Veronica Mars/Driver Ed

Driver Ed
Season 2, Episode 2
Airdate	October 5, 2005
Production Number	2T7202
Written by	Diane Ruggiero
Directed by	Nick Marck
← 2x01 Normal Is the Watchword	2x03 → Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang
Veronica Mars — Season Two

Driver Ed is the second episode of the second season of Veronica Mars, and the twenty-fourth episode overall. The search for the circumstances that involved the school bus crash intensifies, as the bus driver's family is led to believe that their husband and father have committed suicide after the police find a supposed suicide note on the computer. Meanwhile, Wallace helps Jackie find out who dented her car.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Teddy Dunn (Duncan Kane), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro) (credit only), Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas), Kyle Gallner (Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas), Tessa Thompson (Jackie Cook)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Special Appearance By Kevin Smith (Duane Anders)

Guest Starring: Jeffrey Sams (Terrence Cook), Michael Muhney (Sheriff Don Lamb), David Starzyk (Richard "Big Dick" Casablancas, Sr.), Ari Graynor (Jessie Doyle), Gregory Thirloway (Jeff Cotter), Kristin Dattilo (Carla Cotter)

with Charisma Carpenter (Kendall Casablancas)

and Steve Guttenberg (Woody Goodman)

Co-Starring: Brandon Hillock (Deputy Sacks), Adam Bitterman (Man in Loud Hawaiian Shirt), Lee Ann Kim (Reporter #1), Lauren Krause (Reporter #2), Sarah Vincelett (Shelby), Erin Noyd (Southie Player #1), Elijah Anderson (09er Kid), Melissa Reneé Martin (09er Girl), Kathleen Parker (Mrs. Stewart), Lindsey Tusing (Beth), Amber Ojeda (Cathy), Miko Hughes (Stoner Dude #1), Valorie Curry (Jane Kuhne), Marty Ryan (Bernie), Lisa Pedace (Randi Doyle), Michael Len (Bruno)

Notes

School Bus Disaster

• At the scene of the crime, the police found no evidence of a struggle to keep the bus on the road (i.e. skid marks).
• The school bus driver, Ed Doyle, is being looked at heavily by the police as a suicide, but his daughter has enlisted Veronica into attempting to find evidence that he didn't kill himself. She is pulled off the case when the sheriff finds a suicide note saved on his computer.
• Unsatisfied with the quick judgment, Veronica pursues the call that Doyle made at the convenience store. The call was placed to Carla Cotter, a woman he was having an affair with and planned to leave his family for.
• A man washes up on the beach with "Veronica Mars" written on his palm.

Music

Artist	Song	Where
The Who	Magic Bus	Convenience Store
Pixies	Where Is My Mind?	The Mars House
The Format	On Your Porch	Duncan's House

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Meg: It is revealed that Meg survived the school bus crash but is now in a coma and is on life support.
• Keith: Woody Goodman has asked Keith to run for sheriff again. He initially declines the offer but after seeing Sheriff Lam's incompetence in dealing with the Doyle case, he reconsiders and decides to run.
• Wallace: Wallace meets Jackie Cook, daughter to Terrance Cook, who is also introduced in this episode. He solves the case of who hit her car and didn't leave insurance information and starts up a romance.

Trivia

The Show

• Gone Fishing: Francis Capra does not appear in this episode.
• Fashionably Late: Tessa Thompson makes her first appearance in this episode as Jackie Cook, despite being credited since the previous episode, Normal Is the Watchword.

Behind the Scenes

• Special Credit: Kevin Smith is credited with "Special Appearance by."

Allusions and References

• Clerks: Kevin Smith playing the clerk of the convenience store is a reference in itself. Clerks was a film written and directed by Smith in 1992, about two shiftless convenience store clerks named Dante and Randal. Although the film doesn't have a real plot as such, it does follow several themes like Randal's disdain for the customers and Dante's inability to stand up and spit in their faces. Smith's bit bragging about being on TV is a reference to his self-description as "a press whore."

• Close to You: Veronica recites a lyric from (They Long to Be) Close to You, a song performed by The Carpenters in 1970. The song was written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David and appeared on the album of the same name. The rest of the lyric is "just like me they long to be, close to you."

Veronica: Why do birds suddenly appear every time you're near?

Memorable Moments

• The convenience store clerk chatting up Veronica about his television appearance.
• Veronica leaving the hotel room only to see Logan leaving another room opposite of hers.
• A man washed up on the beach with Veronica Mars written on his hand.