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 premiered on November 23, 2005 on UPN.

The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a high school student while moonlighting as a private detective. In this episode, the parents of Marcos, a student who died in the bus crash, contact Keith (Enrico Colantoni) and Veronica to investigate who has been harassing them by leaving them reminders of their son. Meanwhile, Veronica and Logan (Jason Dohring) further investigate Logan's murder charges.

Synopsis

Duncan (Teddy Dunn) has a dream involving Meg (Alona Tal) and Veronica. After Duncan wakes up, Veronica reports her findings about Dr. Griffiths to Logan. Duncan puts Meg’s letter from the previous episode into a drawer. Two parents of a student in the bush crash, Marcos, come into Mars Investigations and that someone is harassing and stalking them over their son’s death. They say that they know who’s harassing them, but they just want proof. Veronica meets a man named Danny Boyd (Taylor Sheridan), who was previously operated on by Dr. Griffith. Boyd leads her into a bar, where she learns that Dr. Griffith received a medical reprimand for putting stitches on Danny Boyd. Veronica’s identity is outed by another person, and Danny Boyd’s friend asks for the real reason why Veronica is there. After lying again, Veronica gets attacked by the man before Logan comes in and saves Veronica by holding the man up at gunpoint. Keith asks Veronica about Marcos, and she doesn’t know him. Veronica asks around about Marcos at school, but he was a loner. Keith sends Veronica a quote from someone about Marcos. Keith also finds some bizarre evidence involving an MP3 paid for by the Neptune school district broadcasting Marcos’s voice in Mrs. Oliveras’s car. Veronica confronts the principal, but he denies any knowledge.

Veronica talks to Mac (Tina Majorino), who gives Veronica information that Marcos was actually the anchor of a popular school radio show. Marcos’s show was mostly about roasting various Neptune high students, leading Veronica to believe that anyone could be behind the harassment. Veronica confronts Weevil (Francis Capra) about her belief that he set up Tom Griffith for a favor from the Fitzpatricks, where Danny Boyd was from. However, Weevil was not behind the scheme, and Weevil warns his gang that he will find the insubordinate person. Later, Weevil talks to another biker, who tells him that Logan did stab Felix. However, Weevil is still skeptical. At the house where the MP3 was recorded, Veronica and Mac find now-former Principal Clemmons and eventually fake needing to see the principal’s son, Vincent, to get into the house. Veronica and Mac find recording devices in Vincent’s basement room and find out that something might have happened at a summer camp. Vincent denies any knowledge. Mr. Oliveras is unhappy with Keith’s findings so far. Veronica does some digging and finds that Marcos was being sent to a conversion therapy camp.

Keith breaks into the Oliveras’s neighbors house and finds that the neighbor was involved in the Oliveras’ affairs. However, that is apparently normal for him. Logan is kidnapped by an unknown biker, who subjects Logan to torture involving Russian roulette with various body parts. Logan says that he does not remember the night of the murder of Felix Toombs, and he is let go, but not before stealing one of their cell phones. Logan threateningly calls Weevil. Veronica talks to Vincent about Marcos being gay, and he denies that. Vincent says that Marcos was almost beaten up for a romantic situation, as described in the anonymous letter. Keith proves that someone in the family was responsible for the harassment. Veronica goes to the house of the “jealous girlfriend” and finds out that a boy was actually responsible for the harassment. He was in love with Marcos, and while they were flirting, Marcos’s parents came in and sent him to the conversion therapy camp. Marcos became depressed, and when he died, the boy took revenge on his parents by haunting their memories. Duncan has another dream about Meg, and when he wakes up, he opens her letter and says "Oh my God!"

Cultural references

The following cultural references are made in the episode:^[1]

• Weevil mentions John DeLorean.
• The bar that Danny Boyd leads Veronica into is called The River Styx.
• Liam references Lucky Charms.
• Veronica compares Marcos to Howard Stern.
• A running joke in the episode is that Mac is Q to Veronica's James Bond.
• Mac asks Veronica to go to RadioShack.
• The episode mentions Rosemary's Baby.
• Logan makes a play on words with Nip/Tuck.
• Logan also jokingly calls Veronica "Mars-wan Kenobi", a reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Veronica sarcastically mentions Three Little Pigs when talking to Weevil.
• When going into Principal Clemmons's house, Veronica and Mac say lines from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• Veronica says a line from In Living Color.

Arc significance

• Duncan agonizes about reading Meg's letter, but finally does.
• Veronica tries to help Logan by getting more information about Dr. Tom Griffith. She goes to see Danny who had a bar fight wound treated by Dr. Griffith, and finds that he's a friend of the Fighting Fitzpatricks. Liam Fitzpatrick spots Veronica and she almost gets hurt before Logan arrives and threatens him with a gun. This marks one of the many times that Logan saves Veronica from danger.
• Thumper, one of the PCHers, tells Weevil that the last people on the bridge with Felix Toombs alive were Hector and Bootsy.
• Two PCHers grab Logan and put a gun to his hand to get him to confess to Felix's murder. He says that he doesn't know anything. After they dump him off, he finds out that Weevil is behind the attack and threatens him.

Music

In addition to the series' theme song, "We Used to Be Friends", by The Dandy Warhols, the following songs can be heard in the episode:^[2]

• "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy
• "Dakota" by Stereophonics
• "God Is in the Radio" by Queens of the Stone Age
• "Ocean City Girl" by Ivy

Production

The episode was written by John Enbom and Cathy Belben and directed by Steve Gomer, marking Enbom's fifth writing credit,^[3] Belben's second and penultimate writing credit,^[4] and Gomer's second directing credit (after "Lord of the Bling") for the show.^[5] Despite being credited, four series regulars do not appear, including Wallace (Percy Daggs III), Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen), Cassidy Casablancas (Kyle Gallner), and Jackie Cook (Tessa Thompson). Also, Mac, played by Tina Majorino, returns in "Ahoy, Mateys!" after being absent since "Green-Eyed Monster". The episode's title refers to a phrase spoken by Marcos when opening his radio show.

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "Ahoy, Mateys!" received 2.50 million viewers, marking a decrease of 440,000 viewers from the previous episode, "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner".^[6]

Reviews

Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, who had previously criticized the twist involving homosexuality in "M.A.D.", was more positive towards this episode's twist, writing that it wasn't "exactly heartwarming that a gay person would feel righteous enough to emotionally torture grieving parents, but that kind of behavior is no more monstrous than typical straight characters' actions on this show." He also enjoyed the scene in the River Styx bar, stating overall that "Ahoy, Mateys!" "was a solid episode. Not exactly fun per se, but thrilling and kinda scuzzy."^[7] Television Without Pity gave the episode a "B+".^[8]

Rowan Kaiser, writing for The A.V. Club praised Mac's, Logan's, and Duncan's characterization in the episode. "This was easily Mac's best episode. Not that she's been bad in the past, but it might be the most she's stepped out of her role as supporting-girl-geek and into some measure of agency," while saying that "Logan & Veronica are a dark, bitterly ironic tandem," and that "[Duncan's] dreams of Meg and Veronica in this episode aren't quite the supernatural/random level of some earlier events this season."^[9]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Veronica Mars#Ahoy, Mateys!

• "Ahoy, Mateys!" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Ahoy, Mateys!" at Mars Investigations