Veronica Mars/Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough

Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough
Season 2, Episode 13
Airdate	February 8, 2006
Production Number	2T7213
Written by	Diane Ruggiero
Directed by	Guy Norman Bee
← 2x12 Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle	2x14 → Versatile Toppings
Veronica Mars — Season Two

Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough is the thirteenth episode of the second season of Veronica Mars, and the thirty-fifth episode overall.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Teddy Dunn (Duncan Kane) (credit only), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas), Kyle Gallner (Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas), Tessa Thompson (Jackie Cook)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Guest Starring: Jeffrey Sams (Terrence Cook), Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie), Kari Coleman (Deborah Hauser), Jessy Schram (Hannah Griffith), Jake Sandvig (J.B. Riley), Dana Davis (Cora Briggs), James Molina (Eduardo "Thumper" Orozco)

Co-Starring: Duane Daniels (Van Clemmons), Jonathan Chesner (Corny), Amanda Noret (Madison Sinclair), Valorie Curry (Jane Kuhne), Matt Thompson (Mr. Spivak), Maliah Hudson (Ophelia), Brigitte Graham (Pep Squad Girl), Laura McLauchlin (Milf), Jason McMahon (Baseball Player), Denney Pierce (French Teacher)

Uncredited: Rick Peters (Dr. Tom Griffith)

Notes

Mystery of the Week

• Winter Carnival Robbery: Someone has stolen all of the money raised by the winter carnival, meant to pay for the senior trip. Unfortunately for Veronica, the money was in her possession before it was stolen, so she must clear her name or else pay up to the tune of $12,000. After several leads that wind up going nowhere, someone filming the festival for the video yearbook has caught the moment of the theft on tape, but not the actual theft itself, leaving Jackie, Madison, J.B., Weevil and Dick as the possible suspects. They recover $3,000 of the senior money as well as a bag full of pills in one of the auto shop lockers thanks to a hunch from Veronica. The owner of the locker? Thumper. Also in the locker they find a paddle with some kind of code on it. She also finds a future exam of Mrs. Houser's in the copy machine, put there by her teacher's aide. Because he's a Triton, he knew about the streaking, so he took the time to make the copy. Of course, this is just an added bonus. After J.B. confesses, Veronica sees a familiar looking boot print in the middle of some glitter. She uses a trash can to boost herself up and find the rest of the money, stashed away in the ceiling panels. Because Mrs. Houser is the only one wearing heals at the festival, she's singled out as having skimmed some money from the cashbox off the top before reporting that initial $12,000. The next day, Weevil has a new car and reveals that he was the one who stole the money and hid it in the same places that Veronica looked, except she looked at the wrong times.

The School Bus Disaster

• Terrance Cook is under investigation as a possible culprit in the bus crash, but only as a scapegoat so that Lamb can wrap the case up. Lamb claims that Cook planted a bomb in a bag of autographed baseballs and memorabilia.
• While talking to Terrance Cook, Keith asks him to explain his history with Ms. Dumas, the teacher from the crash. He explains that she was trying to get him to leave his fiancée, but refused. So Dumas told his fiancée of their affair and caused the engagement to be broken off.
• The man who claimed to be the anonymous tipster on the bridge turns out to be the father of Hannah, the girl Logan spends his time with at the festival.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Keith: Keith decides to take the Terrance Cook case, despite the game that Terrance once threw. He's convinced that Cook would never kill a bus full of kids and intends on proving that to the sheriff's department.

• Logan: Logan has finally returned to the realm of sane and rational relationships, now setting his eyes on a girl named Hannah.

• Mac and Beaver: Also having a sane and rational relationship are Mac and Beaver. They apparently are officially dating by this episode.

Referbacks

• 1x12 - Clash of the Tritons: Veronica stumbled upon the Tritons last season due to a fake ID scam that she was framed for. She happened upon their induction ceremony and took several revealing pictures of them. She decided to withhold them as a favor to Duncan.

Veronica: Did you forget I took pictures of last year's Triton initiation?

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Never Nudes: During the streaking scene, you can clearly see that the people streaking aren't really naked and are actually wearing flesh colored underwear.

Allusions and References

• Ain't No Mountain High Enough: The title of the episode is a reference to both a song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell called "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." It also references "Magic Mountain," a Six Flags amusement part in California, near where Neptune would be in reality if it weren't fictional.

• Ghost World: Ghost World is a series of short comic stories written and drawn by Daniel Clowes in the pages of Eightball. It was collected into a book form in 1997 and garnered critical acclaim among independent comics fans. However, Dick is more likely referencing the 2001 adaptation directed by Terry Zwigoff starring Thora Birch as Enid, an artistic high school graduate who also happens to loathe just about everyone.

Dick: Why's the Beav all snugly with that chick from Ghost World?

• The Thomas Crown Affair: The Thomas Crown Affair was first made in 1968 about a man who pulls the perfect crime, by having four people commit the heist and then picking the money up while no one is looking for it. The first film starred Steve McQueen as Crown, but was later remade in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan in the title role. The 1999 remake also featured a plot change where Crown stole a priceless painting instead of a great deal of money.

Veronica: So, when you rented the Thomas Crown Affair, McQueen or Brosnan?

Memorable Moments

• Mac and Beaver hire a transsexual hooker to seduce Dick as revenge for him making fun of them earlier.

Quotes

• Logan: Let's see... I want something that suits my mood.

Veronica: Oh, I'm sorry. We're all out of liquid evil.