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So it turns out that Josh is allergic to those peanut butter cookies Veronica made for him, so after he ate one, he had a reaction, and escaped on his way to the hospital. Veronica was not in on that plan, not that Lamb believes her. Newly non-emo Logan comes to see Veronica in jail, and it looks like détente has been achieved. He goes on an errand for Veronica, which leads to his going on another errand for Mac, Bronson, and Parker -- that being filling in as the fourth on their Valentine's Day scavenger hunt. Oh, the wacky hijinx. How they do ensue. They score third place, and win a Neptune Grand gift certificate. Also, Mac and Bronson score something that looks even a little better. (Yes, I'll wait while you EEEEE!) And, Veronica isn't too thrilled to see Logan and Parker all chatty. Mason doesn't show up for practice, and after Veronica gets out of jail, she discovers why: Josh has him bound and gagged in Mason's trunk. He also has Mason's gun, but Veronica points out that the gun isn't the same caliber of the bullets that killed his dad. Josh asks for Veronica's help in retrieving some coins that are in trust for him so that he can get out of the country. Veronica stalls him for a day, which at least is long enough to get Mason out of the trunk. Meanwhile, Keith goes to see Vinnie Vanlowe, and it turns out that Vinnie was hired by the Coach's wife to see if he was having an affair. He did in fact seem to be seeing someone, and the woman's husband was in the military. It turns out, though, that the woman is a neurologist, and that the coach was not only her patient, but was also terminal, and in her opinion, whoever killed him might have spared him a lot of pain. Keith also learns, however, that the coach's wife took out a big additional insurance policy right after she learned of his supposed affair. But when Josh retrieves the coins, he finds a CD from his dad. On it, he confesses to planning to have a friend kill him for the insurance and to avoid the debilitating illness. Veronica and Josh deduce that the friend is the assistant coach, but Josh flees the country to allow his dad's plan to go forward. In news of longer plots, Landry comes to Keith and tells him to stop investigating him; he found a bug in his phone. The Marses had nothing to do with that, though, which is an interesting point that's left unresolved, and could mean that Landry is being set up. Keith, in turn, goes to tell Lamb that the Dean, whose autopsy revealed Xanax in his blood, was actually out of the stuff on the day of the murder, and that his refill was picked up by his wife. Lamb actually listens to Keith, and has Mindy brought in for questioning. She claims to have taken a number of the pills herself. Later, Veronica discovers, due to the vagaries of local programming, that the witness to the shooting actually heard it an hour later than they originally thought, so Mindy's car was safely back in the Grand when her husband bought it. The Marses go to Lamb with that info, and while they're there, they learn that Richard Grieco's prints were on the Dean's keyboard. Lamb hauls Grieco in; he thinks Mindy set him up. Cliff gets assigned to his case, and stymies poor Lamb. There's a disturbance at the O'Dell house, and Lamb and Sacks go to check it out, thinking it's Grieco. And that is in fact the case, but Grieco gets the drop on Lamb, and beats him with a baseball bat before Sacks drops him. Weevil makes an interesting discovery of bloody clothes in a sewer, but that doesn't matter, because SHERIFF LAMB IS DEAD. And? Keith is the new sheriff, and he hauls Mindy back in and tells her that the clothes are Landry's, and either she's covering for him, or vice versa. Or neither, but that will have to wait until week. IF THERE'S TIME AFTER LAMB'S FUNERAL. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Lamb is grilling Veronica in an interrogation room. Apparently, Josh went into anaphylactic shock or whatever after he ate the peanut butter cookie Veronica gave him. When the paramedic revived him with an epinephrine shot, Josh overpowered him and escaped the ambulance. One would guess that the EMT guy will be a little less liberal with the adrenaline in the future. Also, I thought it was standard practice for a deputy to ride in the ambulance when transporting an alleged criminal, but I'll admit that it's been some time since I've watched a procedural. Oh, whoops, I forgot that Veronica points that very thing out to Lamb, and Lamb sort of rolls his eyes in Sacks's direction and says that Sacks was riding up front. Geez, Sacks, you're almost out of time to make Lamb think you can do anything right. I hope you don't screw up his lunch order, especially if by completely random chance it turns out to be his last meal. Lamb tries to menace Veronica, but she just asks for her phone call.
We get a close-up of autistic Bobby playing the piano, and then a wider shot shows Keith and Mrs. Barry in the room. She asks, "Please, Keith. Find my son." If I'm Keith, this is where I point into the room and am all, "Cash or check?" But Keith tells her that Josh will contact her at some point, and that, when he does, Mrs. Barry has to convince him to turn himself in to Keith. The phone rings, and Bobby looks over. Keith then gets up to take the call, and a woman tells him to hold for Veronica. He looks confused, like, you'd think he'd be familiar enough with prisoners' phone-call protocol given that his daughter has been hauled in before. Also, HE USED TO BE THE SHERIFF. While he's on hold, he sees an envelope addressed to Mrs. Barry from Vinnie Vanlowe. As pointed out on the boards, it's pretty ridiculous to think that Vinnie would send a bill to Mrs. Barry's house where her husband might see it, or even that he wouldn't have required the money up front. Keith contemplates the envelope for a second, and then Veronica gets on the line, and Keith's all, "You're where?" See above, Keith.
Cut to Veronica doing push-ups in her cell. Heh. Keith arrives, and Veronica tells him that she didn't help Josh escape, at least not intentionally -- he took advantage of her kindness. Keith: "This has got to be the first time that's worked for anybody." Oh, come on, Keith. It works for Backup all the time. Cliff appears and tells them the good news is that Josh's cellmate "and key witness to the cookie incident" ate the evidence, and was also totally hammered when he was brought in, so there's no way Lamb can get a conviction. I'm just surprised anyone came to help Josh once he had his reaction. Because if I were a deputy in the other room, I'm not sure how seriously I would have taken the cries for help of Boozebag With A Mouth Full Of Peanut Butter Cookies, assuming there even were any. The bad news, anyway, is that Lamb is bent on holding Veronica in jail for the maximum allowable time. Veronica sighs that Josh is probably in Mexico. Keith asks if she thinks he did it, and Veronica says that if he didn't, he certainly panicked quickly. Keith agrees, but Cliff demurs. Cliff leaves, and Keith tells Veronica that he's got an appointment with Dean Ed's old assistant. He then looks at Veronica and shrugs: "I thought this sight would be more traumatic for me, but..." Hee. Veronica's expression is all, "Well, I never!" Don't worry, Veronica, you can put shoe polish in his Progaine once you get out.
On his way out, Keith just happens to spot Vinnie, who's brought in a old white fugitive: "Turns out, his uncle isn't Nigerian royalty." God, Vinnie, that reference is getting pretty hoary. At least move on to the one from the wife of a Saudi prince or whatever. Keith brings up Mrs. Barry, and Vinnie tells him that he was checking to see if the coach was having an affair. Keith asks what he found. Vinnie: "Keith. I am bound by the exact same ethical codes you are." He then laughs, and I'm glad. Not because the line was that funny, but it saved me from deciding in which of seventeen directions to go with it. Vinnie confesses that he never got a money shot, but did get some pictures of the coach in a parking lot with "a very attractive married lady." Keith asks if he could get a copy, and Vinnie easily agrees, since he thinks it would be good to have Keith owe him one. I thought Keith already owed him one after Vinnie blackmailed him with the Harmony pictures, but I guess this is the kind of debt that could cancel the other one out.
Dean's office. In the foreground, we see someone scraping Dean Ed's name off the glass door as, inside, the assistant tells Keith about Mel Stoltz's surprise visit. She also reveals that the Dean ran out of Xanax, so she called in his prescription, but that he didn't have time to go pick it up. Good thing you chose that particular day to break the news about his wife's affair, Keith. Timing is everything!
Keith calls the pharmacy to find out who picked up the prescription, but we don't hear the answer. As soon as Keith gets off, Landry enters, futzing with his cell phone. He produces a bug, and asks whether Keith planted it in the phone. Keith denies it, and says that he's sure that Veronica didn't have anything to do with it either. Landry notes that Veronica has a lot of initiative, and tells Keith how Veronica probed hisKiss Kiss Bang Bangalibi. I like how this is the second time Landry has seen right through a Mars trick -- it's nice to see some worthy adversaries here. Keith smiles that Veronica has a lot of initiative, but Landry points out that she also has a lot of promise, and doesn't need to be "slumming it in a PI office the rest of her life." Landry's pretty invested in Veronica here, have you noticed? He then, rather hotly, details his evening of December 10th -- got to the Grand at 7:30, watched the Clippers game until Mindy showed up at 8:15, conducted the "usual business of an affair," then the movie, and then sleep. He says that there's nothing for Keith to find, so he should stop looking. I hate to disagree with someone so smart, Landry, but if the "usual business" of your affair lasted six hours, I think Keith would at least be interested in finding your secret.
Keith returns to the sheriff's station and tells Sacks that he needs to see Lamb, but Sacks says he looks kind of busy. Keith: "Now that's something I gotta see." Who put a snarky nickel in Keith today? I like it.
Cut to Lamb's office: "So if I'm hearing you right, you're calling me a dumb-ass." Keith manages not to take that bait; he's just wowing me left and right here. He does try to impress upon Lamb that Dean Ed's death was a murder, and tells him what we knew (which is that the Dean was out of Xanax), and also what we didn't know, which is that the autopsy showed that Dean's blood had traces of Xanax in it, and that the Dean's prescription was picked up on the day in question by his wife. This actually gets through to Lamb, and he summons Sacks and tells him to call Hearst and see if they still have any of the Dean's stuff -- phone, computer, etc. -- that they can dust for prints. Also, he tells Sacks to bring Mindy in. Sacks scurries off as Keith and Lamb look at each other all, "Well, this is new." I hope it's not too much of a spoiler to tell you it's not going to last. Credits.
Keith goes to see Veronica again, and asks her if she bugged Landry's phone. She denies it, and realizes that Landry caught on to her question about the movie. Keith believes her, but neither of them thinks to ask the obvious question, which is, if not them, who? We'll come back to that later.
God, this set is getting a workout. On his way out, Keith runs into Logan, who greets him both warmly and respectfully. Perhaps confused by this, Keith looks at him for a long moment, then is all, "Down the hall on the right." Heh. Once inside, Logan notes that Veronica doesn't have any holiday decorations, and Veronica tells him that the whole reason she's in jail is to avoid Valentine's Day. I've heard worse ideas. Logan gives her an unabashed smile, and Veronica admits that she's glad to see him. He says that they're both adults, and that they can be civil. Looks like the Dean's not the only who needed prescription drugs, 'cause that's crazy talk! Logan asks if Veronica needs anything, and she tells him that if he's going back to campus, he should get her wireless card back from the deputy and bring it to Mac, since she needs it for a "thing" that night. Logan grins, and he and Veronica get a little misty and googly, and kids? You could just get back together, you know. I mean, I'm pretty sure the show's not budgeted to bring Amanda Noret back for any more disturbing dream sequences.
Lamb interrogates Mindy. She's not forthcoming, so he tells her that lying to him is a crime. She asks if he's thinking of perjury, which he is. Mindy: "Well, then you might be confused about what perjury is. Me lying to you here is not perjury." Looks like Landry's been giving Mindy some legal lessons. If that's part of their pillow talk, we've got an explanation for the six hours. Lamb asks about the Xanax, and Mindy says that she did indeed pick it up, and that she's since taken some to alleviate the stress of her husband's death. I'm surprised she has any left, because being suspected of a murder that would peacefully have been thought a suicide until she opened her fat mouth has to have been a little nerve-wracking as well.
In a big storage facility, Weevil leads Sacks to Dean Ed's computer.
Parker opens her dorm-room door to find Logan. She lets him in; Mac and Bronson are inside. Logan hands Mac the card, and Mac's impressed that Veronica was able to do her a favor from the inside. Neither Mac nor Parker seems the slightest bit fazed that Logan is there on Veronica's behalf, but given that damaged, frigid Mac is going to be giving it up in about three seconds flat soon enough, they're probably aware that things change on TV pretty quickly. A scruffier-than-the-last-time-we-saw-him Bronson tells the girls that some guy "can't do it either." Logan starts to go, but you can practically see the light bulb over Parker's head as she asks Logan if they can borrow him. Logan: "Will I be returned in my current pristine condition?" My guess is no, but if this show has taught us anything, it's that your healing powers are pretty prodigious.
Wallace stops by jail to tell Veronica that Mason didn't show up for practice, and that no one's seen or heard from him. Cliff and Lamb appear, and Lamb lets Veronica out. Once he's re-locked the cell, Lamb realizes that he knows Wallace from somewhere, and Wallace recounts how Lamb told him to go see the wizard and ask him for some guts. Lamb asks whether Wallace took his advice. Wallace: "Yeah. He said to let you know that you're the only sheriff in America who he considers a true friend of Dorothy." Wallace sounds like he's been working on that way-too-long line for a couple of years. Given that it sounded so rehearsed and still wasn't very funny, I'd say that makes him the Chris Sligh of this show. Seriously, a lot of people on the boards took offense at the "hey, you're gay!" joke. Which...you know, if it were done in any sort of funny or subtle way, I could probably forgive it, but Lamb? Gay? I mean, he certainly deserves to have the line about the wizard turned around on him, but there's got to be an element of truth to it for the joke to have any sting. Given that Lamb could make assless chaps seem hopelessly heterosexual, the line just seems goofy and lazy. How hard would it have been to make fun of Lamb for being dumb? Like, "He said the effort of giving you a brain just about killed him." I could probably do better with two years to work on it, too. I'd tell Wallace to go away, but as usual, he's way ahead of me.
Cliff drops Veronica off at her apartment complex. As soon as he drives away, though, a hoodied Josh grabs her and leads her away.
Cut to Josh opening the trunk of a car to reveal a bound and duct-tape-gagged Mason. Josh rants to a horrified Veronica that Mason killed his dad; she gets even more upset when she sees that he's wielding Mason's gun. Veronica's going to need a strategy to talk Josh down, so luckily enough, we go to commercial.
Josh tells Veronica he knows how this looks. Well, good thinking, there. Veronica manages to talk the gun away from Josh, and once she does, she tells him that the pistol is a .22, and that his dad was shot with a .45. That thing looks pretty big for a .22, considering that I have my recording paused right now, and it looks like Veronica might reach up and start drying her hair with it. But there's no time for that, as Josh grabs Mason and yells at him to reveal why he's lying about seeing him. Veronica urgently tells Josh to let Mason go, and Josh, with a visible effort, accedes to her request. She tells Josh to turn himself in, but he tells her that he's got to get out of the country. He adds that he has $10,000 in rare coins that his grandfather left him in a safe-deposit box, but that he needs an ID showing he's twenty-one to be able to access them. He asks if she can help him, since he knows she made a fake ID for Wallace. Veronica tells him to buy a disposable cell phone and call her in twenty-four hours, and shoos him off on his way. Once Josh has gone, Veronica frees Mason, who thanks her. Perhaps he'll show his gratitude by not telling the local law about Josh's plan with the rare coins and Veronica's involvement in said plan. She notes that Mason lied about having the gun -- which isn't exactly how I remember it -- adding that Josh is pretty convinced that Mason's lying about the rest of his story too. Mason: "Oh really? I must have missed that!" Well, I doubt you could hear that much in the trunk of the car, so I forgive you.
So it turns out that Mac, Bronson, Parker, and Logan are a team of four in this Valentine's Day scavenger hunt at Hearst. Honestly? All these characters are fine, but this subplot would be dumb even if it didn't involve Valentine's Day, so you're getting the short version, which is that the kids get their first clue.
Chez Mars. Keith calls to Veronica, "Honey? Why is there a pistol in the freezer?" Veronica rattles off a bunch of answers that make Keith incredibly sorry he asked, and then tells him what happened with Mason and Josh. She notes that Josh's behavior with Mason is illogical if he's guilty, and Keith agrees, tells her about the Vinnie angle, and shows her the accompanying photographs. He adds that just as Josh's behavior seems odd for a guilty man, it would be strange for Mrs. Barry to be involved in her husband's murder and then hire Keith to investigate it. He says that the husband of the woman in the picture is a naval captain. "Official sidearm of the Navy? Colt .45." Keith says that he's going to pay the dude a visit the day, and then asks Veronica where she left things with Josh. She tells him everything that happened, and Keith isn't too thrilled with the part where she promised to help him flee the country, but she tells him she had her fingers crossed, basically, and that they can trap him.
The kids find a book called Indian Sutra, and take and send camera-phone-pictures of them demonstrating a pose from the Kama Sutra. They don't have to take anything off, so I don't really see the big deal, but you could look at this as part of Mac's journey toward tearing Bronson's clothes off using only her teeth, so perhaps it's necessary to the plot.
Veronica flips on the TV, but there's a basketball game on. The announcer says that their regularly scheduled programming can be seen an hour after its usual time. Veronica has A Moment Of Detective Realization. Careful, girl, those things can cause whiplash.
The kids take each other's pictures buying extra-large condoms and making naughty balloon animals with them, much to the amusement of the uber-dorky guy running the event. Dude, GET A LIFE. I'm sure you know where to buy one on the internet pretty cheaply.
Keith enters Veronica's room and tells her she's missing "that show where women have sex in an urban setting." The world has moved on, Keith. I mean, even Jason Lewis is making out with guys now. Veronica tells Keith that Channel 9 (heh) pushes back its programming an hour on basketball night, and happens to broadcast Space Ghost, which means that when the dude placed the time of the gunshot according to when the show was on, he was in fact an hour off; he had to have heard it between 3:20 and 3:30, meaning that Mindy's car was safely back at the Grand at the time of the murder. Veronica and Keith consider this new evidence as we go to commercial.
The kids arrive at the beach in Logan's Range Rover. Their instructions tell them to get their last clue at the lifeguard's station. This subplot would belong on The Amazing Race, but only if it were much less aptly named. The kids look around the station in vain until Logan spots a flag attached to a buoy or something out in the water. Bronson immediately tells the group that he can't swim, which on the one hand seems kind of hopeless. But I'll admit that when it comes to the Pacific Ocean in February, the official story is that I can't swim either. Anyway, Parker, Denver-bred ass-kicker that she is, has no qualms about the freezing water, so she drags Logan in as Bronson and Mac share a smooch.
Later, the task has been completed, and Logan chivalrously drapes his jacket around Parker's shoulders. And she let him? That slut!
The Marses show up at the sheriff's station and tell Lamb about the error regarding the "earwitness." Having listened to Keith once this episode, though, Lamb's already over-quota, and Veronica's presence isn't going to help matters either. Sacks then barks at Lamb, causing Lamb to spill his coffee and grunt, "Does everyone need a piece of me this morning?" Well, it's not like you can blame them. Sacks bumblingly tells the group that Richard Grieco's prints were on Dean Ed's keyboard, causing Keith and Lamb to look pointedly at each other. Lamb rushes into his office, and Keith and Veronica head out. Keith isn't so sure that Grieco makes sense as a suspect, an assessment with which I agree, since it's a huge stretch to think Grieco somehow got hold of Veronica's paper. I mean, we're pretty clear that that's where the killer got the scenario from, right? Nevertheless, Veronica thinks that the second man in the Grand room might have been Grieco. This didn't strike me until just now, but...has it really not occurred to Keith that the man yelling at a guy having an affair might have been THE CUCKOLDED HUSBAND? I mean, Keith knows that he broke the news to Dean Ed on that very evening, so...hi? With all the talk in which people engage about Occam's Razor on this show, they don't seem to understand it all that well.
Subplot I couldn't care less about. The kids turn in their stuff, but are disappointed to learn that they only got third place. If everyone had to do the same tasks, which seems likely, that makes no sense, because that swim wasn't exactly short, and I don't see how two teams could have gotten so far ahead of our guys that they were already done by the time Logan et al got to the beach. But anyway, they win a fifty-dollar gift certificate to the Neptune Grand's restaurant. It's a good thing Mac seems to think mints are a good meal, because that's about all this group is going to be able to afford with that. What a chintzy prize. Anyway, the group splits up, with Logan and Parker sharing a goodbye that the moderator in me could do without. Elsewhere, Bronson realizes that he doesn't really have time to go home before his class, so Mac invites him to "crash" in her room for an hour. If she can throw that word around so liberally, I guess she really is over Beaver.
And just like that, Mac and Bronson are in a post-coital spoon. They're giggly and cute and not actually all that awkward, and Bronson tells Mac that he likes being sweet to her, and he's kind of a dimwitted mushmouth, but I could still watch this scene all day. It's Mac, right?
Lamb and Sacks are in an interrogation room with a strung-out-looking Grieco. Grieco denies any involvement in Dean Ed's death, and murmurs to himself, "That bitch is settin' me up." I've heard worse theories. Lamb asks whether he means Mindy, but Grieco's done talking, and demands a lawyer. Lamb grins big...
...and then Cliff is introducing himself to Grieco as his attorney while using the misnomer "Neptune County" instead of Balboa County...
...and then we're back in the interrogation room. Lamb starts to ask about the evening of December 10th, but Cliff notices that they picked Grieco up "at the laundromat on El Camino." Lamb doesn't see the significance, so Cliff spells out that that venue is a hundred yards into "Santa Rita County," and that Lamb has no jurisdiction there, so any statements made would be inadmissible. Lamb sighs in frustration at how bad an episode he's having. As has been the case for much of his life, he doesn't know the half of it.
Keith, staking out a house from his car, sees the ostensible other woman say goodbye to her uniformed ostensible husband. Once the husband has driven away, Keith calls her name and rushes over to her. He truthfully explains his errand and shows her the pictures he got from Vinnie. She tells him that she's a neurologist, and that Coach Barry was a patient of hers and had Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. She tells us that the disease is invariably fatal, which is why we haven't seen it have a guest appearance on House. She adds that whoever killed Barry probably saved him from a world of suffering. Keith reflects on that into the commercial break.
Veronica arrives home, and Keith tells her that a couple days after Vinnie produced the pictures, Mrs. Barry took out an additional life insurance policy on her husband. I'll assume that's one of the privileges of marriage, because if anyone could take out a policy on anyone else, I could maybe see the teensiest potential for misuse. Also, I have to point out that it seems like Mrs. Barry never learned the truth about her husband's illness, so I'm not sure what prompted her to take out this policy. Did her husband put her up to it without telling her why? Anyway, Keith goes on to say that one of the quirks of the policy is that if the death isn't natural, it pays out double, so the Barry family stands to make a cool $5 million. Veronica points out that Mrs. Barry was home at the time of the murder with her younger son, and wonders whether she could have hired someone. Keith says that he thought that at first, but that the Barrys were totally broke, so it seems unlikely that she could have scraped up the $10,000 necessary for a hitman. And thanks to this show, I know exactly what the going rate on taking out my upstairs neighbor who clomps around like a rhinoceros at 3 in the morning is. Who says TV isn't educational? Talk of the hitman seems to trigger something in Veronica -- presumably the idea that Mrs. Barry could have gotten her mitts on Josh's coins and cashed them in -- but she quickly covers, and then Keith adds the part where Barry wasn't having an affair, but was facing a grim, expensive death.
Keith goes to see Mrs. Barry.
Veronica's working on the fake license when Josh calls from an unlisted number. Given that it's broad daylight outside, Josh obviously waited a lot more than twenty-hour hours to call Veronica. But hey, no rush, right?
Cut to Veronica pulling up to the bank with Josh in the passenger's seat. She hands him the fake ID and wishes him luck. When he's gone, VMVO notes that if he's nervous now, he'd be even more so if he knew there was a chance that his mother cashed in the coins and used to proceeds to off his dad. Well, probably best you didn't tell him that part, then.
Barry home. Mrs. Barry: "It sounds to me like you're asking if I had my son kill my husband for insurance money." Keith: "Not exactly." Well, if you're even in the market for a rousing denial, now you know where not to go. Mrs. Barry tells Keith to wait there; she wants to show him something. I don't think this is going to turn out to be as sexy as the setup implies.
Josh approaches a bank employee and asks for access to the box. The teller requests ID, and Josh hands it over. You know, I realize this isn't the Old West, so it's too much to ask for a big "WANTED" poster on the wall with Josh's picture, but...doesn't anyone watch the local news? I mean, that Maria Vasquez is one spicy dish!
Mrs. Barry opens up a storage space, reaches in, pulls out a gun, and cocks it. If I'm going to show a gun to a sheriff-turned-PI, I think I tell him about it in advance, so he doesn't get the wrong idea and show me what a bullet in my skull looks like.
Josh opens up the box. From the quick shot we see, it looks like it's empty. I'm hoping that was a trick of the eyes, because if not: cheap.
Definitely cheap? Mrs. Barry hiding the gun in her pocket as she sees that Keith is no longer outside. She then draws the gun as she calls his name, and I'm sorry, but no one innocent behaves in this manner. Anyway, Keith surprises Mrs. Barry and forcibly takes the gun from her, notes that it's a Colt .45, and then asks if there's anything she wants to tell him.
Josh finds the coins in the box, and also a CD with his name on it.
Mrs. Barry is complaining that she wouldn't have shot Keith, and says she doesn't even know how to use a gun. You certainly cocked it with enough expertise there, dear. Keith is like, "You pull the trigger." Heh. She tells Keith that she got the gun to show to him. She hid it when the police showed up to arrest Josh, because she thought it would make him look guilty, but then she read on the internet that the gun could be tested, so she wanted to give it to Keith so that he could have it checked out and, she hopes, exonerate Josh. I think there are some serious holes in her logic. I mean, the police don't even know about this gun, so proving that Josh didn't use it doesn't seem like it will really help. But I suppose I can cut the bereaved widow a break. She glumly tells Keith that the gun was her husband's, left over from his Army days, where he used to coach. Well, at least the mystery of where he got "man up" from is solved.
Josh hops back into the car and shows an anxious Veronica the coins. He also produces the CD, and says that it's got his dad's handwriting on it.
At the sheriff's station, Keith gives Sacks the gun and asks him to test for powder residue. Just then, Lamb emerges from his office and tells Sacks to get a move on. Keith recognizes the address Lamb mentions as the O'Dell residence, and Lamb says that it's a breaking and entering report. Keith speculates that it's Grieco, and asks if he should come along, since he's dealt with him before. Lamb snarkily turns down the offer: "But I'll give you a call if I need any backup." Interesting to note that Lamb's last words to Keith are a sarcastic canine-themed pun. I suppose it works for me.
Cut to the O'Dell residence. Lamb instructs Sacks to stay outside and make sure Grieco doesn't escape. He enters and impresses us all with his military precision in handling his gun, but all that is for naught, as he hears Grieco shouting from upstairs. He starts up...
...and outside, Keith pulls up. That's...odd.
Inside, Lamb opens the door to a bedroom. He moves in, sees someone pointing a gun at him, and shoots -- but it was only a full-length mirror casting his reflection. I wonder if death constitutes payment of the seven years of bad luck. Anyway, Lamb drops his guard for no real reason, but then sees a shadow behind him. He wheels around, and Grieco clocks him with a baseball bat, which he was apparently using to tear up the place. Grieco gets two hits in before the unseen Sacks shoots him dead. Just as well -- in heaven, he'll get to be Johnny Depp. Sacks kneels by Lamb, who utters the M*A*S*H-inspired line, "I smell bread." Toast is more like it. Sacks then whirls and points his gun, but it's Keith. Way to almost die for no reason there, Keith. We certainly don't need two of those. Although between Cicero, Brutus, and Cassius on Rome and Simone on Heroes (I'm assuming, don't email me), maybe killing regulars this week was some sort of showrunner RDC challenge. Anyway, Sacks's mustache is very shaken, so Keith instructs it to go call for an ambulance. Keith checks Lamb's pulse as we go into the last commercial break.
I'll keep this short: I think this death was totally lame. It's not that I don't respect a show that's willing to kill off a main character in an unexpected way, because I do. That's the sort of stuff that can keep television fresh. And I think integrating Lamb into the college setting hasn't really worked all that well, so for that reason alone I can get behind the decision to get rid of him. It's just that the way the death occurred was totally pointless. Sure, officers of the law die like this all the time. That's completely irrelevant: as this and other programming demonstrates to us all the time, just because it happens in real life doesn't automatically make it good drama. As much as this show strives for continuity, it isn't vérité. I doubt there's going to be any fallout from Lamb's death, I don't think any character is going to be the slightest bit affected by it after this episode, and I don't think there's any lesson the show wants us to learn here. I mean, Landry seems to be pushing the idea that Veronica's too good for the PI game, which could be interesting. But rather than force her to make that decision herself, the show's giving her an easy way out by breaking up Mars Investigations. So beyond a little shock value, what do we get out of this, other than Keith becoming sheriff, which frankly I don't see the need for? Very little, and I think it's a shame to give a popular and hardworking regular such a crappy sendoff. It feels rushed and lacking in intention. I mean, I had no problem with the show giving Teddy Dunn such a nice sendoff, but would it have been too much to ask to do something decent for Muhney, who's ten times the actor? It makes you think the writers never really knew what they had there, which is quite a shame.
Josh is waiting for Veronica outside her complex when she appears with her laptop. They play the CD: Josh's dad tells him that if he's watching this, Josh is twenty-one and his dad is long gone. You know what's worse than being dead? Being dead and wrong. We see that the recording was filmed in a locker room as Josh's dad goes on to say that the statute of limitations on their insurance policy has run out (wrong again, Dead Dad), so he can tell Josh the truth: he was responsible for his own death, since he had a terminal disease that would have robbed him of his mental faculties and crippled their family financially. He says that the person who "helped" him is a dear friend who knew everything. Also, he's sorry he was tough on Josh, but he was preparing him to be the man of the house. He says he's real proud of Josh, and has no doubt that he's taken good care of his mother and brother, causing Josh to cry. Up in heaven, his dad's all, "It's like he didn't hear a word I said!" Veronica, however, notices the reflection of someone else in the room -- someone who looks like Josh. Josh recognizes him as the assistant coach, who played for his dad at Army. Veronica realizes that that's who Mason saw. It's left unstated that the guy would also have had a Colt .45 from his stint in the service. Just to temper my earlier negativity, I have to say that this two-part mystery was totally engaging and exceptionally well-plotted. Kudos.
Mars Investigations. Veronica enters, goes to Keith's door, and says she heard on the radio that Lamb is still in intensive care. Oh, Veronica, I covered this already. Get out the mint jelly. Keith sternly tells her that a buddy of his at Customs found footage of Josh crossing the border on a fake ID. He berates her for her involvement and for leaving the laminator on, so she gives him the CD. Because...Josh wouldn't have wanted to keep the heartfelt message from his dad? All right, maybe Veronica made a copy. I could see her anticipating needing it. The phone rings, rescuing Veronica.
Deep in the bowels of Hearst, some maintenance guy is chattering to Weevil about something or other, and suggests that he clean the flue while they're wherever they are. Weevil goes to do that, but sees something blocking one of the vents. He retrieves the blockage, which is a paper bag that turns out to contain a bloodstained shirt and gloves.
Keith finishes up watching the CD. Veronica tells him that the County Commissioner is on the line. Keith asks her if Josh is planning to stay in Mexico until the insurance money is safe, and the answer is yes. Of course, the statute of limitations on murder investigations doesn't expire, so I'm not really clear what Josh is planning to do when he comes back. It seems like his only recourse would be to tell the truth, but it seems to me that that would at least expose the assistant coach to conspiracy to commit fraud and obstruction of justice charges, so that appears perhaps less than ideal. Maybe the assistant coach told Josh to man up one too many times. Keith then takes the call and does some damn fine acting opposite a dial tone. He then rises and tells Veronica that Lamb is dead. We do get a close-up of Veronica's stunned face for about ten seconds. Well, that's something!
Wallace tells Veronica that he can't believe Josh killed his dad and ran off like that. Have you noticed how useless Wallace's character has gotten? Kid, my advice is to watch your back. Veronica's chagrined to see Logan and Parker eating together. These two just should avoid the cafeteria altogether.
Mindy returns to the interrogation room for a surprise: Keith is now the sheriff. People wondered about this, but I don't see why the Commissioner wouldn't be able to appoint his choice of interim sheriff until the election. Keith shows her pictures of the bloody clothes (the shirt being monogrammed "HBL"), and tells her that they belong to Landry: "So either you're covering for him or he's covering for you, and you're gonna tell me which it is right now." So she's either going to pick "I killed him" or "I didn't kill him." I wish they wouldn't end the show on stumpers like that.
So who did it? I'm guessing Lucky Tim. We know he's privately contemptuous of Landry, and it certainly seems like someone is trying to frame him. Tim would be able to do an excellent job of that, even down to the clothes -- as one astute poster pointed out on the boards, Lucky Tim at least used to handle Landry's dry cleaning. I don't know what his motive would have been in killing the Dean, though. If he did it, was he bitter about the decision to bring back the fraternities, given his freak-out at that party? Or was the Dean simply the only plausible victim to use to frame Landry? Who knows? We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, Michael Muhney? Best of luck in things to come.