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The episode opens with Logan and Veronica trading insults and exposition about the fact that Duncan can't see his baby. After catching Kendall in Duncan's shower, Veronica confronts Duncan in the school parking lot, and he dumps her in front of numerous witnesses. The breakup leads Veronica to listen to depressing music, and you know she's hit rock bottom when Paula Cole starts warbling away. Lamb shows up to inform Veronica that Duncan has abducted his daughter, and arrests her for her likely involvement. Keith urgently counsels Veronica to cooperate entirely with Lamb, which you'd think is about as likely to happen as Celeste Kane hiring Vinnie Vanlowe to help find Duncan. However, both of those things happen, at least as far as we know at first. Also, the FBI shows up to help with the investigation, and in case you thought Xena wasn't still kicking ass, she hilariously runs verbal circles around Lamb. However, Veronica ends up in turn running circles around her. But first, the other plots.
Weevil and Logan continue their secret marriage. The part that we see on screen is where Weevil tells Logan that according to Thumper, the only two PCHers left with Felix and Logan on the bridge were Hector and Bootsy. Weevil also thinks that whoever did it is in league with the Fitzpatricks, so Logan enlists Dick's help to smoke the guy out. Dick is denied by Bootsy but succeeds in buying drugs from Hector, but when Weevil confronts him, Hector says he just skimmed a profit by buying it cheaper from an 09er dealer, who turns out to be the scumbag Sean from "An Echolls Family Christmas." Sean convincingly denies a Fitzpatrick connection, so that looks like a dead end, but they get a real clue when they discover that Felix had some sort of involvement with Molly Fitzpatrick. Might have wanted to fool around with a girl from a slightly less protective family there, kiddo. Veronica discovers Wallace came home because one of his Chicago basketball teammates drunkenly hit a guy and ran with Wallace in the car. He tells Veronica he knows she would have done the right thing, because she's a teenage woman of propriety. A reporter from Chicago catches up with Wallace and seems to know about the whole thing, so it looks like Wallace didn't run far enough.
Anyway, the whole breakup was part of a labyrinthine ruse, which Vinnie and Astrid, Celeste's personal slave, are totally in on, to get Duncan and the baby to Mexico while fooling the FBI and the local authorities. The FBI goes on a wild goose chase to Big Bear, and Lamb thinks he's outsmarting them and Veronica by going to Mexico, but it turns out all he did was give Duncan, who was hiding in his trunk, a ride across the border. In the end, Duncan has a nice sendoff (so it seems, anyway) as he rides off into the Mexican sunset holding his daughter. The price of that moment, however, is that Keith feels totally betrayed by his daughter, and their new rift is not a good sign for the solving of the bus crash. If anyone still cares about that. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
First off, I'd just like to say how much fun the Austin Marsathon was, and how great it was to meet so many people from the boards. There were people there whose handles I was familiar with even before I started writing for TWoP, so it was really cool to put faces and real names to those monikers. All credit to the Alamo Drafthouse for running the event so smoothly, to Rob Thomas for putting together some great clips, and to everyone on the panel (Rob, Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, and Michael Muhney) for doing such an entertaining Q&A and also signing autographs for and taking pictures with every last person there.
Now, if you know the agenda of the event, you're aware that they showed this episode as the feature presentation, so Wednesday night wasn't my first viewing. But what you don't know is that my exposure to this episode goes back quite a bit further. You see, back in September, I had occasion to visit L.A. on business, and I was able to take Rob up on an invitation to meet him and the other writers. At the end of that visit, he invited me to see the set the time I was in town. Business again took me out there in November, and I was able to duck down to San Diego for a quick trip during the filming of this episode, which you probably know marks Rob's directorial debut. And I have to say, everyone I've met who works on this show in both L.A. and San Diego is funny and down-to-earth and kind of just plain awesome. In one sense, it seems like a no-brainer to be nice to someone who critiques your show, but in another sense it's...not, at all, so thanks for showing me a great time. Special shout-outs go to Dan Etheridge, for rocking like Dokken; Rick Pickett, who's a great designer and, I just found out, went to Princeton, my alma mater; and Venita Ozols-Graham, for insisting on putting me on tape despite my better judgment. Oh, we'll get to that.
On a somewhat less fun note, I should say that opinions of this episode were rather bitterly divided on the boards. I really enjoyed it when I watched it in Austin, but I have to admit on closer examination that there were quite a few problems, although I don't think they were as serious as some people did. Maybe it's partially because I've already gotten my "Duncan sucks" rant and my "Whatbus crash?" rant out of my system recently. Or maybe I've just totally lost any objectivity because people on the show have been so nice to me. Hey, I'm just trying to save people the trouble of sending me hate mail. I don't like anyone to put himself out unnecessarily. Anyway, I'm going to recap the episode as if I don't know the twist, and explain what worked for me and what didn't afterward.
Okay. Neptune Grand. Logan's already in the elevator when Veronica runs in ahead of the closing doors. They give each other an annoyed look, and Logan says, "Hi ho," which he then tries to cover as an "off to work we go" reference. Uch. Is he making fun of her for being short? Because we've been over the "ho" ground before, and far more amusingly, and for Logan still to be this nasty to Veronica when they've been hanging out in the same suite for several episodes is tiresome. After some Seven Dwarves-themed back-and-forth, Logan exposits that Duncan doesn't come out of his room: "He must have really loved Meg." Well, so did I, but I've still managed to get outside every once in a while. Veronica snits that it might also be because Duncan isn't being allowed to see his baby. Logan: "A baby? How'd that happen?" If memory serves, it was by Caesarean and off-screen. Inside, Veronica heads toward Duncan's door as Logan sighs, "Time to fake the Donut." Ew. I forgot how flat this scene felt to me. First off, since Logan and Duncan's reconciliation as best friends was made such a big deal of and Duncan's been generous enough to let Logan live with him, Logan making cracks about Duncan's lack of sexual prowess doesn't ring true. I mean, Logan's a jackass, but it's crystal clear that he likes Duncan a lot and that Duncan's friendship is very meaningful to him. And secondly, as Jason Dohring said in his interview, most of Logan and Veronica's snarky interactions are crisp in that way that makes you think that, underneath, they actually care about each other. But in this scene, they just seem bored and completely over each other. Not good. Anyway, Veronica pauses when she hears Duncan's shower running, and we see Kendall emerge from it while wrapping a towel around herself. The towel will come in handy -- they'll need something for cleanup after Veronica uses her eyebeams of death to dissolve Kendall into a small blob of goo. Veronica asks what she's doing there, and Kendall breezily says that she was invited. Veronica then storms out, and Logan takes the opportunity to observe Kendall's bare back as she dons a bathrobe. Logan: "Lost?" Well, it's true this episode has been slow to get going, but I'm not quite ready to change the channel yet. Kendall says that Logan shouldn't be so smug, since he's just going to call her the day saying he wants some company, which doesn't satisfy her. Logan: "Really? You always come." (I'm surprised that one got by the censors. I mean, even if they didn't get the double entendre, you'd think the embarrassed look on the glorified hooker's face would raise a red flag.)
School. Veronica seems to be waiting for someone. Presumably, it's not Dick, but that doesn't stop him from appearing and doling out some fake comfort about the Kendall bombshell. "If you're gonna date an heir to billions, the occasional afternoon quickie -- you gotta let it slide." I think Donald Trump's kid is going to look upon Dick as an oracle. And "Dick" and "oracle" appearing in the same sentence has got to be a sign of the apocalypse. Dick goes on to say that girls like Kendall let guys do "vile stuff. Really vile stuff." Hee. Veronica shoos Dick away, and then approaches Duncan, who's shuffling his feet and looking guilty about something. Veronica asks where he was the day before and, finding him untruthful and unforthcoming, drops the Kendall bomb, loudly enough for a number of onlookers to hear. Duncan shiftily denies knowledge of Kendall's being in his room, but Veronica barks that she doesn't trust him anymore: "I'm nobody's fool!" It's too bad they couldn't afford Duane Daniels for this episode, because it would have been awesome if Principal Clemmons appeared at this point, pointedly clearing his throat. Duncan heatedly says that Meg is dead, and that he can't see his daughter, but by all means, Veronica should make it about her. Veronica yells that she's the one who's alive: "I'm your girlfriend!" Duncan rolls his eyes: "Not anymore." I guess Dick really wasn't kidding about the things Kendall will do. Veronica gapes, all, "Oh no you DI-IN'T!," as the onlookers give typical "Oh, SNAP!" noises. The really sad thing is that anyone keeping track of Veronica's most embarrassing school moments has no need to change his top five.
Close-up of a hand reaching into a CD cabinet and pulling out the soundtrack from The Virgin Suicides. Hee. Keith, making a sandwich in the kitchen, hears the depresso-fest kick up, but continues with what he's doing. Perhaps he thinks that if anyone knows things could be worse, it's Veronica. More likely, though, he knows it would be a mistake to try to counter the power of maudlin music on an empty stomach. Veronica lies on her bed and zones.
Cut to Veronica emerging from her room and heading into the kitchen as Keith and Backup watch with interest. Although Keith's interest is the "I'm worried about my daughter" type, while Backup's is more "I hope she gets over herself soon and takes me out, because she'll be even more depressed if I'm forced to pee in her favorite shoes." I'd say both forms of concern are quite valid. Veronica grabs an entire container of cereal and a jug of milk and woodenly heads back into her room.
The stygian songfest is still going strong with "The Air That I Breathe" when Keith gets out of bed at 6:27 in the morning. Veronica is removing pictures of Duncan from a number of frames when Keith enters. She says she's okay. Keith: "You do remember I'm a detective, right?" Well, now that you mention it.... Veronica tells Keith that she and Duncan broke up. Keith: "Yeah, I got that." Heh. He tells her that if there's anything she needs, all she has to do is ask. He leaves, and Veronica looks forlorn. I don't know why she doesn't just put on some headbanger music instead of this shit. I defy anyone to be in a bad mood after a good sing-along to Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again." And it's appropriate to the situation, too!
Neptune Grand. Weevil tells Logan that, according to Thumper, the only people left on the bridge with him and Felix were Hector and Bootsy. He goes on to say that the one who did it must be in league with the Fitzpatricks and will have access to a pipeline of drugs. Weevil starts to ask if Logan knows anyone, and Logan says he'll handle it. We cut out before they discuss what else they're going to handle, but the censors were probably more alert for this scene with all the buzz over Brokeback Mountain.
Veronica comes to with a dog licking her face and a cat screeching as it's shaved with a dull, rusty straight razor. Well, it's actually "I Don't Want To Wait" by Paula Cole, but I thought I'd pay homage to TWoP's roots. Rob Thomas did the same with his roots here, since he used to be a staff writer on Dawson's Creek. It's just too bad, though, that the homage didn't come in the form of Veronica imitating the Dawson "crying" face. Although maybe that's what Teddy Dunn was going for in the last season. Anyway, Wallace enters and rightly deems this tableau "pathetic," asking, "Who's this Emo girl?" Hee. He tells her that they're going to go to a movie or get in a bar fight. Veronica says she doesn't want to get in a bar fight, but that could have something to do with the fact that the last time she was in one, she lost her taser and almost became free advertising for an Irish-themed breakfast cereal. Anyway, Wallace tells her to shower; she smells bad. Veronica: "You're not helping. You think you're helping, but you're not." Heh. Wallace gives Veronica a ticket to the night's basketball game, prompting Veronica to exposit that Wallace only came home because he was too late for basketball tryouts at his Chicago high school. I hope he didn't tell his mother that. I'm sure coming home was tense enough without adding insult to awkward. Also, it seems a little weird that Veronica has no emotional reaction to the idea that Wallace's return home is entirely incidental. Have they talked about why he left at all? Keith calls Veronica, and she and Wallace emerge to find Lamb and a deputy with Keith, who informs her that Duncan is missing. Lamb adds that Duncan kidnapped Meg's baby, accuses Veronica of aiding him, and arrests her on the spot. Well, there's nothing like being manhandled into a squad car to take your mind off your petty emotional issues.
Credits. Tessa who?
The camera pans across a lineup of women who are probably the only ones in town who are more familiar with the sheriff's station than Veronica is. Veronica stands last in the lineup. She doesn't look nearly as chipper as Logan did, but perhaps being brought to the station in handcuffs was less of a turn-on for her.
Cut to Veronica waiting in an interrogation room. Cliff and Keith join her and inform her that she was IDed in the lineup by a merchant from the "L.A. jewelry district," and that he claims she sold him some diamond earrings for $80,000 that belonged to Celeste Kane. Lamb thinks Veronica helped Duncan plan and finance the kidnapping. His case is strengthened by the fact that about the most complicated thing we've seen Duncan plan by himself is an outfit that doesn't include argyle, and even that level of planning hasn't happen very often. (Oh, come on, I had to get one more argyle joke in.) Veronica makes a wise-assed comment about Lamb, causing Keith to pound the table and say that Duncan's facing kidnapping charges, and that if Veronica helped him in any way, she's going to prison. Veronica confesses that she sold the earrings because Duncan asked her to, but that they were going to use the money to hire a lawyer so that he could get custody of the baby. She admits that she figured the earrings were Celeste's, which isn't a surprise, since I'm sure Veronica would have wondered who stained the pretty earrings with all that poisonous black bile. She goes on to say that Celeste doesn't want Duncan adopting, since she isn't ready to be a grandmother. And the real reason why Celeste kept such a watchful eye on Lilly comes out. Keith emotionally instructs Veronica to cooperate fully with Lamb. Might want to shed a few tears there, Keith. You're asking a lot.
Cut to Veronica entering Lamb's office to find the sheriff enjoying the company of Celeste and Vinnie Vanlowe. I wonder what they were talking about. It would have been conversationally convenient if they were all in the same book club, but I somehow suspect that's not the case. Vinnie sunnily greets Veronica, who claims that, other than the air conditioning, this is how she pictured hell. I'd like Dick to show up right now to remind Veronica that there's always a lower place. He'd be perfect to deliver that reminder, in more ways than one. Celeste bites out that Veronica knows where Duncan is, and that if Veronica doesn't cooperate, Celeste wants Veronica prosecuted for the jewelry theft. Veronica asks Vinnie what he's doing there, and Lamb cuts in that he's Celeste's guest: "Mrs. Kane, word of advice. Private investigators just make the work of law-enforcement officers more difficult." Hee. He counsels her to save her money, since he'll find Duncan and bring him in safely. Celeste gets up to leave, and Veronica notes that it must be weird for her to hope Lamb is competent. It's at this point that I wonder if Veronica was really feeling air conditioning, or if it was merely the crosscurrents of frost coming out of everyone's mouths. Celeste imperiously instructs Lamb to keep her posted, and then snits to Veronica that she finds comfort in the fact that the child isn't Veronica's. Veronica: "Let's hope she's got your smile." Celeste leaves, and Vinnie follows, but not before giving Veronica the "Private Eyes Are Watching You" visual and gesturing for her to call him. Hee.
Veronica exhales in disgust, and then sits down. Lamb gives her a pad and instructs her to write down everything she can think of about Duncan -- fake IDs, secret credit cards, hiding spots, places he goes for a quick pruning -- things of that nature. Veronica asks Lamb if he thinks the baby would be better off with the Mannings, referencing what they both know about how the Mannings treat their youngest daughter. Hmm, an appeal to Lamb's humanity. This is a choice that sports commentators would tactfully refer to as "interesting." Lamb snarls that he should have busted Veronica and Duncan that night. "Now my ass is in a sling if I don't find the Kane kid." If I told you that that didn't present an interesting mental picture, I'd be lying. Lamb tells Veronica that she's not going home until that pad is full, and that if she's not completely forthcoming, he will make it his mission to put her in prison as an accessory. Veronica sullenly takes the pad and starts writing.
Close-up on a video game, which SSpiegel on the boards was kind enough to identify as Dead Or Alive XTreme Beach Volleyball. Apparently, you can control how big the cartoon players' breasts are and how much said breasts bounce, so it's not much of a surprise that Dick is manning one set of controls, nor is it shocking that he exhorts one of his girls to "make Daddy proud." In fact, he probably sees himself as the dad of his household now that Big Dick has taken off, so I wonder if that's a phrase Kendall has heard coming out of his mouth. Logan asks Dick for a favor. Dick: "It's not that favor that Bobby Brown does for Whitney, is it?" Well, now that Weevil's back in the game, I don't think Logan has all that much trouble with that particular problem. Still, grooooooooss. Logan says he needs Dick to buy some Ecstasy from a couple PCHers. Dick says he's tight with those guys, and I can't tell if he's being sarcastic, which doesn't matter because it's kind of hilarious either way. One of Dick's players screws up, and he cautions "her" not to "make Daddy hose you down." This actually gets Logan's attention. "You're not real complicated, are you, Dick?" Dick: "Try not to be." Hee. I'd ask for more Dick, but you people would probably misinterpret my entirely innocent request.
Veronica finishes up with the pad, balefully hands it to Lamb, and heads out. In the hallway, she runs into Vinnie. I should tell you that this was the first of two scenes I saw filmed, which took about two hours and wrapped around one in the morning. I was able to see that Ken Marino, in addition to being really funny off-screen, isn't nearly as chinless as I thought, so the "Gonzo" nickname is history, as you might have noticed. Of course, if Demian ever has occasion to recap him again, I expect it will make a triumphant reappearance. Anyway, Vinnie is doing one-armed pushups against the soda machine when Veronica sees him and asks if he's waiting for his girlfriend to make bail. Vinnie says no: "Her shift ends at 5." Hee. They approach each other as Vinnie says he was waiting for her, "V-Dog," and that she can save some time if she'll just tell him where Duncan is. Veronica says she doesn't know, and adds that even if she did, he'd be the -- she counts on her fingers -- "last person [she'd] tell." Vinnie offers her five grand: "And if you act now, I'll throw in a free set of steak knives!" If you do, Vinnie, it would probably be best not to give them to her in person. Veronica makes crabby hand gestures as she again denies knowledge of Duncan's whereabouts. The two start to leave in opposite directions, but Veronica calls Vinnie back, noting that he dropped his pen in her bag. Vinnie, facing the camera, gets an "Oh, CRAP" look on his face before turning around and valiantly denying it. Veronica reads the pen: "Sugar's Cabaret Invitational Long Ball Championship!" She unscrews the pen to reveal a tiny bug. One of the most fun things about seeing this filmed was the way the actors would break character if something was wrong and then just continue on. I think of that because, on one take, Kristen had some difficulty and was all, "I can't get this fucking pen open," and then proceeded to continue as if nothing had happened. I think she's been hanging out with Jason. Anyway, Veronica tosses the pen back and starts to leave again, but Vinnie tells her that he'll have Duncan back within seventy-two hours, and that she'll wish she had the steak knives. He saunters off as Veronica stares after him, no doubt thinking the world is ready for a live remake of Eating Raoul, and she knows just who to play the male lead.
Computer room. That gym/computer teacher who pops up here and there is conducting the "Search Engine Olympics," and asks the class what the varsity boys' basketball team's record in district play is. Veronica types Wallace's name into the engine as VMVO explains that while her classmates are searching under Neptune High and getting tons of pages of results, all she has to do is click on Wallace's current box score and...she trails off as she sees that Wallace was not only playing basketball in Chicago, but he was kicking ass. For future reference, the name of the Chicago school is "Trevor Hale," and since it will be important, the only person with better stats on the team has the surname of "Rucker." In fact, in the first box score Veronica sees, Rucker had a triple-double (double-digits in points, assists, and rebounds, one of the most impressive basketball feats possible). I just hope his prowess earns him enough respect that his teammates refrain from calling him "Hootie." I have to say, though, that since the only purpose of this scene was for Veronica to make this discovery, it feels kind of shoehorned in.
Dick finds Logan at his locker, and says that Bootsy denied his request for drugs, "and went on to suggest I perform sexual intercourse upon my own person." Hee. Logan opines that if Dick could do that, he'd never come to school. Dick: "Boy, that's the truth." I'd wonder if successfully doing that makes you a little bit gay, but I doubt any insecurities Dick might have about that would be any match for his inexorable horniness. Anyway, Dick produces ten hits of "E" that he scored off of Hector. Logan notes that he gave Dick enough for twenty, but Dick says he got the "09er discount. Charged me double." Heh. When Dick's gone, Logan produces a Sharpie and writes Hector's name on the box. He then spots Weevil, and bumps into him to cover handing off the drugs. Weevil reads Hector's name...
...and we cut to the Mexican border, where a patrolman is telling Lamb that if Duncan crossed, he probably did so before anyone knew the baby was missing, so perhaps they should scale back the searches. Lamb thinks Duncan hasn't gone across yet, but says he'll think about it. The patrolman thanks him, and the camera pans up to reveal three lines of honking cars backed up several deep. To think this is bad, this patrolman must clearly never have seen the approach to the Holland Tunnel on a Sunday evening in summer. I haven't had occasion to do so since August of 2000, and I'm still surprised I ever got home.
Deputy Sacks (who I've seen without the moustache, FYI, and yes, it makes a BIG difference) pokes his head into Lamb's office and tells him he's got company. When he hears it's the FBI, Lamb hangs up, takes a moment to brace himself, and then instructs Sacks to send them in. Lamb pretends to be engrossed in some report as two agents appear before his desk. When he looks up, there's a big black agent and a blonde Lucy Lawless. I'll leave it to you to determine which one's the more intimidating. Seriously, I was a major Xena addict for the entire run of the series, so this is going to be fun. Probably not quite as fun as if she back-flipped into the room while cleanly shaving off Sacks's moustache with her chakram, but I'll take what I can get. Xena introduces herself as "Agent Morris," and her partner says he's "Agent Wills." Lamb invites them to sit and dismisses Sacks. Once everyone's seated, Agent Xena says that they're willing to share resources. Lamb starts to make a reciprocal comment, but Agent Xena steamrolls on -- "until such time as you piss us off. And when that time comes -- and it usually comes quickly in Sleepyburg or World'sBiggestBallOfStringsville or wherever the hell we are this week -- when that time comes, we will cut you out like you were a meter maid." Hee hee hee. Lamb looks horrified, probably not least because he just caught a visual of himself writing parking tickets and getting his ass slapped by a bunch of beat cops. Agent Xena rolls on, telling Lamb to repeat after her. She says, "Team," and Wills holds his hands up high and wide. She continues, "Me," and Wills drops his hands and narrows the distance to a teeny-tiny space. She does it again, and Lamb obediently repeats after her. It's like Lamb's going to the slaughter. And I never thought Xena could kick more ass than she did on her eponymous show, but maybe it's because she now has a more fitting and less annoying sidekick. Agent Xena asks Lamb to bring them up to speed on the investigation. Lamb gapes and smiles sarcastically. Don't make them break out the Emasculating Hands again, Donnie.
Veronica arrives at the sheriff's station and asks the deputy on duty, a large black man I don't think we've seen before, where Lamb is. The guy is listed as "Super Huge Deputy" on IMDb, and it's only because this episode is so rife with shout-outs that I'm surprised they didn't go with "Big Black Sex Cop." SHD identifies Veronica, and says he's supposed to keep an eye on her. Veronica takes a seat, and SHD asks if she ever hits the clubs in L.A. She says she's only eighteen, so she only skulks around outside while her dad gets his dance on. Or something. SHD says that no club will care, and adds that he bounces at "Club Thin," and he'll totally get her in if she wants. This seems like an exceedingly clumsy way to set up a future plot point, but I'm not guessing SHD often gets hired for his subtlety.
SHD opens Lamb's door and tells him that Veronica claims to have something they might be interested in. Agent Xena knows that Veronica is "the girlfriend," but Lamb, after telling SHD to put Veronica in interrogation, corrects Agent Xena that Veronica's the ex-girlfriend, and that it was an ugly breakup, from what he heard. Lamb is just such a hen when he's out of uniform. Whoops. Now I have to pause to let you all get a cold drink. Back? Okay. Lamb cautions the agents that Veronica is "slippery," but Agent Xena thinks they can handle her. You're probably right, Xena, but you'd better give a war cry just so we know it is on.
Interrogation room. Lamb and the two agents appear in the doorway as Veronica sighs, "Nick and Jessica. Is nothing sacred?" It really is sad. I pray to Gaw that they get back together. Agent Xena sees Veronica and says to Wills: "Call for backup." Wills: "Just the chopper?" Agent Xena: "Snipers." Hee. They enter, and after Lamb introduces the agents, Veronica informs them that Duncan had a dotMac account to back up his laptop, and Wills goes to arrange for a warrant to search it. I didn't expect to say this about him, but isn't he just the cutest thing? Sacks calls to Lamb that Border Patrol is on the phone. Now, I should say that this scene was the second one I saw filmed, and the one in which the lovely first assistant director convinced me to participate. If you look behind Sacks in this shot, you can see an Asian guy in a sleeveless top and a taller guy in a backwards baseball cap. Those are actually two hilarious guys, Viet Nguyen and Mike Weiss, who work in the L.A. office and with whom I rode down to the set. And, above Sacks's head, you can see a bit of a third guy, who happens to be me. You might think I'd be disappointed that that's all of me that made it on camera, but given (a) my own assessment of my acting ability, and (b) what I was wearing for the scene, I'll instead just opine that the scene was extremely well blocked. Anyway, Veronica tells Lamb not to bother: "Duncan hates Mexico." Lamb: "Is that so, Brer Rabbit?" Heh. Lamb is awesome in this episode, by the way. Lamb instructs Border Patrol not to back off the searches, and then asks why Veronica doesn't go wait outside. Veronica: "Why don't you?" Hee. Agent Xena smirks, but Lamb stage-whispers that Veronica's option is a cell, so she leaves before she gets to the part about how Jen found out about Brad and Angelina or whatever story is being reprinted for the 800,000th time that week. Agent Xena, to Lamb: "I'll take a coffee when you get a minute." Nice. Lamb tries to save face by ordering two coffees from Sacks, and if you listen closely, you can catch Sacks's puzzled "What?" Hee. You just know Lamb's going to use the Emasculating Hands on him soon -- the only way Lamb can get his balls back to full size is to shrink someone else's. Lamb then changes tacks, telling Agent Xena he thought about the FBI, but "big fish, small town -- has its perks." Agent Xena asks if he went to college, but he only made it through a year before blowing out his knee playing ball. She then asks about foreign languages. Lamb: "A little Mexican. Enough to get by. Tell them to turn their music down." Hee. I wonder if he recognizes any words when they tell him where he can stick his request. Agent Xena asks if he has any expertise in any of a number of fields. Lamb is all, "Expertise..." with this awesome smile like he thinks Agent Xena is turned on by his roguish charm. Agent Xena, not meanly, tells him maybe he should ride with the "big fish" idea. Lamb looks disappointed. Come on, Lamb, don't feel bad. If Hercules couldn't bag her, you never had a shot.
It's night, and we're by some kind of huge minaret-looking construction that, for some reason, makes the words "Death is your gift" pop into my head. But the bikers are having a hearing. Hector admits that he sold the Ecstasy to Dick, but he says he didn't get it from the Fitzpatricks: "Some white boy asked me to get him some. He looked dumb, and desperate." Well, his story holds up so far. Hector adds that he got Dick to agree to a jacked price, bought the drugs from another white boy he knows deals, thereby skimming a nice profit. That sounds like a brilliant idea to me, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I was an options trader for ten years. Weevil is surprised that Hector knows an 09er drug dealer, but Hector tells him his sister works with the 09er's dad. Weevil demands a name.
Sacks finds Veronica at the soda machine and tells her that the agents need her. Cut to Veronica entering the interrogation room and noting that they were quick. Agent Xena tells her that it took two hours to get the warrant and ten minutes to break the password. Lamb would have taken the same amount of time, but the time breakdown of the two tasks would have been a little different. Veronica asks what the password was, and is informed that it was "Meg Kane" spelled backwards. Ouch. That is dloc. Lamb sneers contemptuously, and then Agent Xena asks about Duncan's sailing ability. Veronica says that Duncan has been sailing his whole life, and that certainly rings true, with Duncan's apparent expertise on sailboats. Also, I thought it was heavily implied that he knew Icetwin from the marina. Lamb informs her that they discovered Duncan bookmarked a boat for sale, and upon tracking down the seller, they discovered the buyer was a teenaged boy who paid cash. Veronica: "I assume that's a generous use of the term 'we'?" Wills grins in amusement, and he's not the only one. Sacks calls in that the Coast Guard has spotted the boat, and that it's ignoring their warning calls, so they're preparing to board. They put the call on speakerphone, and we hear the Coast Guard officers declaring that no one's on board, and that all they found is "dirty diapers and twelve empty cans of Spaghetti-O's." If that's all there was to eat, I can imagine that those diapers were quite a mess indeed. Agent Xena asks if Duncan has a history of mental issues, and I hate to point this out, but you'd think that would be something the FBI had researched. But...it's a minor...complaint, Agent Xena, so please...let go...of my throat. She asks if Duncan might have killed himself, but Veronica denies that possibility, and says that someone must have picked him up: "He's still on the run." Well, it's good exercise, anyway.
Veronica emerges from her apartment complex and starts walking down the street, before stopping and heading back to a parked van. She slides the door open and greets a binoculars-sporting Vinnie with a "Mornin', Sam." Vinnie lowers his lenses and gives the only possible answer: "Mornin', Ralph." Hee. Veronica hands Vinnie a letter to give to Duncan, should he find him, marked "Personal & Confidential." Vinnie agrees, but barely waits a moment after she's gone to open the letter. From the back, there appears to be quite a lot of writing on it, so either Veronica really believes Vinnie is going to find Duncan, or she's using an awful lot of words to communicate the message "I said PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL, you sleazy, greasy-haired, Members Only-wearing dirtbag." Vinnie smiles to himself, but I'm not sure that gives us a clue as to which it is.
Neptune High, boys' bathroom division. Weevil catches Sean, the sleazebag from "An Echolls Family Christmas" and "A Trip To The Dentist," washing his hands. He might as well not bother -- the filth on his hands is more appealing than the rest of him. On the other hand, he's grown his hair out, which I think suits him. Anyway, Weevil gives him shit about the fact that his family is in the domestic staffing industry: "I can hardly tell where you end and I begin." Heh. Sean asks what he can get Weevil. Weevil asks the name of Sean's supplier and, when he's unforthcoming, asks if it's the Fitzpatricks. Sean: "They take a blowtorch to you if you're short a dime bag. I'm not that dumb." Well, if you ever decide you want to be that dumb, be sure and let me know so I can sell tickets. (I should note that I think the actor who plays Sean is great, though.) Sean leaves, and Weevil asks if Logan believes him. Logan emerges from a stall, and I'm sorry to say that his sneakers were visible the whole time, because I'd think they'd have wanted Sean to think he was alone with Weevil. I mean, Logan might not have thought of that, but I'd think Weevil would have advised him. Maybe his attention was focused elsewhere. Anyway, Logan thinks Sean was telling the truth, and speculates that the PCHer mixed up with the Fitzpatricks might be the one who took the knife in the gut. Weevil asks if Logan remembers when two of the Fitzpatricks still went to Neptune, and Logan recalls they were like "seventh-year seniors." Weevil says they stuck around to keep the high-school drug trade going, but when the school expelled them, Weevil's predecessor, "Reaper Gus," took over. Gus tried to expand the PCHers' trade, and a couple months later he "disappears like Jimmy Hoffa." And why was Gus nicknamed "Reaper"? Because of his surname -- Toombs. He was Felix's big brother. Considering what happened to Felix, the Toombs name is a lot more fitting than even they realized. Weevil opines that there's "no way in hell" Felix was working with the Fitzpatricks. Well, as long as you're defining "working with" fairly narrowly.
Outside, Wallace finds Veronica and snags her cake. She then hands him a scrapbook of his Chicago basketball results. His face falls, so either that brings back a bad memory, or the cake is really dry. Wallace says that his teammate, Rashard Rucker, is the best high-school player in the nation. Before Christmas, Wallace and Rashard and a couple of guys from the team went to a house party, and on the way back, Rashard, who'd had a few beers, hit a "wino," and although Wallace told him to stop, Rashard panicked and drove to his uncle's. His uncle, who's also his agent and manager, said they should keep their mouths shut, but the guilt drove Wallace to come back home. Veronica says that he could have told her, and she's taking an awfully understanding position here considering that you could interpret Wallace's statement as meaning "If my friend could hold his liquor, you would probably never have seen my skinny ass again." Maybe it's because at the moment, she has whiter fish to fry. Wallace says he couldn't tell Veronica because she would have done the right thing. Veronica's too distracted even to flinch.
Cut to Veronica's phone ringing. It's Duncan, whom she counsels to turn himself in. She walks over to a bulletin board, and tacked up on it, you can see an ad for "Teenage Women Of Propriety," which spells TWoP vertically. I'm sure there will be people who sigh exasperatedly and say that this is obviously a coincidence, because there always are. But given that my cynicism was attached to my objectivity, I'm going to deem that a shout-out. (Oh, and also because Rob said it was. Heh.) Anyway, Duncan babbles about how if Veronica won't help him, he'll go it alone. The call ends...
...and we cut to the sheriff's office, where Agent Xena has ditched the business suit. She hasn't donned the breastplate and gauntlets yet, but Wills tells her he's tracked the call to Big Bear, so it might be time to suit up. Speaking of which, Lamb goes to put on his belt and says that he can be there in two hours, but Xena easily tells him that everything's under control. In other words, stay in your pond, Fish Breath.
Veronica's fumbling with her keys outside her door when she takes a furtive look around. She suddenly hustles over to the adjoining apartment, unlocks the door, and enters and rushes over to Duncan. They kiss, and she tells him, "It's time." If I hadn't seen this episode already, I'd say it's time for you to explain WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.
Duncan and Veronica move to the crib in the middle of the room and take a look at the baby, who's swaddled in all pink. Not only is she adorable, but she's allowing me to associate that color with someone on this show other than Paris Hilton. She can totally stay...um. Whoops. Anyway, Veronica unconvincingly tells Duncan that they're doing the right thing, so she obviously doesn't read the forums. She also informs him that everyone bought the ruses with Kendall and the boat (and Kendall was totally not in on the plan, not that that's a surprise), and that they have to go, since the FBI is on its way to Big Bear. Duncan tells her to wait a minute, but Veronica, not wanting to go to pieces, says that after they leave the room, they can't have any contact with each other. Duncan grabs her shoulders and gives forth with this speech: "Goodbye, Veronica. I love you. Always have. Always will." Veronica, sadly: "You'd better." They kiss again. Duncan doesn't seem too broken up here, although his sadness at leaving Veronica is probably tempered by his excitement at the prospect of getting his kid to safety. God, what am I doing? This recap's taking forever as it is, and if I get bogged down in the Byzantine exercise of trying to make sense of Duncan's emotions, I'll never get out of here.
Sacks enters Lamb's office and tells him they got a hit on Veronica's ATM card. Lamb is stiffly looking out his window with his arms crossed behind his back, no doubt because he thought of a snappy comeback to that "Team...Me" thing five minutes after Agent Xena left for Big Bear. Anyway, the card was used at a Mexican hotel that's big with American surfers. Lamb turns to Sacks with a satisfied smile and says that he knew Veronica was lying: "Let's see how the FBI likes it when this high-school-educated local lawman brings back the prize." Oh, Donnie. Sometimes you're the Exterminator, and sometimes you're the bug. The blue-eyed, high-school educated, delusions-of-grandeur-having bug.
Keith enters his bathroom, newspaper at the ready, and notices that he's out of toilet paper. I hope Keith gets enough fiber in his diet, because the Bobby and Whitney line from earlier is making me think very disturbing thoughts. Maybe there's a reason we haven't seen Alicia in so long. Keith heads into Veronica's bedroom and grabs a roll out of a small cabinet that's built into the wall, but pauses when he notices something within. He finds a package of diapers inside, and his face starts to crack. Also, it looks like the cabinet is accessible from the other apartment, so I'd imagine Duncan ate a lot of cereal while he was waiting for things to transpire. Keith starts searching Veronica's room with one hand while calling her with the other. As he gets Veronica's voicemail, he finds a file containing some emails and Grace's creepy, um, "handwriting exercises." Keith collects himself before leaving the message, and does his best to sound chipper while saying he'd like to see Veronica at home, since they need some "daddy-daughter time." If that's their code for something being off, you know I think they couldn't have picked a better phrase. Keith reads the top email.
Neptune High. Wallace is walking through the parking lot and gabbing with a teammate when he sees a man waiting for him at his car. The teammate departs when the man introduces himself as "Ernie Sayers," a reporter for the Chicago Statesman. Sayers basically has surmised everything about the hit-and-run based on Rashard's big red Hummer with twenty-two-inch spinning rims. If the show's trying to say that big obnoxious vehicles go with diminished character, I can get behind that. Sayers also informs Wallace that the victim is paralyzed from the waist down. Wallace asks him what his question is. Sayers: "I guess the question is, what kind of man were you planning on being?" I doubt Wallace has really thought about it. I mean, once Alicia finds out about this, planning for Wallace's future isn't really going to be much of a concern.
Mexican border. Lamb chomps on some gum and waits. He gets waved through. He drives, excitedly checking his reflection all "You are one handsome devil." Well, at least there's one thing in this episode he's not wrong about. "Four Leaf Clover" by the Old 97s plays as he approaches a little cantina that has a sign reading "American also spoken," which HA. Lamb enters and shows the proprietor a picture of Duncan, and asks in "Mexican" whether he's seen him. The proprietor laughs, "No, but you all look alike to me." Hee. Lamb's icy stare wipes the smile off the guy's face, but I think he's less offended by the general sentiment than the idea that this guy doesn't appreciate how much better-looking Lamb is than your average Caucasian. The guy suggests that Lamb try the restaurant up the road.
Veronica enters her bedroom to find Keith forlornly sitting at her desk. "If they take you away -- if you're sent to prison --" Veronica gently asks if he read the emails, which were exchanges between Meg and Child Protection Services: "They're about her parents." Keith says that he wouldn't survive without Veronica, and that while she may have thought she needed to do it, as he tells her on the verge of tears, "You played ME!" He goes on, "I love you. I'll always love you. But I don't know how I'll ever trust you again." There's a knock at the door as Veronica unhappily absorbs the full impact of those words. Remember the "you're not as clever as you think you are" speech? As last warnings go, that one was pretty damn clear.
Keith answers the door to find Xena, Wills, and a couple of other agents. Agent Xena gives Keith a search warrant, and the team gets to work. Keith asks if this is really necessary, but Agent Xena tells him there was no sign of Duncan in Big Bear, but that the manager of a condo did show a model unit to a "cute young blonde woman." She produces a cassette player that she says they found in a dumpster behind the condo, and plays the tape within, which has a recording of Duncan's side of the earlier phone conversation with Veronica. As Agent Xena tells them that she doesn't think it's possible to have an unrehearsed conversation with a tape recorder, one of the agents opens the toiletries cabinet. Veronica's poker face deserts her for once, but there's nothing inside to find. Veronica throws Keith a subtly grateful look as he mock-blusters that they've obviously busted her. Agent Xena admiringly says that they're both cool customers. "But kidnapping cases don't go away. You should know that." Kidnappers, on the other hand, do, and that's all I really care about at the moment.
Tattoo parlor. Weevil is getting something on his neck when the artist says he has something he's been meaning to give him. He hands Weevil a drawing and some photographs, and says he was going to put the drawing on Felix's chest, except he had to ruin the canvas by going and getting stabbed and all. The drawing is apparently taken from the pictures, which are of Felix and a pretty blonde girl. The artist notes that and asks who she is. Weevil: "Her name's Molly Fitzpatrick." Molly, by the way, is the Amy Locane-looking girl from the River Stix, although it's hard to tell from the picture. But Felix, your big brother must have had quite the talk with you when you crossed over to biker heaven or wherever you are now. Although Felix could make the case that even a girl connected with Gustavio's murder is a step up from Wanda. I'd testify to that.
At the restaurant, Lamb is asking some American stoner/surfer-looking dude about Duncan. The guy says that, a couple hours earlier, he directed a guy that looked like Duncan to a grocery store a few miles down the road, but that there was no baby. Lamb thanks him and starts to leave, but the guy says it might not have been him: "You sure you got jurisdiction down here?" Heh. Lamb doesn't dignify that with an answer. And I thought it was kind of a reasonable question, myself.
Outside, Lamb drives away past three young folks with big backpacks. Later, he drives over some train tracks, and his trunk pops open. He stops the car and gets out, and discovers several empty water bottles, some half-eaten food, and a hook attached to some elastic that was used to open the trunk from the inside. He does not find a full water bottle, so either Duncan has a really large bladder, or Lamb's going to want to get a full car wash ASAP. Lamb looks around in horror as he realizes how thoroughly he got played. It's not too late for some correspondence courses, Donnie.
Back at the restaurant, we see two of the young folks, who are trying to hitch a ride, and then the third one, who's a blond wig-, goatee-, and straw hat-wearing Duncan. A pickup pulls up across the street, and Duncan hustles over to it. He opens the door to find Vinnie, who's all, "Gas, grass, or ass, kid. Nobody rides for free." God, I thought I was going to get out of this episode without another unsettling mental picture. Duncan thankfully hands over thirty grand and hops in. Between Vinnie and Duncan is Astrid, Celeste's personal slave, holding the baby. Duncan takes off the disguise as Vinnie notes that he pays better than his mom, and Astrid says that the baby won't let go of her finger. Duncan says the baby thinks Astrid's Veronica, and Astrid notes that so does the condo manager. This, I think, is an extremely important point that I didn't see mentioned on the boards, because if a case were to be pressed against Veronica for aiding Duncan, the FBI would learn that it wasn't Veronica who planted the cassette, so the case against her would probably break down on that evidence alone. Anyway, Duncan takes the baby and greets her as "Lilly." And naming the baby after your sister who got bashed in the head with an ashtray at sixteen is just the right balance of sweet and twistedly misguided we've come to expect from Duncan. It's nice to see him go out in character. Vinnie starts the car, and they drive off as "Adelaide" by the Old 97s starts up, which is such an awesome choice for this montage that I'm not sure I didn't bump up the episode grade solely on the strength of it alone. The sun is starting to set behind them as Duncan covers his face and Lamb drives by. When he's gone, Vinnie gives his passengers a satisfied look. I guess Lamb had a point when he said PIs make law enforcement more difficult for law-enforcement officials. I don't think he expected quite such a personal reminder of that idea, though.
Fade to Veronica out by the beach in front of her apartment complex. She sadly heads back inside. This is the most visually appealing episode in recent memory, which is nice.
Duncan smiles and kisses baby Lilly.
In her room, Veronica unfolds the fortune Duncan gave her. She sticks it up on her mirror, and we see it reads, "True Love Stories Never Have Endings." It also has the numbers from Lost under it, which is fitting, since that show makes about as much sense to me as this relationship.
Back in the truck, Duncan looks out the window, and then happily looks at baby Lilly again as we fade to black. Aw, that was a nice sendoff. See you, Duncan, and good luck bringing Krispy Kreme to Mexico.
Okay. There were so many different issues raised with the episode that I'm not sure I know where to begin, and I probably won't manage to hit them all. Before I start, though, this is all just my opinion, and if it differs from yours, we can just agree to disagree. Believe me, I'm putting some thought into this. (This is my long-winded way of saying those few words that are so dear to our staff: Don't email me.) First off, some more general thoughts. A lot of people thought the misdirection was cheap and a slap in the face to the viewers. On a macro level, I totally disagree with this. The misdirection worked generally, for me, because Veronica and Duncan needed to keep their secret from everyone. The misdirection of the audience was incidental and served the story. The micro level is where the problems lie, but I'll save that for the upcoming chronological analysis. (Yeah, I'm doing another recap from the standpoint of knowing everything that's going on. Feel free to jump ship at any point.)
Another general complaint is that this payoff was unearned, because Duncan and Veronica haven't come across on screen as being in anything approaching true love. As anyone knows who's been keeping up with the recaps, I totally didn't get their relationship at all this season, so I agree with the sentiment partially. I don't think it's really relevant in that I believe Veronica would go to the mat for Duncan regardless, as long as she thought it was justified. And although I wondered on a number of occasions, and loudly, why Veronica put up with a lot of Duncan's weirdness, I never thought she didn't love him. I didn't think she should, but I accepted the idea that she did. But although I did find some moments in the episode moving, especially the end, I would have cared a lot more if their relationship hadn't come across so much differently on screen than Rob apparently wanted. I mean, why did Duncan lie about the Latin studying? Why did he go quite that creepy when Veronica asked him about Meg? Why did he keep so many secrets, and more importantly, why were those the moments we were shown, when most of the supposed good moments we were only told about? To me, it's not even so much the lack of overt love or affection -- it's that taking this felonious step together, this "us against the world" mentality, implies a level of trust between them that is completely inconsistent with all the secrets we saw Duncan keep. But I think those are more a failure of past episodes than the current one. The real questions for me here are (1) whether what we saw on screen jibed with what we learned later, and (2) whether it made any sense for Duncan and Veronica to embark upon this plan. To do that, I've got to run through the backstory and action one more time. I hope that's okay with the six of you left.
So we're to understand, I think, that Meg died, the baby was delivered, and the Manning parents, who were at the hospital at the time, declined to put Duncan down as the father. They took the baby home and refused to allow Duncan to see her. There being no, um, hard evidence that Duncan is the father (and that's why this was a kidnapping charge), they were within their rights. Presumably, Duncan went to his mother for help, but was denied, and he couldn't ask his father, because he's on Commander In Chief. Not being twenty-one, Duncan's practical access to funds was limited, and as such, he felt he couldn't mount an effective legal challenge to the Mannings, especially since they intended to demonstrate that Duncan was unfit to be a parent because of his medical history. That all seems reasonable to conclude, and it all rang fairly believable when I first watched the episode. Unfortunately, as several more well-informed posters were quick to point out and minimal independent research confirmed, it's all complete fantasy. Even if Duncan didn't make it to the hospital while the baby was still there, all he had to do was hire even the most cheapo lawyer and have him bring a motion for a paternity test, and when the test confirmed him as the father, he would win immediate custody. There's no grey area, and that's a problem. If there were even a small chance that Duncan wouldn't gain custody, I could absolutely buy that he would go to these lengths and that Veronica would help him, no matter how ill-judged it might seem. To me, Duncan likes running away, and Veronica loves flouting authority and outsmarting people. Plus, they wouldn't want to take even a small chance that the baby would end up with the Mannings (and I'm forgetting about the adoption agency, because it looks like that idea was basically dropped). So I buy that they would do this if there were a chance Duncan couldn't get custody, but according to real-world law, that doesn't appear to be the case. It doesn't ruin the episode for me personally, probably because they at least did a much better job presenting the scenario as plausible than in the ludicrous A-plot in "One Angry Veronica," and more generally, you can always assume in Neptune that the law is not on the good guys' side, but it still detracts from the quality of the episode rather a lot.
But let's move on and assume that Veronica and Duncan felt this was the only option open to them. They devise this plan and put it in motion. (And yes, that's a generous use of the word "they.") Telling as few people as possible their real plan seems like a no-brainer, for everyone's protection. The Kendall thing made perfect sense to me: she'd already demonstrated that she'd jump at the chance to sleep with Duncan. Not telling Logan made sense to me: they needed someone to start spreading the news around the high school. The "breakup" worked as well. A lot of people were bothered that Veronica was so mopey when only we could see her, but it makes perfect sense to me. I mean, it's true that Duncan didn't dump her, but she knew he was leaving and she was never going to see him again; I could see her thinking that was even worse. Maybe she didn't have to go quite so far with the pictures and stuff to snow Keith, but she really needed him to suspect nothing with Duncan mere yards away, and I'm sure Veronica felt horrible about deceiving him. All this seems fine to me.
What I'm not clear on is the other players' involvement. I'm thinking Vinnie was in the kids' pocket before Celeste hired him, because he played such a big part in the scheme: with the ATM card and getting the baby across the border, I don't know how they could have pulled this off without him, and it was complicated enough that they would have wanted to have some time to plan everything. But if that's the case, I'm not sure how they knew they could trust Vinnie not to double-cross them, especially since the last time Duncan ran off, Celeste's reward was fifty grand. Also, I don't understand Astrid's involvement at all. Did they pay her too, with the limited funds they have? These things needed to be explained clearly for the audience to be satisfied with the misdirection. I mean, opinion was pretty evenly divided on the boards as to whether Celeste was in on the plan. I can see reasons for both views. I mean, on the one hand, if she wasn't, what's to stop her from prosecuting Veronica now? But on the other (and this is what I think), if she was, I think Duncan would have fought in court even in this fictional world where paternity tests don't exist. The point is, whether Celeste was involved should not be in question, because the viewers have to be able to look back and clearly understand what happened. This is a failing. Other than that, I'm okay.
I mean, I know the plan was exceedingly risky. The whole thing would have come apart simply if Lamb has gotten a flat tire on the way to Mexico, although I would have loved to see the look on his face when he opened the trunk in that scenario. But Veronica's not one to half-ass the complexity of a plan like this, and again, if she and Duncan thought this was the only way to be sure Duncan got custody, I could buy them going through with it. Ultimately, I don't think Veronica did this for Duncan as much as she did it for the baby and for Meg, and it's true that Meg's "take care of my baby if anything happens to me" was horribly clichéd and soapy, it happened. In other words, mistakes were made in past episodes, but the storyline had to be wrapped up in the context of those mistakes. As for how Duncan's going to take care of the baby, I think it's reasonable to assume that he had access to some decent amount of money, one way or another, and dollars go a long way in a lot of Mexico. Of course, I don't know what he's going to do if Baby Lilly starts showing symptoms of Type IV fake disorder, but I think we're all hoping she takes after her mother. Anyway, I'm sorry this episode sparked such contention on the boards, but I can certainly understand it, the difference in opinion, if not all the acrimony. And while I've ranted at length about Duncan and I think the show will be much better with the character gone, I have no problem with the sweet sendoff. It's nice to see Duncan ending his run actually connected to someone else. Just don't come back, or Xena will beat the tar out of you.
I hope that made a tiny bit of sense, because I'm exhausted. I need another seven-week break.