3.17 "Debasement Tapes"
Aired May 09, 2007
Details
Mars residence: Veronica and Wallace are watching The Women; Wallace is taking notes for a film studies class. Veronica pumps Wallace for information on Piz, who teases her for wanting to talk like a pair of twelve-year-old girls, but finally relents, saying Piz is acting as usual. Keith enters and mentions not only were there two fewer robberies this month than last, but the registration deadline for the special election for sheriff is the coming Monday, and as it stands, he is running unopposed.
KRFF studio: Trish is asking a DJ, Arnold, and Piz questions about My Pretty Pony. The answers reveal that My Pretty Pony is a band of which one of the two members is dead. Their last album was released in 1997 after one member, Johnny Scopes, died despite the other member, Desmond Fellows', objections. Piz gets the final answer correct, and Trish gives him a job.
Hearst cafeteria: Piz catches up to Veronica to tell her that he won the chance to be Desmond Fellows' guide when he comes to perform at Hearst for a benefit to raise money to pay an FCC fine. Piz mentions that Desmond is a hero of his who, despite half of the band being dead, still performs with the tapes of his old band-mate's voice. Piz can get tickets if Veronica wants to go. She tells him she'll see and bolts.
Lecture hall: Logan and Dick watch a student present a business plan. The professor calls on Logan for his, but Logan says he'd rather present on Monday. The professor is not surprised.
Neptune Grand: Piz leads Desmond out of the elevator, trailed by bellboy Jeff Ratner. In the room, Desmond pours four mini-bottles of liquor into his drink as Piz and Jeff look on. When Desmond asks why Jeff is still in the room, he tells him that he's waiting for a tip. Desmond pulls a napkin from his pocket and scribbles his name on it, claiming it to be worth twenty dollars on eBay. Jeff leaves without taking it. Desmond tells Piz to find him more liquor while he naps. Upon opening the door, he sees a lingerie-clad woman in his bed. He obviously doesn't know who she is, even after she reminds him of an Internet chat they had. She grows embarrassed, and he, unrepentant, closes the door on her. As Desmond flips through the television channels, the woman exits the bedroom, fully clothed and angry. Desmond goes back into his bedroom, mentioning he might go to Mexico now that the show is canceled. He comes out of the room to show Piz that the backing tapes are gone from his bag.
Opening Credits
Hearst cafeteria: Veronica is in line with Mac, who is having trouble choosing an entrée. Veronica points out the parallels between Mac's difficulty in choosing a lunch and her new, more complex romantic situation. Mac jumps on the analogy, reminding Veronica of her own love life. As Mac suggests Logan is bad-boy fettuccine, good-guy eggplant Parmesan Piz calls Veronica. Veronica begins to apologize. When she suggests that perhaps they should just stay friends, he tells her that he figured that out, but he was calling her for her help on a case. She seems slightly embarrassed.
Neptune Grand: Veronica paces in front of the elevator. As she gets in, Logan steps out. They notice each other and exchange smiles and greetings. Logan jumps back into the elevator before the doors close and asks why she's at the hotel. She tells him it's about a case. He goes on to ask about the week Veronica spent at Wallace's dorm, wondering aloud if she was alone with Piz. She reassures him that nothing happened between them. When the doors slide open at their floor, Piz is waiting for her. Everyone looks uncomfortable, and as Veronica steps out of the elevator, Logan wishes her luck.
Desmond's suite: Desmond is griping about his lack of liquor options when he notices Veronica and perks up. He asks Piz if she's his girlfriend, to which Piz replies she's only a friend. Desmond surmises that Veronica is using Piz to get closer to him and invites her backstage. Piz rushes on to say Veronica's dad is a private detective, and she's going to help them find the missing tapes. When Desmond tells them he figured it out, she sits down to look at his evidence. He continues to hit on her; she deflects him, pushing forward with her questions. She pulls up the Instant Message log, noticing a Chinese character in the last line. Desmond admits that there were medications in the bag along with tapes – most likely the sort that aren't prescribed by a doctor.
Logan's suite: Logan complains about his assignment not being done, while Dick makes himself famous on the Internet by ghost riding it. In the video, the car runs over Dick's foot, which he thinks will make him even more popular. Logan looks like he's thinking awfully hard.
Mac's dorm room: Mac and Bronson enter after a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Mac is tired, threatening to kill whoever invented the game. The phone rings; it's Logan.
Hearst cafeteria: Logan hires Mac to build a simple, interactive website he can build a business plan around.
KRFF studio: Piz hosts a call-in Q&A with Desmond. The first caller is a fan; Desmond sees her sitting in the cafeteria and asks her to flash him. She declines. The second called is decidedly not a fan. Desmond is calm, and he admits to drinking heavily and abusing drugs in order to be able to live with himself. The third call is from Semites for the Savior, who are also not fans of My Pretty Pony. He makes a few uncouth Nazi jokes, mentions the show has canceled itself, and moves on to another call where he receives a party invitation to Miller Hall. As they exit the studio, Trish asks why Desmond would say the show is canceled. Piz promises that he'll work it out.
Sheriff's department: Leo shows up to talk to Keith. He tells Keith that while he was doing security at Sport Haus, he noticed one of the afternoon stock guys making calls from a pay phone across the street and taking pictures of the building. He also noticed Danny Boyd had been hired to the cleaning crew. When Leo told his supervisor, he was switched to a different shift. Keith says he can probably get a tap on Danny's phone.
Hearst: Piz defends Desmond to Veronica, saying that he acts the way he does because he's tired from traveling. She gives the IM transcript the Piz's friends, and they determine the Chinese character to mean 'Grace.' The teacher turns around when they say 'Grace,' revealing her to be the girl who was on Desmond's bed. Veronica asks for the tapes back, but she insists that she didn't take them. When Veronica leans on her, telling her that there was important medication in the bag that Desmond's life depends on, Grace immediately looks worried and offers to call her doctor. Piz and Veronica walk across campus, and Veronica thinks Grace was telling the truth. She spots a flier, advertising an emergency meeting of Semites for the Savior to stop Desmond's show.
Logan's suite: Mac, Logan, and Dick plan Logan's website. Dick considers himself an ass expert, Logan and Mac consider him an ass. After making a long analogy about lions and gerbils, and ending up looking like, well, an ass, he departs to find a party.
Desmond's suite: As Desmond plays on a keyboard, Piz enters. Desmond plays something quickly, adding lyrics about the case of the missing tapes. He gets up to get ready for a party, but Piz keeps asking about Desmond's music, convincing him to stay and work on the song. While Desmond waits for Piz to return with a guitar, an old My Pretty Pony video plays on the news.
Miller Hall: Desmond drinks while Dick grills him about famous women he might have slept with. Dick tells Desmond he's his idol, then asks who he is.
Desmond's suite: Piz returns to the room to find Desmond gone.
Hearst cafeteria: Wallace and Veronica talk about her relationship with Piz. Wallace calls her on her giant ego, and she laughs and tries to chance the subject.
Logan's suite: Mac shows Logan her workup. She says she doesn't really know the difference between income models, but knows someone who does. Logan suggests they call him. Mac calls Max.
Miller Hall Piz rushes into the party to find Desmond, who's drunk and promptly declares they're going skinny dipping, much to Piz's chagrin.
Beach: Desmond gets undressed, telling Piz to 'get weird' before running into the cold water. Before anyone joins him, Sacks shows up with a spotlight. All the party-goers flee, leaving Piz to deal with Sacks.
Sheriff's department: Desmond is in a holding cell. Keith and Desmond are going back and forth about The Beatles; Keith is a fan, Desmond doesn't seem to be. Veronica and Piz arrive just as Keith is beginning to get angry. Piz points out to Keith that Desmond is just being an ass to get under his skin, mentioning most critics cite The Beatles as an influence on My Pretty Pony.
Logan's suite: Max shares his less-than-kosher money-making strategies with Mac. They banter about host tables and site-crashing, and Logan teases them for being obviously smitten.
Hearst classroom: Veronica and Piz show up at the Semites for the Savior meeting, where Veronica tries to find out what sort plans the group has to stop Desmond's performance. Jeff Ratner is at the meeting, so Veronica questions him. He informs her, as usual, that he's innocent. When Piz asks him who else would put a blue hotel robe in Desmond's bag, Veronica realizes it couldn't have been Ratner because the Neptune Grand robes are white. Veronica apologizes, Ratner doesn't accept, and so the world turns.
Desmond's suite: Veronica asks to see Desmond's bag. Inside, there's a tag with Danny Cleaver's name and information. Veronica notices that Danny has a Los Angeles telephone number, so she takes the bag, intending to switch it for Desmond's and the tapes.
Cleaver residence: Veronica asks Danny if he noticed he's switched luggage with someone else. He confesses to being hungover and not checking his bag.
Veronica's car: Piz looks through Desmond's bag, noticing pill bottles and suspicious tin foil packaging as well Desmond's backing tapes. He says that when he was a freshman in high school, he had a terrible job washing dishes at a nursing home where his boss talked about lewd behavior and bar fights. The only thing that got him through was My Pretty Pony. Veronica confides when she was on the dance team, she tried to convince everyone to do a routine to a My Pretty Pony song. Piz seems surprised, and Veronica defends herself by saying she thought Desmond was cute. Piz says he's glad he called Veronica because they were able to save the show. When Veronica tells him she's glad it's not awkward between them because of their kiss, Piz tells her that it's still uncomfortable, only less so. Piz pulls out a CD labeled 'New Crap' and puts it into the CD player. Both are silent as a song neither had ever heard fill the car. When Piz pulls out a notebook filled with lyrics, he gets an 'I have an idea!' face.
Sport Haus An off-duty Keith and Leo stake out the building. They see Danny Boyd load boxes into a truck before Keith spots Vinnie Vanlowe in the mix. Keith calls Sacks to report a robbery. Keith watches as Vinnie locks the rest of the crew of thieves in the building before making a phone call. Sacks calls Keith right back to say that someone else just called to report the same robbery. Vinnie tells Keith the owner of the store hired him, and after he found out what was going on, he saw to it that they were locked up.
Liberty Lunch: Trish peeks out to see a restless crowd. Desmond is drinking backstage. Just as Trish beginning to voice regret over appointing Piz as Desmond's guide, Piz calls and asks to speak with Desmond. He tells Desmond they got the tapes, but they're stuck in traffic and will take longer to arrive. Desmond asks how long they'll be. Piz says he doesn't know, but asks Desmond if there's a way he can get the show started without them, mentioning the new song he tried at his hotel suite.
Veronica's car: Veronica and Piz get out of the car and head into the show.
Liberty Lunch: Desmond takes the stage to a cheering crowd. He asks if the want to hear some My Pretty Pony hits, and they cheer. When he asks if they'd like some new, solo work, they cheer, but not as loudly. He goes with the solo song, and he performs the same song Piz and Veronica heard in the car to a warm reception. Veronica and Piz stand at the bar watching, and Veronica slips her hand into his. After the song,Veronica and Piz meet Desmond backstage and admit they saw the whole show.
Logan's suite: Logan, Mac, and Max finish up the website and presentation. Mac walks Max to the door, and he invites her to breakfast. She says she can't but asks for a rain check.
Liberty Lunch: Grace goes backstage to meet Desmond; she tells him he's still a jerk, but his song was incredible. He invites her out for a drink.
Logan's suite: Mac polishes up the site while Logan looks on. He asks her if Veronica and Piz are dating. She tells him Veronica is trying to let Piz down easy, and Logan goes on to ask if she cheated on him with Piz. She tells him he's stupid to think that, and cuts off the conversation. Logan starts to write her a check, but she asks for half of his business instead, to which he agrees.
Hearst cafeteria: Mac is having lunch with Bronson. She tells him about her share in Logan's business, planning on being a millionaire by 2015. She beaks up with Bronson.
Hearst lecture: Logan begins his presentation with some crazy statistic that average teenagers spend sixteen hours a week online. Is that all? When he launches into his business plan with a slide featuring the female posterior, the class hoots and hollers their approval while the professor stews. The professor finally interrupts Logan and stops his presentation entirely.
Sheriff's department: Keith offers Leo his old position back, and he eagerly accepts. Veronica runs into him as he's leaving, and Leo tells her he'll be around, just like in the old days. Veronica tells her dad that Desmond has left town, for which Keith is happy. Vinnie shows up to tell them he's put in his bid for sheriff.