Veronica Mars 2.19 Nevermind the Buttocks

Just as Plan B was about wrapping up one of the season’s biggest arcs, Nevermind the Buttocks is about tidying up the left over plot threads by making sense of some of the players it introduced. Though it’s an episode that lacks a stronger stand-alone case, it’s more credible in its clever meshing of both the longer running plots, and the shorter episodic one.

The Fitzpatricks play a huge part in season 2’s biggest story arcs, and up until now we’ve never really seen how they fit into the story. They run a drug ring that makes its money off of scaring the leader-less PCH’ers, and they’re total psychos, but do they have a greater purpose? Here they start to intertwine with a character that was never really a part of their game; Kendall. We learn that she changed her name after doing 6 years for wire fraud, a stint that brought her into contact with the Fitzpatrick’s. There’s a struggle to really explore this story later on, but I like the fact that this connection exists. It feels like the writers always ensure a character’s allegiances and ties are well planned before they’re introduced.

I’ve discussed before that the bus crash mystery was all about stacking up the perpetrators. It’s a completely different angel to approach than last year, since we always had Duncan as suspect numero-uno. That’s not to say it’s a negative, though. It actually serves the season well, by giving each of the conflicting arcs a reason to still be a huge part of mystery. It becomes more evident now that Kendall and Liam have been tied together.

Though this episode’s stand-alone case wasn’t the show’s most interesting, I enjoyed some of the subtle ties it had to plots elsewhere, like Harry’s little brother being a part of the PCH’ers. It posed an interesting dilemma in the end, and though Veronica has always been one to give the guilty parties what they deserve, she takes the moral high ground here, and saves everyone a lot of pain. It was a bittersweet tone to end the episode on, but it really worked.

You can feel the pieces starting to slide together at this point, as Veronica and Keith’s investigation into the bus crash is starting to lead them into more dangerous territory. Keith’s near-miss with Liam was a well constructed confrontation, too. It’s pretty great that Ronnie cleaned-out the gun, too. That’s why we love her though, isn’t it? She’s got style.

8/10