Happy Go Lucky (Veronica Mars)
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"Happy Go Lucky" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the second season of the American
mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...
television series ''
Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
'', and the forty-third episode overall. Written by
Diane Ruggiero Diane Ruggiero-Wright is an American television writer and producer. Her credits include '' That's Life'', ''Veronica Mars'', '' Free Agents'', '' Dirty Sexy Money'', '' Big Shots'', the ''Mythological X'' remake '' The Ex List'' and '' iZombie' ...
and directed by
Steve Gomer Steve Gomer is an American Film director, film and television director. He made his directorial debut with ''Sweet Lorraine (film), Sweet Lorraine'' (1987), starring Maureen Stapleton, and went on to direct ' (1993), ''Sunset Park (film), Sunset ...
, the episode premiered on
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...
on May 2, 2006. The series depicts the adventures of
Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...
(
Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. List of Kristen Bell performances, Her work includes both film and television, and List of awards and nominations received by Kristen Bell, h ...
) as she deals with life as a high school student while moonlighting as a
private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...
. In this episode, Aaron Echolls (
Harry Hamlin Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'', a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video ...
) is put on trial for the murder of Lilly Kane (
Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began acting at 15, with a recurring role as Lucy Montgomery in the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1999–2001). She came to prominence for he ...
), and Veronica and Keith (
Enrico Colantoni Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian-American actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom '' Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Utz on the short-lived ...
) have to testify. Meanwhile, the pair learn that Woody (
Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for playing Carey Mahoney in the '' Police Academy'' films from 1984 to 1987. He also acted in '' Three Men and a Baby ...
) is a
child molester Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...
.


Synopsis

Aaron Echolls testifies in court and lies about the day of the murder. Veronica talks to Keith about her testimony. Gia (
Krysten Ritter Krysten Alyce Ritter (born December 16, 1981) is an American actress. After an early modeling stint, she appeared on the UPN noir mystery series ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2006) and the CW comedy drama series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2006–2007). He ...
) invites Veronica to her house, and she agrees. Veronica bemoans her academic situation to Jackie (
Tessa Thompson Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the List of Theatre Communications Group member theatres, Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica ...
) and Wallace (
Percy Daggs III Percy Daggs III (born July 20, 1982) is an American actor best known for his role as Wallace Fennel in the Rob Thomas television series ''Veronica Mars''. He is also known for starring in television commercials for Hot Pockets and Orbit Gum. ...
). Weevil (
Francis Capra Francis Cordero Capra (born April 27, 1983) is an American actor. He has played the roles of Max Connor in ''Kazaam'', and Eli "Weevil" Navarro in the TV series ''Veronica Mars''. Personal life Capra attended Our Lady of the Assumption Catho ...
) asks Veronica for help on his finals, but she denies him. Lucky ( James Jordan) comes into the lunch area and starts shooting a gun. He points the gun at Jackie before "shooting" Wallace, although his gun has no bullets. A police officer appears and actually shoots Lucky in the back. Woody answers the press's questions on the incident. Keith tells Veronica his plan to hack into Woody's email account, and Veronica says that she'll handle it when she's invited over. Logan visits Aaron in prison. At the Goodmans' house, Veronica hacks into the email account and reads an email that indicates that Woody molested several children. Suddenly, Woody walks in on her and threatens her. Later, Keith deduces that one voice in the video has been edited out. Veronica testifies against Aaron in court, but her testimony is considered invalidated when they bring up Veronica's chlamydia. Leonard Lobo tells Sheriff Lamb that he was with Terrence at the time of the accident. Beaver fails to teach Weevil algebra before Mac takes over. Keith tells Woody to clear his house in response to a bomb threat and tells his finding that Woody is a molester, but Woody threatens him. Terrence is released, but Leonard appears and says that he fabricated his testimony to make Terrence indebted to him. Logan tells Veronica that Lucky acted weirdly in response to his time as a batboy for the sharks. Keith testifies in court, but he is also considered invalidated when he grabs the attorney. Beaver and Mac continue their education of Weevil. Veronica learns that Lucky's little league team was called the Sharks and that two of the boys who died in the bus crash were on the team. Woody's house is searched and there was a bomb under his car. Veronica and Keith present their theory that Woody is the culprit to Sheriff Lamb, but he counters by saying that Lucky probably did it and that they are trying to make him look bad. Logan gives a moving testimony against Aaron. Two boys identify Weevil as the attacker on Thumper. Keith tells Sheriff Lamb that Lucky was in a cell at a VA at the time of the bus crash. Weevil passes his test, and Wallace finishes his final high school test. Jackie leaves for France, and Veronica skips a test to hear the Aaron Echolls verdict. Woody left town the previous morning. Aaron is cleared of all charges.


Cultural references

The following cultural references are made in the episode: *Aaron says that he was ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
s
Sexiest Man Alive ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...
in 1987, when
Harry Hamlin Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'', a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video ...
actually won. *Lucky refers to Gia in a manner similar to an advertisement for Chia Pets. *Keith refers to
Post Office Protocol In computing, the Post Office Protocol (POP) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Today, POP version 3 (POP3) is the most commonly used version. Together with IMAP, ...
. *Gia mentions her
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
account. *Veronica quotes a line from ''
Waiting for Guffman ''Waiting for Guffman'' is a 1996 American mockumentary comedy film written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, and directed by Guest. The film's ensemble cast includes Guest, Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban and Parker Posey ...
''. *Veronica says "Elementary, my dear Wallace" in reference to
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
.


Arc significance

Woody Goodman is revealed to be a child molester. Lucky brings a fake gun into school before he is shot by a police officer. Aaron Echolls, with the help of his lawyers and popular support, is acquitted of the murder of Lilly Kane.


Music

The following song can be heard in the episode: *"Lost and Found" by Adrienne Pierce


Production

"Happy Go Lucky" was written by
Diane Ruggiero Diane Ruggiero-Wright is an American television writer and producer. Her credits include '' That's Life'', ''Veronica Mars'', '' Free Agents'', '' Dirty Sexy Money'', '' Big Shots'', the ''Mythological X'' remake '' The Ex List'' and '' iZombie' ...
and directed by
Steve Gomer Steve Gomer is an American Film director, film and television director. He made his directorial debut with ''Sweet Lorraine (film), Sweet Lorraine'' (1987), starring Maureen Stapleton, and went on to direct ' (1993), ''Sunset Park (film), Sunset ...
, marking Ruggiero's twelfth writing credit and Gomer's third writing credit for the show (after " Lord of the Bling" and "
Ahoy, Mateys! "Ahoy, Mateys!" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series ''Veronica Mars'', and the thirtieth episode overall. Written by John Enbom and Cathy Belben and directed by Steve Gomer, the episode premiere ...
"). The episode was originally titled "Manning the Ship", despite the fact that it does not feature the Manning family, before being changed to the final title of "Happy Go Lucky." Despite being credited, Duncan (
Teddy Dunn Edward Wilkes Dunn (born June 19, 1980) is an American lawyer and former American actor best known for his portrayal of Duncan Kane in the Rob Thomas television series ''Veronica Mars''. Early life and education Dunn was born Edward Wilkes Dunn ...
) and Dick (
Ryan Hansen Ryan Hansen (born July 5, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2007, 2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series '' Party Down'' (2009–2010, 2023 ...
) do not appear in the episode. The episode features an appearance by
Harry Hamlin Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'', a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video ...
as Aaron Echolls, the main antagonist of season 1, as well as appearances by important recurring characters such as Terrence Cook (
Jeffrey Sams Jeffrey D. Sams is an actor. Career Sams has been a main cast member of several television series, few of which have made it past their first season. These include ''Medicine Ball (TV series), Medicine Ball'', ''Sleepwalkers (TV series), Sleepw ...
), Gia Goodman (
Krysten Ritter Krysten Alyce Ritter (born December 16, 1981) is an American actress. After an early modeling stint, she appeared on the UPN noir mystery series ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2006) and the CW comedy drama series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2006–2007). He ...
) and Woody Goodman (
Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for playing Carey Mahoney in the '' Police Academy'' films from 1984 to 1987. He also acted in '' Three Men and a Baby ...
). This would be Ritter's final appearance on the show. Ritter wanted to appear in the finale, "Not Pictured", but she was unable to do so because of scheduling conflicts. "It was unfortunate for me that I couldn't be in the finale episode (I booked a pilot) because I was looking forward to showing how everything that went down affected her. On a side note, I did start to think that I was responsible for the crash. I really wanted her to be a bad guy." She would later appear in the ''Veronica Mars'' movie.


Reception


Ratings

In its original broadcast, the episode received 2.09 million viewers, ranking 112th of 120 in the weekly rankings.


Reviews

"Happy Go Lucky" received positive reviews. Price Peterson of '' TV.com'' gave a glowing review, writing that " 'Happy Go Lucky' also featured some truly touching moments, in particular Veronica and Wallace's heartfelt conversation about how much they'd miss each other next year. One of this show's biggest recurring themes was that no good deed went unpunished, so it was nice to see Veronica get at least a shred of credit for all the awesome things she'd done. Great moment in a great episode." ''
Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism a ...
'' gave the episode a "B." Rowan Kaiser, writing for ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'', gave a very positive review, writing that it was "serialization done right" and praising the characterization of Veronica. "But their character assassination of Veronica is more impressive, because it strikes at one of the show's core struggles: Veronica is special. Perhaps ''too'' special. As the audience of the show that bears her name, we understand her specialness. But there are times when Veronica is brought back to reality, reminded that the rest of her world doesn't see her as special."


References


External links

*
"Happy Go Lucky"
at Mars Investigations {{Veronica Mars 2006 American television episodes Veronica Mars season 2 episodes