"Of Vice and Men" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the fifty-first episode overall. Written by Phil Klemmer and directed by Harry Winer, the episode premiered on The CW on November 14, 2006. The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a college student while moonlighting as a private detective.
In this episode, Veronica helps a student, Meryl (Amanda Walsh) locate her missing boyfriend. Meanwhile, with Mercer (Ryan Devlin) imprisoned for the campus rapes, Veronica tries to find the truth. This investigation leads to an instance in which Veronica is drugged and a part of her hair is removed by a mysterious figure. In addition, Keith (Enrico Colantoni) questions the morality of his relationship with Harmony (Laura San Giacomo), leading to their breakup.
"Of Vice and Men" was one of Rob Thomas's favorite episodes from the season. It features the final appearance of San Giacomo and the reappearance of Ken Marino's character, rival detective Vinnie Van Lowe. The episode received 2.69 million viewers in its original broadcast and was given mixed reviews from television critics, with critics being divided on Veronica's increasing sarcastic behavior and the final scene involving a drugged Veronica. Eric Goldman of IGN wrote that there were some "very strong scenes in the second half", while Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club called the final scene "slightly manipulative."
Plot synopsis
Veronica and Keith (Enrico Colantoni) have a minor fight over Keith's relationship with Harmony. Veronica is staying in Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Piz's (Chris Lowell) dorm room. Piz comes in unexpectedly, and the two end up hanging out. However, a girl shows up and tells them that her boyfriend, Sully, has gone missing. They look in Sully's room, but the girlfriend is hesitant to help. In criminology class, Mr. Landry (Patrick Fabian) tells Veronica that he's applied her for an internship at the FBI. Veronica talks to Logan (Jason Dohring) about Mercer, but he still refuses to give her an alibi. Veronica and the girlfriend, Meryl, find that Sully has contacted another girl, Scarlett, but Scarlett knows that Sully has a girlfriend. Veronica visits Mercer in prison, and he tells her that there are many people who would want to frame him. Sully's roommate comes back to their room, and Veronica uncovers that Meryl and Sully had a fight the previous weekend.
Harmony (Laura San Giacomo) succeeds in convincing Keith that their relationship is not immoral. Vinnie Van Lowe (Ken Marino) enters Mars Investigations and tells Keith that he needs to know the whereabouts of Kendall Casablancas. Afterwards, he blackmails Keith by showing him pictures of him and Harmony, saying that Keith must pay $4,000 to prevent the information from being shown to Harmony's husband. Veronica gets exasperated with Meryl when she feels that Meryl refuses to see the truth about Sully cheating on her. Veronica talks to the professor about his affair with Mindy O’Dell, but he says that he'll give her the scholarship no matter what. After seeing Meryl and Scarlett hug, Veronica tries to frame Mercer to no avail. After showing Logan the evidence that Mercer is innocent, he tells Veronica what he was doing: they were in Tijuana, and Mercer set a room on fire. There were girls in Mercer's room, but Logan ran away when the fire spread.