Veronica Mars- Mars, Bars

Okay, let me start by saying that this was an awesome episode of Veronica Mars, and if you are reading this recap instead of having seen it, you should commence weeping now. Sorry, but it's the truth. That said, let's see if I can't do "Mars, Bars" some justice. I'm trying a different style this week, breaking the recap up into nice, easily digestable storylines because dear God, Veronica Mars is dense (thanks to our resident Friday Night Lights maven for the inspiration). We'll begin with the big'un...

Who Killed Dean O'Dell?: Keith interviews Dean O'Dell's assistant, who says that Hearst donor/douchebag extroardinaire Mel Stoltz paid the Dean a visit the day he died. Also, Cyrus was out of Xanax and didn't have time to pick up his prescription, sending Mindy to get it instead. Because Xanax was found in the Dean's tox report, she must have been at the college that night. This convinces Keith that he should finally report his suspicions about the Dean's widow to Sheriff Lamb. As per usual, Lamb is resistant, but he agrees to dust the Dean's belongings for prints.

Professor Landry, Mindy's lover and Veronica's prof, pays Keith a visit. There's a bug in his phone, and he suspects the Marses are to blame. He tells Keith to back off- he doesn't appreciate the bug, and he doesn't appreciate Veronica probing him in class about his alibi. She has potential, and shouldn't be wasting it on P.I. crap. Oooh, low blow there, Landry. For the record, the Prof got to the Neptune Grand, watched the Clippers, engaged in some hanky-panky with Mindy, ordered room service and a movie, went to sleep. End of story. Keith still isn't so sure.

In the sheriff's office, Mindy O'Dell admits she got the Xanax, but says she didn't bring it to Cyrus, he must have had some left over. Also, she was asleep when Landry ordered Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. All this talk about Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang makes me wonder if there's some tie between its central mystery and ours. Hmmm. I don't trust anything Mindy says here, but it's fun to see her talking circles around Lamb, Mars-style.

At the Mars abode, Veronica goes to watch TV, but is bummed to hear that her show is being pushed back an hour due to a Clippers game (ha! This happens to Veronica Mars fans all the time in LA...The CW preempts the show for basketball and airs it on the weekend). The inconvenience gets her thinking though...if the Clippers were on the night the Dean was killed, then the earwitness was watching Space Ghost an hour later than usual, moving the time of the gunshot from 2:30 to 3:30. Which is after Mindy or Landry had returned the O'Dell Volvo to the Neptune Grand, securing their alibi.

Vee and Keith go to let Lamb know about the time shift and arrive at the Sheriff's office just in time to learn that Mindy's ex, Steve (Richard Grieco), used the Dean's keyboard, and therefore could have typed his "suicide" note. Ruh-roh. They bring the slimeball in for questioning, and he immediately thinks Mindy is setting him up. Everyone's favorite public defender Cliff gets Steve released on a technicality, allowing him to leave the station and go straight to his ex-wife's.

Deputy Sacks and Sheriff Lamb go to the O'Dell house to take care of things, with Keith on their tail. Lamb is making his way through the house, gun drawn, when he is surprised by his own reflection in a mirror and shoots. He lets his guard down for a moment, allowing Steve to pop out and attack with a baseball bat. Steve is wailing on Lamb when Sacks comes in and shoots him (dead?). Keith hears the shot and comes running inside. Lamb mutters "I smell bread" before going unconscious. He's taken to the hospital, but soon later we hear: Lamb is dead. What. the. eff.

At the university, Weevil is cleaning out the Hearst furnaces. He finds a bloody shirt in a vent and gets it to the Sheriff who is now...Keith Mars. Sheriff Mars shows the shirt to Mindy O'Dell who is back in interrogation. Does she have anything the say about the HRL (Hank R-Something Landry) monogram on the pocket?

Who Killed Coach Barry?: Honestly, working at Hearst is becoming as dangerous as living in Cabot Cove (zing!). Veronica is in jail for helping Josh Barry escape. Unintentionally. He's allergic to peanuts, she made him peanut butter cookies, he had a reaction and then overpowered the paramedics after they fixed him. The good news is that the charges won't stick. The bad news is that Lamb is going to keep Vee there as long as he can. Fine by me, as long as she keeps the prison jokes coming.

She and Keith think Josh must have done it: innocent men don't run. But Cliff says the kid's okay, and when Wallace comes by the cell later, he lets Veronica know that Mason missed practice that day. Is there another Hearst basketball player on the run? While at the Sheriff's station, Keith bumps into laugh riot Vinny Van Lowe who reveals that Mama Barry hired him to tail the Coach, who she suspected of cheating. He never found anything concrete, but Coach Barry was definitely meeting with a woman secretly- he has some pictures for Keith to prove it.

Veronica gets out of jail, and Josh Barry is waiting for her, with Mason in his trunk. He shows Veronica Mason's gun, convinced he's responsible. Unfortunately, he's got the wrong man hog-tied: the gun is a 22, and the Coach was shot with a 45. She lets Mason go, and tries to get Josh to turn himself in. He wants her help getting out the country instead. She agrees to make him a fake ID so he can access his safety deposit box and get the funding necessary for his official "Duncan Kane Memorial Hiding from the Cops in Mexico Journey".

Back at the apartment, Veronica and Keith swap notes- she's just earning Josh's trust to bring him in, he's found the woman in the Van Lowe pics and her husband happens to be in the Navy, where a 45 is standard issue. Keith goes to question the woman, but she wasn't having an affair with the Coach. She was his neurologist. He had a terminal disease that was going to ensure him a long, painful and expensive death. Whoever murdered him was doing him a favor, in her opinion. Interesting, doc.

Keith looks into the Coach's records and learns that the family just took out extra life insurance with a double indemnity clause, meaning the Barry's were going to do mighty well for themselves if he died accidentally. Still, hitmen don't work on spec, how could Mrs. Barry have afforded to bump the Coach off? Veronica has an idea...Josh's safety deposit box. She goes with him to see if the money's still there, while Keith goes to talk to Lady MacBarry a bit more. She says she has something for Keith to see...a 45. After he swiftly takes her down, she explains it was the coach's. She wants Keith to test to see if its been fired, because that could clear Josh. Josh, meanwhile, is collecting his still-there $10,000 in coins at the bank. Also in the safety deposit box? A DVD.

Veronica and Josh go to the beach and watch the DVD on Vee's computer. It's a heartwarming message from Coach. He says that if Josh is watching this, he's 21 (or gotten a fake ID), and the statute of limitations has run out on the insurance investigation. The coach got a trusted friend to kill him, so he could provide for the family and shorten their suffering. Veronica spots this trusted friend in a mirror on the DVD. It's the assistant coach, who from the back, looks just like Josh. That explains what Mason said to the Sheriff.

Knowing that turning the DVD over would destroy the Coach's last wish, Josh decides to run anyways. As long as he remains a suspect, the Coach's death remains a murder, and his family gets the insurance money. Bonus? This is an excellent in to the much-demanded Duncan and Josh spin-off show, Two Men and a Little Lady.

The Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt: Logan and Veronica seem to be on decent terms this week. He swings by to visit her in jail and helps her by taking something to Mac (yay! Mac's back!). At the dorm, Mac, Parker, and Mac's man the animal-lover (let's call him Peta) rope Logan into a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt for backstage passes to All Tomorrow's Parties. Since Peta and Mac are obviously paired together, Logan will be with Parker. I do not like where this is going. Not one bit.

The foursome attack their tasks, which are mostly goofy and sex-related. Parker and Logan have a few more flirty moments that make me want to puke, including a half-clothed swim for their final clue. After a whole night out, the team triumphantly returns to the Hearst food court where they've won! Third place, that is. Mac invites Peta back to her place to "crash", or as we later find out "bang". Good for Mac, she needs some love after the number Beaver did on her. Logan and Parker hang out later at the food court, where Veronica spots them and sighs.

Next week: It's Sheriff Mars time. That's weird to write. Is Lamb really dead? Is there any sensical explanation for him faking a death? I'm going to miss that dumbass. Also: Professor Landry looks super guilty, which means there's no way he did it. My out of left field guess as to who the murderer is? TA Tim Foyle. Check out the extended preview below:

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