Veronica Mars S1 Ep 22: Leave it to Beaver

Original airdate: May 10th, 2005

Rewatched: May 10th, 2025

The final episode of season 1 is exciting, scary, and ties up the main plot points of season 1.

First, Veronica’s homelife is in flux. Keith is suing the Kanes to get the money owed to him for finding Duncan. The Kanes are willing to settle, but only if Veronica signs away her rights to sue their estate. Veronica is willing to sign, even knowing she might be heir to their fortune. Once she’s signed, Keith reveals he did a DNA test, and that Veronica has not signed away her fortune. She is Keith’s daughter after all. This also allows Veronica to tell Duncan later in the episode that they are not siblings, and their night of passion was not incest. For Keith, however, Lianne’s return complicates his private life, and he breaks up with Alicia, hoping to save his family. Unfortunately, Veronica discovers there is not much to save. Despite spending her college savings to send her mother to rehab, Lianne did not complete the program, and she’s still drinking, disguising her alcohol in water bottles. At the end of the episode, Veronica asks her mother to leave. Lianne does but steals the check from the Kanes on her way out. Veronica then calls Alicia to stay with her father in the hospital. Like Buffy, Veronica must deal with her parents’ broken marriage. It’s not easy, but Veronica is slowly realizing who she can count on and it’s not her mother. It’s just unfortunate that her mother’s betrayal won’t help Veronica begin trusting people again.

In Lilly’s case, Keith takes what he and Veronica have found out to the local newspaper, which breaks the news that Abel Koontz is most likely innocent and the real killer still out there. Beaver is very nervous after reading the story and decides to come clean to Veronica. Logan’s alibi isn’t an alibi. He left the surfing trip early to talk to Lilly. Duncan is also not pleased with the news, and he confronts his parents about it. They tell him that they came home to find him with Lilly’s body, and they acted to protect him. They think he’s the killer. Veronica takes the news from Beaver and goes to the police, who take Logan in for questioning. When Logan uses his one call to ask Veronica for help, the Sheriff lets Logan know Veronica turned him in. Later, after Logan has been released due to lack of evidence, he confronts Veronica. He’s not happy with her, but he does tell her what happened that day. That he knew Lilly was seeing other guys, and that he had made his peace and decided to break up for good. He found Lilly at the car wash and left a note and a shot glass in her car. The note, however, was never found. Things are not okay with Logan now, though. He’s a suspect in the murder, it’s possible his best friend is the killer, his girlfriend broke up with him by turning him in to the police, and his homelife is problematic. He ends up parked on a bridge, drinking and getting dangerously close to the edge. Weevil finds him there and decides to confront him, assuming Logan is Lilly’s killer.

Veronica decides to break into the Kane’s to find Logan’s note. Lilly used to hide things in her vents, something she learned from Logan. Veronica told the Sherriff to search Logan’s vents when she turned in Logan. When Veronica gets to Lilly’s room, the screws in the vent are already loose. And someone is hiding in the closet. Someone who knew about the vents is trying to beat Veronica to the punch. Duncan finds Veronica in Lilly’s room and confronts her. Veronica says she doesn’t think Duncan’s the killer, and Duncan agrees to help her. They find tapes in the vent and watch them.

The big reveal is that Lilly wasn’t just with Logan and Weevil, she was also sleeping with Aaron Echolls and the cameras Veronica discovered in the pool house weren’t Logan’s but Aaron’s. Lilly discovered and stole the tapes the day she died, and it’s looking like Aaron Echolls is the killer. Veronica leaves Duncan to keep an eye on Aaron (Dunca’s parents are in the middle of party for the governor and Aaron is a guest) and Veronica takes the tapes to her father. Only she doesn’t get there. Aaron hides in her car, and they have a violent confrontation involving a car crash, a chase to a house, Aaron taking out the house owner, Veronica hiding the tapes, and Aaron locking her in a refrigerator and setting it on fire to get Veronica to give up the tapes. Keith thankfully comes to the rescue but is injured. He spends the night in the hospital, but Veronica needs her rest, too, so Alicia comes. Aaron is arrested for murder. Duncan’s father for obstruction.

Some key themes come up in the finale. First, if everyone had been honest with the police, maybe Lilly’s killer would have been found earlier. The Kane family faked the time of death. Logan hid his whereabouts. Veronica didn’t tell her father about Lilly hiding things in her vents. Then, there’s Aaron. While he was never a suspect, it’s hard to say it’s surprising. He’s violent, womanizing and bent on maintaining his reputation. His wife’s suicide indicates things were deeply not okay with the Echolls. More honesty might have meant more of the strands coming together sooner and pointing to Aaron.

Then, as Veronica is home resting from her final confrontation, she has a final dream with Lilly. The two are at peace in the pool and they say their final goodbye. Veronica was determined to solve the murder perhaps in part in the hopes of having her life return to normal, but Lilly tells her it won’t. Solving the case doesn’t really change anything. Lilly is still dead, Veronica’s father isn’t magically Sheriff again, and her family is not magically intact again. While Aaron Echolls might be in jail, Veronica isn’t the person she was before the murder. It reminds me of Buffy and how being the Slayer changed her so much that when she thought she lost her power in season 3, she was scared. Like Buffy, Veronica will never her old self again.

On one final note, the finale ends on a cliffhanger. Although all major season 1 plot points have some resolution, the final scene is Veronica answering her door to an unseen person and saying, “I was hoping it would be you.” But who is it? Logan? Duncan? Weevil? While Veronica is not quite Lilly in her ability to maintain many relationships at once, she does seem to have made herself a many-sided love triangle this season. Which of her guys was she hoping to see? It could even be Wallace, coming over to be her friend. He may not be a romantic interest, but he may well be the person Veronica hopes to see after a bad night. We must wait until the end of summer to find out. While I don’t generally like seasons that end on cliffhangers, this one is okay. As most plot points are resolved, I can wait to find out what the future holds for Veronica and her guys.