Mars, Bars

Infobox Television episode


Caption = "Sheriff Mars."
Title = Mars, Bars
Series = Veronica Mars
Season = 3
Episode = 14
Airdate = February 20, 2007
Production = 3T5814
Writer = Phil Klemmer (teleplay & story)
John Enbom (teleplay & story)
Joe Voci (story)
Director = Harry Winer
Guests = Jonathan Chase
(Josh Barry)
Matt McKenzie
(Tom Barry)
Tracey Needham
(Kathleen Barry)
Robert Ri'chard
(Mason)
Patrick Fabian
(Hank Landry)
Jaime Ray Newman
(Mindy O'Dell)
Ken Marino
(Vinnie Van Lowe)
Michael Mitchell
(Bronson Pope)
Daran Norris
(Cliff McCormack)
Richard Grieco
(Steve Batando)
Episode list = List of Veronica Mars episodes
Prev = Postgame Mortem
Next = Papa's Cabin"Mars, Bars" is episode 14 of season 3 of the television show "Veronica Mars".

Plot

Without any evidence to hold her, Sheriff Lamb releases Veronica from jail. Josh makes contact with Veronica and insists that he is being framed for his father's murder and, though Veronica has sympathy for him, she doesn't know if she believes him. Keith learns that the coach's wife, Kathleen Barry, hired Vinnie Van Lowe to find out if her husband was having an affair. Meanwhile, Logan joins Mac and Parker on a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt. Later on, Veronica notices Logan and Parker having a nice lunch together.

Arc significance

* Sheriff Lamb is killed by Mindy O'Dell's ex-husband, Steve Batando, while investigating a breaking and entering at Mindy's house.
* Josh is proven innocent by a DVD made by his father. The person Mason saw with the coach was not Josh but the assistant coach, who helped Josh's father with his suicide. Josh leaves the country to ensure that his family gets paid the insurance money from his father's death.
* Weevil finds bloody clothes belonging to Professor Landry.
* Dean O'Dell's death is now believed to be at 3:30AM instead of 2:30AM.
* Keith is reinstated as Sheriff.
* Professor Landry claims that someone bugged his phone line. Keith and Veronica did not do it.
* Mindy picked up the Dean's antidepressant prescription the night he died. Some pills are missing. Mindy claims that she took some herself.
* Steve Batando's fingerprints were found on the Dean's keyboard.

Music

* "Solfeggietto" - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
* "Undone" - Todd Deatherage
* "Lovers Who Uncover" - The Little Ones
* "All I Need" - Billy Martin
* "Get It Right" - Mink
* "Lost to the Lonesome" - Pela
* "Swimmers" - Broken Social Scene

Writing and acting

* Wallace calls Lamb a "true friend of Dorothy," insinuating that Lamb is gay, also referring to their first meeting where Lamb told Wallace to "go see the Wizard" and "ask for some courage."

Quotes and trivia

* A plot point is made about basketball (Clippers) pushing the regular programming back. In many markets, "Veronica" and other network programming is bumped back several hours to accommodate basketball games.
* The title of this episode puns on the name of a chocolate bar.
* While in jail, Veronica passes the time by drawing a "tattoo" on her arm, showing a My Little Pony with the motto "Thug Life".
* Bronson mentions he's "not a strong swimmer", an allusion to the SNL Male Synchronized Swimmers Sketch.Fact|date=October 2007
* The Kama Sutra position that the members of the scavenger hunt must demonstrate is not in fact the Congress of the Cow as stated in the episode.
* Hank Landry and Mindy O'Dell's alibi is watching "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", which includes a cameo by Richard Grieco, who plays the recurring character Steve Botando in this episode. Joel Silver, was one of the producers of both "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and "Veronica Mars".

External links

* MI.net's [http://www.marsinvestigations.net/episodes/314/mars_bars/roundtable Roundtable Review] .
* Television Without Pity [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a12850/ Recap] .