Veronica Mars Investigations

VMI: Voluptuous Male Idiot, a recap of Play It Again Dick

A LONG TIME AGO ON THE VERONICA MARS SPIN-OFF WEB SERIES PLAY IT AGAIN DICK:

Ryan Hansen persuades the CW suits to let him make a pilot for a Dick Casablancas spin-off show.
So then he has to persuade the Veronica Mars actors to come back to reprise their roles...
And then they all film Private Dick! Wherein Dick Casablancas is a private detective investigating the murders of several beloved Veronica Mars characters.
There are masks! Punchings! Sexytimes! Pull-ups! Ghost Cassidy Casablancas! And bikinis as funeral-wear!
And a catchphrase that never really takes off?
Oh and a big dance number. Twice.

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate the official but non-canonical Veronica Mars spin-off web series Play It Again, Dick, and contemplate such mysteries as why Madison Sinclair is the MVP of the piece, how there is so much filler in such a short show, and why the CW didn't commission a Wallace'n'cookies-focused spin-off The Great Wallace Bake-Off

audio, Season 5VMI Pod15 October 2021Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Dick Casablancas, Ryan Hansen, spin-offs, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, noir, cases, crime, law, Francis Capra, Weevil, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Cliff McCormack, Daran Norris, Cassidy Casablancas, Kyle Gallner, Madison Sinclair, Amanda Noret, Mercer, Ryan Devlin, Duncan Kane, Celeste Kane, Lisa Thornhill, Clarence Wiedman, Christopher B Duncan, Piz, Chris Lowell, Ken Marino, Gaston, Robert Buckley, Rose McIver, iZombie, Teddy Dunn, bodies, body-building, 3D printing, Kane Software, masks, stereotypes, dance, dancing, The CW, CW Seed, Tom Hanks, Gavin Rossdale, necklines, shirts, clothing, drinks, booze

VMI 1.01 Pilot: the RErecap

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

We meet Veronica Mars! High school detective with tiny jackets and flowbee hair, plus a heartbreak, an absent mother, a murdered best friend and a rape to deal with.
We meet Logan Echolls, a rich boy with a rage problem.
We meet Duncan Kane, a human screensaver.
We meet Wallace Fennel, taped to a flagpole then recruited to do Veronica’s bidding for the next several years. Wallace, we have seen the future and you should run! Now! Run!
We meet Sheriff Lamb, local law enforcement with bad jokes and even worse morals.
And we meet Keith Mars, disgraced ex-sheriff, private investigator and dad of the century - but why’s he being so weird about Veronica surveilling beige billionaire Jake Kane?

audio, special guest, Season 1, special episode, Season 4VMI Pod16 September 2021Veronica Mars, season 1, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, Hrishikesh Hirway, Lo Dodds, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, Mars Investigations, high school, Cliff McCormack, Daran Norris, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Lilly Kane, Amanda Seyfried, Duncan Kane, Teddy Dunn, Celeste Kane, Lisa Thornhill, Jake Kane, Kyle Secor, Abel Koontz, Van Clemmons, Duane Daniels, Deputy Sacks, Jerry Sacks, Brandon Hillock, Felix Toombs, Brad Bufanda, Lianne Mars, Corinne Bohrer, Sheriff Lamb, Don Lamb, Michael Muhney, Corny, Jonathan Chesner, Inga, Seraina Jaqueline, Mrs Murphy, Linda Castro, Shelly Pomroy, Backup, smashing stuff, Angelina Jolie, flagpole, PCHers, Loretta Cancun, murder, rape, revenge, beach, meat, sandwiches, Wizard of Oz, Full Metal Jacket, Two Live Crew, gavels, bongs, crowbars

VMI: the movie, part 2

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

Veronica has choices to make! NYC or Neptune? Lawyering or detectiving? Piz or Logan? Try to guess, go on, guess.
Armed with her favourite tools, a bug, a long lens and a taser, Veronica closes in on Carrie’s murderer...
...And it’s not any of the candidates you thought it might be in the first half of the movie - it’s the guy you barely saw at all, Cobb! Who? Cobb! You remember Cobb.
Cobb!
The death toll rises - Deputy Sacks, Gia, possibly a cat - and our beloved Keith ends up in ICU.
Sheriff Dan Lamb is happy to frame Logan, doesn’t want to catch the real killer, and plants a gun in Weevil’s hand to make it look like Celeste shot him in self-defence. Veronica can’t resist getting her teeth into all that Neptune corruption.

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate the second half of Veronica Mars: the 2014 movie, and delve into such mysteries as: and delve into such mysteries as how long Pizvonica have been a thing, why Sweaty Luke is just there for some kind of gross 1950s-style plot, and whether these kids ever needed to cover up Susan's death at all, but especially after the statute of limitations has elapsed.

audioVMI Pod23 March 2021Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, college, Hearst College, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, Piz, Stosh Piznarski, Chris Lowell, Mac, Cindy Mackenzie, Tina Majorino, Dick Casablancas, Ryan Hansen, Jerry Sacks, Deputy Sacks, Brandon Hillock, Dan Lamb, Jerry O’Connell, Gia Goodman, Krysten Ritter, Stu Cobbler, Cobb, Martin Starr, Cliff, Daran Norris, Sam Huntington, Luke Haldeman, Carrie Bishop, Bonnie DeVille, Andrea Estella, Martina Vasquez, Kevin Sheridan, Sean Friedrich, Celeste Kane, James Franco, Leo D’Amato, Max Greenfield, Vinnie Van Lowe, Ken Marino, Pizvonica, Loganica, sex, breakups, breaking up, murder, death, cats, bugs, radio, boats, yachts, conspiracy, corruption, car crash, PCHers, surveillance, tablets, videos, viral videos, lighting, references, A Few Good Men, Point Break, Johnny Utah, tax returns, LGBTQIA+, gayness, homophobia, Logan voicemails

VMI: the movie, part 1

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

91,585 fans missed the show so much that they kickstarted a movie! So off we all go back to Neptune to see some old pals, like Wallace! Principal Clemmons! Gia Goodman! Sweaty Luke! Corny! Aaaand Logan being suspected of murder.
Plus some new pals, like Mac’s hot new hair! Piz’s boss Ira Glass! a new Sheriff Lamb who is just as shitty as the old Sheriff Lamb! And an intense Logan fan in a wig.
We’re not so pleased to see the Pizvonica sex tape again, and it causes a big punchup at the high school reunion.
We also reluctantly reunite with Celeste Kane, as she shoots the now upstanding husband and dad Weevil.
And even though Veronica’s supposedly happy living in New York City, in a relationship with Piz, about to become a big shot lawyer, you know she can’t resist a Logan in distress.

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate the first half of Veronica Mars: the 2014 movie, and delve into such mysteries as: how Keith has such a spacious lovely home these days, Dax Shepard's van, why Mac and Wallace force the heinous reunion on Veronica and poor poor Piz, and leg erotica.

audioVMI Pod17 March 2021Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, college, Hearst College, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, lawyers, law firms, Trumann-Man, Piz, Stosh Piznarski, Chris Lowell, Mac, Cindy Mackenzie, Tina Majorino, Dick Casablancas, Ryan Hansen, Corny, Carrie Bishop, Leighton Meester, Bonnie DeVille, Andrea Estella, Susan Knight, Christine Lakin, Gaby Hoffman, Della Pugh, Ruby Jetson, Jerry O’Connell, Dan Lamb, Jerry Sacks, Brandon Hillock, Cliff, Daran Norris, Sam Huntington, Luke Haldeman, Madison Sinclair, Amanda Noret, Mr Wu, Martina Vasquez, Kevin Sheridan, Sean Friedrich, Van Clemmons, Duane Daniels, Celeste Kane, Lisa Thornhill, Martin Starr, Stu Cobbler, Krysten Ritter, Gia Goodman, Ira Glass, Dax Shepard, Perez Hilton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Justin Long, Helen Slayton-Hughes, exposition, navy, naval, uniform, This American Life, TAL, punching, murder, We Used To Be Friends, New York, NYC, karaoke, Kane Software, Pepsi, Kickstarter

VMI season 4 pitches

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

Rob Thomas wrote a mini-pilot for a season 4 that involved Veronica becoming an FBI agent, and guess what! It’s full of awful white guys who don’t seem to do anything and leave all the work to Veronica and her new colleague Nish-In-A-Wig - we mean Callie. Callie! Totally new character!
Nish goes off to infiltrate a strip club, while Veronica is sent back to high school in a tiny vest, to arrest a pervy principal…
...then she goes to question someone about a bomber but he turns out to BE the bomber!
He’s holding Nish-in-a-wig at knifepoint, argh what’s going to happen???
The show’s cancelled, that’s what happens. BUT we've got all your incredible pitches for what could have been in the years between the end of Veronica Mars season 3 and the movie!

Veronica Mars Investigations Investigations season 2

Join Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman and special guest detective LaToya Ferguson to investigate the abiding mysteries of Veronica Mars season 2. Ends? Loose. Herrings? Red.

audio, Season 2, special episode, special guestVMI Pod22 October 2020Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, school, high school, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, season 2, Jackie Cook, Tessa Thompson, Terrence Cook, Jeffrey Sams, Alicia Fennel, Erica Gimpel, Nathan Woods, Cress Williams, Abel Koontz, Christian Clemenson, Gia Goodman, Krysten Ritter, Woody Goodman, Steve Guttenberg, Cassidy Casablancas, Kendall Casablancas, Charisma Carpenter, Aaron Echolls, Clarence Wiedman, Thumper, Fitzpatricks, Lilly Kane’s murder, Kristin Cavallari, Paris Hilton, guest stars, Trina Echolls, Celeste Kane, Duncan Kane, Bearded Duncan, Mannings, Meg Manning, Lizzie Manning, Grace Manning, Lucky, Leo D’Amato, Hannah Griffith, Dr Tom Griffith, retcons, UPN, limo, bus, bus crash, gas station, incorporation, rat, murder, bombs, explosions, mysteries, plot holes, text messages, red herrings, Thumper’s murder, Oscar, murder weapon, pizza, muggings, pizza muggings, sign language, LGBTQ, Versatile Toppings, My Mother the Fiend, friends, fiends, baby, books, novels, email, phones, LaToya Ferguson, special guest

VMI 2.11 Donut Run

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

Clue in, donut! Duncan kidnaps his own baby so the evil Manning grandparents can’t add her to their collection of emotionally abused children.
Sheriff Lamb is on the case, and so is the FBI - Agent LUCY LAWLESS has come to town for this case! But mainly to neg Lamb.
They search for Duncan in a boat, up at Big Bear, in the Mars apartment, in Mexico - but Duncan is GONE. You wouldn’t think he could outwit the law, would you? But…
Veronica has aided and abetted him! They fake a breakup, steal from Celeste, double-cross pretty much everyone, and kiss goodbye forever.
And as if that wasn’t enough for one episode, there’s Wallace’s hit and run case, and Weevil getting a new tattoo while tracking down the mole in the PCHers.

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate Veronica Mars season 2 episode 11: Donut Run, and contemplate such mysteries as whether there is anyone who doesn’t get the better of Lamb this episode, how you get Kendall to come and take a shower in your bathroom when you’re not home, if she should eat a pizza bagel when in there, whether you can learn everything you need to know about sex from WikiHow, and, after SHOCKING REVELATIONS in the LoDown, why any of this episode happens at all.

Season 2, audioVMI Pod23 June 2020Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, school, high school, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, season 2, Detective Weevil, Detective Logan, Felix’s murder, Felix Toombs, PCHers, Duncvonica, Duncan Kane, Teddy Dunn, Meg’s baby, Duncan’s baby, Lilly Manning, Faith Manning, Manning parents, babies, Mexico, Ken Marino, Vinnie Van Lowe, Celeste Kane, Lisa Thornhill, Kendall Casablancas, Charisma Carpenter, Lucy Lawless, FBI, Don Lamb, Sheriff Lamb, Michael Muhney, Deputy Sacks, Brandon Hillock, Cliff McCormack, Daran Norris, CS Keys, Dick Casablancas, Ryan Hansen, Marcello Thedford, Super Huge Deputy, Neptune Grand, donut, doughnuts, border patrol, Mexican border, kidnapping, kidnap, custody, The Virgin Suicides, Air, soundtracks, breaking up, break-ups, Al Green, The Hollies, shoes, Bootsy, Hector, Patrick Wolff, Planet Zowie, Chekhov’s things, Chekhov’s public breakup, Chekhov’s vacancy, Chekhov’s backpackers, Chekhov’s fortune cookie, Paula Cole, Dawson’s Creek, lineup, jewellery, jewelry, earrings, diamonds, fonts, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, long ball, bugged pens, Vinnie Special, callbacks, wigs, disguises, cars, Cupid, Trevor Hale, Chicago, Rashard Rucker, hit and run, cover-up, basketball, Fitzpatricks, Lost, Backup, Sean Friedrich, Kevin Sheridan, passwords, Boat Duncan, toilet office, pizza bagel, Ay Chihuahuas

VMI 2.09 My Mother, the Fiend

A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:

After 1½ seasons about daddies, we get an episode about mothers!
Veronica investigates whether her own mom, Lianne, was the high school mean girl.
She also investigates whether, 25 years ago, mean girl for life Celeste Kane gave birth on prom night and dumped the baby in the school bathroom.
And all this leads to Trina Echolls, Logan’s adopted sister, discovering who her biological mom is.
Veronica herself has to practice being a mother, as a school assignment forces her to take care of a robot baby…
But brewing up a real, actual, non-robot baby is...Meg!??! And she’s waking from her coma???!!!!!

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate Veronica Mars season 2 episode 9: My Mother, the Fiend, and probe such mysteries as whether schools really make students look after robot babies, why Kendall would go for car gears as a Duncan-seduction gambit, what the what is going on with the alternate ending to this episode, and why you’d keep dead fauna in the freezer.

Season 2, audioVMI Pod9 June 2020Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, school, high school, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, season 2, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Trina Echolls, Alyson Hannigan, Lianne Mars, Celeste Kane, Lisa Thornhill, Ms Hauser, Deborah Hauser, Kari Coleman, Vice-Principal Clemmons, Principal Clemmons, Van Clemmons, Duane Daniels, Kendall Casablancas, Charisma Carpenter, Cassidy Casablancas, Kyle Gallner, Mac, Mac Mackenzie, Cindy Mackenzie, Tina Majorino, PCHers, Hector, Thumper, Meg Manning, Alona Tal, Duncan Kane, Teddy Dunn, Mary Mooney, Terrylene, Jake Kane, Patty, bus crash, pregnancy, babies, baby, children, parents, Felix’s murder, ASL, sign language, deaf, hard of hearing, flagpole, fights, robot babies, babybots, things that only happen in TV shows, My Mother The Car, schemes, tenuous schemes, tabloids, leaking to the press, plays, theatre, theater, Hamlet, hospital, Abel Koontz, fake endings, alternate endings, deleted scenes, ties, gossip, cakes, coffee shops, cafes, coma, adoption, prom baby, Cockblock Duncan

VMI 2.01 Normal Is The Watchword

**A LONG TIME AGO ON VERONICA MARS:**

Keith’s got a book deal!
Veronica’s got a new job!
We’ve got a new Duncan - happy Duncan??!!
Wallace has got a problem with his urine…
Logan’s got a murder charge, a broken heart and no friends, but the Casablancases’ hot stepmom is there to cheer him up.
There are a whole load of new characters, and a new big tragedy for Neptune: a school bus crashes off a cliff.

Join Jenny Owen Youngs and Helen Zaltzman to investigate Veronica Mars season 2 episode 1 Normal is the Watchword, and try to crack such mysteries/pissteries as how Keith Mars got a book published so fast, where smart sassy Veronica disappeared to, whether pantsing takes down both under- and over-pants, and whether the Neptune Onlyplace is REALLY a cafe/restaurant/bar/karaoke joint, or merely an abandoned warehouse full of unusual light fixtures and decorative twigs.

audio, Season 2VMI Pod24 March 2020Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, school, high school, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, season 2, Woody Goodman, Steve Guttenberg, Gia Goodman, Krysten Ritter, bus crash, schoolbus, bus, Naima Mora, cliffs, Meg Manning, Alona Tal, Dick Casablancas, Cassidy Casablancas, Kyle Gallner, Ryan Hansen, Kendall Casablancas, Charisma Carpenter, Duncan Kane, Teddy Dunn, Veronica’s romances, Veronica’s relationships, PDA, book deals, Alica Fennel, Lilly Kane, vertical twigwork, sports, the Neptune Onlyplace, vests, urine, drug tests, schemes, conspiracies, Butters, Kelvin, plots, Keith’s book, Duncvonica, bugs, ladybugs, ladybirds, biscotti, Julie Chen, Happy Duncan, Big Murder Small Town, Felix, Felix Toombs, Brad Bufanda, murder, class war, class tensions, Leo D’Amato, Max Greenfield, Deputy Leo, cute as a bug manager, Godfather III, pisstery, urine samples, parents, Jim Chimory, Boatloads of Fun, pants, pantsing, trousers, pranks, cruelty, jokes, japes, Keithlicia, South Park, Vincent, Clemmons, Vice Principal Clemmons, 69, bad accents, shy bladder, bathrooms, bathroom doors, doors, Shark Field, ANTM, Miss Dumas, PCHers, Sleevil, Cordelia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Laker Girls, The Shocker, kissing, inappropriate workplace behaviour, Dick, Beaver, sex, affairs, baseball, Terrence Cook, food shaming, relationships, Dirrty, Nelly, Red Socks, Yankees, Johnny Damon, Delays, Long Time Coming, Embrace, Ashes, Kane parents, Jake Kane, Celeste Kane, Kane trial, Napa, Vincent Clemmons

Veronica Mars Investigations Investigations season 1

Here is a bonus episode investigating unsolved mysteries from Veronica Mars season 1, such as the prudence of hiding stuff in air vents, how long Lilly and Aaron had been involved and whether Lynn know about it, the appropriateness of having the hots for someone as often awful as Logan, whether Veronica speak Spanish well or not at all, when ARE Veronica and Leo’s birthdays, and whether the sanitary vending machine in Veronica’s toilet office actually vends.

Season 1, special guest, audio, special episodeVMI Pod11 February 2020Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Keith Mars, Logan Echolls, Jason Dohring, Wallace Fennel, Percy Daggs III, Lilly Kane, Amanda Seyfried, Weevil Navarro, Francis Capra, Neptune, California, Jenny Owen Youngs, Helen Zaltzman, VMI, television, TV, recap, review, drama, teen, teenage, school, high school, mystery, detective, PI, private detectives, Marshmallows, cases, crime, law, season 1, special episode, special guest, Duana Taha, writers, writing, Degrassi, Drake, relationships, affairs, Xena Warrior Princess, productivity, air vents, hiding, hidden, hiding places, spy pen, sex tapes, tapes, Aaron Echolls, Celeste Kane, time, passage of time, Neptune time warp, pens, Capricorn, Leo, Leo D’Amato, astrology, star signs, inconsistencies, plot holes, loose ends, Spanish, teens, Skins, Aubrey Graham, rap, jokes, condoms, Bin Laden, prophylactics, sexy, Cuba, San Diego, Balboa Park, Canada, locations, shooting locations, Museum of Man, Echolls house, houses, homes, outbuildings, sex hut, poolhouse, face curtains, Marses in disguise, den of disguises, Kane house, Susan Knight, Julia Smith, John Smith, Justin Smith, problematic faves, birthdays, Idris Elba