WIP: "A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane" (PG-13) Ensemble, L/V, D/V, K/A (6/?)
Title: A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane [Episode 2.6] (Plot Summary and selected scenes only)
Author: Marylane23
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Ensemble (L/V, D/V, K/A)
Word Count: 10,000
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas and his immensely talented writers own these characters, I just sit here looking on in awe.
Summary: Episode 2.6 of my virtual season II. Veronica starts her senior year with a new mystery.
Spoilers: Through Season I only.
Author's Note: Hey all! Remember these? I know, I know, it’s been an age, and everyone has probably completely forgotten that this series ever existed. Sorry about that, real life intruded (Dammit). Just like the last one, the majority of this is plot synopsis, but I did write the majority of the last act in the same script form of the original episodes. Don’t know when I’ll have time to do the next one, so enjoy this for now.
The lovely skk670 and fickledame get credit for the mystery of the week, being the wondrous muses that they are. Jade gets a special bonus muse credit for actually stalking me fairly vehemently in order to get me to write this. Her efforts are much appreciated.
Any and all feedback welcome, as always :)
Part I of "A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane"
ETA: How scary is it that the plot synopsis is too long for one entry?
What has come before:
Veronica befriended new 09er Claire Castleton, who happens to be the new object of Logan's affections, and rekindled her friendship with Luke. Duncan lost his driver's license due to epilepsy. Logan and Weevil bristled at being roomies. Lianne returned to Neptune a newly sober and upstanding citizen, much to her estranged family's chagrin. Veronica let Mac and Meg in on her investigation of Amy Cavellero's murder, because for some unknown reason Amy apparently had singled all of them out of the Neptune High population. Welcome to class elections:
A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane
LUKE’S HOUSE- AFTERNOON
The episode opens on a circle of giggling cheerleaders sprawled around an opulent living room decorating a series of glitter-covered posters reading “Stella Harrington for President!”, among them old faces Meg, Claire, Tish & Haley (Ep. 2.4), Madison, and new faces Stella Harrington (Luke’s little sister) and Valerie Evans. The obvious standout of this group is Veronica, who is in the mix decorating posters as well, albeit with a slightly less sunny disposition. She and Madison snipe at each other across the circle as Madison gripes that Veronica doesn’t belong there, Stella pipes in that she’s welcome, and that she’s glad Meg and Claire brought her. Claire jokes that Madison had better not mess with her girlfriend, and to everyone but Madison’s enjoyment she wrestles Veronica down as if to make out with her.
Luke arrives and announces that as much as he would love to see the girls’ display continue, if Veronica or anyone else gets tired of glitter she can join him and the guys for some video-gaming in the den. Veronica looks past Luke into the den and sees Logan and a few other boys goofing off. She politely declines, earning some scathing lesbian jokes from Madison for her trouble. Stella gets up and pushes Luke out of the room in a very sibling-rivalry fashion.
Veronica rises from the circle and asks where the bathroom is, and Meg volunteers to show her. They leave the room together, and as soon as they are out of sight their demeanor changes. Veronica, all business, and Meg, anxious and jumpy, run straight down the hall to Luke’s father’s office and start snooping hurriedly through the visible documents and his computer. Turns out Luke’s father is a famous former pro-hockey player and current NHL coach, there are trophies and memorabilia all over his office. After a few moments of snooping Meg tells Veronica to hurry up, that they’ll be missed, and her remarks reveal that they already managed to do a quick sweep of Luke and Stella’s rooms when they first arrived and were shown around the house. Meg feels guilty for the snooping, but Veronica reminds her that they’re doing this for the Harrington’s sake as well as their own, as Luke and Stella are also on Amy’s list. Meg asks Veronica if she’s told Duncan and Logan about the list yet, and Veronica tells her no because she and Logan aren’t speaking and Duncan has enough worries. Meg agrees with her knowingly, telling her that when she last spoke with Duncan on the phone he seemed very upset. Veronica asks about the phone call, surprised at her own jealousy, and Meg tells her they are trying to mend things after their failed relationship. Veronica seems unsure of what to think about this.
Veronica finds nothing useful in the office and says they should go back, she’ll have to try again some other time. They hurry out and head back to the rest of the girls. As they leave, Logan emerges from the room across from the office, a disgusted expression on his face: he saw them sneaking around.
~~~
COFFEE SHOP- EVENING
Keith and Alicia slide into a booth with Lianne, who thanks them both for being willing to meet with her. Keith won’t allow for pleasantries, he cuts right to the chase: Veronica has told them both that she doesn’t want to speak to or see Lianne, and as a legal adult she has the right to make that choice. Lianne looks crushed, and looks to Alicia for support since she seemed to think Veronica shouldn’t shut her out when they met before. Alicia tells her it’s Veronica’s decision, and if she wants Lianne back in her life, Veronica will come to see her. Lianne demands that they convince Veronica to see her, and Keith dismisses the decision angrily, saying that Veronica has too much going on in her life and they won’t put any more pressure on her. Lianne informs them that she knows all about the pressure: the FBI questioned her regarding Veronica’s connection to Amy Cavallero.
~~~
PARKING LOT- MORNING
Veronica and Wallace exit his car in the parking lot. Veronica tells him that she’s had no luck figuring out what Amy’s list is about, that Meg let her search her house thoroughly and she couldn’t find anything at the Harringtons. Wallace asks Veronica to be a bit more careful in her investigation, and she says she’ll consider it. As they walk into school they pass a car containing FBI agents Nguyen and Deitz and Veronica stuffs a card under the windshield wiper as she goes. Deitz reaches out the window and grabs the card, in the interior there is a picture of a bride and groom surrounded by a huge pink heart, Veronica has photo-shopped Deitz’ face (from the photos she had Mac take) and her own onto the photo. Nguyen peeks at the card and starts laughing, Deitz crumples it up furiously. Veronica blows them both a kiss as they walk in. Wallace remarks that it’s nice to know how deeply she’s considering his suggestion.
As they reach the school Veronica sees Duncan being let out of a town-car a few feet away. She tells Wallace she’ll see him inside and runs off to greet Duncan, asking how he’s adjusting to being chauffered around. He jokes that he’d be better if his new driver didn’t keep offering to get him into clubs and sell him weed. Veronica laughs, but her humor is cut off when in the distance she sees Mac walking into school, and Mac does not look happy to see her.
~~~
COMPUTER LAB- MORNING
Mac ducks into the near empty computer lab, obviously hiding out from Veronica. The computer/gym teacher sees her and asks her if she’s going to use the room for a hiding place, would she mind helping him boot up all the computers before class starts. Mac agrees and starts switching computers on. Wallace enters the room, having seen Mac avoiding Veronica, and asks her how long she’s going to keep it up. Mac responds that in case it’s escaped his notice, she’s mad at both of them for asking her to hack into the schools secure server while the FBI were monitoring them and probably know, and if she’d been caught at it 2 months later she’d have been 18 and would have gone to jail. As Wallace is defending their behavior, the first of the computer screens comes on. Though we don’t yet see it, Mac and Wallace’s eyes go wide at what is displayed.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH HALL - MORNING
Duncan walks with Veronica to her locker, talking about her job search since she can’t convince Keith to rehire her. Across the hall, Logan and Claire are talking, and she catches Logan glaring at Duncan and Veronica. Claire tells Logan to suck it up and go talk to her. Logan flirtily tells Claire that he’d rather talk to her, and again gets shut down as Claire tells him talking is all he’ll ever get.
Meanwhile, Veronica gets to her locker and opens it. To her and Duncan’s horror, dozens of lilies cascade out, falling to the floor. Inside the locker, there is a picture of Lilly and Veronica: Veronica’s face has been scratched out and the picture has been captioned “Forgetting someone?” Close up on Veronica and Duncan’s appalled faces.
~~~
COMPUTER LAB - MORNING
Mac and Wallace are staring at the same photograph, displayed as the screensaver on every screen in the computer lab. The computer/gym teacher is looking at the room’s TV, the school’s closed circuit-cable is displaying the same image.
~~~
OPENING CREDITS
~~~
MS. JAMES’ OFFICE - LATER
Veronica sits across from Ms. James in one of her standing counseling appointments as Ms. James tells her how sorry she is about the incident with the Lilly images and asks how it makes her feel. Veronica sidesteps the issue, asking if they know who did it. Ms. James says no, but says that she and the other administrators are looking into it. Ms. James says that she knows Veronica will want to investigate it herself, but since she is the target and it’s such a difficult subject, she hopes that Veronica will leave it to the administration to find the culprit. As the last bell of the day rings, Veronica says she’ll consider it and leaves.
Veronica exits to the main office and runs into Mac as she is leaving Clemmons’ office. Veronica, concerned, asks Mac if the administration questioned her because they think she’s responsible, and Mac, with proper irony, responds that they want her help in finding out who hacked their system. Mac informs Veronica that she’ll help solve this, and she’ll help her in her investigation with Amy, but she doesn’t want to be friends with someone who’d be so careless with a friend’s future. Veronica tries again to apologize but Mac cuts her off and leaves, telling her that she’ll call her if she finds anything.
Veronica continues on down the hall, where she runs into Duncan and later Luke, who’s hanging the campaign posters the girls were making the other day for his sister with a few of his teammates. Duncan and Luke are very concerned about the prank. They don’t get to talk long, however, as Stella and Valerie run up to them, visibly upset. Apparently, Valerie was being hassled by a school janitor, who manhandled her a bit. Luke, Duncan, and the boys take off to go find him and hassle him in return, while the girls head to Clemmons’ office to report it.
~~~
LOGAN’S HOUSE- AFTERNOON
Logan and Claire are playing pool in Logan’s house and discussing the incident at school. Claire asks Logan how he feels seeing Lilly’s picture everywhere again, and he blows it off, saying he’s erased her and moved on. Claire doesn’t buy it.
Logan gets a phone call and excuses himself to the other room. It’s an underling from the movie company [Ep. 2.5], asking him if he can still make it in on Saturday for a dialogue re-recording and some press promo shots. Logan argues that he never agreed to any additional press promos, but the underling tells him it’s in his contract, that they want to get as much as possible out before Aaron is brought to trial, and he’d better show up. Logan seethes, but agrees that he’ll be there.
Claire, left alone, wanders into Logan’s kitchen and is distracted when a little girl in a swimsuit and water-wings races into the room. The little girl, in Spanish, asks who Claire is and Claire tells her. The little girl’s name is Risa, she’s Weevil’s cousin and a guest at a birthday party for Weevil’s other young cousin which is being held in the back yard. Weevil enters, is surprised to hear the Spanish conversation, but joins in and admonishes Risa for going into the big house against the rules. Logan re-enters, still upset from his last conversation. He takes one look at Risa, and immediately goes to check out the back patio.
A couple of other PCHers are entertaining Weevil’s little cousins and a dozen other little kids in Logan’s pool. Logan is angry at what he claims is Weevil’s steadily increasing invasion of the property. He makes a crack about what self respecting gang leader plays lifeguard at the kiddie pool and goes out to tell the kids to be quiet or clear out. Weevil stops him before he can get to the little kids, Weevil tells him that their deal included Weevil and Mrs. Navarro getting to use of the property for occasional family activities, and his aunt couldn’t afford to throw a decent party. Claire also restrains Logan, telling him that those kids don’t get a chance like this very often, and Logan responds that if she wants to give them that chance, she should let them do it at her house.
Weevil tells Claire that this is a part of Neptune she has to get used to, the haves and the have nots. Claire says bitterly that she is used to it, but that’s no reason to accept it, and angered by Logan’s unfeeling behavior, she storms out. Logan, faced with the prospect of interrupting a kid’s party and disappointing all the little kids, backs down, but tells Weevil that next time, this is a deal breaker.
~~~
VARIOUS LOCATIONS - AFTERNOON
Quick cuts take Veronica through a series of horrific job interviews at a restaurant, a copymat, a video store, and a coffeehouse. Veronica emerges, ready to rend flesh in frustration, to find Claire and Meg waiting for her in Claire’s Lexus and cheering her on. Veronica asks them if they have any openings for a maid. Meg asks how the various interviews went, and Veronica replies that they went fine, she’s not worried about being hired, she’s just angry at not having the job she wants. Veronica gets into the car and a voiceover reveals Veronica’s astonishment that she actually seems to have girlfriends, and she wonders when they’ll get to the slumber parties and start doing each other’s hair.
Veronica has a brief flashback of the good old times cruising around with Lilly, which ends in abrupt flashes of her seeing Lilly’s body and of the recent prank at school. Veronica snaps out of it when Meg asks her if she’s okay. The girls drive Veronica home to discover that the place is swarmed with reporters, the Lilly pictures have led to a renewed press interest. Claire quickly invites the girls over to her house.
~~~
CLAIRE’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON
Veronica and Meg are surprised to find that the lavish Neptune mansion is sterile and blank, including Claire’s room. Claire elaborates that that’s the way her father likes it, and that Claire herself (having spent so long in boarding school and usually spending her holidays with her mother) has never lived at the house long enough to personalize anything about it. While they are there, Claire’s father comes home. He and Claire do not even acknowledge each other, nor does he acknowledge the other girls.
Meg and Veronica are both too polite to ask, but Claire admits that she barely even knows her father, and that he only has custody to keep from having to send support to her mother, and that if she gets in trouble again she’ll be sent to military school until she’s 18. She says she’s trying to behave herself because she’s too fabulous for the military. Veronica tells Claire that she sounds like Lilly. Claire asks if that’s a good or a bad thing, and Veronica tells her it’s good, although Lilly would’ve trashed the house with a party by now. Claire seems inspired.
~~~
MARS/FENNEL HOUSE - EVENING
Claire and Meg drop Veronica off near her house. She climbs the back fence with difficulty, avoiding the reporters and lands awkwardly, narrowly missing Alicia’s rose bushes. She walks to the nearest window and knocks, Keith lets her in with an amused expression. He asks why the sudden return in media interest, Veronica flips on the TV to show him, as the TV news discusses the prank and the effect such attention is expected to have on the key witness in Aaron Echolls’ trial.
CUT TO Veronica in her room sometime later, brushing dirt off her knees. She calls Mac and asks her if she found anything. Mac replies that the few digital “footprints” she could find might lead to something, but she doesn’t have anything yet. Mac notes that it’s very weird, it’s as if the person tried to cover their tracks by indiscriminately deleting entire sections of computer memory (all the files for the last week), rather than just deleting what they did, as if the person had no idea what they were doing or had to work very quickly. She thinks she might be able to trace the person eventually, but for now their completely amateur method of covering their tracks has worked. Veronica invites Mac over for dinner at the Mars/Fennels as a peace offering and Mac declines, but politely.
~~~
MARS/FENNEL HOUSE - EVENING
Keith and Veronica sit at the living room table discussing the costs of leasing a car for Veronica now that they have some of the money back from Lianne. Wallace, Alicia, and Darrel are visible watching TV in the living room. Keith broaches the subject of whether Veronica wants to see Lianne and Veronica scoffs at the idea. Keith reminds Veronica that she’ll need to find some income in order to make the car payments and he and Veronica immediately argue over him giving her back her job. Keith tells Veronica she ought to get moving with her own life, rather than letting their past troubles control her, and Veronica responds angrily by hinting that he’s not practicing what he preaches, gesturing to her ring finger in a hint that she knows about his aborted proposal. Keith’s face registers shock.
Through the argument Backup has been barking in the back of the house, gradually getting louder. There’s suddenly the sound of something breaking, and a door slamming, followed by an anguished yowl. Keith and Veronica jump up from their seats, and Wallace, Alicia, and Darrel also rising from the couch in the living room. Keith gestures for Veronica and the others to stay behind as he rushes back, stopping along the way to grab a fireplace poker. Keith reaches Veronica’s room only to discover that it’s locked, and there are scratches on the door from Backup forcing his way in. Keith kicks in Veronica’s door, poker at the ready.
Veronica appears behind him in the doorway. Her room is empty, but it has been ransacked. Her bed is covered in lilies and photos of Lilly Kane. There is something red dripping on the windowsill and the windowpane is broken. Veronica and Keith start calling out frantically for Backup.
They hear a whimpering from under the bed. Backup emerges with a broken paw.
~~~
COMMERCIAL BREAK
~~~
Veronica, Alicia, and Darrel are sitting in a vet’s waiting room as a distraught and angry Veronica gives a statement to Sacks. From their conversation we gather that Backup is okay. It appears Backup’s paw was broken after being caught in the window, the perpetrator must have slammed the window down on and hit him as they were fleeing. When Sacks wanders off, Veronica takes a cell phone call from Wallace.
CUT TO the house, where Wallace is in the process of hiding Veronica’s files (including the yearbook), in his room while another deputy looks over the broken window with Keith. The weirdest detail of the crime seems to be that a couple of Alicia’s rose bushes are gone, cut out at the base. Cuts back and forth between the house and the vet clinic reveal Sacks and the other Deputy’s almost identical line of bullshit about how it was just a prank, and though they’ll keep an eye out, there’s nothing much to be done. Keith and Veronica have similar nonplussed reactions.
CUT TO the clinic. The vet comes out, leading with him a now-bandaged backup in one of those satellite-dish shaped protective collars. Veronica and Darrel rush forward happily to greet him, cooing over the adoring canine.
Alicia, Darrel and Veronica exit the clinic, only to find Agent Nguyen parked outside. Veronica is about to go off on him for following her there when he surprises her by asking how Backup is doing and reaches down to pet him. Veronica asks Nguyen if he saw anything outside the house and is again surprised when he readily admits what he did see, a darkened figure awkwardly vault over their back fence and drive off in a blue sedan. He can’t give her a make or model on the car, but says they’re looking for a grown man with a medium build. Veronica thanks him, but he tells her not to thank him yet, he’s there on orders to demand that she show up for a formal interview with them down at the Sheriff’s station the next afternoon now that she’s aware of the investigation.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - COURTYARD - LUNCHTIME
At school the next day, rumors abound that someone broke in and killed Veronica’s dog, a la Fatal Attraction. Meg, Mac, Wallace, and Veronica sit at a table in the courtyard listening to the whispered rumors and discussing the prank and Veronica’s scheduled interview with the FBI. Mostly, they’re wondering why Wallace wasn’t also asked to show up, especially since Duncan mentioned that he and Logan had both been summoned that afternoon.
As they are talking, Mac brings up Valerie’s encounter with the janitor from the previous day. It occurred near the computer lab, and the school administration is flipping out because it turns out that the guy wasn’t really a janitor. The cops don’t know who he was, and he’s now the suspect in the pranks against Veronica. As they discuss it, they glance across the way at Valerie, who is wearing long sleeves despite the warm weather. Meg informs the group that Valerie has bruises on her arms from the crazy non-janitor pushing past her, and she was too embarrassed for short sleeves.
Mac opens her laptop to show them feed she hacked from one of the security cameras the school has monitoring the parking lot, it shows a man in a janitor’s jumpsuit leaving quickly in a blue sedan, but his features and license plate are obscured. Mac says the guy must have some kind of grudge, Veronica looks at one of the photos that was left on her bed and says that it isn’t that simple.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - COURTYARD - LUNCHTIME
All the 09ers, including Duncan and Logan are all gossiping about the pranks against Veronica, watching from across the courtyard as Veronica and Co. have their powwow. Casey remarks that these pranks seems a little familiar, like the Veronica hazing days of old. Logan reminds them that they descended to hurting her pets. Duncan starts joking that Logan was behind the pranks, but makes it clear that it’s a joke only, Logan nevertheless seems a bit offended. In the course of the conversation, Duncan brings up Logan’s absence for the last two weekends in a row with no explanation. Logan replies that he was doing a favor for Trina (but doesn’t let on that it was the film role), and that Duncan has been inexplicably absent quite a bit recently too. Duncan says it’s a family thing, but refuses to elaborate.
The bell rings and everyone heads off to class, while Luke stays behind to go to class with Logan. He reminds Logan that they never actually apologized to her for all the shit they pulled, and Logan responds petulantly by telling Luke that he caught Veronica snooping around his house.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica and Duncan arrive at the station together, Duncan and his driver having provided the transportation. When they arrive, Logan is just exiting Lamb’s office, and surprise guest Lianne is sitting in the waiting area. Veronica ignores her mother, but asks Logan if they can speak briefly. Logan whines, but agrees, asking after “the mutt”.
Duncan hangs back as Veronica and Logan step outside. Veronica starts telling Logan about the photos and Logan immediately thinks he’s being accused. Veronica shushes him, handing him one of the photos that she managed to keep from being taken as evidence. The photo is of Lilly by her pool, and scrawled over it is a message saying that, try all she wants, Veronica can never be her. An awestruck Logan recognizes it as his own handwriting, and immediately sputters that he’s not responsible for the recent incidents, that he wrote this and pasted it on her locker after Lilly’s death. A brief flashback confirms this. But his worries are for nothing, Veronica remembers it and knows it’s being re-used, she wants to know how someone else got ahold of it. Logan has no idea. Last time he saw it, it was being confiscated, he hints uneasily that Veronica knows exactly the incident he’s talking about. Veronica awkwardly thanks him. As Veronica walks away, her mind wanders into another flashback.
FLASHBACK- NEPTUNE HIGH - DAY
Several quick flashes show that these events are after Lianne left, after Shelly’s party, and Veronica is being tormented by Logan and his 09er cronies. Veronica finally snaps when she finds the photo in her locker, she turns and confronts Logan. Veronica finally snaps at him and demands to know what she could possibly have done to deserve this. Logan lists his usual grievances, then says he’s tired of her attempts to be Lilly’s ghost. Later, Veronica is in the girls bathroom, she pulls a pair of scissors out of her bag and chops off her hair. Veronica walks into a classroom and flings the hair and the photos in Logan’s face, telling him he doesn’t have to worry about Lilly’s ghost anymore because she’ll have moved onto a hotter, less screwed up guy wherever she is. A Veronica voiceover describes this as the turning point, where she let “that girl” go. She and Logan were both suspended, Veronica for the outburst and Logan for the pranks that inspired it, and during her suspension Keith put her to work at the office. When she came back to school, she didn’t even bother speaking to anyone from the old crew.
~~~
LAMB’S OFFICE - AFTERNOON
Veronica flashes back to the present as she sits through an interview with the FBI, where they finally introduce themselves. They urge her to cooperate fully, but refuse to admit that it’s more than a simple clearcut murder investigation. Veronica has an internal debate over handing over the yearbook, but decides against it. Veronica tells them that she’s not the one they should be after, but not to worry, she’ll have the real culprit for them in no time. She jokes that she’d like to get this murder trial done at the same time as Aaron Echolls’ and free up her schedule in time for college.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica exits her interview as Duncan heads in. Lianne is still waiting outside, but offers to ditch the interview and drive Veronica home. Veronica flatly refuses and says she’ll wait for Duncan. Lianne tries once again to start a conversation remarks that she didn’t know Veronica was still with Duncan, she thought they’d broken up. Even though she’s wrong, Veronica simply tells her that she doesn’t know anything about her life. Lianne says that she does know something: Veronica is jobless and needs money. Lianne offers to get her a job at the mayor’s office, a low level clerical job in another department, where Veronica wouldn’t have to see Lianne unless she wanted to. She says it would be a good chance for them, a controlled environment where they could start to fix things. Lianne asks Veronica to think it over, then leaves her alone.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - AFTERNOON
Logan goes to cheerleading practice to attempt to apologize to Claire, who ignores him. Wallace is at basketball practice at the same time. Logan takes him aside and asks where confiscated materials go. Wallace responds that they go to a box in Clemmons’ office until the end of the year, and if they go unclaimed they get tossed, unless of course the counselor lays claim on them for her files. Logan thanks him and takes off.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica exits the station to avoid her mother. Once outside she spies a blue sedan matching the one in the video. Though we don’t see who the driver is, it’s obvious from Veronica’s demeanor that she’s recognized him. Pretending to walk past the car absently, she abruptly whirls and opens the driver’s side door, placing her tazer against the startled driver’s neck.
It’s Vinnie Van Lowe.
~~~
COMMERCIAL BREAK
~~~
Go to Part II
Author: Marylane23
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Ensemble (L/V, D/V, K/A)
Word Count: 10,000
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas and his immensely talented writers own these characters, I just sit here looking on in awe.
Summary: Episode 2.6 of my virtual season II. Veronica starts her senior year with a new mystery.
Spoilers: Through Season I only.
Author's Note: Hey all! Remember these? I know, I know, it’s been an age, and everyone has probably completely forgotten that this series ever existed. Sorry about that, real life intruded (Dammit). Just like the last one, the majority of this is plot synopsis, but I did write the majority of the last act in the same script form of the original episodes. Don’t know when I’ll have time to do the next one, so enjoy this for now.
The lovely skk670 and fickledame get credit for the mystery of the week, being the wondrous muses that they are. Jade gets a special bonus muse credit for actually stalking me fairly vehemently in order to get me to write this. Her efforts are much appreciated.
Any and all feedback welcome, as always :)
Part I of "A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane"
ETA: How scary is it that the plot synopsis is too long for one entry?
What has come before:
Veronica befriended new 09er Claire Castleton, who happens to be the new object of Logan's affections, and rekindled her friendship with Luke. Duncan lost his driver's license due to epilepsy. Logan and Weevil bristled at being roomies. Lianne returned to Neptune a newly sober and upstanding citizen, much to her estranged family's chagrin. Veronica let Mac and Meg in on her investigation of Amy Cavellero's murder, because for some unknown reason Amy apparently had singled all of them out of the Neptune High population. Welcome to class elections:
A Bad Trip Down Memory Lane
LUKE’S HOUSE- AFTERNOON
The episode opens on a circle of giggling cheerleaders sprawled around an opulent living room decorating a series of glitter-covered posters reading “Stella Harrington for President!”, among them old faces Meg, Claire, Tish & Haley (Ep. 2.4), Madison, and new faces Stella Harrington (Luke’s little sister) and Valerie Evans. The obvious standout of this group is Veronica, who is in the mix decorating posters as well, albeit with a slightly less sunny disposition. She and Madison snipe at each other across the circle as Madison gripes that Veronica doesn’t belong there, Stella pipes in that she’s welcome, and that she’s glad Meg and Claire brought her. Claire jokes that Madison had better not mess with her girlfriend, and to everyone but Madison’s enjoyment she wrestles Veronica down as if to make out with her.
Luke arrives and announces that as much as he would love to see the girls’ display continue, if Veronica or anyone else gets tired of glitter she can join him and the guys for some video-gaming in the den. Veronica looks past Luke into the den and sees Logan and a few other boys goofing off. She politely declines, earning some scathing lesbian jokes from Madison for her trouble. Stella gets up and pushes Luke out of the room in a very sibling-rivalry fashion.
Veronica rises from the circle and asks where the bathroom is, and Meg volunteers to show her. They leave the room together, and as soon as they are out of sight their demeanor changes. Veronica, all business, and Meg, anxious and jumpy, run straight down the hall to Luke’s father’s office and start snooping hurriedly through the visible documents and his computer. Turns out Luke’s father is a famous former pro-hockey player and current NHL coach, there are trophies and memorabilia all over his office. After a few moments of snooping Meg tells Veronica to hurry up, that they’ll be missed, and her remarks reveal that they already managed to do a quick sweep of Luke and Stella’s rooms when they first arrived and were shown around the house. Meg feels guilty for the snooping, but Veronica reminds her that they’re doing this for the Harrington’s sake as well as their own, as Luke and Stella are also on Amy’s list. Meg asks Veronica if she’s told Duncan and Logan about the list yet, and Veronica tells her no because she and Logan aren’t speaking and Duncan has enough worries. Meg agrees with her knowingly, telling her that when she last spoke with Duncan on the phone he seemed very upset. Veronica asks about the phone call, surprised at her own jealousy, and Meg tells her they are trying to mend things after their failed relationship. Veronica seems unsure of what to think about this.
Veronica finds nothing useful in the office and says they should go back, she’ll have to try again some other time. They hurry out and head back to the rest of the girls. As they leave, Logan emerges from the room across from the office, a disgusted expression on his face: he saw them sneaking around.
~~~
COFFEE SHOP- EVENING
Keith and Alicia slide into a booth with Lianne, who thanks them both for being willing to meet with her. Keith won’t allow for pleasantries, he cuts right to the chase: Veronica has told them both that she doesn’t want to speak to or see Lianne, and as a legal adult she has the right to make that choice. Lianne looks crushed, and looks to Alicia for support since she seemed to think Veronica shouldn’t shut her out when they met before. Alicia tells her it’s Veronica’s decision, and if she wants Lianne back in her life, Veronica will come to see her. Lianne demands that they convince Veronica to see her, and Keith dismisses the decision angrily, saying that Veronica has too much going on in her life and they won’t put any more pressure on her. Lianne informs them that she knows all about the pressure: the FBI questioned her regarding Veronica’s connection to Amy Cavallero.
~~~
PARKING LOT- MORNING
Veronica and Wallace exit his car in the parking lot. Veronica tells him that she’s had no luck figuring out what Amy’s list is about, that Meg let her search her house thoroughly and she couldn’t find anything at the Harringtons. Wallace asks Veronica to be a bit more careful in her investigation, and she says she’ll consider it. As they walk into school they pass a car containing FBI agents Nguyen and Deitz and Veronica stuffs a card under the windshield wiper as she goes. Deitz reaches out the window and grabs the card, in the interior there is a picture of a bride and groom surrounded by a huge pink heart, Veronica has photo-shopped Deitz’ face (from the photos she had Mac take) and her own onto the photo. Nguyen peeks at the card and starts laughing, Deitz crumples it up furiously. Veronica blows them both a kiss as they walk in. Wallace remarks that it’s nice to know how deeply she’s considering his suggestion.
As they reach the school Veronica sees Duncan being let out of a town-car a few feet away. She tells Wallace she’ll see him inside and runs off to greet Duncan, asking how he’s adjusting to being chauffered around. He jokes that he’d be better if his new driver didn’t keep offering to get him into clubs and sell him weed. Veronica laughs, but her humor is cut off when in the distance she sees Mac walking into school, and Mac does not look happy to see her.
~~~
COMPUTER LAB- MORNING
Mac ducks into the near empty computer lab, obviously hiding out from Veronica. The computer/gym teacher sees her and asks her if she’s going to use the room for a hiding place, would she mind helping him boot up all the computers before class starts. Mac agrees and starts switching computers on. Wallace enters the room, having seen Mac avoiding Veronica, and asks her how long she’s going to keep it up. Mac responds that in case it’s escaped his notice, she’s mad at both of them for asking her to hack into the schools secure server while the FBI were monitoring them and probably know, and if she’d been caught at it 2 months later she’d have been 18 and would have gone to jail. As Wallace is defending their behavior, the first of the computer screens comes on. Though we don’t yet see it, Mac and Wallace’s eyes go wide at what is displayed.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH HALL - MORNING
Duncan walks with Veronica to her locker, talking about her job search since she can’t convince Keith to rehire her. Across the hall, Logan and Claire are talking, and she catches Logan glaring at Duncan and Veronica. Claire tells Logan to suck it up and go talk to her. Logan flirtily tells Claire that he’d rather talk to her, and again gets shut down as Claire tells him talking is all he’ll ever get.
Meanwhile, Veronica gets to her locker and opens it. To her and Duncan’s horror, dozens of lilies cascade out, falling to the floor. Inside the locker, there is a picture of Lilly and Veronica: Veronica’s face has been scratched out and the picture has been captioned “Forgetting someone?” Close up on Veronica and Duncan’s appalled faces.
~~~
COMPUTER LAB - MORNING
Mac and Wallace are staring at the same photograph, displayed as the screensaver on every screen in the computer lab. The computer/gym teacher is looking at the room’s TV, the school’s closed circuit-cable is displaying the same image.
~~~
OPENING CREDITS
~~~
MS. JAMES’ OFFICE - LATER
Veronica sits across from Ms. James in one of her standing counseling appointments as Ms. James tells her how sorry she is about the incident with the Lilly images and asks how it makes her feel. Veronica sidesteps the issue, asking if they know who did it. Ms. James says no, but says that she and the other administrators are looking into it. Ms. James says that she knows Veronica will want to investigate it herself, but since she is the target and it’s such a difficult subject, she hopes that Veronica will leave it to the administration to find the culprit. As the last bell of the day rings, Veronica says she’ll consider it and leaves.
Veronica exits to the main office and runs into Mac as she is leaving Clemmons’ office. Veronica, concerned, asks Mac if the administration questioned her because they think she’s responsible, and Mac, with proper irony, responds that they want her help in finding out who hacked their system. Mac informs Veronica that she’ll help solve this, and she’ll help her in her investigation with Amy, but she doesn’t want to be friends with someone who’d be so careless with a friend’s future. Veronica tries again to apologize but Mac cuts her off and leaves, telling her that she’ll call her if she finds anything.
Veronica continues on down the hall, where she runs into Duncan and later Luke, who’s hanging the campaign posters the girls were making the other day for his sister with a few of his teammates. Duncan and Luke are very concerned about the prank. They don’t get to talk long, however, as Stella and Valerie run up to them, visibly upset. Apparently, Valerie was being hassled by a school janitor, who manhandled her a bit. Luke, Duncan, and the boys take off to go find him and hassle him in return, while the girls head to Clemmons’ office to report it.
~~~
LOGAN’S HOUSE- AFTERNOON
Logan and Claire are playing pool in Logan’s house and discussing the incident at school. Claire asks Logan how he feels seeing Lilly’s picture everywhere again, and he blows it off, saying he’s erased her and moved on. Claire doesn’t buy it.
Logan gets a phone call and excuses himself to the other room. It’s an underling from the movie company [Ep. 2.5], asking him if he can still make it in on Saturday for a dialogue re-recording and some press promo shots. Logan argues that he never agreed to any additional press promos, but the underling tells him it’s in his contract, that they want to get as much as possible out before Aaron is brought to trial, and he’d better show up. Logan seethes, but agrees that he’ll be there.
Claire, left alone, wanders into Logan’s kitchen and is distracted when a little girl in a swimsuit and water-wings races into the room. The little girl, in Spanish, asks who Claire is and Claire tells her. The little girl’s name is Risa, she’s Weevil’s cousin and a guest at a birthday party for Weevil’s other young cousin which is being held in the back yard. Weevil enters, is surprised to hear the Spanish conversation, but joins in and admonishes Risa for going into the big house against the rules. Logan re-enters, still upset from his last conversation. He takes one look at Risa, and immediately goes to check out the back patio.
A couple of other PCHers are entertaining Weevil’s little cousins and a dozen other little kids in Logan’s pool. Logan is angry at what he claims is Weevil’s steadily increasing invasion of the property. He makes a crack about what self respecting gang leader plays lifeguard at the kiddie pool and goes out to tell the kids to be quiet or clear out. Weevil stops him before he can get to the little kids, Weevil tells him that their deal included Weevil and Mrs. Navarro getting to use of the property for occasional family activities, and his aunt couldn’t afford to throw a decent party. Claire also restrains Logan, telling him that those kids don’t get a chance like this very often, and Logan responds that if she wants to give them that chance, she should let them do it at her house.
Weevil tells Claire that this is a part of Neptune she has to get used to, the haves and the have nots. Claire says bitterly that she is used to it, but that’s no reason to accept it, and angered by Logan’s unfeeling behavior, she storms out. Logan, faced with the prospect of interrupting a kid’s party and disappointing all the little kids, backs down, but tells Weevil that next time, this is a deal breaker.
~~~
VARIOUS LOCATIONS - AFTERNOON
Quick cuts take Veronica through a series of horrific job interviews at a restaurant, a copymat, a video store, and a coffeehouse. Veronica emerges, ready to rend flesh in frustration, to find Claire and Meg waiting for her in Claire’s Lexus and cheering her on. Veronica asks them if they have any openings for a maid. Meg asks how the various interviews went, and Veronica replies that they went fine, she’s not worried about being hired, she’s just angry at not having the job she wants. Veronica gets into the car and a voiceover reveals Veronica’s astonishment that she actually seems to have girlfriends, and she wonders when they’ll get to the slumber parties and start doing each other’s hair.
Veronica has a brief flashback of the good old times cruising around with Lilly, which ends in abrupt flashes of her seeing Lilly’s body and of the recent prank at school. Veronica snaps out of it when Meg asks her if she’s okay. The girls drive Veronica home to discover that the place is swarmed with reporters, the Lilly pictures have led to a renewed press interest. Claire quickly invites the girls over to her house.
~~~
CLAIRE’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON
Veronica and Meg are surprised to find that the lavish Neptune mansion is sterile and blank, including Claire’s room. Claire elaborates that that’s the way her father likes it, and that Claire herself (having spent so long in boarding school and usually spending her holidays with her mother) has never lived at the house long enough to personalize anything about it. While they are there, Claire’s father comes home. He and Claire do not even acknowledge each other, nor does he acknowledge the other girls.
Meg and Veronica are both too polite to ask, but Claire admits that she barely even knows her father, and that he only has custody to keep from having to send support to her mother, and that if she gets in trouble again she’ll be sent to military school until she’s 18. She says she’s trying to behave herself because she’s too fabulous for the military. Veronica tells Claire that she sounds like Lilly. Claire asks if that’s a good or a bad thing, and Veronica tells her it’s good, although Lilly would’ve trashed the house with a party by now. Claire seems inspired.
~~~
MARS/FENNEL HOUSE - EVENING
Claire and Meg drop Veronica off near her house. She climbs the back fence with difficulty, avoiding the reporters and lands awkwardly, narrowly missing Alicia’s rose bushes. She walks to the nearest window and knocks, Keith lets her in with an amused expression. He asks why the sudden return in media interest, Veronica flips on the TV to show him, as the TV news discusses the prank and the effect such attention is expected to have on the key witness in Aaron Echolls’ trial.
CUT TO Veronica in her room sometime later, brushing dirt off her knees. She calls Mac and asks her if she found anything. Mac replies that the few digital “footprints” she could find might lead to something, but she doesn’t have anything yet. Mac notes that it’s very weird, it’s as if the person tried to cover their tracks by indiscriminately deleting entire sections of computer memory (all the files for the last week), rather than just deleting what they did, as if the person had no idea what they were doing or had to work very quickly. She thinks she might be able to trace the person eventually, but for now their completely amateur method of covering their tracks has worked. Veronica invites Mac over for dinner at the Mars/Fennels as a peace offering and Mac declines, but politely.
~~~
MARS/FENNEL HOUSE - EVENING
Keith and Veronica sit at the living room table discussing the costs of leasing a car for Veronica now that they have some of the money back from Lianne. Wallace, Alicia, and Darrel are visible watching TV in the living room. Keith broaches the subject of whether Veronica wants to see Lianne and Veronica scoffs at the idea. Keith reminds Veronica that she’ll need to find some income in order to make the car payments and he and Veronica immediately argue over him giving her back her job. Keith tells Veronica she ought to get moving with her own life, rather than letting their past troubles control her, and Veronica responds angrily by hinting that he’s not practicing what he preaches, gesturing to her ring finger in a hint that she knows about his aborted proposal. Keith’s face registers shock.
Through the argument Backup has been barking in the back of the house, gradually getting louder. There’s suddenly the sound of something breaking, and a door slamming, followed by an anguished yowl. Keith and Veronica jump up from their seats, and Wallace, Alicia, and Darrel also rising from the couch in the living room. Keith gestures for Veronica and the others to stay behind as he rushes back, stopping along the way to grab a fireplace poker. Keith reaches Veronica’s room only to discover that it’s locked, and there are scratches on the door from Backup forcing his way in. Keith kicks in Veronica’s door, poker at the ready.
Veronica appears behind him in the doorway. Her room is empty, but it has been ransacked. Her bed is covered in lilies and photos of Lilly Kane. There is something red dripping on the windowsill and the windowpane is broken. Veronica and Keith start calling out frantically for Backup.
They hear a whimpering from under the bed. Backup emerges with a broken paw.
~~~
COMMERCIAL BREAK
~~~
Veronica, Alicia, and Darrel are sitting in a vet’s waiting room as a distraught and angry Veronica gives a statement to Sacks. From their conversation we gather that Backup is okay. It appears Backup’s paw was broken after being caught in the window, the perpetrator must have slammed the window down on and hit him as they were fleeing. When Sacks wanders off, Veronica takes a cell phone call from Wallace.
CUT TO the house, where Wallace is in the process of hiding Veronica’s files (including the yearbook), in his room while another deputy looks over the broken window with Keith. The weirdest detail of the crime seems to be that a couple of Alicia’s rose bushes are gone, cut out at the base. Cuts back and forth between the house and the vet clinic reveal Sacks and the other Deputy’s almost identical line of bullshit about how it was just a prank, and though they’ll keep an eye out, there’s nothing much to be done. Keith and Veronica have similar nonplussed reactions.
CUT TO the clinic. The vet comes out, leading with him a now-bandaged backup in one of those satellite-dish shaped protective collars. Veronica and Darrel rush forward happily to greet him, cooing over the adoring canine.
Alicia, Darrel and Veronica exit the clinic, only to find Agent Nguyen parked outside. Veronica is about to go off on him for following her there when he surprises her by asking how Backup is doing and reaches down to pet him. Veronica asks Nguyen if he saw anything outside the house and is again surprised when he readily admits what he did see, a darkened figure awkwardly vault over their back fence and drive off in a blue sedan. He can’t give her a make or model on the car, but says they’re looking for a grown man with a medium build. Veronica thanks him, but he tells her not to thank him yet, he’s there on orders to demand that she show up for a formal interview with them down at the Sheriff’s station the next afternoon now that she’s aware of the investigation.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - COURTYARD - LUNCHTIME
At school the next day, rumors abound that someone broke in and killed Veronica’s dog, a la Fatal Attraction. Meg, Mac, Wallace, and Veronica sit at a table in the courtyard listening to the whispered rumors and discussing the prank and Veronica’s scheduled interview with the FBI. Mostly, they’re wondering why Wallace wasn’t also asked to show up, especially since Duncan mentioned that he and Logan had both been summoned that afternoon.
As they are talking, Mac brings up Valerie’s encounter with the janitor from the previous day. It occurred near the computer lab, and the school administration is flipping out because it turns out that the guy wasn’t really a janitor. The cops don’t know who he was, and he’s now the suspect in the pranks against Veronica. As they discuss it, they glance across the way at Valerie, who is wearing long sleeves despite the warm weather. Meg informs the group that Valerie has bruises on her arms from the crazy non-janitor pushing past her, and she was too embarrassed for short sleeves.
Mac opens her laptop to show them feed she hacked from one of the security cameras the school has monitoring the parking lot, it shows a man in a janitor’s jumpsuit leaving quickly in a blue sedan, but his features and license plate are obscured. Mac says the guy must have some kind of grudge, Veronica looks at one of the photos that was left on her bed and says that it isn’t that simple.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - COURTYARD - LUNCHTIME
All the 09ers, including Duncan and Logan are all gossiping about the pranks against Veronica, watching from across the courtyard as Veronica and Co. have their powwow. Casey remarks that these pranks seems a little familiar, like the Veronica hazing days of old. Logan reminds them that they descended to hurting her pets. Duncan starts joking that Logan was behind the pranks, but makes it clear that it’s a joke only, Logan nevertheless seems a bit offended. In the course of the conversation, Duncan brings up Logan’s absence for the last two weekends in a row with no explanation. Logan replies that he was doing a favor for Trina (but doesn’t let on that it was the film role), and that Duncan has been inexplicably absent quite a bit recently too. Duncan says it’s a family thing, but refuses to elaborate.
The bell rings and everyone heads off to class, while Luke stays behind to go to class with Logan. He reminds Logan that they never actually apologized to her for all the shit they pulled, and Logan responds petulantly by telling Luke that he caught Veronica snooping around his house.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica and Duncan arrive at the station together, Duncan and his driver having provided the transportation. When they arrive, Logan is just exiting Lamb’s office, and surprise guest Lianne is sitting in the waiting area. Veronica ignores her mother, but asks Logan if they can speak briefly. Logan whines, but agrees, asking after “the mutt”.
Duncan hangs back as Veronica and Logan step outside. Veronica starts telling Logan about the photos and Logan immediately thinks he’s being accused. Veronica shushes him, handing him one of the photos that she managed to keep from being taken as evidence. The photo is of Lilly by her pool, and scrawled over it is a message saying that, try all she wants, Veronica can never be her. An awestruck Logan recognizes it as his own handwriting, and immediately sputters that he’s not responsible for the recent incidents, that he wrote this and pasted it on her locker after Lilly’s death. A brief flashback confirms this. But his worries are for nothing, Veronica remembers it and knows it’s being re-used, she wants to know how someone else got ahold of it. Logan has no idea. Last time he saw it, it was being confiscated, he hints uneasily that Veronica knows exactly the incident he’s talking about. Veronica awkwardly thanks him. As Veronica walks away, her mind wanders into another flashback.
FLASHBACK- NEPTUNE HIGH - DAY
Several quick flashes show that these events are after Lianne left, after Shelly’s party, and Veronica is being tormented by Logan and his 09er cronies. Veronica finally snaps when she finds the photo in her locker, she turns and confronts Logan. Veronica finally snaps at him and demands to know what she could possibly have done to deserve this. Logan lists his usual grievances, then says he’s tired of her attempts to be Lilly’s ghost. Later, Veronica is in the girls bathroom, she pulls a pair of scissors out of her bag and chops off her hair. Veronica walks into a classroom and flings the hair and the photos in Logan’s face, telling him he doesn’t have to worry about Lilly’s ghost anymore because she’ll have moved onto a hotter, less screwed up guy wherever she is. A Veronica voiceover describes this as the turning point, where she let “that girl” go. She and Logan were both suspended, Veronica for the outburst and Logan for the pranks that inspired it, and during her suspension Keith put her to work at the office. When she came back to school, she didn’t even bother speaking to anyone from the old crew.
~~~
LAMB’S OFFICE - AFTERNOON
Veronica flashes back to the present as she sits through an interview with the FBI, where they finally introduce themselves. They urge her to cooperate fully, but refuse to admit that it’s more than a simple clearcut murder investigation. Veronica has an internal debate over handing over the yearbook, but decides against it. Veronica tells them that she’s not the one they should be after, but not to worry, she’ll have the real culprit for them in no time. She jokes that she’d like to get this murder trial done at the same time as Aaron Echolls’ and free up her schedule in time for college.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica exits her interview as Duncan heads in. Lianne is still waiting outside, but offers to ditch the interview and drive Veronica home. Veronica flatly refuses and says she’ll wait for Duncan. Lianne tries once again to start a conversation remarks that she didn’t know Veronica was still with Duncan, she thought they’d broken up. Even though she’s wrong, Veronica simply tells her that she doesn’t know anything about her life. Lianne says that she does know something: Veronica is jobless and needs money. Lianne offers to get her a job at the mayor’s office, a low level clerical job in another department, where Veronica wouldn’t have to see Lianne unless she wanted to. She says it would be a good chance for them, a controlled environment where they could start to fix things. Lianne asks Veronica to think it over, then leaves her alone.
~~~
NEPTUNE HIGH - AFTERNOON
Logan goes to cheerleading practice to attempt to apologize to Claire, who ignores him. Wallace is at basketball practice at the same time. Logan takes him aside and asks where confiscated materials go. Wallace responds that they go to a box in Clemmons’ office until the end of the year, and if they go unclaimed they get tossed, unless of course the counselor lays claim on them for her files. Logan thanks him and takes off.
~~~
SHERIFF’S STATION - AFTERNOON
Veronica exits the station to avoid her mother. Once outside she spies a blue sedan matching the one in the video. Though we don’t see who the driver is, it’s obvious from Veronica’s demeanor that she’s recognized him. Pretending to walk past the car absently, she abruptly whirls and opens the driver’s side door, placing her tazer against the startled driver’s neck.
It’s Vinnie Van Lowe.
~~~
COMMERCIAL BREAK
~~~
Go to Part II