Eli “Weevil” Navarro

Infobox character | colour = #7DC622
name = Eli "Weevil" Navarro
other_names =


caption = Francis Capra as Eli "Weevil" Navarro
portrayer = Francis Capra
creator = Rob Thomas
species =
gender = Male
first = Pilot
last = The Bitch Is Back
cause =
age = 21
occupation = Student
title =
family = Leticia Navarro (Grandmother)
Chardo (Cousin)
Ofelia (Niece)
spouse = Lilly Kane (Ex-lover, deceased)
episode = 39
children =
relatives =
footnotes =

Eli "Weevil" Navarro is a fictional character on The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN. Portrayed by Francis Capra, Weevil was the head of the local PCH biker gang and ally of teenage detective Veronica.

Background

A member of Neptune's underclass, Weevil lives with his grandmother and younger siblings and for a time, his cousin. Weevil's grandmother was a maid who worked for the Echolls family which led to Weevil receiving much grief from the wealthy Logan Echolls and his classmates. Weevil is 21 at the time of series closure, a Gemini and his hometown is Neptune, California [http://www.myspace.com/vmarsweevil] . (Weevil's age is in question here, though, since in the beginning of the first season Mrs. Navarro mentioned that Weevil was 17).

As leader of the PCH Biker Gang, Weevil is often in-and-out of trouble with the law. This led to his introduction in the series when he has the new transfer student Wallace Fennel duct-taped to the flag pole after Wallace reluctantly turned over a security camera tape showing several members of the PCH Biker Gang stealing from the mini-mart where Wallace worked. Vowing further punishment for Wallace, it was only the intervention of Veronica Mars who saved Wallace. She arranged for the video tape to be switched with a tape of a Neptune deputy receiving oral sex from an escort. The case against Weevil's underlings was subsequently dropped, and Weevil agreed to seek no further revenge against Wallace.

Weevil wants to make his grandmother proud and receives tutoring in order for her to be able to see him graduate. However during the second season finale, Weevil is arrested for Thumper's death during the graduation ceremony.

The third season begins with Weevil released early from jail on parole, on the condition that he get and keep a job which proves to be difficult for a man of his temperament. With Veronica's help Weevil is able to get a job working as a maintenance man at Hearst College. He was the primary suspect in a robbery of an on-campus underground casino, but Veronica was able to prove that he did not commit the crime.

Weevil endeavors to stay on the straight and narrow but is asked by Veronica to steal Madison Sinclair's car (in exchange for a tidy fee), and to arrange a meeting between her and the new leader of the PCHers. He agrees to both, despite the fact that, if caught, either offence would result in his parole being revoked. In the series' penultimate episode, he is accused of selling illegally manufactured Hearst student cards worth $1000 to students for $100. Veronica clears his name, but not before tipping him off to the location of a third machine that would manufacture the student cards. Weevil takes the machine, but it is uncertain whether he uses it or not.

Relationships

Veronica Mars

The relationship between Weevil and Veronica Mars is a complicated one. Weevil is often willing to help Veronica out when she needs it but is always quick to remind Veronica that, in spite of her fall from grace, he still considers her an '09er and that she'll never be a true "outsider" like him. They're quick to help each other out and are forever owing each other favors. He occasionally refers to Veronica as "V" and "Mars". It's shown that Weevil does consider Veronica a good friend when he takes deep offense to her accusing him of a crime in "President Evil". However, Veronica eventually cleared his name and has remained loyal towards Weevil. She is one of the few people who has seen Weevil's softer side.

In the third season Veronica helps Weevil stay on parole (and therefore out of prison) by landing him jobs. First with her father's detective agency, and, after he loses that job, as a repairman at her college. He even risks a return to prison by stealing Madison Sinclair's car for Veronica to cube, though he does charge Veronica's own going rate - $500.

Keith Mars

Despite the fact that Keith Mars no longer holds the position of Sheriff, Weevil still calls him that whenever they meet. And despite having arrested him several times in the past when he actually was sheriff, Keith is reluctantly persuaded by Veronica into giving Weevil a job so he can stay out of jail. Keith finds Weevil to be a good detective and hard worker, but is forced to fire him after Weevil assaults a suspect he saw beat a child.

Logan Echolls

Originally the two were sworn enemies due to the class warfare that existed throughout Neptune; Weevil's legal guardian, his grandmother, worked for Logan's family and was constantly taunted by Logan over this fact. The feud between the two escalated when Weevil befriended Veronica and came to her aid when Logan began smashing her car up with a crowbar as payback for Veronica planting a bong inside his locker (which caused him to have his father take his car away from him as punishment).

The conflict between the two intensified when Logan's family fired Weevil's grandmother as their maid and had her arrested for obtaining credit cards in the Echolls family name and using them online. While the police believed that Weevil was the true culprit, his cousin was really behind the credit card fraud as part of a bid to steal Logan's girlfriend away from him. Weevil agreed to plead guilty to the fraud to save his grandmother in exchange for a four month stint in juvenile hall, but Veronica uncovered the truth and cleared Weevil's name. Weevil then expelled his cousin from the PCH Biker Gang and had him beaten for betraying both Weevil and their grandmother, a punishment that Logan agreed to let Weevil carry out.

The relationship would reach a turning point when the two were forced to serve a lengthy detention sentence together. When Weevil convinced Logan to destroy the car of the teacher who put them into detention, Weevil was expelled. But to Logan's shock, Weevil refused to incriminate Logan for his part in the destruction of the car. As a result, Logan confessed to his part of the crime and with bribery (in the form of a pair of his father's boots, to be sold at auction to benefit the school) Logan was able to get Weevil reinstated.

As a result of this, the two teens agreed to a truce, though both still took pleasure in the occasional sarcastic jibe. However, in spite of the truce between them, Weevil had a dark secret: Weevil had a brief fling with Logan's former girlfriend, Lilly Kane, during one of the periods when Logan and Lilly had broken up. Weevil continued to love Lilly, (even getting a tattoo of her name) but reluctantly kept their brief relationship a secret so Lilly could save face with her fellow '09ers.

Ultimately this would lead towards a complicated series of events, where a disgruntled member of the PCH Biker gang named Thumper used the friendship between Weevil and Logan to usurp Weevil's control over the PCH Biker gang. Thumper murdered Felix, a PCH Biker who was Weevil's second-in-command and framed Logan for the murder. At first, the incident sparks off a bitter feud between Logan and Weevil, but eventually Weevil realizes that Logan may have been framed by members of his own group when Veronica Mars provides information that several members of the PCH Biker Gang had begun to sell drugs for the Irish mob. Ultimately, Weevil and Logan joined forces to find the real killer, but Thumper exposed their alliance and used it to oust Weevil from the gang.

Ultimately Weevil would get his revenge, arranging for Thumper's Irish mob backers to turn against Thumper and lock him in the bathroom of a local sports stadium that was scheduled to be destroyed. In an ironic twist, Logan (who Thumper had framed for murder) had won a contest that allowed him to be the one who pushed the button destroying the stadium. As a result, Logan kills Thumper (unknowingly) and allows Weevil to avenge his friend's death.

Interests

Weevil enjoys cars especially vintage ones, tunes, poker and family. His favorite musicians are Social Distortion, Nas, Jay-Z and Gypsy Queens. His favorite films are "The Godfather", "The Godfather Part II", "Goodfellas", "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Ocean's Eleven". He enjoys watching "The Shield" and "that "Ghost Whisperer" chick". He doesn't read books and his hero is his grandma. [http://www.myspace.com/vmarsweevil]

Quotes

*"Sister, the only time I care what a woman has to say is, is when she's riding my big hog, but even then it's not so much words, just a bunch of oohs and aahs, you know?"

*"Why you care so much for that skinny negro anyway? Things I heard about you, he must really lay the pipe right, huh."

*"Sometimes the girls get put off by this whole motorcycle jacket. Do you think something in suede might make me seem more...accessible?"

*"Could you, please, Veronica? Protect me from the big, bad, sweater vest-wearing rich boys?"

*"Look, should I be expecting a visit from Lamb? If I know I'm being brought in, I'll put on my good underwear, you know?"

*"Weevil love you long time."

Appearances

Season 1

* 1x01 Pilot
* 1x02 Credit Where Credit's Due
* 1x04 The Wrath of Con
* 1x05 You Think You Know Somebody
* 1x06 Return of the Kane
* 1x07 The Girl Next Door
* 1x09 Drinking the Kool-Aid
* 1x10 An Echolls Family Christmas
* 1x11 Silence of the Lamb
* 1x12 Clash of the Tritons
* 1x14 Mars vs. Mars
* 1x16 Betty and Veronica
* 1x17 Kanes and Abel's
* 1x19 Hot Dogs
* 1x20 M.A.D.
* 1x21 A Trip to the Dentist
* 1x22 Leave It to Beaver

Season 2

* 2x01 Normal Is the Watchword
* 2x04 Green-Eyed Monster
* 2x06 Rat Saw God
* 2x08 Ahoy, Mateys!
* 2x09 My Mother, the Fiend
* 2x11 Donut Run
* 2x12 Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle
* 2x13 Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough
* 2x17 Plan B
* 2x19 Nevermind the Buttocks
* 2x21 Happy Go Lucky
* 2x22 Not Pictured

Season 3

* 3x03 Witchita Linebacker
* 3x05 President Evil
* 3x09 Spit & Eggs
* 3x10 Show Me the Monkey
* 3x11 Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves
* 3x12 There's Got to be a Morning After Pill
* 3x13 Postgame Mortem
* 3x14 Mars, Bars
* 3x19 Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down
* 3x20 The Bitch Is Back

References

* "Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season", Warner Home Video, 2005, UPC 01256972774.