Versatile Toppings

Infobox Television episode


Caption = Ryan asks Veronica for help finding out who is blackmailing gay students.
Title = Versatile Toppings
Series = Veronica Mars
Season = 2
Episode = 14
Airdate = March 15, 2006
Production = 2T7214
Writer = Phil Klemmer
Director = Sarah Pia Anderson
Guests = Jeffrey Sams
(Terrence Cook)
Michael Muhney
(Don Lamb)
Jessy Schram
(Hannah Griffith)
Tina Majorino
(Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie)
Rick Peters
(Tom Griffith)
Lucas Grabeel
(Kelly Kuzzio)
Bradford Anderson
(Ryan)
Kristin Cavallari
(Kylie Marker)
Natalia Baron
(Carmen Ruiz)
Gil Birmingham
(Leonard Lobo)
Episode list = List of Veronica Mars episodes
Prev = Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough
Next = The Quick and the Wed

"Versatile Toppings" is episode 14 of season 2 of the television show "Veronica Mars".

Plot

Veronica has to solve two mysteries simultaneously: who's mugging pizza boys and who is blackmailing gay students at Neptune High. She thinks it's the same culprit, but it turns out not to be.

Arc significance

* Logan tells Dr. Griffith that if he wants Logan to stay away from Hannah, he'll have to drop his testimony.
* Hannah's father tells her about what he "saw" Logan do on the bridge. Logan tells her that her father is a cokehead and lying for the Fitzpatricks, and implores her to "look around the house." Hannah finds coke in the bathroom and a number of calls to and from the Fitzpatricks and The River Styx.
* Keith finds out that Terrence Cook was at the Seven Rivers Casino at the time of the bus crash and couldn't have used his cell phone.
* Keith brings this information to Lamb and tries to blackmail him into letting Terrence off the hook by playing the recording of Lamb blackmailing Terrence. Lamb doesn't see the leverage as equal and refuses to drop the charges.
* At the end of the episode, Veronica finds explosives and detonators in the garage Terrence uses to keep his cars.
* During Veronica's investigation in the gay student blackmailings, an interesting clue is brought up that makes sense in the end of the season. It is mentioned that Peter Ferrer was a member of the message board, and one of his last posts was about a very big outing to occur in Neptune.

Music

* "On the 54" - The Dandelions
* "This Machine Alone" - The Fighting Brothers McCarthy
* "Cinnamon Sky" - Karin Brennan
* "I Don't Know" - Starsailor

Writing and acting

* Kristin Cavallari guest starred in this episode as the lesbian cheerleader.

Quotes and trivia

:Dick: Damn, what is it with you? Do you follow me around for fun, or what?:Veronica: Would it help if I started making out with my girlfriend in the hall?:Dick: Yeah, obviously. But look, I'll fix your car, whatever. You gotta learn to leave me alone.:Veronica: And here I thought we were getting to be pals.:Dick: Please. You date Logan, he's nailed for murder. You date Duncan, he's wanted for kidnapping. You get put on Robbie and Hunter's jury, they get sent to Chino. You're like rich dude kryptonite, Veronica. This rich dude wants no part of it.

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:Veronica: Jorge Zadia was a ringer. His name's on Carmen's list. So are you ready to be the bait, Corny?:Corny: Hell, yeah. No one's better. I'm what you'd call a "master bait."

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:" [On seeing a garage full of cars.] ":Veronica: Okay, which one is Monday?:Jackie: You laugh, but he pretty much used to have one for every day of the month.:Veronica: Our lives are so similar. The Mars family hangar is a spitting image of this one.

* The episode title is a pun on pizza toppings and gay sexual slang (a “top” is the partner who penetrates the “bottom” in male-male anal sex (both terms can also be used as verbs for playing those roles), and “versatile” refers to a man who likes both topping and bottoming).
* The fake name given by the extortionist was "Rick Santorum", an American politician who raised controversy with his views on homosexuality, sexuality, and the rights to privacy of consenting adults. As a result of his views there was a campaign to associate his name with a new sexual slang and santorum was given a new meaning.
* The theme of a gay student outing other students is based loosely on the actions of Miranda Prather.
* One of the names on Veronica's list is "John Ramos," the real name of the "Couch Baron," who recapped the show on Television Without Pity.

External links

* MI.net's [http://www.marsinvestigations.net/episodes/214/versatile_toppings/roundtable Rountable Review] .
* Soulful Spike Society's [http://www.soulfulspike.com/vmars/VMep2-14.htm Open Case] .
* Television Without Pity [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a2325/ Recap] .