"Clash of the Tritons"
Veronica is outside Ms. James’ office, waiting with a student in an MIT shirt to take part in a grief study. A group of almost naked students runs down the hall outside the office, making the MIT guy wish that he had already graduated. In the office, Ms. James encourages Veronica to let out her grief over Lilly, but a bored Veronica would rather play with Ms. James’ stapler. When the counselor isn’t looking, Veronica swaps the stapler for an identical one in her bag. A journalism student named Rick gets called to Clemmons’ office, where he’s questioned by Lamb and Sacks about his comatose friend Tim - Rick dropped him outside the hospital the previous night after hitting a bunch of bars. Rick admits that they had fake IDs and Lamb demands to know who supplied them. Rick names Veronica. Clemmons and Lamb search Veronica’s locker, where they find a bunch of fake IDs she claims she didn’t know about. Lamb looks through Veronica’s wallet and finds Lilly’s driver’s license, a 22-year-old Veronica’s license, a student ID for San Diego State, and a masseuse’s license. Clemmons suspends students as Lamb leads Veronica off in cuffs; to add insult to injury, she’s escorted past a bunch of students. At the station, Cliff arrives to help Veronica, who gets a court date and doesn’t want to have to tell Keith what’s happened. Cliff warns Veronica that the fake IDs in her locker might hurt her, though, until Tim wakes up, they only have Rick’s testimony. Veronica immediately confronts Rick, who confesses that “they” told him to name her as the ID supplier. He says that “they” would destroy him if he gave her any information, but she says she’ll destroy him more.
Wallace visits Veronica at Mars Investigations; she asks him to get her a fake ID and find out who at school is making them. On his way to school, Logan overhears gossip about his parents (see “An Echolls Family Christmas”) on the radio. He’s not happy to see news clippings about his family or to get harassed by a student, whom he winds up in a fight with. Weevil meets with Ms. James, who reminds him that the last time he was in her office - right after Lilly’s death - he was incredibly upset. He tells her that he was mad because a girl in his neighborhood had disappeared, but her case didn’t get as much attention as Lilly’s. In her car, Veronica listens in on the conversation, thanks to the bug she placed in the stapler. Ms. James reads a stalker-ish letter that Weevil wrote to Lilly; she adds that Lilly wanted to be transferred out of her gym class because of problems with a boy. Veronica is shocked to learn that Weevil and Lilly might have been romantically involved. Weevil explains that Logan and Lilly had broken up when he and Lilly were together, but he wanted her back, so she went back to him. He cries a little, saying that he thinks he could have loved Lilly and thinks she felt the same way. Veronica wonders if Weevil was the secret Lilly told her she was keeping in the pilot. Rick and Veronica have a clandestine meeting and Rick tells her about the Tritons, a secret society at Neptune High. He and Tim pledged after finding anonymous notes in their lockers; they were in the middle of “twelve labors” when the pub crawl brought Tim down. Rick wants the Tritons to pay for what happened to Tim, but he doesn’t know who the members are. He does, however, tell Veronica that Duncan is one of the other pledges.
Veronica plants a tracker on Duncan’s car, wanting him to lead her to the Tritons. Aaron meets with Clemmons about Logan’s fight, then tells Logan he’s proud of him for standing up for Lynn. Logan acts flip and Aaron threatens him as Lynn joins them. Veronica arrives at Mars Investigations to find Cliff and Keith waiting for her. She promises that she’s working on find out who the Tritons are, but Keith and Cliff inform her that Tim’s family is suing everyone involved in what happened to Tim. Later, Aaron pays Keith a visit and complains about the photos of his family that people are publishing; he wants to know who’s leaking them. At home, Veronica reads about the mythical Triton and is interrupted by Wallace, who enjoys telling his story of finding out how to get a fake ID. If they put $250 in locker 110, they’ll get a fake ID by the end of the day. At school, after noticing that Triton’s conch shell is part of Neptune High’s insignia, Veronica plants a camera in a trophy case to capture the activities around locker 110. Later that day, Wallace puts $250 in the locker. Logan joins Ms. James’ grief study, explaining (as Veronica listens) that he and Lilly were temporarily broken up at the time of her murder. They were supposed to go to a party, but Lilly didn’t show, so he wound up kissing another girl (see “Lord of the Bling” for the whole story). Veronica saw them together and told Lilly. Logan thinks that if Veronica hadn’t spilled the beans, he and Lilly might still be together; they might have been together the day of her murder and she might not have died. Ms. James points out that Logan might have been killed, too, and he responds, “And what is so great about living?”
Wallace heads to Veronica’s house, where she asks him to go with her while she follows Duncan. He shows her the fake ID that wound up in his locker; she’s personally offended that she’s being blamed for making pieces of junk. Veronica and Wallace wind up at a karaoke bar, where Duncan sings “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and gets judged for his performance. Veronica asks him about the Tritons, but he’s only allowed to talk to her in pangrams. Later that evening, Duncan gives Veronica a note from “the Great Triton” that says, “The judges hold the vital scores. You shall hear my voice once I’ve heard yours.” Against her better judgment, Veronica sings “One Way or Another,” dedicating the song to the Tritons. After getting her score, Veronica receives another note, telling her to head to the restroom. There, she talks to someone claiming to be the Great Triton; however, the guy there was actually paid to play a prank. The next day, Veronica gets her camera back from the trophy case and learns that the Tritons found out that Rick has been talking to her. Duncan takes his turn in Ms. James’ office and tells her that he’s stopped taking his medication. Veronica wonders what kind of medication and episodes he’s had. Duncan admits to Ms. James that he doesn’t remember anything from soccer practice the morning of Lilly’s death to three days afterward. Veronica’s eavesdropping session is interrupted by hooded Tritons, who lock her in her trunk. She calls Wallace to get her out and announces that they need to follow Duncan again and find out where the Tritons are meeting that night. Veronica starts her car and hears chanting through the stapler bug, alerting her and Wallace to the fact that the group is meeting at the school.
Veronica secretly watches the pledges’ induction ceremony, learning that the MIT guy is one of the pledges. She ambushes the group, calling out, “Say ‘repressed homosexuality!” and taking photos of everyone. They chase her through the halls and out the door, where she jumps into her car and is driven away by Wallace. Back at home, Veronica watches her surveillance tape of locker 110 but can’t match any of the Tritons to anyone around the locker. A bored Wallace is no help, but Veronica figures out how everything happened anyway. At Mars Investigations, Keith tells Aaron that he figured out who’s selling the photos of his family, but Aaron won’t be happy about it. Veronica takes donuts to Lamb at the station and tells him that she’s going to sit there and wait until the real culprit turns himself in. She points out that if she’s there all day, she can’t make any more fake IDs. She promises that if the real culprit isn’t at the station by 5 p.m., she’ll plead guilty in court next week. All Lamb has to do is pick the name of a student, write it down, and have someone put it in locker 110. By the end of the day, that student will have a fake ID and Lamb will know who’s making them. As Lamb humors her and does as she instructed, Veronica calls Rick and tells him that he might want to be at the station when the truth comes out. At Neptune High, Aaron blasts Lynn for leaking photos; she tells him that she wanted retaliation for his affairs. Aaron swears that if she tries to divorce him, he’ll make sure she doesn’t get anything from him. Upset, Lynn takes some pills in her car and drives off.
Rick arrives at the station and Sacks announces that the fake ID was found in his locker. Rick pleads innocent, but Veronica has Lamb read the note she wrote on one of his hundred dollar bills - “Veronica Mars is smarter than me.” She explains that there’s a hole in the top of Rick’s locker, so he can reach up into locker 110. She adds that when he and Tim were out drinking, they were celebrating their success in the fake ID business. They blamed the Tritons because they were mad at them for not inviting them to join. Rick admits that he named Veronica as the culprit because Keith busted his dad last year and wound up breaking up the family. Back at school, Veronica gives Duncan the photos she took of him at the initiation and promises not to tell anyone he was there. After exposition about Tim being okay, Veronica and Duncan decide to never discuss the Tritons again. As she heads off, Veronica wonders again what Duncan is hiding about his medication and medical condition. At the Coronado Bridge, a helicopter spots Lynn’s car, the door open, and announces that the driver may have jumped.
THE TITLE IS A PLAY ON... The movie Clash of the Titans, which starred Harry Hamlin (Aaron).
THE LILLY KANE CASE: Lilly and Weevil seem to have had a relationship.
At the time of Lilly’s murder, she and Logan had temporarily split because he was caught kissing another girl.
Duncan has no memory from the morning of the day of Lilly’s murder until three days later.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Ms. James: “You know, you’re never going to come to terms with Lilly’s death if you keep all that pain bottled up inside you.”
Veronica: “Know any good lawyers?”
Wallace: “This mission better involve me seducing the head cheerleader.”
Veronica: “Hi, Dad. Their case is fuzzy and circumstantial.”
Written by Philip Klemmer and Aury Wallington; directed by David Barrett
Veronica: “Wow. I have that exact same platitude-a-day calendar at home. It’s how I know beauty comes from within.”
Cliff: “Very cute. I know an adequate one who just posted your $500 bail.”
Veronica: “They take Diners Club here?”
Veronica: “I need you to poke around and see if you can get me a fake ID. If you must seduce the head cheerleader in order to accomplish your mission, so be it.”
Wallace: “No sweat. How do I do that?”
Veronica: “Play on her insecurity.”
Wallace: “I meant the fake ID part.
Veronica: “Okay. Let’s pretend for a moment that this mythical head cheerleader of yours has just asked you out on a date. In exchange for seven minutes in heaven, you have to get her into the hottest nightclub in Neptune, or at least buy her a pack of strawberry wine coolers. The stakes are high, Wallace Fennell. Think, now. How would you do it?”
Wallace: (whispering) “Hey, Veronica?”
Veronica: “Yeah?”
Wallace: “I need you to get me a fake ID so I can get some fake action from a fake cheerleader.”
Keith: “You know the odd thing? Those were also her very first words.”