1.18 "Weapons of Class Destruction"
Aired Apr 12, 2005
Details
outside of the Mars home: Leo and Veronica kiss goodnight. He tries to get invited in, but it doesn't happen. Veronica's dad is inside, and although Keith does like Leo, he would not be fond of a sleepover.
Mars home: Keith tells Veronica they need to talk. She thinks it's about Leo, but Keith wants to let her know that he met someone. Alicia. Veronica is floored. "What? Who? Alicia? Wallace's mom?"
Fennel home: Wallace, brushing his teeth, is equally floored because his mom has just told him the news.
Mars home: Veronica's stunned face
Opening Credits
school: lunch outside: Wallace and Veronica are sitting at their table in stunned silence. Veronica tries to make light of the situation, but Wallace is not in the mood. He leaves and Veronica notices a website written on the table: KillemAll.net
journalism room: Duncan walks in and is in a friendly good mood. He sits on the other side of Logan, who is next to Veronica. The new advisor for the newspaper is peppy and wants to do something "fun" for the next edition. Veronica and Logan exchange amused looks. Duncan suggests something about the drug of choice for teens. Miss Stafford, the advisor, wants something more along the lines of a teacher who has been there for 40 years or a story on the janitors. The discussion is interrupted by a fire alarm. Duncan groans that it is the third one this week. As they walk out, Miss Stafford asks Veronica to do a story on the fire drills and walks on ahead. Duncan mentions she's not like Miss Dent. Veronica says Miss Stafford was too peppy as the pep squad advisor and wishes Miss Dent had the decency not to get knocked-up.
Clemmons office: Veronica is asking for information about the fire drills. Clemmons isn't giving out any information and says they're just following district policy for the required number of fire drills.
journalism room: Veronica asks Miss Stafford about how to find out what the official district mandate is for fire drills. Miss Stafford tells her to call Miss Rousch, the assistant superintendent. Veronica makes the call and finds out that the mandate is only 1 per semester.
hall: The hall is pretty empty except for Corny who is staring into his locker. When Veronica asks him what he's doing, he can't remember. Veronica and Corny see a deputy coming into the school with a dog. Corny grabs his stash from his locker, hides it in his pants, and walks away, right between two more deputies with dogs. They ignore him and he hurriedly makes his exit. Veronica, looking puzzled, takes pictures of the deputies.
Clemmons office: Clemmons's secretary tells him that Ellen Rousch from the district office wants to talk to him. Miss Rousch tells Clemmons that a girl called her about the fire drills. She got the impression that Neptune was exceeding the fire drill limits. Mr. Clemmons tells her that the real reason is that they've had several bomb threats recently and so he called in the bomb squad.
journalism room: Veronica is on the phone, imitating Ellen Rousch's raspy voice. She tells Clemmons to let her know if there's anything they can do. Later on, Veronica, Duncan, and Miss Stafford look at the newspaper headline which reads, "Bomb Threats Force Evacuations." Once she confirms with Veronica that this is accurate, Miss Stafford gives permission for the paper to be printed.
school hall the next day: The students are all reading the bomb threat article and are worried. Veronica sees KillemAll.net on her locker. Wallace tells her that the administration office is nuts, with parents calling and going off on Clemmons. And Clemmons wants to see Veronica.
Clemmons office: Clemmons tells Veronica and Miss Stafford that are not allowed to print whatever they want, saying that it's to protect the students. He asks Veronica to name her source and she says it was him. He denies it, but then Veronica starts speaking in the Ellen Rousch raspy voice. She asks where the threats are coming from but Clemmons won't tell her. He also tells Miss Stafford not to print any more stories on this subject and that he may have made a mistake in allowing a pep squad advisor to substitute for a journalism teacher.
classroom: Mrs. Murphy calls on Ben to compare the characters of the three Karamazov brothers. He says he didn't read the book and it doesn't matter because in the end, everyone ends up in the same place: six feet under. He chuckles and exchanges a grin with another boy.
Mars home: Veronica takes some soda from the fridge and hurries past Keith and Alicia who are cuddling while watching a movie. Wallace waits in her room. He wants to know if they're serious. Veronica says it can't last long because when her mom gets out of rehab, she's coming home. Wallace is angry, wishes his mom had picked someone other than his best friend's dad, and wants to tell his mom so she doesn't get hurt. Veronica asks him to wait but Wallace says he's getting tired of doing her favors. Wallace goes into the living room and says it's getting late and they need to leave.
outside: Wallace tries to tell his mom but she won't let him. She tells him she's happy and to let her have this moment.
school hall: Veronica hears a student, Pete arguing with Mac about computers.
classroom: Veronica asks Mac to look at her laptop because it won't boot up. Mac takes it and leaves. Pete tells Veronica that he has some confidential information for her. The other day, he rode past a vacant lot and saw a student Norris and the new kid, Ben throwing exploding tennis balls at cats.
hall: At their lockers, Veronica and Wallace talk about how he said they were best friends and about Norris and Ben. Veronica wants Ben's file and Wallace says she should check out Norris. Clemmons made him turn his shirt inside-out because it said, "Kill 'em all. Let God sort them out."
classroom: Veronica types "KillemAll.net" into the address bar on the computer. A black screen with red demon eyes and a huge red countdown appears accompanied by the sound of demonic laughter. 46 hours and 15 minutes...until what?
lunch outside: Veronica, sitting alone, watches Wallace and the other basketball players. Meg and Duncan walk by and Meg has to almost force Duncan to go talk to Veronica with her. They sit with Veronica. Meg is friendly, Duncan is not. He's not even facing Veronica. Meg asks about what cases Veronica is working on. At first she says she can't talk about any, but decides to tell about one, leaving out names. She talks about someone who erased himself off the face of the earth. When Meg asks how, Veronica gives some details, including getting a lot of cash, going in a rental car with a fake driver's license, buy an old passport on Ebay to makeover and head for the border. Duncan excuses himself. Meg says he has been weird all day and leaves. Veronica watches Ben and Norris, VO saying that Norris had a reputation as a thug and bully from junior high.
flashback: Veronica is sitting alone at her table, watching Logan and Duncan at another table. A spitball lands on her book. Her gaze turns to some 09ers who are the obvious culprits. Another spitball lands in her hair. VO: "But I have seen another side" as Norris walks over to the spitball thrower, takes the spit weapon, spits it at the boy, and stares hard at him until the boy leaves. Norris and Veronica exchange small smiles.
lunch outside: Veronica walks over to Ben and Norris, saying she is taking a poll for the Neptune Navigator. The question is: World War III starts tomorrow. You can share your bomb shelter with three other people. Who would they be? Ben says he'd be a casualty of war and Norris lists three guys who are dead.
hall: Wallace tells Veronica she could have sat with him. She thought he was making a point, but he wasn't. There is no file on Ben, but he hands Norris's file to Veronica. Veronica says that he was suspended several times for violent behavior in middle school, but nothing since high school. She thanks Wallace and says he's her best friend also. Wallace tells her he's glad she found her mom and got her help.
classroom: Veronica walks in and sees Duncan who barely acknowledges her presence. Duncan says that Logan told him she's been investigating Lilly's murder and has files on everyone. Veronica admits that it's true. He asks if she has a file on him and Veronica says she has one on everyone connected with Lilly. Duncan wants to know what his says. Veronica tells him that it says he has Type IV epilepsy, has mood swings and violent outbursts, and is taking medication. Duncan wants to know how she knows this but Veronica says it doesn't matter. Duncan says it does and gets very angry with her for prying into his private life. Veronica says she's Lilly's best friend, but Duncan says she's dead and her killer is in jail. Veronica tells him that Abel Koontz didn't kill Lilly, that he was paid to confess. Duncan wants to know who would pay and realizes that his family would. He scoffs at her, saying who are they protecting, him? Veronica then asks if he remembers what happened that day. Duncan realizes that she thinks he killed Lilly. He gets even angrier, asking how she could even think that. Veronica tells him to calm down and he shouts, "Why, do you think I'm gonna have another episode and kill you too?" Then he realizes what he's said and runs out of the room.
outside: Veronica overhears Norris and Ben talking. Norris tells Ben that all he talks about is guns, the death penalty, and bombs and he can't keep hanging out with Ben if he's going to do that stuff. Ben leaves and gets into his car. Veronica follows him to the Camelot and takes pictures. She also sees him buy a lot of fertilizer and put it into his trunk. She spots a gun. She has pictures of everything. Her cell phone rings and it's Logan who is still at school. He wants to give Veronica a heads up that Duncan knows about the files. Logan says he had to tell him. Veronica says Duncan took her head off and asks if Logan has talked to him since school let out. She is interrupted when Ben gets into her car. Veronica sees that he has a hand gun, gasps, and drops her cell phone, exclaiming, "Oh my God! What do you think you're doing?" Logan is still on the phone and hears this, along with Ben saying, "Let's go for a ride." Ben says to go to the Camelot and that Veronica is pesky and messing everything up.
Camelot: Ben pulls Veronica up the stairs. She says her dad will be looking for her if she doesn't check in. Ben wants to show her something and says that a lot of people might die because of her. All of a sudden, he is punched by Logan, who was hidden at the top of the stairs, and falls to the ground. Logan continues to punch Ben until Veronica tells him to stop. She has picked up Ben's wallet and it turns out he's a federal agent.
Camelot room: Veronica says Ben is an undercover agent at Neptune? Ben wants to talk to Veronica alone. Logan isn't going to let it happen until Veronica convinces him to give them a few minutes. Logan waits outside and tells Veronica not to shut the door all the way. Ben says that part of his job is monitoring internet traffic. They found Norris's website to be disturbing. They also read his emails to other students including red-flag words like retribution, bomb, arsenal, gun show, fertilizer, Waco, Columbine. They think he's the leader of many others who are waiting for his signal. Veronica asks why he doesn't just pick Norris up. Ben says Norris will be busted, but he needs evidence first. Ben needs Veronica to get close to Norris because Ben scared him off. Ben wants Veronica to get into Norris's bedroom and garage. He tells Veronica that Norris likes her and if she needs an in, he loves talking about his ancient weapon collection.
outside of the room, on the balcony: Veronica comes out and Logan asks if she's okay. She says she is and gives him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth, as a thank you. He stares at her, and she starts to leave. Logan grabs her arm, turns her around, and kisses her hard and passionately. She responds in kind and they are locked together for some time. They finally pause for breath. Veronica is stunned as they stare at each other until both are overcome by awkwardness and they separate. She goes down the stairs and starts to get into her car, looking up at Logan who stares down at her from the balcony. Veronica drives away.
outside: Veronica parks in front of a home. It's Norris's home. Veronica thanks Norris for his help, since her dad has been having a lot of trouble with a stolen weapons case. Norris unlocks the padlock on his bedroom door. In his room, there are multiple ancient weapons. Veronica gives him the photos of weapons while she looks around. She sees that he has a wireless connection. Norris says his dad works at Kane Software so they get all of the latest technology. Veronica goes to look for a weapon that seems to have fallen in order to really try to find something incriminating. Norris tells her not to worry about it. He would look for the weapon later. Veronica plays with a throwing star and Norris asks if she wants to try throwing it at a target he has in the garage.
garage: Veronica throws one star at the target. She looks into a large trunk, asking if she should put the throwing stars back in there. Norris takes them from her and invites her to Kurosawa retrospective that weekend. He clarifies as friends when she hesitates. Veronica agrees.
outside Norris's home: Since Veronica didn't have any luck with finding weapson, she tries to access the Clayton family wireless system from her car so that she can get Norris's address book. Veronica calls Mac for help. She then sees Pete walk into the house next door.
Veronica's bedroom: Veronica calls Norris but only gets his machine. She tells him to call her before tomorrow.
school parking lot: Veronica see Norris and tells him that Ben isn't who he says he is and that he thinks Norris is behind the bomb threats. Ben pulls up and gets out of a car, in federal agent attire. Veronica says he has the wrong guy and that the whole thing is a hoax. Ben tells Norris he has a warrant to search his vehicle. Norris says fine. When they open his trunk, fertilizer and a gun are in there. Norris is taken away.
journalism room: Veronica looks at the pictures on her laptop, VO saying that Ben used her and planted the fertilizer and gun in Norris's truck. She comes to a picture she took of Ben putting fertilizer in his car and realizes it's the same kind that was in Norris's trunk. Veronica calls Pete and tells him that they'll be publishing a story in the Navigator about how Pete created false internet traffic using the Clayton family wireless connection since he was within 100 feet of their house. The story will say that Pete created KillemAll.net and called in the bomb threats to implicate Norris. Veronica says Pete did it because he was often the victim of Norris's bullying in junior high. Pete tells Veronica that Norris bullied him. Pete's dad told him to be a man but when he tried, Norris sent him to the hospital leaving Pete's dad ashamed of his wimpy son.
hall: Meg wants to know if Veronica has seen Duncan. He's missing and his parents think he ran away. The previous day, he withdrew $10,000 in cash from the bank and no one has seen him since.
journalism room: Veronica and Miss Stafford talk about how the A.T.F. agent set Norris up and that Veronica has photos that prove it. The decide to publish it in the Navigator.
hall the next day: Title of newspaper reads, "Bomb Threat Hoax: ATF Arrests Wrong Student" and there is a picture of Ben putting the fertilizer into his trunk. Wallace tells Veronica that Clemmons is not happy.
journalism room: Veronica walks in and sees Logan, who looks at her. She looks very uncomfortable. Miss Stafford walks in and announces that Norris has been released and she has been fired. She leaves and hears Veronica take control in the room, using Miss Stafford's figures of speech.
Closing Credits