In the parking lot of Neptune High, Veronica is trying to fix her car while a line of cars behind her waits impatiently. Dick and Cassidy walk by and start snarking on her. Logan, who's with them, half-heartedly tries to get them to stop, and Veronica tells them their act is getting old. She grabs a knife away from Logan, fixes the problem, gets the car started, and throws the knife back to Logan.
Elsewhere, outside the school, Carmen (Natalia Baron), a junior, is trying to break up with her boyfriend Tad (Jeff D'Agostino) because she doesn't want to do a long-distance relationship (he's going to Annapolis next year). At first, it seems like Tad is just depressed - he even offers her another mix CD, which she turns down - but then he reveals a video on his cell phone that makes Carmen horrified. In the girls' bathroom later, Carmen tells Veronica how humiliating the video was (all she says is she was drunk, naked in a hot tub, and she had a Popsicle), and pleads to Veronica to get the phone from Tad. Veronica promises to do so.
A little later, Veronica and Logan are making out inside the same bathroom (Veronica assured Logan she put an "Out of Order" sign up). Logan apologizes for the way Beaver and Dick were acting earlier, and Veronica says it's okay; plus, she and Logan should keep up appearances so Duncan doesn't find out about them from someone else when he comes back. Logan complains about being late for physics class, and Veronica tells him she can get tardy slips for him. They eventually open the door, look to see if the coast is clear, and after one last kiss, Logan leaves.
A little later, Veronica and Wallace are walking down the hall. Wallace mentions walking in on Keith and Alicia, and Veronica asks if he knows what Keith and Alicia do every Monday and Wednesday night from six to ten, and why it involves an overnight bag. Wallace claims they're playing bingo at the VFW - or at least, that's what he wants to believe - and Veronica tells him it's best to pretend the whole thing of their parents doesn't exist. She gives Wallace a number and asks him to call it during sixth period. She then sees Tad walking towards them, and she and Wallace do a "bump and bait" - she bumps into Tad, Wallace sneaks a cell phone into Tad's backpack before Tad rushes off.
In study hall, where Tad is, Veronica walks in pretending to be on her cell phone, and talking loudly, until Mr. Wu (Martin Yu), the teacher, reminds her of the cell phone policy, and confiscates it. A little later, Wallace, in another class, calls up the number Veronica gave him, and the phone he put in Tad's bag starts ringing. Mr. Wu, of course, notices, and confiscates Tad's phone as well. Veronica is able to get out of another class early, goes back to the study hall, and gets Tad's phone before Tad shows up. When Tad comes back to get his phone, and sees it's not there, realizes Veronica took it.
Later, at Mars Investigations, Veronica wonders why Keith is in such a good mood. He tells her the Kanes are offering a $50,000 reward to find Duncan, and he figures Duncan should be easy to find. Veronica admits she told Duncan about the tricks that entertainment lawyer Keith has been looking for used to escape detection, including buying a recycled passport on eBay. Keith looks deflated, but Veronica does admit she knows someone who can investigate the passport angle. Just then, Alicia walks in, and she and Keith head out without telling Veronica where.
A little later, Veronica is still at Mars Investigations, along with Carmen, who is glad Veronica got Tad's cellphone. Veronica warns Carmen the video might still be out there, but Carmen thinks Tad wouldn't think that far ahead. She smashes the cellphone, but sure enough, Veronica gets an e-mail from Tad that reads, "Nice try", with the video attached to it. Carmen and Veronica look on in horror.
The next day at school, Veronica tells Mac about the passport thing on eBay, and Mac says she'll get on it. Veronica walks by Tad and Carmen and notes they're back together so Carmen wouldn't be exposed (he threatened to send the video to the whole school). Felix and Weevil walk by; Weevil is disgusted Carmen is back with Tad, as she's from the same neighborhood as him, and Felix brings up how Weevil once had a crush on her. Tad and Carmen are standing in line for tickets to the spring prom; Seth (Robert Clark), one of their classmates, who's not on line, makes jokes about the dance; Tad and another friend of his overhear and start making homophobic remarks about Seth, and Carmen and Veronica look on, disgusted.
Later, Veronica and Carmen are walking outside the school, and Carmen confides that she's not sure how much longer she can take being with Tad. However, she's afraid of what a joke she'll become if Tad sends out the video of her. Veronica says Carmen should strike back by ruining Tad. Carmen warns Veronica that Tad doesn't have anything dirty in his past, but Veronica says to leave that to her, as long as Carmen is willing to let her hands get dirty. Carmen asks what she should do, and Veronica tells her to plan a romantic afternoon on the Neptune boardwalk.
A little later, Veronica takes her car to Weevil's uncle to fix the alternator. Weevil brings up the reward for Duncan; Veronica brings up the fact Weevil wasn't looking for his mother's ring. Weevil points out if Veronica seriously thought he'd hurt Lily, she would already have a tracking device on him. He mentions he might have heard something about Duncan, which he'll share for ten percent of Keith's finder's fee. Veronica bargains it down to eight percent and the alternator job, and Weevil mentions Duncan bought a used car from a friend of Weevil's uncle, and gives her the particulars. As Veronica calls Keith up and relays those particulars, we see Logan is waiting for her in his car. He says, "It's always business with you..."
...and a little later, the two of them are making out in Logan's living room. Logan mentions his father is at class, which he's taking more of to change his life, and Trina is out shopping. Veronica wonders if things will ever become normal between them, but Logan says secrets are also hot. They start kissing again, but are interrupted by Aaron walking in. He apologizes, and says his class was canceled so he went food shopping. Aaron apologizes again and leaves the two of them alone. Once alone, Veronica and Logan both act embarrassed, and Veronica excuses herself to go to the bathroom. While she's in the bathroom, the doorbell rings, and Aaron announces to Logan that Dick and Cassidy are there. Logan greets them, and Dick chides Logan for not going surfing with them. He sees Veronica's purse, and asks Logan if he has a girl over; thinking quickly, Logan says it's Trina's purse. Aaron catches on, and says he'll take the purse to her. Logan tries to go with him, but Dick says they need to talk about going to Mexico for the weekend. Aaron goes to Veronica, who has been hiding in the hallway, and offers her a ride home.
In the car, Aaron asks a still-embarrassed Veronica how she is, and tells her not to worry about what he saw. He asks how Logan is doing, and tells Veronica that however serious their relationship is, he won't spill the beans on it. As he drops Veronica off, Aaron tells her he likes Logan when he's with Veronica, and Veronica thanks him. As Aaron drives off, Veronica muses that while her relationship with Logan seems to be off and running, it's time to end Carmen and Tad's...
...and the two of them are at the boardwalk, having fun. They go to a photo booth, Tad gets a tattoo, and Carmen tells him to arrange to score some ecstasy from Seth. As Tad walks over to him, Veronica snaps a picture of the two.
Later, in Veronica's bedroom, she shows Carmen the photos she took of Tad and Seth, and tells her to give Tad a call. Carmen does, and makes it sound very suggestive. She hangs up, and Veronica tells her they'll meet at lunch the next day.
A little later, Veronica is in the kitchen cooking with Keith comes in. He tells her he can't stay for dinner, and he has the overnight bag, which gets Veronica wondering. He also tells her the car Weevil described was spotted outside Tijuana...
...and at a motel the next day, Keith finds out what room the car's owner is in. Pretending to be room service, he enters the room, only to discover it's a Mexican cop and his girlfriend. A little later, Keith calls up Veronica and tells her Duncan abandoned the car outside a bus station, and admits Duncan might be smarter than he though. Veronica asks if he's coming back for dinner, but Keith confirms he's going out with Alicia.
Veronica finds Mac in a classroom, where she's looking at a website Mr. Heinrich, a math teacher has set up. Veronica asks Mac how long it would take her to "create a highly incriminating, thoroughly libelous, sexually explicit website". Mac responds, "Uh... forty-five minutes, give or take?" Seth walks in, Veronica hands her an envelope, and says Seth will explain the rest.
Later, Tad walks up to Carmen and Veronica, who tells him it's time to make a deal. She gives Tad his phone back, now crushed beyond repair, and tells him he and Carmen are through for good. Tad complains that yesterday was special, and that he only ever loved Carmen, but Carmen tells him she was just pretending. Tad starts to threaten Carmen with the video, but Veronica shows him a website dedicated to Tad and Seth's "secret love". Tad points out no one will believe the website is real, but Veronica plays him the audio file of Tad and Carmen's suggestive phone call, with Seth's voice substituted for Carmen's. Tad dismisses it, as he'll be graduating, but Veronica tells him she has the e-mail address of everyone at the Naval Academy, and will send the website to them if he makes trouble. Carmen tells Tad she doesn't want to see him again, and storms off.
Later, Veronica is waiting on line for the bus when Logan calls out to her, and she sees Logan has her car ready to go (his driver picked it up). Veronica brings up the weekend in Mexico, but Logan invites her to go to Catalina Island on Friday with him instead, borrowing Aaron's boat to do so. He brings up the fact Aaron saw something in the paper about her parents, which brings Veronica up short, but before he can go into details, Dick calls out for him, and he leaves.
At Mars Investigations, Veronica pulls up back issues of the Neptune paper until she finds a notice Keith has put up asking for Lianne to contact him, and to inform her legal proceedings have begun in her name. Veronica calls Cliff, who happens to be at the sheriff's department futilely trying to get Loretta Cancun to cooperate with the authorities. Veronica asks Cliff why someone would place a legal notice in the classifieds, specifically a man seeking a woman. Cliff tells her California law requires a notice be run seven days before someone can file for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. He has to hang up to deal with Loretta's shenanigans, and Veronica looks worried. She realizes the ad has been running for six days and calls the paper to have it pulled, but she doesn't know the account password and has to hang up.
A little later, Veronica is in her car, tracking Keith by his cell phone. Turns out he's at a swanky hotel, but Veronica isn't able to find any rooms registered to him or Alicia. Veronica hears music from one of the other rooms, and upon investigating, sees Keith and Alicia dancing together with several other couples. Veronica admits the two of them look happy.
The next morning, at school, Veronica and Carmen greet each other happily, but the good mood quickly fades when a group of boys ask Carmen if she wants to "suck their Popsicle". Carmen and Veronica look horrified.
A little later, Felix is watching the video on his cell phone and laughing, but Weevil isn't amused, and wants to know who sent it.
Later, when school is out, Veronica finds Carmen hidden in a classroom, where she's been crying. Veronica still can't believe Tad did it, but Carmen isn't surprised, and is happy she dumped him., and that it's all over. Veronica reminds her of the payback they planned, but after thinking about it, Carmen deletes the e-mail. Veronica protests, but Carmen says taking down Tad won't make her feel better, and revenge isn't her thing. As Carmen leaves, Veronica hears two other kids watching the video, and chases them away. Looking at the video, she's horrified to discover it looks like Carmen's video was taken at the party where Veronica was raped.
A little later, at Mars Investigations, Veronica finds Keith with the paper showing the legal notice. Keith apologizes for not telling Veronica about it, but Veronica says she's just glad Keith is happy. Mac walks in and tells them someone purchased an Argentinian passport off of eBay, and Keith is happy enough to dance back into his office. After she and Mac good-naturedly squabble about Mac's cut, Veronica asks Mac to find out when Carmen's video was taken, and Mac is able to confirm it was the same night Veronica was raped. Veronica looks on unhappily.
At Kane software, Alicia is on the phone with Keith making plans as she walks through the hall. She enters a conference room and finds Clarence Wiedman waiting for her. He tells her to stop seeing Keith. Alicia tells him in no uncertain terms that her personal life is her business, but Clarence reveals the bug that's in his office came from a plant Wallace delivered.
The next day, Veronica is at school early, delivering a paper so she can take off with Logan, when she sees Weevil and the other PCHers have duct-taped Tad to the flagpole with "Scum" written on his chest. She greets Tad, who is in no mood to talk with her, and is unrepentant about sending out the video. Veronica says she's still willing to cut him down if he'll tell her who gave him the rohypnol for Shelley's party. Tad finally admits it was GHB, and that it was Logan who gave it to him. Veronica is shocked, and only removes that bandage revealing his tattoo, a heart with Seth's name written on it, before walking away as Tad yells at her.
Cut to Logan waiting on Aaron's boat, all alone.
This episode contains examples of:
- Bow Chicka Wow Wow: Veronica says this when she sees Mr. Heinrich's website.
- Break the Cutie: Carmen.
- Call-Back: Shelley Pomeroy's party. Also, Duncan's disappearance, and the fact Loretta Cancun is one of Cliff's clients.
- Foreshadowing: Yeah, the fact Logan was the one supplying GHB at the party will become very important.
- If I Can't Have You…: Tad's motivation for threatening to expose the tape, and then sending it out when Carmen and Veronica calls his bluff.Tad: If I can't have her, no one can.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Tad does get his just desserts at the end, though not from who he thought it would be.
- Running Gag: This isn't the first time a character pretended to want ecstasy to set up a sting on another character.
- Take That!: Carmen is worried if the video gets out, she'll become a joke "like Paris Hilton". Also counts as Rob Thomas getting a bit of Take That! at the
Executive Meddling that caused him to cast Hilton in the first place. - Title Drop: The episode title is an acronym for "Mutually Assured Destruction", a phrase Veronica uses a couple of times during the episode.
- Too Much Information:Mac: I’ll get started on it as I’m done reading about how Mr Heinrich’s interests include "horseback riding on the beach, hot tubbing with special friends and (air quotes) 'sensual charades'."Veronica: Ugh, thanks Mac. That's a mental image I'll carry with me to the grave.
