FINALE BLOWOUT: 'Veronica' Gives Us Plenty of Answers and Manages to Keep Us Hanging Over the Summer!

As far as I was concerned, everybody was a suspect going into last night's Veronica Mars finale. Therefore, there was no way I was going to end up shocked, right? WRONG!! When Veronica went to Woody's (the fast food restaurant not the mayor's house) and found that little league picture with the words "Not pictured: Cassidy Casablancas," a chill ran down my spine. Sure, speculation had been rampant that Cassidy (Beaver) Casablancas had been a victim of sexual abuse at some point in his life, and yes, it was well established last week that Woody was a child molester (or just giving neglected boys the love they wanted according to him), but somehow, I NEVER put the two together. See Veronica's face above? Yeah, that was me during the entire commercial break. Side note, but could Kristen Bell have been more on the top of her game during this scene (and the entire episode really)? She was AMAZING. When the show came back from its commercial break, it finally dawned on me that Beaver "Not Pictured" Casablancas had not only been a victim of Woody's "attention," but he had also caused the bus crash that killed everyone on board. Enter the second chill of the night to run down my spine (there were many). Sure, everyone was a suspect, but somehow I never fully sold myself on the idea that the bus crash was the work of a Neptune High Schooler, especially the seemingly gentle Beav. There was so much goodness and complete awesomeness packed into a single hour last night that I'm going to break everything down into sections. I have tons of screen caps from the episode and some fun surprises, so without further ado, let's get started!

AARON ECHOLLS GREETS THE MEDIA
Could he have been more smug? You just wanted to reach through your television and smack him. It was the O.J. trial all over again. And poor Veronica was so torn up over the verdict and watching Aaron gloat to the media about being a free man. I loved how Keith told her that they needed to move on and focus on work and her upcoming graduation, and then Veronica caught him reading the story in the paper. It's just difficult to know that celebrity and wealth allowed Aaron to beat a murder rap.


THE GANG GRADUATES/WEEVIL GETS ARRESTED
I knew that graduation was going to be bittersweet. It was exciting to see everyone (except Dick) take their walk across the stage and jump for joy with the realization that their high school career is over, but it was sad to think that we won't be visiting the halls of Neptune High again. And then there was Clemmons' comment to Veronica as she accepted her diploma about what he should look out for if he ever gets another Veronica. I'm going to miss Clemmons. In the middle of all the excitement, Sheriff Lamb, with an extra swagger in his step, arrested Weevil for Thumper's murder. Lamb is pure comic relief, but I was mad that he didn't wait until after Weevil graduated to haul him off instead of doing it in front of all of his classmates, his grandmother and everyone else in attendance. It was especially frustrating because we know that Weevil didn't actually kill Thumper, the Fitzpatricks did. Sure, he took his money, ensuring that the Fitzpatricks would deal with him, but he's not the actual killer. Veronica seemed pretty crushed as well because she knew how important it was to Weevil that his grandmother watch him walk across the stage.


VERONICA LEARNS THE TRUTH ABOUT JACKIE
So I might be the only one, but I had no idea that Jackie wasn't exactly who she was claiming to be. Sure, she's Terrance's daughter, but her mother isn't a model. In fact, her mother is a waitress at a diner in Brooklyn who had a one night stand with Terrance 18 years ago. Jackie grew up in Brooklyn, got into some trouble on the streets and had a little boy. Veronica figured that Jackie wouldn't be traveling to Paris because she knew she only had a 3.1 GPA. The problem was that Wallace didn't, so he hopped a plan to the City of Light. Luckily, he had a layover at New York's JFK airport, allowing Jackie to catch up with him and tell him the truth. She also let him know that she was staying in Brooklyn to raise her son because she didn't want to do to her son what her father had done to her. So it seems that we won't be seeing much, if any, of Jackie next season. Bummer because I had really grown to like her a lot, but at least she survived the finale, meaning that she could always pop up from time to time in the future.


VERONICA AND THE TROPHY CASE (AKA CHILL #1)
In what had to be the most pivotal moment in the entire episode, Veronica stumbled upon the answer to who the third voice on the tape was and who crashed the bus with two simple words "Not Pictured." I'm telling you, I actually outwardly gasped when we saw Beav's name written under the picture. All of a sudden it made so much sense. "The mother of all outings" was Woody because he sexually abused his little leaguers, one of whom was Beaver, and this led to Beaver's weirdness with Mac. Of course once I thought about it further and realized that this meant that Beav crashed the bus, chill #2 commenced.


VERONICA TRIES TO TELL MAC (AKA CHILL #3)
This text message from Veronica to Mac chilled me to the bone, and seeing Beaver read it instead of Mac made it even worse. Veronica knew that Mac had planned to spend the night in a suite with Beaver, so she tried desperately to reach her. The problem was that Mac and Beaver were trying to spend some alone time until Beaver couldn't follow through. Mac jumped up to take a shower, and Beaver read her text message from Veronica, prompting him to respond that she should go to the roof.


THE ROOF (AKA CHILLS #4, #5, #6)
This was the most intense scene I have seen in a long time. Chill #4 commenced when Veronica turned around and saw Beaver pointing a gun in her direction. The two of them went back and forth about the events that led up to the bus crash. Beaver didn't want Marcos and Peter to tell the truth about what happened to them, so he rigged the bus with explosives that he got from Curly Moran, led the PCHers to believe Curly crashed the bus, ran over Curly with his car and dumped his body after the PCHers didn't quite finish the job, made sure to put Veronica's name on Curly's hand to frame someone associated with the Aaron Echolls trial and made the fated cell call while riding in the limo right behind that caused the bus to suffer an explosion and go off the cliff, ensuring that his secret would be buried with Marcos and Peter. But wait! There's more! It seemed Beaver had also rigged Woody's plane with explosives and he was about to blow it up. Woody was flying back in handcuffs after Keith caught up with him at a remote lodge. Veronica tried to reach her father, who was on the plane, but it was to no avail. Suddenly, Beaver counted down and pressed the call button on his cell phone and we saw a huge explosion in the sky above Veronica's head (enter chill #5). At this point I'm thinking, "There's no way they killed Keith, right? Right???" I was pretty sure he wasn't dead, but there was still a good part of me that was getting sad on the inside because I just wasn't sure. Meanwhile, Veronica learned that Beaver had raped her the night of Shelly Pomroy's party and that's how she got the STD (chill #6). Beaver had Veronica on the ground and he kept tasering her, but she used her cell phone to text Logan, and he instantly came to the roof. Beaver shot at Logan (and my heart skipped a beat) and Veronica tackled Beaver, but he was stronger and fought her off (seriously, my heart must have been beating a mile a minute at this point). Logan got on Beaver and Veronica got the gun. She pointed it at Beaver, and Logan and I both thought the same thing: Veronica is not a killer. He got the gun away from her and Beaver jumped off the roof to his death. The entire scene was chilling.


THE REUNION (AKA THE GOOD CHILLS)
After making sure that Mac was OK, Logan took Veronica home and he slept on the couch. The next morning, Veronica smelled bacon and flew out of bed expecting to find her dad (I was expecting this as well). When she found Logan cooking breakfast instead, she got upset all over again. And this was the moment when I said, "Oh my God, they killed Keith. Those.." I was abruptly cut off by the sweet sound of Keith's voice entering the kitchen! Seems he had driven home instead of taking a ride on Woody's plane ala La Bamba. Veronica finally cried tears of joy as she threw her arms around Keith. Honestly, I'm tearing up a bit now just writing about it. It was one of the best reunions ever!! And certainly one of the most touching moments on TV Extreme Makeover: Home Edition be damned.


AARON IS MURDERED
In yet another shocking twist (I lost count how many there were), Aaron Echolls was shot and killed while watching one of his old movies on TV. It was too bad because he and Kendall had hooked up and they were a match made in TV villain heaven, but alas Aaron needed to pay for what he did to Lilly. The hit was professional with a silencer and it happened while Kendall was in the shower (man, a lot happens when you're in the shower other than falls that result in 60% of all household accidental deaths. Thanks Medium). The camera moved up and we saw Clarence Wiedman holding the gun. He picked up his cell phone and called Duncan, who made his way to Australia with baby Lilly, to tell him that "it" was done. Duncan ordered a hit on Aaron? Sweet Duncan? Well, the man did kill his sister, frame him and almost kill Veronica, so I see where he's coming from. Not to mention that creepy routine he pulled on Veronica in the elevator earlier that evening. So, I guess we won't be seeing Aaron next season along with Beaver, Woody, Jackie, and Mr. Clemmons.


THE HAPPY ENDING (ALMOST)
Logan arrived to give Veronica a ride to the airport, where she was meeting Keith to go to New York for a week, and this smile in the picture to the left splattered itself across her face. She told Keith that they were riding together because they needed to "talk," but the moment Logan got Veronica in the hall, he swung her around into his arms and planted a typical Logan kiss onto her lips. It seems that the tragic events finally made these two realize that they are so meant 2B! Logan has such passion for Veronica, and when he's with her, he treats her like she deserves to be treated. I don't know how long these two will last this time, but I hope things work out for them in the long run. Like Amy and Ephram on Everwood, I'm hopelessly devoted to having my favorite TV couples end up together. The wonderful moment was broken up when Kendall entered the hall. Apparently she had business with Keith, but Veronica reminded her (in one of the best lines of the night) that Keith "doesn't carry a lot of cash." That didn't seem to matter, though, since Kendall had just picked up $8 million from her real estate company that she started with Beaver.


THE REAL ENDING
Kendall met with Keith and told him that she needed his help immediately. He explained that he was leaving for New York, but she insisted and opened up her brief case to convince him. Since we didn't see what was in the case, it could have been anything, including the money she just acquired. Meanwhile, Veronica waited at the airport gate. Her flight was getting ready to board and her father was nowhere in sight. The show ended with Veronica looking concerned as her father never showed.


THE QUESTIONS
Even though this episode gave us a lot of answers, it also left us with some questions for next season. Will Veronica stay in Neptune to go to school? What does Kendall need Keith's help with? Could it be to clear her name for Aaron's murder? Who will go to New York with Veronica? Did Keith accept Kendall's offer? Was Lamb on Woody's plane when it blew up? I can't wait for the new season to start (still keeping fingers crossed that there is a new season) to get all of these answers and more and to enter back into the wonderful world of Veronica Mars. In the meantime, you can click over to TVGuide.com's Ask Ausiello column to get some of your burning questions answered by the man himself, creator Rob Thomas! Michael Ausiello called Thomas before the finale to get the answers he knew we would have. Click HERE to check it out! You can also click over to GiveMeMyRemote to check out a cheeky little shout that Thomas snuck into last night's finale. Hmm, can we jump for joy yet?

HONORING KRISTEN BELL
Dear Emmy Voters,

I know that shows like Veronica Mars seem to fall through the cracks when voting season opens, but I'm begging you to please consider this show and its star Kristen Bell for nominations. She consistently turns in excellent performances, but this finale was above and beyond. She was simply amazing! I know you are busy and will have a lot of shows to get through, so I have simplified the process by breaking her excellent performance down to these three photos from the episode:


I'm sure you can see now why it is imperative that she gets a nomination this year. Thank you for your consideration with this manner.

Sincerely,
Pass the Remote

P.S. Is it too much to ask for you to also give one to Kathryn Morris?

AND FINALLY...
I've been telling you about the Veronica Mars season 2 DVD set that is scheduled to hit store shelves on August 22nd. Well, I have the preliminary picture of the cover of the set courtesy of tvshowsondvd.com. Drum roll please......


The set will include extras like a behind-the-scenes featurette, gag reel, deleted scenes and more!

The "Look to the Skies" campaign took off yesterday with an airplane carrying a banner that read "RENEW VERONICA MARS! CW 2006!" MarsInvestigations.net has some pictures of the event. Click HERE to view them.

That's all for this special Finale Blowout edition of Pass the Remote. I'll be doing more of these as each of the PassTheRemote.net featured shows winds down its season. Next up, Scrubs. Also, this isn't the last of my Veronica discussions for the season. I have some surprises in store for this summer, so stay tuned to Pass the Remote for plenty of VM summer coverage! And be sure to tune in later today for the regular edition with Super-Sized Scrubs coverage including lots of Scrubies!

To get more television coverage, including a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote and a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.