"I Know What You’ll Do Next Summer"
Veronica and Piz are hanging out at the Mars residence, Piz reading a book called Soldier of Misfortune by Apollo Bukenya and Veronica apparently studying for her PI test. Keith quizzes her and Veronica tells Piz that she’s planning on beating her father’s score on the exam. Piz tells Keith about the book, which was written by a student at Hearst about his days as a child soldier in Uganda. He never knew his father, his mother was killed by rebels when he was a kid, and he became a soldier at the age of six. Apollo escaped Africa for the States as a teenager, and Piz will be interviewing him on the radio the next day. Veronica adds that the book has already been optioned for a movie and Apollo will soon be appearing on Oprah. Keith loves that Veronica has brought home a guy who talks about something other than surfing. Piz isn’t that thrilled about that, though, because when your girlfriend’s dad likes you, that’s the kiss of death for your relationship. At the sheriff’s department, Keith he tells his deputies that there have been a rash of burglaries in the 09 district, the majority of which have involved the theft of cars. He instructs the deputies to be on the lookout for stolen goods showing up in pawnshops. Veronica takes her PI test, both the youngest and most confident person in the room.
It’s job fair time at Hearst, and Veronica notes that the internship she wants with the FBI is going to be difficult to land. She stops by the radio station, where Piz is interviewing Apollo, and hears him talking about having to live with everything he did as a soldier. Professor Tonin, Apollo’s advisor, is also in the studio, and Apollo says there wouldn’t be a book without her. She read a short story of Apollo’s when he was a teenager and has been his mentor and friend ever since. After the interview, Piz tells Veronica that he’s been offered a summer internship with an Internet music-review publication. Veronica is thrilled for him, but Piz doesn’t seem as excited because the internship is in New York. Later, Veronica calls Keith to tell him that she scored a 95 on her test, beating Keith’s score by two points. He lets her down by telling her that he actually scored a 97. He even directs her to his score to confirm this. Keith suggests that Veronica leave his desk and sit back at the receptionist’s desk. Before she can, a man named Kizza enters and tells Veronica that he thinks he’s found a son he never knew he had. He doesn’t need Veronica to track him down, since he already knows where he is, but he does want proof that the man is his son. Oh, and it’s Apollo.
Back at Hearst, Wallace reads Apollo’s book, reciting out loud to Veronica the section where Apollo is taken from his mother. Veronica thinks that it will be great if she can reunite him with his father. Wallace notes that Kizza could just be looking for money from someone who’s suddenly rich and famous. Veronica points out that there will be a paternity test, though Kizza doesn’t want Apollo to know about him yet. She adds that Kizza e-mailed her a PDF of a letter from a woman he says is Apollo’s mother, and if she can get a sample of Apollo’s mother’s handwriting, she can see if they’re the same. Veronica laments that she’s doing this job pro bono because Kizza doesn’t have any money; he’s calling her from a pay phone in a New York boarding house and is trying to get the money together to fly to Neptune if Apollo turns out to be his son. Wallace points out that Kizza not having any money fits his theory of someone looking for a payday. Veronica heads off, asking Wallace to tell Piz she stopped by, and Wallace asks her to try not to rip out Piz’s heart. At the sheriff’s department, Keith interrogates a man named Tommy about some jewelry he tried to pawn from one of the burgled homes. Cliff is Tommy’s lawyer and won’t let him answer many questions, leading Keith to remark that he liked Cliff a lot better when he was still a PI. Tommy also won’t spill who he’s working with, but his tattoo tells Keith it’s the Fitzpatricks.
At Hearst, Veronica tracks down Apollo with his girlfriend, Olympia, and tells them she’s a reporter with the school newspaper and wants to do a story on Apollo. Apollo is reluctant, but Olympia reminds him that he wrote Soldier of Misfortune to educate people. Apollo agrees to do the interview later that afternoon. At the food court, Logan and Parker have lunch with Parker’s parents, who have very strong feelings about why she shouldn’t be eating white flour. Parker’s father tells her he got her a summer job, but Parker wants to work at a daycare. Her father changes to subject to asking Logan about his life plans. Veronica goes to Apollo’s room, where his roommate, Harry, greets her before leaving. Apollo is playing Grand Theft Auto and asks Veronica to leave that detail out of her story so that he won’t sound so “frivolous.” Veronica interviews Apollo, who tells her about hiding out and pretending to be with a group of soldiers who were returning from battle so that he never had to actually fight. At the Neptune Grand, Logan and Parker talk about how annoying her parents are. Since she doesn’t know what to do over the summer and doesn’t want to be with her parents, Logan suggests that she stay in his suite - he won’t be there since he and Dick plan to go surfing in South America for the summer. Parker hates this revelation and wonders if it means Logan doesn’t care that much about their relationship.
Apollo’s interview continues and he tells Veronica about his best friend having to kill his mother. Veronica takes this opportunity to ask Apollo if he has anything of his mother’s. He tells her he has a shopping list she gave him and shows it to her. She’s able to compare it to the handwriting in the letter Kizza sent her - it’s a match. Later, Parker visits Veronica in the library and tells her about Logan’s surfing trip. Veronica has to let her know that not telling people things is just how Logan is. She asks if Mac isn’t around to talk to, and Parker says that Mac has “fallen into the black hole of new love.” Indeed, Mac and Max are camped out in Max’s dorm room, skipping classes and ordering pizza. Max admits that he actually hasn’t gone to class since February since his “study guide” business has been doing so well, and he’s pretty much guaranteed to be expelled. Logan and Veronica run into each other in the library and she mentions that Parker told her about Logan’s summer plans. She adds that she told Parker that that’s how Logan is. Later, at the food court, Piz tells Veronica that he was offered another internship, this one at a radio station in Neptune. He can’t decide which internship to take, so Veronica asks him what he wants to do in the long run. Piz wants to work in radio, and she encourages him to take whichever internship will get him there. She gets a call from Kizza and suggests that he get on a plane for Neptune.
Veronica calls Apollo, who asks her to meet him at the library. Meanwhile, Liam (last seen in “Of Vice and Men”) is summoned to the sheriff’s department, where Keith warns him that he’s approaching a third strike and should stop committing crimes. Liam notes that he wouldn’t have come in voluntarily if he thought Keith had anything incriminating against him. Keith warns that he’s going to keep busting Liam’s flunkies until one of them offers up Liam’s name. Liam doesn’t think that Keith will be in charge for much longer if the crime wave continues. He studies a picture of Veronica, then says that the crimes might stop if Keith tells him what happened to Kendall and his money (see “Welcome Wagon” and “My Big Fat Greek Rush Week”). Keith tells him that Kendall is dead and Cormac probably buried her in the desert. In addition, the money was never Liam’s anyway. In the library, Veronica finds Apollo with the editor of the newspaper, who has requested an interview with Apollo and doesn’t recall giving Veronica any assignments, especially since she doesn’t work for him. Veronica comes clean about Kizza and tells Apollo that his story checks out. Apollo tells her that his mother’s grocery list was published in his hometown paper, so Kizza could have found someone to forge the letter. Veronica wants to prove Apollo’s paternity with a blood test, but Apollo refuses.
Mac and Veronica walk across campus together, discussing Max’s great business and other qualities Mac likes, as well as his impending expulsion. Mac admits that when Max told her he was going to move off campus and keep selling the study guides, she realized that she doesn’t like what that means for her future - she’ll probably fall head over heels in love with him and wind up a boring housewife. Veronica says she’s happy enough in her relationship, even though there’s no roller coaster like she’s used to. Later, at Mars Investigations, Veronica calls Apollo’s room and Harry tells her that he hasn’t been around for a while. He suggests that she talk to Zeke, one of Apollo’s friends from the African Student Alliance, then remembers that they’re not speaking anymore because of a falling-out. He tells her to get in touch with Professor Tonin instead. Kizza arrives and Veronica tells him that she’s trying to track down Apollo. The animal on the end of her pen doesn’t help Kizza’s lack of assurance that she’ll figure this out for him. At the sheriff’s department, Carl, the head of the 09ers’ homeowners association, tells Keith that the group is thinking about bringing in Vinnie to solve the burglaries. He reminds Keith that the election is in two weeks and he doesn’t have much time to solve the crimes. Just then, Sacks brings Keith information about Safehouse, the home-security systems of all of the robbed homes.
Logan finds Parker on campus and she tells him that if he’s going to cheat on her while he’s on his surf trip, she’d like to know about it. He invites her to come along, adding that he really didn’t think about what it would be like to be away from her for three months. She happily accepts the invitation, though it’s not clear that Logan really likes this idea. Veronica finds Olympia, who tells her that she encouraged Apollo to find out if Kizza is really his father. Veronica then goes to see Professor Tonin, who reveals that she hasn’t seen Apollo for a while either. Next Veronica heads to the job fair to see Zeke at the African Students Alliance table; Zeke tells her that he and Apollo aren’t friends anymore. He also doesn’t understand why she wants to do a story on Apollo - he didn’t write Soldier of Fortune, Professor Tonin did. In fact, Apollo was never a child soldier. Veronica shares this news with Wallace in his and Piz’s room, telling him that Zeke and Apollo were roommates their freshman year and Apollo told him everything about his life, not saying anything about being a child soldier until the book came out. Wallace doesn’t think Veronica should say anything, since the book is doing its part to educate people about what’s going on in Africa. He adds that the group Invisible Children (which sends volunteers to Africa to protect child soldiers) is getting more attention now, and if Apollo’s book is exposed as fiction, the kids will be the ones who are affected the most.
Olympia calls Veronica to tell her that Apollo is on his way back to his room and seems to be ready to talk to her. Veronica heads over and overhears Apollo on the phone with someone who seems to be backing out of a lucrative deal, even though Apollo threatens to sue. As Apollo steps out of the room for a minute, Veronica hits redial on his phone and reaches a movie studio, which makes her realize that Soldier of Misfortune won’t be made into a movie after all. When Apollo returns, he tells Veronica that Olympia has convinced him to get a blood test to see if Kizza is his father. Dick arrives home at the Neptune Grand to find Dick Sr. (last seen in “Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang”) waiting for him - he’s turned himself in, and in a few months, he’ll be going to jail for a year. He wants to spend his last few months of freedom (AKA the summer) with Dick and has rented a room in the hotel. He’s not happy to hear that Dick plans to go surfing all summer. At Mars Investigations, Veronica tells Kizza that Apollo’s movie deal has fallen through, which means that if Kizza is looking for money, he’s probably not going to get any. He tells her that he came to the States and lived alone for 21 years. If Apollo is his son, Kizza wants to be able to help him through this difficult time.
Later, Apollo has blood drawn for a paternity test and tells Veronica that it looks like Kizza isn’t going to show up. Vinnie looks around the sheriff’s department, coming up with things to change when he supposedly gets the job as sheriff. Keith asks him about Safehouse, which Vinnie did some consulting work for, and tells him that the seven homes that were robbed in the 09 district all used Safehouse as their security system. Keith thinks Vinnie and the Fitzpatricks have been working together to produce a crime spree and make Keith look bad. Vinnie challenges him to prove it. Veronica and Apollo wait for Kizza for an hour, and when there’s no sign of him, Apollo asks if Veronica told Kizza that he might be a fraud and won’t be rich anytime soon. She says she did and he thanks her for doing her part. He did write Soldier of Misfortune, but he had everyone (including Zeke, who really is a friend) lie for him so he could find out if Kizza really wanted to get to know him or if he just wanted money. Apollo is about to leave with the idea that Kizza was looking for money when Veronica gets a call from Keith telling her that they pulled over someone for driving a rental car with stolen license plates. It’s Kizza, and he asked Keith to call Veronica to let her know where he was. Veronica takes Apollo to the sheriff’s department and they bond over memories of Apollo’s mother - they really are father and son.
Back at Hearst, Wallace signs up to volunteer with Invisible Children over the summer. Mac goes to Max’s room with some info from the job fair on jobs he could get with a philosophy degree. Max isn’t interested, since his study-guide business is so lucrative and he knows he’ll be doing it for a while. Mac admits that she doesn’t like the idea, but she does want to keep seeing him (though she needs to have a life again and not be holed up with him all the time). Dick goes to see his father at the hotel and blasts him for not coming back for Cassidy’s funeral (see “Not Pictured”). He adds that he has to walk past the spot where Cassidy died every day, and he wonders if Cassidy died because Dick and Dick Sr. were so awful to him. “I can barely live with myself sometimes, and it’s so much easier when you’re not around,” Dick admits. Back in his suite, he tells Logan that he has to back out of the trip to spend time with Dick Sr. This leads Logan to tell Parker that the trip is off because Dick can’t go. At the Mars residence, Veronica, Keith, and Piz watch one of Vinnie’s campaign ads, where he talks about protecting kids and keeping people’s homes secure. He’s also been endorsed by Neptune’s homeowners association. Veronica mentions that there’s good news, though - Kizza is Apollo’s father. The good news keeps coming when she gets a call letting her know that she’s gotten the FBI internship. Piz tries to be happy, but this means Veronica will be spending her summer in Virginia.
THE TITLE IS A PLAY ON...: The movie I Know What You Did Last Summer.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: “The world is upside-down. Veronica Mars wants to believe in miracles, and I’m the cynical one.” - Wallace
“Tell your roommate I came by hoping to kill time between classes, getting to second base with someone, then left unsatisfied.” - Veronica to Wallace
Logan: “I really think they liked me.”
“Getting lost in the sex-nap-eat-repeat loop. I’m in the porn version of Groundhog Day.” - Mac
Piz: “I was offered another internship.”
Mac:” “Love makes me lazy. It’s a dangerous drug. Kills more brain cells than crystal meth. How’s your cell count these days?
Veronica: “Vinnie has kids?”
Written by Jonathan Moskin and David Mulei; directed by Nick Marck
Parker: “Yeah, I don’t really think you survived the Googling. Is it wrong that I’d rather be trampled by horses than spend the summer with my parents?”
Veronica: “People are just falling all over themselves to not pay you.”
Veronica: “Mmm, I can still do long division, but I can't quite remember all the continents.”
Keith: “None that he’s aware of.”