Day Three: The next morning Lamb arrives with the news that Duncan has kidnapped "Faith Manning" and arrests Veronica as an accomplice. Keith arrives at the station with Cliff the lawyer in tow and is not amused by Veronica's flippant attitude. It's clear that his anger is fueled by fear and he insists that Veronica be honest and helpful to the investigation. At the police station she encounters Celeste, who has hired P.I. Vinnie Van Lowe (probably the only choice in Neptune after Keith Mars). Veronica is placed in a line-up and identified by a jeweler to whom she sold Celeste Kane's earrings for $80,000. Veronica claims Duncan intended to use the money to hire a lawyer and get custody of the baby legally. Eventually she gives Lamb a list of items to check out and is allowed to leave. She encounters Vinnie in the hallway and he attempts to plant a bug on her. Vinnie predicts (unwittingly accurately): "Seventy-two hours from now I'm going to have that kid back."

Day Four: Next thing we know FBI agents show up and take over the case. [Kidnapping an infant (especially since we haven't been told that Duncan was ever legally recognized as the father) and quite possibly taking her across state, if not international, borders is definitely going to involve the FBI.] Veronica comes back to the station specifically to tell Lamb that she has "just remembered" that Duncan had a dot-mac account. [This ploy seems tailor made to specifically distract the FBI since Lamb would not likely have had the resources to crack the account or track down the boat.] We learn that Duncan paid cash for the boat.

Day Five: Veronica greets Vinnie as he stakes out her house. [Actually, where exactly was he parked? It didn't look like her apartment complex.] She hands him a note ostensibly for Duncan, which he naturally opens. [It is my belief that this is the point at which Vinnie is drawn into the scheme. I guess up until then Veronica and Duncan had planned to rely on Astrid alone?]

Later Veronica gets the (staged) phone call from Duncan. [I can only guess that Astrid played the recorded message over the phone since she was also spotted in the condo complex where the discarded recorder was found. I guess the tape recorder had to be found so the viewers could understand how the call was staged, but this seems to be a serious and unnecessary mistake on Duncan and Veronica's part. Its evidence that the FBI really didn't need to have and which does somewhat implicate Veronica.] The call does, though, draw the FBI away from Neptune for something over 4 hours. [Big Bear is said to be 2 hours away.]

As Veronica returns home she suddenly veers off to the adjacent apartment. Talk about hiding in plain sight! No wonder she needed to distract attention from Neptune. Duncan and the baby have been living right next door to the Marses!

"Goodbye, Veronica, I love you: always have, always will."

V and D say their star-crossed lover, undying love, good-byes. [I'm sorry, but Casablanca it was not. I notice that there was never any discussion of Veronica going with Duncan. It seems to me that if Vinnie had stuck to his plan of trailing Veronica he would have been able to find Duncan at this point. Maybe Veronica realized this when she decided to include him in the plan.] It is presumably at this point that Veronica takes the baby to Astrid and Vinnie to be driven across the border under the noses of the border patrol. Meanwhile, Duncan goes and hides in the trunk of Lamb's car. [Good thing Sheriff Don didn't get a flat tire!]

It has taken Astrid 2 hours to return from Big Bear, but that still leaves them at least 2 (or more) hours before the FBI returns to Neptune. As soon as Vinnie and Astrid get into Mexico they use Veronica's card at an ATM. Lamb is immediately alerted and goes off in pursuit. [It seems to me that the motel owner was told to watch for an American policeman to come looking for them and he obligingly points Lamb toward a restaurant further south. There is no way to know if the next "witness" is paid off or if Vinnie and Astrid just make enough appearances around town with the baby to produce a number of sightings.]

At some point Duncan exits the trunk in his hitchhiker disguise and is then picked up by Vinnie and Astrid. Love Vinnie's comment: "Gas, grass or ass. Nobody rides for free." Duncan pays him $30,000 and presumably paid Astrid enough for grad school tuition, since that was her bargain with Celeste. [Along with paying cash for the boat I can't imagine that much was left of the original $80,000. I'm uncertain as to why Duncan left all the evidence of his stay in Lamb's trunk. Probably he just wanted to get out and get away as quickly as possible, but it's really too bad that Lamb's face had to be rubbed in his complicity. Not that he'll ever tell anyone that he'd been played, but it will just add fuel to his hatred and distrust of Veronica.]

Meanwhile, Keith has discovered the diapers and the pass-through hole from Veronica's bathroom into the apartment next door. He leaves a message on Veronica's phone and searches her room. He finds the folder detailing the Mannings' abuse of Grace.

When Veronica returns home we are treated to an Emmy-caliber scene from Keith. He's scared to death and angry as hell. [I recall as a teenager my mother telling me that if I got into trouble she'd be angry with me; but if I lied to her about it-----I'd be faced with the wrath like a nuclear explosion. So I know where Keith was coming from. This situation will likely have additional repercussions down the road.]

When the FBI get back into town with the recovered tape recorder playing the other half of Veronica's staged phone conversation they come with a search warrant for the Mars' house. Veronica is concerned at first, but Keith makes it clear that he has protected her.

Still, Agent Morris leaves them with the threat: "Kidnapping cases don't go away. You should know that."

Veronica puts the fortune on her mirror: "True Love Stories Never Have An Ending."

[I think Duncan leaves Mexico on a plane headed to Australia which crashes on an unknown island in the Pacific Ocean where Lilly is kidnapped by "The Others." Not really. I made that last part up.]

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