Veronica Mars S1 Ep 16: Betty and Veronica

Original airdate: March 29th, 2005

Rewatched: March 29th, 2025

School spirit is a typical theme for high school series. Buffy centered on a group of outsiders, although it’s notable that Buffy wanted in (she used to be popular), but her slaying prevented her. In many episodes, she tries to regain her popularity, trying out for cheerleading in “Witch”, or campaigning for homecoming queen in “Homecoming”. One episode even includes the mascot, Herbert the pig, who unfortunately gets eaten by hyena people (who then eat Principal Flutie, an amazing metaphor for the terrors of high school life).

Veronica has already been eaten by the hyenas at her school. She, like Buffy, used to be popular, but chose to stick with her father and be ostracized. She is hostile to high school life, despite Meg and Wallace trying to convince her to give it a try. Although this episode does showcase how Meg’s relationship with Duncan is putting a strain on Veronica’s continued friendship with Meg. Wallace, however, shows us that deep down Veronica is a marshmallow.

Wallace and the basketball team are the focus of the case of the week. Wallace is the star player and is gaining popularity and friends due to his role on the team. Veronica is not quite sure what to do with this, as she can’t fully embrace her fellow students, but she does show some softening, choosing to join Wallace and his teammates for lunch one day, for example. But Wallace’s chance to help win the big game against rival Pan High is jeopardized when Polly, the school’s parrot mascot, is kidnapped. The ransom to get the bird back is Wallace not playing. Veronica is asked by the principal to solve the case and goes under cover at Pan High in an attempt to do so. It turns out Pan High didn’t steal the bird, Wallace’s teammate did, as he wanted to be a starting player and be able to lose the game and win big by betting against Neptune High. Veronica is happy to have solved her case, although sad to be stuck at Neptune (she liked Pan High). And she watches the big game. It even turns out she’s the one making Wallace’s spirit boxes that appear every day in his locker. Does Veronica have school spirit? She says she doesn’t, but I disagree. What else is school spirit but supporting your friends?

On a side note, Veronica has her first date with Leo this episode. It goes well until they run into Duncan, Meg and the Kanes.

Veronica also makes inroads in the Lilly Kane case this episode. In Barstow, Veronica’s mother tells her she left to protect Veronica, and that she was in the hotel room with Jake Kane at the time of Lilly’s death, not Celeste Kane as the Kanes claimed. Veronica wonders whether the threats to her were to keep her away from the Kanes, or to keep Lianne from ruining their alibi. Veronica, intent on getting her mother back, checks her into rehab using her college savings before heading home. At home, she assumes her room’s been bugged, since Clarence Wiedman showed up at the bar in Barstow. She finds the bug but decides to put it to use. She gets Wallace to deliver a bugged plant to Wiedman (although she doesn’t tell him what it is) and then pretends to tell her dad she knows why Abel Koontz confessed. Wiedman hears it on the bug, and then Veronica hears him asking his secretary to call Amelia DeLongpre. It turns out Abel Koontz has a daughter.

In the end, an exciting episode, with Veronica showing both true friendship to Wallace, but also her willingness to use people to solve her case, as she gets Leo to get her the Lilly Kane interrogation tapes and uses Wallace to smuggle a bug.