Veronica Mars/Leave It to Beaver

Leave It to Beaver
Season 1, Episode 22
Airdate	May 10, 2005
Production Number	2T5721
Teleplay by	Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero
Story by	Rob Thomas
Directed by	Michael Fields
← 1x21 A Trip to the Dentist	2x01 → Normal Is the Watchword
Veronica Mars — Season One

Leave It to Beaver is the twenty-second episode of the first season of Veronica Mars, and the first season finale. With Veronica finding out that Duncan is not her brother, all attention focuses to her best friend's murder, where the true killer is finally revealed, even though finding out the shocking truth might lead to her possible death.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Teddy Dunn (Duncan Kane), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Guest Starring: Amanda Seyfried (Lilly Kane), Erica Gimpel (Alicia Fennel), Corinne Bohrer (Lianne Mars), Lisa Thornhill (Celeste Kane), Daran Norris (Cliff McCormack), Michael Muhney (Sheriff Don Lamb), Kyle Gallner (Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas), Jennifer Gareis (Deborah "Cheyenne" Collins), Steve Rankin (Lloyd Blakenship)

with Harry Hamlin (Aaron Echolls)

and Kyle Secor (Jake Kane)

Co-Starring: Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas), Brandon Hillock (Deputy Jerry Sacks), Ben Belack (New Deputy), Roy Werner (Kane Lawyer), Boo Arnold (Doctor), Dan McLellan (Driver), Michelle Wolff (Female Deputy)

Uncredited: Lefty (Backup)

Plot Overview

Keith, having located Cheyenne, the call girl who was with Abel Koontz at the time of Lilly's murder, goes to his friend Lloyd at the Top Brass newspaper. Lloyd is unwilling to risk his reputation on the testimony of a call girl, but Keith leaves him with further evidence and asks him, as a favor, to at least talk to Cheyenne. Returning home, he finds the results of the paternity test he sent off have been returned, and Lianne and Veronica are cooking dinner; all seems well with the apparently happy family. Later, in his office, he reads the paternity test results privately, but is interrupted by Lawyer Extraordinaire Cliff McCormack. Cliff has come to express his concerns about Keith's wish to sue the Kane family, but Keith is convinced they'll settle. In school the next day, Dick and Cassidy are concerned by the newspaper article clearing Abel Koontz of the murder, speaking of a secret they swore to take to their grave. Meanwhile, Veronica and Wallace talk excitedly about the same article, before Veronica forces the two of them into the Ladies Room to avoid Logan.

At the Kane house, Jake and Celeste discuss seating plans for a high profile dinner when Duncan arrives with the paper, insisting that his parents tell him the truth about Lilly's murder and this apparent cover-up. Jake tells Duncan that he who killed Lilly during one of his fits, and a flashback shows Jake and Celeste arriving home to find Duncan by the pool holding Lilly's dead body against his, covered in her blood. Jake tells Duncan that they did it for him so that he would have a future, when the doorbell rings: the Kanes have been served. In school, Cassidy approaches Veronica and tells her the big secret he shared with Dick. Seemingly, while the three were on a trip to Mexico the day Lilly was killed, Logan had left early that morning to return to Neptune after getting worked up about the thought of Lilly seeing someone else.

Veronica goes to her father with this information, and that Logan had bought Lilly a shot glass that said "I Got Baked in Ensenada". This stirs a memory in Keith, who goes to his notes; this shot glass was in an inventory list of Lilly's car, which means that Logan found Lilly before her death. At school, Veronica finally confronts Logan, but lies to him about why she has been avoiding him so that she doesn't let on that she knows his alibi is gone, and that he was in Neptune when Lilly was killed. Logan expresses his concern over the Abel Koontz situation, and with Duncan's fits he doesn't know what to think. Veronica phones Keith and lets him know that she ran into Logan, and that he was trying to pin the murder on Duncan. Keith has heard back from the Border Patrol, and has proof that Logan's car crossed the border early the morning Lilly was killed, confirming what Cassidy told Veronica. Veronica is surprised by Weevil, who was listening, and reveals to Veronica that her conversation made it sound a lot like Logan killed Lilly. He walks off leaving Veronica concerned about what he might do.

At the hearing for the Kane lawsuit, Celeste reveals that she has no problem settling with Keith as long as Veronica signs a waiver that she will relinquish any future claims to the Kane estate. Keith is willing to make the deal, but says he will leave it to Veronica to make the decision. Later at Mars Investigations, Keith explains the situation to Veronica, and she signs it without despite the question of her parentage. Keith reveals that she signed away nothing, and produces the positive paternity test revealing that he is indeed Veronica's father. Keith and Veronica go to the authorities with the news about Logan's alibi, and Sheriff Lamb shows up at the Echolls house with a warrant to search Logan's room. At school, Weevil is about to attack Logan when Deputy Sacks and another officer take Logan in for questioning. In his interrogation, Logan refuses to co-operate until he gets his phone call. He phones Veronica and asks her to work her "magic". After the call, Lamb gleefully reveals that Veronica was the one who came to him with the information that brought Logan in. Later, Keith phones Lamb to find out what happened with Logan. Lamb says that he thinks Logan is seeing Veronica, and that they had to let him go on account of not having anything solid to hold him on. At the beach, Logan confronts Veronica about her betrayal, and confirms that he did return to Neptune, and showed up at the car wash. However, he says he left the shot glass in Lilly's car along with a letter, and didn't speak to her. They are interrupted by Keith who tells Logan to stay away from Veronica.

All four Kanes moments after Lilly's death

Later, Veronica muses over what Logan told her. The letter was never found by anyone, but she can think of a place in Lilly's room where it might be hidden. Veronica shows up at the Kane house just in time for the big dinner, in disguise. She sneaks into Lilly's room and begins to unscrew the air vent where Lilly hid personal items, not knowing that she is being watched. Duncan discovers her and becomes angry, but calms down when Veronica reveals what she knows about Logan. In the vent, they only find tapes of Logan's pool house showing Lilly on the day she died having sex with none other than...Aaron Echolls! This helps Veronica figure it out: Lilly was having an affair with her boyfriend's dad, but discovered that their sessions were being videotaped. Taking the tapes home, she was confronted at the pool by Aaron (who followed her) insisting that she give him the tapes. When she refused, he delivers a blow to her head in a fit of rage. After he leaves, Duncan returns home and finds his sister's dead body. Hugging her close, he gets covered by her blood, and is discovered by Jake and Celeste. Veronica reveals to Duncan about Aaron's psychotic behavior, how he beat Trina's deadbeat boyfriend to a pulp (and casually asks his son how his day at school went) and that he beats Logan. Veronica asks Duncan to watch Aaron (who is at the Kane's for the dinner) while she gets the tapes to Keith, and tells him about the paternity test. On the way to her car, Veronica tries to phone Logan, who is standing on the bridge where his mother died and doesn't answer his phone. He is drunk and is confronted by Weevil and the PCH gang, still believing Logan to be the killer. Duncan phones Veronica to let her know that he can't find Aaron, but after she hangs up she discovers Aaron is hiding in the back seat of her car. He instructs her to keep driving and takes the tapes from her, but she deliberately crashes the car. While she is unconscious, Keith phones her. Concerned at getting no answer, he heads out to find her.

Veronica comes to and finds Aaron still unconscious. She grabs the tapes but is unable to reach her cell phone. Exiting the car, she rushes to a nearby house looking for help. Receiving no answer, she hides the tapes. Seeing a light come on, she returns to the door of the house. Unfortunately, Aaron has come to and knocks out the innocent homeowner, followed by Veronica. Veronica wakes up to find she is locked in a fridge with Aaron sitting on top of it, speaking to her through a set of walkie-talkies he found on her. He is looking for the tapes, and douses the area in lighter fluid. Afraid of what he will do to her, Veronica tells him they're on the roof. As he is searching, Keith arrives (having found Veronica's crashed car on the road) calling her name. Aaron jumps him and they fight. It is a close contest, but Aaron attempts to take his revenge by igniting the lighter fluid, gleefully telling Keith that his daughter is in the fridge (now surrounded by flames). He makes his escape as Keith heroically rescues his daughter from the inferno. However, karma takes over when Aaron reaches Keith's car and is accosted by Backup. Jumping out of the car, he staggers into the path of an oncoming van. Veronica finds the driver standing over Aaron, and instructs him to call 911.

The police arrive to take away Aaron, and an ambulance to take Keith (who received bad burns) when the Kanes arrive. Jake is also arrested for obstruction of justice. Veronica returns home to her mother and reveals that she knows she is still drinking, and that she checked herself out of the detox clinic, despite Veronica paying for it with the money she intended to use for college. Lianne packs her bags and also takes the check received from the Kanes, depriving Veronica of her replacement college money. At the hospital, Alicia sits at Keith's bedside. That night, Veronica sleeps and dreams of Lilly who asks Veronica not to forget her, but is awoken by a knock at the door. Answering it, she finds the person she hoped it would be...but we are left with the question: Who is it?

Notes

Lilly Kane's Murder

• The killer of Lilly Kane was Aaron Echolls, after Lilly found out that Aaron Echolls was videotaping themselves having sex with a hidden camera. Lilly found out, so Aaron killed her before word could get out about their scandalous affair.

Music

Artist	Song
Garbage	Bad Boyfriend
Connie Francis	Where the Boys Are
Spice Girls	Wannabe
Cotton Mather	Lilly Dreams On

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Who's Your Daddy?: We find out in this episode that Veronica's father is confirmed to be Keith.
• I Have A Secret For You!: Lilly Kane's secret was that she was having sex with her boyfriend's dad.
• Lianne Mars: Lianne left. Again.
• At The Door: At the end of the episode, Veronica is in her apartment and she opens the door and smiles at an unknown face.

Characters

• Logan: After Logan heard about his dad's affair with his girlfriend, Logan attempted to commit suicide at the same bridge his mother jumped from.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Spillover: Because the running time of the show was too long, the opening credits were cut out and the billed cast was credited after the commercial break.

Allusions and References

• Leave It to Beaver: Leave It to Beaver is the name of a popular sitcom that aired in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, in this context, "Beaver" refers to the character in the show who is the driving force behind Veronica finding out who the killer is.

Memorable Moments

• After Aaron Echolls is revealed to be the killer, the show briefly turns into a thriller and chase scene combination as Veronica tries to escape Aaron and alert the necessary authorities.

Quotes

• Veronica: I know, Mom. I know you're not through drinking. I know you didn't even finish rehab. You checked yourself out and that was my college money. I bet on you and I lost. I've been doing that my whole life. And I'm through.