Veronica Mars/Meg Manning

Meg Manning
Veronica Mars
Actor	Alona Tal
First Appearance	1x08 - Like a Virgin
Last Appearance	2x18 - I Am God
Series Billing	Series: Recurring
Episode Count	10
Notable Episodes	1x08 - Like a Virgin 1x15 - Ruskie Business 2x10 - One Angry Veronica

Meg Manning is an 09er played by Alona Tal. One of the few 09ers who remained friends with Veronica after Lilly's death, Meg Manning is a recurring secondary character on Veronica Mars. Meg was heavily involved with the bus crash that involved the death of eight students, having been the only person to survive from it.

Basic Information

After Veronica received a shunning from nearly the entire school when her dad wrongfully accused Jake Kane of killing Lily, Meg was the one person who remained friends with her. While many of her classmates mocked her behind her back, Meg defended her, while even Duncan stayed silent. Just prior to the Purity Test incident at Neptune High, Meg reminded Veronica that she still had friends in the school. Shortly afterwards, when Meg's fake test was posted showing a very low score and making her out to be , she went to Veronica for help, especially since the entire school, including her then-boyfriend, had turned against her. After Veronica solves the mystery of who posted the Purity Test results, the two girls rekindle their friendship.

During the spring dance season, Meg gets a letter from a secret admirer, and again she asks Veronica for help in finding out who the secret admirer might be. Meg finds out that Duncan is the one who has fallen in love with her, and they start dating, much to Veronica's delight at Meg finally being happy. Duncan and Meg have sex and Meg gets pregnant, but hides this fact to many people except her family for a long time. When Duncan and Veronica reunite, Meg is furious at Veronica again, and promptly begins ignoring her.

Coming from an event with her journalism class, Meg is involved in a bus crash that killed eight, leaving her as the only survivor. She goes into a coma and Duncan comes to visit her nearly every day, but her family, knowing that Meg is pregnant, do not want Duncan to ever see Meg again. When investigating Meg's house during an investigation to find out who an abused kid Meg warned about on her laptop, Duncan retrieves a letter from the hole in the vent in Meg's room, and finds out that Meg is pregnant.

Veronica walks into Meg's hospital room on her way back from delivering Abel Koontz's belongings, and finds out that Meg is pregnant. Shortly afterward, Meg wakes up. When the whole school finds out about it, Veronica and Duncan head back to the hospital and Meg apologizes for being so mean to Veronica. Although they patch up their relationship, Veronica finds out that Meg died due to a blood clot in the heart. Her baby, however, survived.

Episode Appearances

• Meg Manning appeared in ten episodes of Veronica Mars:

1. 1x08 - Like a Virgin
2. 1x15 - Ruskie Business
3. 1x16 - Betty and Veronica
4. 1x18 - Weapons of Class Destruction
5. 1x21 - A Trip to the Dentist
6. 2x01 - Normal Is the Watchword
7. 2x08 - Ahoy, Mateys!
8. 2x09 - My Mother, the Fiend
9. 2x10 - One Angry Veronica
10. 2x18 - I Am God

Character History

• 1x08 - Like a Virgin: Meg is accused of scoring low on the Purity Test, and is labeled a slut by people at Neptune High. During an audition for the school play, the students watching her chuckle at the innuendo present in the song she sings. She asks Veronica for help, and Meg and Veronica rekindle their friendship after Veronica solves the mystery.
• 1x15 - Ruskie Business: Meg starts dating Duncan after she finds out that he is her secret admirer.
• 2x01 - Normal Is the Watchword: Over the summer, Meg grows hatred of Veronica as Veronica and Duncan reunite, pushing Meg out of the picture. A vindictive Meg refuses to talk to Veronica anymore despite Veronica's efforts to be friends again. Meg is on the bus that crashes into the ocean coming home from the field trip.
• 2x02 - Driver Ed: It is revealed that Meg is the only one that survived the bus crash but is in a comatose state.
• 2x04 - Green-Eyed Monster: Lizzie entrusts Duncan with Meg's laptop, which contains important information that may destroy her parents if they ever find out.
• 2x07 - Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner: Duncan searches Meg's laptop and finds an entry from Meg talking about one of the children she babysits being abused. When Veronica and Duncan go to investigate, they find that Meg's younger sister, Grace, is the one being abused by her parents. During a search of Meg's room, Duncan retrieves a letter from the air vent without Veronica's knowledge.
• 2x08 - Ahoy, Mateys!: Duncan dreams about Meg several times, eventually leading him to opening the letter he found in her room.
• 2x09 - My Mother, the Fiend: Veronica discovers that Meg is pregnant. After Veronica leaves her room, Meg wakes up from her coma.
• 2x10 - One Angry Veronica: Duncan reveals to Veronica that he found out Meg was pregnant through the letter he took from the vent. Veronica and Duncan both find out that Meg has woken up, and Meg makes up with Veronica and asks her to make sure her parents don't subject her child to any abuse, making a further point to warn her that her baby should never be put up for adoption because of the bad environment it would grow up in until it finds a willing family. She dies later on due to a blood clot, but her daughter survives.
• 2x18 - I Am God: Meg appears in Veronica's dreams.

Trivia

• Alternate Ending: An alternate ending was filmed for 2x09 - My Mother, the Fiend and was available on AOL.com for users to vote which ending they liked better. The alternate ending involved Veronica finding out that Meg is pregnant, and then quickly ducking into the closet in Meg's room when she hears Meg's mother approaching. When Veronica comes out, she sees that Meg had been smothered by a pillow, immediately after which a nurse comes in and calls for security. Ultimately, voters decided that the original ending was superior.

Quotes

• 1x15 - Ruskie Business:

Veronica: I'll be fine.

Meg: No, you'll be super-fine.