Production
Writing and filming
"Mars, Bars" features a story by Phil Klemmer, John Enbom, and Joe Voci and a teleplay by Klemmer and Enbom, marking Klemmer's fourteenth installment of the series, [1] Enbom's fifteenth episode for the show, [2] and Voci's second and final writing credit (after "Postgame Mortem"). [3] It was directed by Harry Winer, marking his fifth and final directing credit for Veronica Mars , after "Meet John Smith", "Blast from the Past", "Wichita Linebacker", and "Of Vice and Men". [4] The scene on the beach was the work of Winer, whom Thomas referred to as a "visual stylist". He enjoyed the scene for showing Neptune as a California beach town while distinguishing itself due to the cold weather, a visual characteristic that he felt was not portrayed often enough. [5]
"Mars, Bars" features the reappearance of the character of Bronson, who had previously appeared in "Show Me the Monkey". Mac loses her virginity to Bronson in the episode. The writers had initially planned a storyline in which Mac would be taken advantage of by a professor due to her fragile emotional state following her romance with Beaver (Kyle Gallner), [5] [6] however that storyline was removed, partially due to the fact that Thomas and the crew wanted Mac to have something positive happen to her. [5] Prior to the filming of this episode, Thomas counseled Jason Dohring and Julie Gonzalo, who play Logan and Parker, respectively, on the two characters' interpersonal chemistry in the episode. Specifically, he did not want them to make their flirting obvious, but rather give "a whiff of connection". [5]
Acting
This episode marks the final appearance of series regular Michael Muhney, who plays Don Lamb on the show, after his character is bludgeoned to death by Steve Botando, played by Richard Grieco. Muhney did not know about his character's death until receiving the script for the episode. [7] This was roughly six weeks before the episode's airing and during filming. [8] Muhney did not know the rationale for killing the character, [7] but when he found out, he stated that "I felt like a piece of me was dying as well." [9] He also stated that he was also heartbroken because he had grown attached to the character over the course of three years playing him. [8] Muhney also expressed surprise over the writing decision. [10]
Because the crew shoots scenes out of order, the last scene that Muhney filmed was the one in which Keith offers to help Lamb in investigating the break-in at the O'Dell residence. [9] He enjoyed acting with Grieco, calling him "very approachable." He was also pleased with the character's sendoff, stating that it was appropriate. [9] He wished that he had more time to say farewells to each cast and crew member individually. [9] Lamb's last words were "I smell bread"; Muhney explained that it was a reference to a minor character death on M*A*S*H . [9] He stated that it was an in-joke among the crew and that the words had "no significance within the borders of Neptune." [10] However, Muhney thought of it as his character's last burst of sarcasm. [8]
The reveal of Sheriff Lamb's death was not leaked anywhere online prior to the airing of "Mars, Bars", something about which Muhney was happy. [10] He stated that "the surprise was the best part" and that he disliked it when spoilers from other series were released early. [8] [10] After the episode's initial airing, Muhney reported that his inbox was flooded with emails from press members seeking interviews, stating that new messages came after the airing in each United States time zone. [7] Some fans were upset about his death, and debate occurred online. [7] However, Muhney also received messages of support for the character, commenting "it's nice to know that he will be missed." [10] With the announcement of the Veronica Mars film in 2013, Zap2it speculated that Muhney might return; [11] however, this was later revealed not to be the case when the official casting was announced. [12] Thomas praised Daran Norris's performance in the episode, particularly his voice in the scene in which he defends Steve Botando in front of Sheriff Lamb. Thomas noted that Norris was also a voice actor and that he was particularly well-liked on the set for his humorous performances. [5]
