"Happy Go Lucky" was the twenty-first episode of the second season.
Plot[]
As Aaron Echolls's trial is about to conclude, tensions rise when Veronica, Keith and Logan take the witness stand and testify against him. The defense insinuates that Veronica is promiscuous and had come on to Aaron as part of their attempt to impeach her as a witness.
After Veronica finds a suspicious e-mail on Woody's computer, Keith turns to Sheriff Lamb with evidence to arrest Woody, but Lamb refuses, believing that Keith is trying to turn him into a laughing stock.
Terrence Cook is exonerated when Leonard Lobo reveals that he was at his casino at the time of the crash and thus could not have made any cell phone call to cause the bus crash. Lobo then visits the Cook residence and tells him that to repay the favor and his debt, Cook will now be working as a casino operator.
To everyone's surprise, Lucky brings a gun to Neptune High, looking for Gia. Wallace attempts to subdue him when he threatens Jackie, but is overpowered. Just as Lucky reveals the pistol is only loaded with blanks, he is shot to death by security.
Veronica, on the cusp of winning the Kane Scholarship, decides at the last minute to blow off a test to attend the reading of Aaron Echolls' verdict. She is stunned when he is acquitted on all counts.
Arc significance[]
- Lucky shows up at Neptune High threatening Gia and is killed by security.
- Keith thinks that Lucky might have planted bombs in the Goodman house and informs Sheriff Lamb. Lamb finds a bomb under Goodman's car identical to the one that was on the bus.
- Veronica finds an anonymous email entitled "Kill incorporation or else" on Goodman's computer that has a recording of two boys saying that he is a child molester. Veronica figures out that the two boys in the recording were Peter Ferrer and Marcos Oliveres, two boys who died in the bus crash and were also on Goodman's Little League team.
- Lamb goes to arrest Goodman, but he's already gone.
- Veronica forgoes the chance to be class valedictorian--and win the Kane Scholarship that will make it possible for her to afford Stanford--by not completing her last test.
- Aaron Echolls is acquitted at his trial.
Music[]
- "Lost & Found" - Adrienne Pierce
Production details[]
- The episode was originally titled "Manning the Ship"; it is unknown why the name was changed. Though one might guess that the title "Manning the Ship" implies some relation to the Manning family in the story, the Mannings do not appear in this episode.
Quotes[]
- Veronica: Do you know how long I've wanted to go to Stanford?
- Wallace: Since middle school?
- Veronica: Elementary, my dear Wallace. Do you have any idea how long I've waited to say that?
- Keith: I'm thinking about getting you some sort of... giant hamster ball, so you can roll everywhere in this protective sphere.
- Veronica: It'd just draw attention to me. Nobody likes a blonde in a hamster ball.
- Wallace: Well, I gotta go clean out my locker.
- Veronica: You got that salmon I left in there for you, right?
- Wallace: You better enjoy this, 'cause this is as nostalgic as I get. I just wanted to say...it was worth getting taped to a pole.
Trivia[]
- This episode had an estimated audience size of 2.33 million US viewers on its first airing.
- At the beginning of the episode, Aaron Echolls claims he was People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 1987. Harry Hamlin, the actor who plays Aaron Echolls, held this title.
- Despite being credited, Teddy Dunn (Duncan) and Ryan Hansen (Dick) do not appear in this episode.
External links[]
- MI.net's Roundtable Review.
- Soulful Spike Society's Open Case.
- Television Without Pity Recap.