Veronica Mars - "Never Mind the Buttocks"

We’re getting close to the end of the season on Veronica Mars and that means the clues are flying at us fast. Here is my list of suspects in the bus crash mystery and my theories as to if they could have done it and potential motives. I’ll be back each week to update it.

Aaron Echolls
His motive: Get rid of the chief witness against him, Veronica Mars.
His means: He’s in jail, but we know hew as tight with the late Curly who certainly could have caused the bush crash. However, Curly seemed pretty innocent when Weevil was beating him up. Also, it’s a long way to go to bump off a witness and Aaron would really have no reason to try and get the rich kids off the bus.

Woody Goodman
Motive: Unknown. However, he’s extremely skeevy and many are speculating he’s a pedophile. Were his victims on the bus? Or was his daughter the intended victim? And someone was blackmailing him. The fact that we know so little at this point means we’re definitely going to find out more closer to the end of the season. If I were laying odds, I’d give him the best at this point. He’s a powerful man with a lot of connections. Plus, it would follow the theme of former 80’s stars as the culprits, which may be the best argument for his innocence.

Gia Goodman
Motive: Who the Hell knows, but she’s been on an awful lot and maybe her ditziness is hiding something far more sinister. More likely that she was the target, however.

Logan Echolls
We’ve been hearing him described as a sociopath for two years. Maybe there’s more truth to it than we’ve been led to believe. He did tell Veronica “goodbye” before she got on the bus in an eerily final way. Did he cause the accident to kill Veronica for jilting him or to help his Dad or both? To punish the poor kids in the escalating class war? To bump Dick and Beaver off while working with Kendall? I doubt Logan is the culprit (Jason Dohring is far too charismatic and Logan is far too important to lose the character). But it would make for a shocking and buzzworthy reveal. And it would certainly mess with Veronica’s head.

The Fitzpatricks
These guys seem to have their hands in a lot of pies. It’s clear they were responsible, with Thumper, for Felix’s murder and they certainly had access to the C-4. But why rig a bus to blow up or crash in order to get one PCH-er. If they are involved, it’s as accomplices to the real big bad: Aaron, Kendall, Woody, etc.

The Mannings
This is the most left field option. We’ve only seen Meg’s parents a couple of times, but they’ve always seemed extremely creepy. And the casting of Geoffrey Pierson as the father could be a sign that he’s coming back in a major way (he was the President on 24 after all). Could the super-religious Mannings really cook up a plot to blow up a school bus? It’s a long shot. But would people with this perverse a sense of God really care about the deaths of the people on the bus? The driver and Ms. Dumas were both adulterers, the two boys were both gay and Bettina was, let’s just say, a loose woman. Plus Meg was not only pregnant out of wedlock but also trying to report them to CPS. They may have had an accomplice in Lucky, the creepy janitor we met last week. He was clearly the ringleader behind the burning-down of the pool (I think we can assume that’s where he was taking Logan when he interrupted Logan and Veronica). And he would want to get his friend Dick off the bus (Hell, maybe Dick was in on it, too.) One last thing. The alternate ending to the episode where Meg’s pregnancy was revealed was Meg’s mother smothering her with a pillow. As far as we know, this ending was never supposed to air and was shot exclusively as a publicity stunt. But what if Rob Thomas was tipping his hand just a teensy bit?

Kendall Casablancas
Right now she’s the most obvious choice and I’m sure we haven’t learned the last of her secrets. But if she wanted to cash in on the insurance policy on Dick and Beaver, why are they still alive? She’s had months to kill them if her first attempt failed. I think there are major reveals coming in regards to her and Beaver’s business and the deal she made with Aaron, but I just don’t think she’s the big bad.

Beaver Casablancas
Speculation is rampant that Beaver’s discomfort with intimacy stems from some sort of abuse, probably at the hands of Woody. Could Beaver have made a failed attempt at revenge that lead to the crash? It’s certainly possible. It’s also possible that he was one of the intended victims in the Woody theory. My guess is that there are big reveals coming regarding Beaver but that he is not the killer. He would make a pretty interesting and surprising one, though.

Dick Casablancas
There’s a reason Dick and Beaver were regulars this season. Is Dick smart enough to plan and execute the kind of complex plan required to orchestrate the bus crash? Doubtful. Could he have been an accomplice? Absolutely. He could fit into the Woody, Logan, Manning and Kendall theories as a helper. He is the one that got the kids off the bus and the one who gave his goody bag to Bettina.

Big Dick Casablancas
He wasn’t in jail yet and there was that huge life insurance policy out on the boys. But we haven’t seen him nearly enough this season to qualify as a suspect. Could he have been the target? Did someone try to kill the boys to hurt him? That may be more likely. Maybe he screwed over the Mannings on a real estate deal or something, too.

Terrence Cook
His motive, offing his crazy girlfriend, certainly makes sense. But he’s the prime suspect and he’s off the canvas after having been shot, so we can probably assume he’s innocent. Still, why was he breaking in to his ex’s parents’ house?

Jackie Cook
She’s a new character, Veronica has spent the season warming up to her and she’s certainly been acting suspicious lately (anyone think she’s really been accepted to the Sorbonne?). But what motive would she have? She could have done it to help her Dad out, but then why would she lead Veronica to the evidence against her Dad? I still think there are a couple more shoes waiting to drop regarding Jackie, I just don’t think she’s the killer. Could she be the one framing, or being forced to frame, Terrence? Now there’s an idea.

Jake and Celeste Kane
They really, really hate Veronica. But Kyle Secor is on another show and Duncan is gone. I really doubt Rob Thomas would go there.

Weevil/PCHers
Veronica’s Weevil theory last night certainly made sense, but so did his explanations. It would be a great twist for us to find out that our shady friend Weevil was really the big bad. But here’s why I just don’t think it’s him: After setting up Thumper, he went to confession and told the priest that it had been a long time since his last confession. Now, if he felt the need to confess for contributing to the death of a snake like Thumper, wouldn’t he have been doing a lot of confessing for killing 8 innocent people including his friend? I get a sense that we won’t have Weevil around next season, but I don’t think it’s because he’s the killer.

Now, there are a lot of unanswered questions and for the reveal to be satisfying, we need to get answers to all of the following:

• What was Curly up to? Why did he have Veronica’s name on his hand? Who killed him?
• What’s the deal with Aaron’s Oscar? If it had Lilly’s blood on it, I think we can assume it was the murder weapon (how else would he have her blood). But why was Aaron’s Oscar at the Kane house for him to use it to kill her? I don’t think they’re going to reverse last season’s resolution, but there are still questions.
• Who put the rat on the bus and for what purpose?
• Is there a reason Logan didn’t go on the trip?
• Who was the outing to end all outings? Woody? Dick? Beaver?
• What’s the deal with the Phoenix Land Trust?
• Why is Beaver so apprehensive with Mac?
• What is Kendall’s ultimate plan?
• Who is or was blackmailing Woody?
  

I have every confidence we’ll get answers to these questions by the end of the season. And there’ll probably be more next week. I’m not sure this season is as good as the first, but it’s damn good and the more it comes together the more I like it.

Right now Woody and Kendall are the prime suspects. But I just can’t discount the feeling I have about the Mannings. Feel free to comment if you're reading.