"One Angry Veronica"
At lunch at Neptune High, Veronica confronts Duncan about Meg’s pregnancy (see “My Mother, the Fiend”), which he knew about from the letter from Meg’s room (see “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner”). The letter was from Meg’s aunt, who she wanted to live with. Veronica is upset that Duncan didn’t tell her, since the situation affects her. Dick passes by to tell the two about a big New Year’s party, adding that Meg is awake. Keith meets with Woody at his office and learns that the Aaron/Lilly sex tapes (see “Leave it to Beaver”) have disappeared from the sheriff’s department. It may have been an inside job, since originals and copies were taken from separate safes. Keith notes that this will hurt the prosecution’s case and won’t be kept quiet for long. Woody asks Keith to get the tapes back so that Neptune isn’t disgraced. Keith agrees, even though it will be awkward for him to investigate the sheriff’s department. Veronica and Duncan head to the hospital to see Meg, who is worried that her parents will make her give her baby to a sanctuary house she hates. As Duncan leaves, Meg asks Veronica to stay behind and tells her she’s sorry for the way she treated her. She then asks Veronica to not let her parents keep the baby or send it away if something happens to her. Back at home, Veronica’s day doesn’t get any better - she’ll have to serve jury duty over Christmas break.
Veronica heads to the courthouse to fulfill her obligation and gets elected foreperson of her jury. At the sheriff’s department, Keith questions Lamb about security in the building as Lamb lifts weights. Keith asks for personal information on every employee in the department. At the courthouse, the jurors go over the facts of the case - two 21-year-old 09ers are charged with assaulting a woman named Anissa, who hitchhiked with them after working late at a car wash. The three smoked pot together and headed to a motel room to do Ecstasy, but Anissa claims that when they got there, the guys asked her for sex. She got frightened and tried to leave but the guys pulled a gun on her and attacked her. Anissa grabbed the gun and fired into the ceiling, which made the guys run off. The gun was never found and the guys claim that Anissa is a prostitute whose pimp interrupted their experience. The guys say that the pimp beat Anissa up because she owed him money. After the attack, Anissa called her ex-boyfriend, Anquan, and asked for help. The motel manager testified that he saw a guy with a gun run across the parking lot and jump over a six-foot fence. Carnell, Anissa’s so-called pimp, turned himself in after hearing that the guy in the parking lot matched his description; his story matches the guys’. The jurors vote, but 11 think the guys are innocent and one thinks they’re guilty. Therefore, the jurors will have to return the next day for more deliberations.
Keith questions Sacks at the sheriff’s department, but Sacks only gives information that he’s obviously been told to give. At the courthouse, the hold-out identifies herself; it’s an older Hispanic woman who doesn’t think that Anissa would work at a car wash and then go turn tricks. Back at the sheriff’s department, Keith questions Leo, who reveals that security in the building isn’t as top-notch as Lamb makes it out to be. He notes that the tapes are probably worth a lot of money, something Keith hadn’t thought about. Keith calls his newspaper buddy, Lloyd (see “Leave it to Beaver”), and asks if he’s heard anything about the tapes. Lloyd offers to talk to a contact at the Instigator. Thumper the biker corners Veronica at the Hut and asks if she’s going to let the 09ers walk now that she’s pretty much one of them again. She tells him she can’t discuss the case. At the courthouse the next day, the jurors watch surveillance tapes of the guy in the parking lot. The hold-out points out that 12 minutes passed between the motel manager hearing shots fired and seeing the guy in the parking lot. She wonders why someone who beat up a woman and fired a gun would stick around for so long. Logan drops by the sheriff’s department for his questioning, unaware that the tapes are missing. Keith talks to Lloyd, who tells him that the Instigator has been contacted about bidding on the tapes, Logan gets his hands on a contact sheet. He tells Keith (aka “dude”) that there’s no way he would conspire with his father.
Back at the courthouse, the hold-out announces that if they take another vote and no one has changed sides, she’ll vote not guilty with everyone else. However, in the second vote, there are three hold-outs - one of them being Veronica. At home that night, Veronica gets into the Christmas spirit by dressing up and cooking Cornish hens. After dinner, Keith lets her have an early Christmas present - he had Mac make some improvements on her computer. When she turns it on, she sees an article about Carnell, a former athlete whose career was ended by an injury. At the courthouse the next day, she brings up Carnell and one of the other jurors remembers his short career. They realize that if he has a bad knee, he couldn’t have jumped over the fence at the motel. At the sheriff’s department, Keith asks Sacks what happened to the list of the employees’ e-mail addresses. At the courthouse, the jurors discuss the possibility that one of the guys’ fathers, a sports agent, paid Carnell to take the rap for the guys. Veronica suggests that the gun belonged to Anissa, and since she was on parole for a firearms offense, she gave it to Anquan, who was the guy seen in the parking lot. At the sheriff’s department, Keith learns that all of the employees have received e-mails offering then $50,000 for the sex tapes. Keith replies to the e-mail, offering the tapes to the anonymous sender.
At the courthouse, the jurors vote again and only two want the guys to be acquitted. One of the jurors, a “captain of industry,” tells Veronica that he will never vote for a conviction. Veronica is called in to speak to the judge. At the sheriff’s department, Keith receives a response from the anonymous sender: “Sorry, dude, I already have the tapes.” At the courthouse, Veronica relays a message from the judge that no one will get to go home until they reach a verdict. At the Neptune Grand, Logan watches the sex tapes, then degausses them. Keith stops by and Logan tells him that he just doesn’t want other people watching Aaron have sex with Lilly. Keith notes that he did Aaron a big favor, but Logan says that he can still testify against him. Keith warns that Logan could get in trouble for obstructing justice, but Logan replies that the tapes are all blank. Keith wonders how Logan got the tapes so cheap; Logan tells him that someone at the sheriff’s department was nice to him. At the courthouse, the jurors remain deadlocked until one of the two remaining hold-outs announces that he’s changing his vote. The captain of industry finally says that he’ll do the same, since the guys will just appeal anyway. After the experience is over, one of the jurors approaches Veronica and recommends that she attend Hearst College after high school. It’s conveniently nearby, of course, and Veronica could get a scholarship to help her out.
In the parking lot, Veronica receives a lovely thank you from the bikers written on her car. At home, Keith asks her about Leo’s family. The next day, Keith asks Leo about his sister, Tina, who has Down’s syndrome. Keith has guessed that she’s the reason he stole the sex tapes. Leo says that he wants to send Tina to private school and needed money. Keith points out that he’s hurt the case against Aaron. Leo says that he could have made a lot more money; he took Logan’s deal because he knew Logan just wanted to destroy the tapes. Keith notes that he can’t let Leo slide on this, but Leo doesn’t want him to. Later, as Keith types up his report, noting that Logan has destroyed the evidence, Leo turns in his badge. Keith gets a call and heads home, where he tells Veronica that Meg has died from complications from a blood clot. However, she did deliver her baby, a girl. Veronica is upset by the news and she and Keith have a quiet New Year’s Eve at home. Keith heads to bed early, and just as Veronica is about to write off the new year before it even starts, Wallace arrives. The two friends ring in the new year together.
THE TITLE IS A PLAY ON... The movie 12 Angry Men.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Keith: “You’re late.”
Lamb: “You know, Keith, you really shoulda done more to push fitness when you were here.”
Keith: “I’ve been so hung up on Aaron Echolls and all this evidence-tampering, I never stopped to think what those tapes are worth.”
Veronica: “Oh. Hello. Which one are you? Blinky? Humpty? Zorro?”
Keith: “It’s not always easy doing the right thing.”
Written by Russell Smith; directed by John Kretchmer
Veronica: “That’s the idea. Figured if I snuck in close to the end of the day, the chances of it getting even worse are slim.”
Keith: “Yeah, I was gonna get to that, but the crime-fighting kept getting in the way.”
Leo: “Good celebrity porn is scarce these days. Keith…um, you mind giving my best to your daughter?”
Keith: “A little.”
Thumper: “The name is Thumper. Not that you really care.”
Veronica: “Oh, I care. Deeply. I guess you heard about our new cranberry walnut crumb cake. It’s true: it’s cran-tastic.”
Veronica: “If that phrase isn’t on the Mars family crest, it should be.”