Heathers (1989)

Heathers (1989)

In director Michael Lehmann's murder-related dark black comedy (his feature film debut), the popular, R-rated coming-of-age cult film in the late 1980s touched on themes of high-school cliques, school violence, teen suicide, bullying, peer pressure and teen popularity, and sexual assault and homophobia. The witty, perceptive and violent script was penned by Daniel Waters (who was a 20-something LA video store clerk) - it was also his film-script debut.

Heathers was a rebuke to the numerous John Hughes' movies at the time that were infused with heavy doses of "be yourself" philosophy, brat-packers, and kindly sweetness. Hughes' films were never as dark, nihilistic, cynical or complex as this movie's perspective.

During early screenings, it was considered controversial and it was feared that it might encourage some impressionable teens to commit suicide. The film's original screenplay had already been pared down in half and softened, eliminating and revising the explosive ending that had the lead teen female debutante suicidally blowing herself up, and then attending her own HS prom in heaven with all of her dead victims. Some critics noted that the low-budget film had similarities to and was influenced by Dutch writer/director Rene Daalder's Massacre at Central High (1976) - another low-budget exploitation film about a series of HS revenge killings against oppressive bullies.

The cast of the satirical cult film was composed of a group of up-and-coming young stars, including Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, and Shannen Doherty. The film contained a unique and distinctive set of teen slang and dialogue, including the following iconic, oft-used terms: "What is your damage?" (similar to "What's your problem?"), "F--k me gently with a chainsaw," "megabitch," "such a pillowcase" (similar to "basket-case"), "swatch dog" (referring to someone hooked on the latest fashion, i.e., a Swatch watch), "It'll be very" (meaning impressive or awesome), and "--- much?" (i.e., "jealous much?" or "morbid much?").

The film's male rebel character was named Jason "J.D." Dean (Christian Slater), recalling the name of the original "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) actor James Dean, with the initials signifiying 'Juvenile Delinquent'. He wore black, rode a motorcycle, and the cool-headed, smooth-talking, unconventional male, often speaking with a Jack Nicholson accent, couldn't be pushed around, although beneath his 'devil-may-care' demeanor, he also expressed mental sociopathic behavior.

Although the film first premiered in Italy in 1988, it went into wide US theatrical release in 1989, distributed by New World Pictures. Its budget of 2ドル-3 million resulted in very poor gross revenues of 1ドル.1 million. Its low performance at the box-office changed after it was released on home video, and it developed into a major cult film with a strong group of followers who discovered its underlying subversiveness. It later became a modern-day TV series in 2018, and was also rebooted as a TV movie - Heathers: The Musical (2022).

• the film's title credits played while accompanied on the soundtrack by "Que Sera, Sera," performed by Syd Straw (and arranged by Van Dyke Parks); in the backyard of Veronica Sawyer's mansion; in the fantasy-dream sequence, three affluent, well-dressed, stylish teen girls approached with croquet mallets (their yellow, red, and green shoes matched the color of their respective balls and mallets) - they were very popular HS teens in a powerful, self-appointed HS clique, all sharing a first name:
  • Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk) - in yellow, a cheerleader
  • Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) - in red - the "Heather Number One" or leader of the group
  • Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) - in green, red-haired, reading a paperback copy of "Moby Dick"; bulemic, and studious
• after a few plays, Heather Chandler approached her red ball, kissed it, put it back on the ground, and then took a shot; it struck Veronica (Winona Ryder) in the head, who was buried up to her neck in the ground; she was the fourth member of their social clique; the croquet game was being used as a symbol of the way the teen girls played cruel 'social games' and manipulatively controlled each other and their peers
• in the next sequence, in the hallway of Veronica's Westerburg High School (in Sherwood, Ohio), she spoke (in voice-over) her most recent diary entry, beginning with "Dear Diary"; she was at the bottom of her group's pecking order, evidenced when she was ordered by two other Heathers: H. Duke and H. McNamara, to meet in the school cafeteria with the self-declared leader of their foursome - H. Chandler; Veronica was often pressured and chosen to play mean and dirty pranks on prospective enemies, or to just bully other undesirable students; their misdeed this time was that she was commanded to write a "hot and horny" note in football jock student Kurt Kelly's handwriting and place it on overweight, unpopular student Martha "Dumptruck" Dunnstock's (Carrie Lynn) lunch tray; H. Chandler added:
  • "The note'll give her shower nozzle masturbation material for weeks"
• at another cafeteria table, the two senior jocks wearing football lettermen-jackets, were eyeing the Heathers group, and fantasizing about having sex with Veronica and H. Chandler together:
  • Kurt (Lance Fenton): "It would be so righteous to be in a Veronica Sawyer/Heather Chandler sandwich"
    Ram Sweeney (Patrick Labyorteaux): "...I wanna get a Heather, and put her on my johnson, and just like start spinnin' her around like a god-damn pinwheel"
• H. McNamara slipped Veronica's forged note onto Martha's tray; Veronica was appalled, and expressed her distaste for her group's sadistic pleasures, but went along in order to appease the Heathers and to maintain her own place in the adolescent social order
• it was revealed that Veronica had recently joined the Heathers, in order to procure a higher status, although she tried to remain friends with "different kinds of people," including members of her former "geek squad"; she briefly chatted with Betty Finn (Reneé Estevez), one of her ex-best friends and one of many 'nerdy' and "dateless' young girls she used to hang out with, but was pulled away by H. Chandler; she tried to tell Chandler that she did not enjoy her cruelties, and had a hidden loathing and animosity against her: ("Does it not bother you that everybody in this school thinks that you're a piranha?"); Chandler coldly retorted: "Like I give a s--t. They all want me as a friend or a f--k. I'm worshipped at Westerburg, and I'm only a junior"; she regarded those below her as "the scum of the school"
• the group of girls gathered around to cruelly observe Martha reading the note and then approaching Kurt at his lunch table; she was shamed, humiliated, and laughed at by the jocks and the Heathers, but Veronica was not entertained; she glanced away and happened to notice a new, good-looking male student who was also not amused by the degrading incident; Veronica walked away disgusted, but H. Chandler then reminded her that she had wanted to be one of the "Heathers" - the most powerful clique in school; she added an insult: "You used to have a sense of humor"

• after a brief visit to the girls' bathroom to freshen up and to allow the bulemic H. Duke to throw up, the group returned to the cafeteria, where H. McNamara noticed Veronica's interest in the new boy wearing black: ("Drool much?"); alone, Veronica approached him and briefly introduced herself, and learned that the outsider's name was Jason "J.D." Dean (Christian Slater), but she was curtly escorted away by the pushy H. Chandler; moments later, the two football jocks Kelly and the hot-headed Ram approached J.D. to "scare" and intimidate him; after they insinuated that he was a "fag," he called them "assholes" - then stood up, and drew a gun and shot both of the bullies (the gun was filled with blanks) to scare them
• the next scene was later in the day - croquet-playing between the clique's members, symbolic of their pecking order with the domineering H. Chandler calling the shots
• during a brief outdoor lunch and conversation with her ultra-wealthy, dull parents (William Cort and Jennifer Rhodes), Veronica told them that she was getting ready for her first Remington University frat party that evening; she also briefly mentioned her interest in a "dark horse" prom prospect

• on the way to the party during a quick stop (with H. Chandler driving) for snacks at the Snappy Snack Shack convenience store, Veronica ran into J.D. again; she briefly learned about his restless past - he had moved around and attended schools in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Vegas before landing in Ohio; he bought her a Cherry Coke slushie; outside, she admired his motorcycle; he told her it was a "humble perk" from his father's Big Bud Dean Construction Company; she revealed through a confession that she was unhappy with her life and friends: ("I don't really like my friends...they're people I work with, and our job is being popular and s--t"); he suggested: "Maybe it's time to take a vacation"
• at the frat party, Veronica begrudgingly participated in drinking a beer while engaged in shallow small talk with Brad (Kent Stoddard), without having sex, while H. Chandler was making out with David (Larry Cox) and reluctantly giving him fellatio (off-screen) in his private bedroom; afterwards, she washed out her mouth and spit onto her reflection in a mirror, revealing her own self-hatred; in the living room, Veronica was beginning to feel sick and asked to "jam," but H. Chandler refused to leave early
• Veronica bent down and accidentally vomited onto H. Chandler's shoes; outside, Chandler vengefully retaliated by spewing vitriolic hatred for Veronica, and vowed to ruin her reputation at school and make her a nobody again:
  • "You were nothing before you met me. You were playing Barbies with Betty Finn. You were a bluebird. You were a Brownie. You were a Girl-Scout cookie. I got you into a Remington party. What's my thanks? It's on the hallway carpet. I got paid in puke...Monday morning, you're history. I'll tell everyone about tonight."
• once Veronica returned home and was back in her bedroom, she had vigorously written a series of hateful entries (seen in flash-forwards) into her Dear Diary, promising to end the no-good Heathers social clique and their tyrannical control over her (and the mistreatment of her nerdy friends) by wishing them all dead - it was the film's major turning point:
  • "I want to kill, and you have to believe it's for more than just selfish reasons... I understand that I must stop Heather....Betty Finn was a true friend, and I sold her out for a bunch of Swatch-dogs and Diet Coke-heads. Killing Heather would be like offing the Wicked Witch of the West. Wait, East, West? God, I sound like a f--king psycho!...Let me dream of a world without Heather, a world where I am free."
• in disgust, Veronica threw her diary across the room, and was startled by the unexpected appearance of J.D. climbing in her window; after he asked for a croquet-match on the backyard lawn: ("You up for a match?"), their clothes were seen in disarray spread out over the game area; they were lying together naked, wrapped in a blanket after making love; he agreed with her assessment of the foul H. Chandler:
  • "Heather Chandler is one bitch that deserves to die."

• early the next morning, on a Saturday, the two snuck into H. Chandler's home kitchen to vengefully concoct a liquid drink that would end her vomiting as a "hang-over cure"; Veronica proposed mixing it together with milk and OJ or in a heated can of soup, but J.D suggested having her drink a bluish toxic drain cleaner ("Hull Clean"); Veronica dismissed the idea: "Don't be a dick. That stuff'll kill her"; they ended up preparing two identical white coffee mugs with lids - one with the deadly substance added and one without; as the two kissed, Veronica mistakenly picked up the wrong cup and delivered it to H. Chandler's bedroom where she was still sleeping
• Veronica apologized to the awakened "Number One" for their previous night's altercation, and offered her the mug with a "hang-over" antidote as a peace gesture; J.D. challenged H. Chandler to drink it when she first refused: "I knew this stuff'd be too intense for her," and she shouted back at him: "Just give me the cup, jerk!"; she drank the blue mixture, grabbed her throat, and fell forward dead - head first through her glass table; the panicked Veronica was stunned: "I just killed my best friend" J.D. added: "And your worst enemy"
• the two noticed a yellow-and-black Cliff's Notes primer for Sylvia Plath's suicidal treatise "The Bell Jar" on the remnants of the table, prompting J.D. to suggest that they make it look like a "suicide thing" by having Veronica forge a suicide note (in Chandler's hand-writing):
  • "You might think what I've done is shocking...To me, though, suicide is the natural answer to the myriad of problems life has given me. People think just because you're beautiful and popular, life is easy and fun. No-one understood, I had feelings too. I die knowing no-one knew the real me."

• the ploy seemed to work; the day after the suicide, the Westerburg High School Principal Gowan (John Ingle) met with Counselor Paul Hyde (Stuart Mabray), emotionally-affected hippie teacher Pauline Fleming (Penelope Milford) and others in a conference room, to discuss how Heather's death was considered a tragic event in the life of a very popular but troubled teen clique leader; the dead Heather was regarded more highly in death than in life, illustrated by "Female Stoner" student Tracy's (Bess Meyer) remark: "Thought she was your usual airhead bitch. Guess I was wrong. We all were"; in the locker room, Veronica stood fully clothed in the shower to cleanse herself; in Ms. Fleming's classroom, Veronica listened as Heather and her suicide note (with "pathetic beauty") was lauded by her teacher, as "an example of the profound sensitivity of which a human animal is capable"; students were encouraged to react and share their feelings
• at J.D.'s house, Veronica and J.D. flipped through numerous TV channel reports, all airing individuals being interviewed and recalling how caring Heather was (i.e., "It's not going to be the same here without her"); Veronica lambasted the phony remembrances: "What're you talking about? You hated her, she hated you"; she thought it was "scary stuff" to watch, as J.D. remarked: "Heather Chandler's more popular than ever, now"; Veronica suspected that Heather Duke, who appeared on all of the various TV station interviews, was vying to replace the dead "Number One' Heather
• when J.D.'s father walked in, J.D. introduced Veronica to him as his "girlfriend"; their strange conversation (with reversed pronouns) included talk of using explosives to end complaints against Bud's company from the "Save The Memorial Oak Tree" Society in Kansas; Veronica declined a dinner invitation, and returned home; she experienced a repeat of meaningless talk with her shallow parents
• Veronica left to prepare to attend the funeral for Heather "Number One," conducted by Father Ripper (Glenn Shadix):
  • "I blame not Heather, but rather a society that tells its youth that the answers can be found in the MTV video games. We must pray that the other teenagers of Sherwood, Ohio know the name of that Righteous Dude who can solve their problems. It's Jesus Christ, and he's in the Book."
• afterwards, one by one, H. McNamara, Peter, Ram, H. Duke, and Veronica knelt and prayed silently (with voice-over thoughts) next to the open casket; Veronica apologized to God, but claimed she didn't really kill Heather, and had only wanted to cleanse her high school: "Hi, I'm sorry. Technically I did not kill Heather Chandler, but hey, who am I trying to kid, right? I just want my high school to be a nice place. Amen. Did that sound bitchy?"
• although she was going with J.D., Veronica accepted Heather M's double-date invitation with Kurt and Ram; that evening in a farm pasture, the two football jocks drank heavily and as Veronica feared, they became "s--t-faced"; the two jerks cow-tipped a big heifer and splashed mud onto their dates; then, Ram was forcibly 'raping' Heather before Kurt passed out in the field; J.D. appeared, walked up to observe and asked Veronica: "What is this s--t?"; he disparaged her school ("seven schools in seven states") and then invited her to get a slushie - they rode off on his motorcycle
• the next day at school, Veronica realized that a false rumor had been spread by Kurt; she was told by classmates Country Club Courtney (Sherrie Wills) and Peter Dawson (Jeremy Applegate) about how she had performed oral sex on both males Kurt and Ram at the same time: (Peter: "Kelly...said that he and Ram had a nice little sword fight in your mouth last night"); it was their strategy to ruin her reputation; she decided to strike back and get even - with J.D.'s urging and help
• Veronica phoned Kurt and seductively promised to fulfill his sexual fantasy: "I was wondering if you wanted all those things you've been saying to really happen? It's always been a fantasy of mine to have two guys at once"; she arranged for them to meet with her at dawn in the woods behind the school
• after hanging up, Veronica complained: "My Bonnie and Clyde days are over" to J.D. when he told her that he was loading his gun with real bullets; he reassured her that this time, he would shoot them with old WWII German non-fatal fake bullets (known as "Ich Luge" - translated "I'm lying" in German); J.D. promised that they would act like tranquilizers (causing unconsciousness), would only break the skin, and cause just a little bleeding; J.D. added that they would stage it like the two had shot each other; a confessional suicide note (forged with Kurt's handwriting) would reveal how the two were secret homosexual lovers with a suicide pact - who were ashamed of their sexual affair and covered up by being two "sexist, beer guzzling jock assholes"; to implicate the two guys as gays, they would litter the double-suicide crime scene with incriminating "homosexual artifacts," such as an issue of Stud Puppy, a candy dish, a Joan Crawford postcard, mascara, and mineral water

• at the designated rendezvous location, Veronica instructed the two eager jocks to strip down at a circle marking before they could rip her clothes off - and they agreed; on the count of three, J.D. emerged and shot Ram dead, but Veronica's shot toward Kurt missed and he ran off; as J.D. chased after Kurt, Veronica realized that Ram was really dead; Kurt was pursued and chased back in Veronica's direction, where J.D. called out for her to shoot; in a panic, she shot him dead in the chest with her gun; the artifacts (and the two guns) were planted with the suicide note on or next to their bodies
• two police officers, Officer McCord (Mark Bringelson) and Officer Milner (Chuck Lafont) heard the shots and found their two dead bodies in the woods behind the high school; Veronica and J.D. were chased by Officer Milner, who was fooled when he found them half-naked and pretending to be making out in the front seat of a parked station wagon; the two officers immediately suspected that the two football players were "fags" who had made a double-suicide pact (with a note):
  • Off. McCord: "The quarter back, buggering the line backer. What a waste!"
    Off. Milner: "Oh, the humanity!"
• afterwards, Veronica was disillusioned by J.D., and how she had been tricked by him into sadistically killing the two males - she screamed at him: "I did not want them dead!" and they argued; school for the day was cancelled due to the discovery of "a repressed homosexual suicide pact"; J.D. had no sympathy for the victims: "Kurt and Ram had nothing to offer this school but date rapes and AIDS jokes"

• Veronica (accompanied by J.D.) attended her second funeral in just a matter of days; the two open caskets displayed the two deceased jocks wearing their football helmets and jerseys, with footballs resting in their arms; Kurt's father (Mark Carlton) praised his dead homo son: "My son's a homosexual, and I love him! I love my dead gay son!"; J.D. was unsure of the claim: "How do you think he'd react to a son that had a limp wrist with a pulse?"; Veronica reacted with a giggle, but then noticed a young crying sister of one of the males in the front pew
• in her bedroom, Veronica wrote in her diary - she was forced to admit that the faked suicidal deaths had actually and adversely memorialized or made heroic martyrs of its victims:
  • "My teen angst bulls--t has a body count....Suicide gave Heather depth, Kurt a soul, Ram a brain. I don't know what it's getting me, but I've got no control over myself when I'm with J.D. Are we going to prom or to hell?"
• at Westerburg High, due to the pervasive sadness after three suicides, Principal Gowan finally gave in to the request of hippie teacher Pauline Fleming to hold an emotional "love-in" in the cafeteria on Friday afternoon; during the event dubbed "The New Beginning" that was filmed by a TV crew, Pauline enjoined everyone to hold hands and join her "crusade" to promote "cleansing syncronicity" and an "outpouring of emotions"
• at J.D.'s home, Veronica judged the "love-in" as negative "chaos," although J.D. viewed it positively: "Chaos is great! Chaos is what killed the dinosaurs, darling. Face it, our way is the way. I mean, we scare people into not being assholes!"; Veronica was becoming increasingly disturbed by J.D.'s extreme views and murderous behavior: "Our way is not 'our' way!"
• J.D.'s father entered legally victorious with proof on a demolition videotape: "We beat the bitches...The Judge told them to slurp s--t and die"; he was ruled not responsible for blowing up a multi-story building using explosives: ("I put a Norwegian in the boiler room. Masterful! And then, when that blew, it set off a pack of thermals I stuck upstairs"); moments later, Veronica quizzed J.D. about his unusual father; J.D. told her how his mother had deliberately committed suicide:
  • "They said her death was an accident, but she knew what she was doing. She walked into the building [a library] two minutes before my dad blew the place up. She waved at me, and then - Boom!"
• the last straw for Veronica came when the popular 'Hot Probs' DJ (James 'Poorman' Trenton) on the radio station they were listening to played 'their' song, Big Fun's popular hit: "Teenage Suicide Don't Do It"; he turned up the volume, but then drew his gun and blasted the boom box; Veronica decided to break up with J.D.; she finally realized he was becoming dangerous, reckless and untrustworthy: "That's it! We're breaking up!"; she further explained: "I am not trying to bring anybody back, except maybe myself"; he forced a kiss from her; as she stomped off, she told him: "And to think there was a time when I actually thought you were cool!...Don't mess with me"; he responded that he knew she'd eventually come back to him ("You'll be back")
• in a school classroom, J.D. approached H. Duke to blackmail her with an old photograph of her standing next to the unpopular Martha Dunnstock when they were younger friends before the 'Heathers' clique was formed; to keep the photos out of circulation, H. Duke promised to become the new "Number One" Heather; his motivation was to provoke Veronica's murderous anger and affectionate reliance on him once again: ("I want your strength. Westerburg doesn't need mushy togetherness, it needs a strong leader..."); he handed over H. Chandler's red scrunchie for her to wear, as a symbol of her new status; he promised to give her the negatives and photos if she later agreed to his "favor"; she proceeded to adopt Chandler's previous leadership role
• to renew her friendships with other less popular students, Veronica invited Betty Finn over for a game of croquet; Veronica assured Betty: "You know Betty, your day dreams are much better than my reality, believe me"
• the often-bullied Martha Dunnstock, wearing a "Big Fun" white T-shirt, walked toward a busy street with a suicide note pinned to her chest; apparently, she felt that her death would make her popular; she proceeded to enter the heavy traffic to kill herself; at the same time, Veronica was angrily lecturing and complaining to her parents, as they watched the TV video of the school's "love-in," about how the exploitative media was unwittingly glorifying suicide and encouraging teens to be copy-cats ("They make it sound like it's a cool thing to do!")
• H. Duke breezed into the room to tell Veronica that Martha had attempted suicide: ("Martha Dumptruck tried to buy the farm. She belly-flopped in front of a car, wearing a suicide note"), and although she was injured, she had survived and was in stable condition; Veronica was repulsed by Duke's attitude when she snidely added: "Just another example of a geek trying to imitate the popular people at school, and failing miserably"; Veronica slapped Duke's face; later that night at 8 pm in Veronica's bedroom, H. Duke was still talking with Veronica and mocking Martha's failure:
  • "Get crucial. She has dialed the suicide hotline since she was in diapers....Look! Martha couldn't take the heat, so she got out of the kitchen. Just think what a better place this world would be if every moron followed her cue."
• the two reconciled teens listened on the radio to their favorite "Hot Probs" DJ, and heard the familiar voice of H. McNamara calling in with growing guilt and depression, and confessing as she cried about how miserable she was:
  • "God has cursed me, I think. The last guy I had sex with, killed himself the next day. I'm failing math, my whole life is a mess. I was supposed to be captain of the cheerleading team"
• H. Duke, the new detestable "Number One," vowed to humiliate H. McNamara at school: "We'll crucify her!"; the next day at school, H. Duke had told everyone about H. McNamara's confessional, and had written on a classroom blackboard: "Poor Little Heather"; the humiliated McNamara fled to the bathroom where Veronica pursued after her and prevented her from suicidally overdosing on pills:
  • "Heather, you're throwing your life away to become a statistic in the U.S. f--king A. today...If you're happy every day of your life, you wouldn't be a human being, you'd be a game show host."
• later at school, as a result of J.D.'s successful blackmail of H. Duke, as promised, he burned her photographs, and then asked for his "favor" from her -- to have her promote a petition for all students to sign, to endorse the rock band Big Fun to appear at the school's prom and play their hit song: "Teenage Suicide Don't Do It"
• after everyone had agreed to sign her petition (sometimes with alterations), H. Duke bragged to Veronica that she was the only one left to sign: ("People love me! You know, you haven't signed yet"); Veronica still refused; Duke then revealed that the petition was all J.D.'s idea; Veronica again gave her an emphatic "No," prompting H. Duke to ask: "Jealous much?"; Veronica tried and failed to strike Duke again, and then wondered why she was such a "megabitch"; H. Duke's answer to her was shocking:
  • "Because I can be. Veronica, why are you pulling my dick? Do you think, I mean, do you really think if Betty Finn's fairy godmother made her cool, she would still hang out with her dweebette friends? No way, Veronica"
• after H. Duke left, J.D. approached Veronica to ask for a date, but she sarcastically replied: "I was thinking more along the lines of slitting Heather Duke's wrists open, making it look like a suicide"; she struck him after he confidently told her: "I knew you'd be back" and tried to kiss her; she blew him off: "It's over J.D., over. Grow up!"

• back at her house after school, Veronica's parents told her that a concerned J.D. had stopped by, and her friend told them that she was suicidal; they gave her an envelope that he had given them; she opened the letter and read the handwritten note inside ("Recognize the handwriting?") - forged in her own handwriting; it suggested to Veronica that J.D. might try to kill her, using their tested "suicide" alibi technique; her parents continued to describe J.D.'s precautions: "He said we should keep you away from sharp objects, closed garage doors, chemicals, prescription drugs"
• (spoiler) - the next sequence was a nightmare - she retreated to her bedroom, where she noticed a 'Barbie Doll' (with a BIG FUN T-shirt), a representation of herself, hanging from the ceiling; she went to sleep for a nap but then suddenly, J.D. was sitting next to her on the bed quoting from H. Duke's gift to him - her copy of Moby Dick; Veronica lashed out at him:
  • "Get off of my bed, you f--king psycho!...You're not a rebel, you're a f--king psychotic!"
• Veronica and J.D. prepared to murder the new Heather "Number One" Duke by stabbing her with a large butcher knife (that reflected Veronica's face), and then using Duke's copy of a meaningfully marked-up copy of Moby Dick as her suicide pact, plus a badly-scrawled "LIFE SUCKS" note; afterwards at Duke's funeral, Veronica at the back of the church listened as Father Ripper extolled the latest suicide victim Duke as "Sherwood's little Eskimo" who had been frozen in pain; the motionless mourners in the pews wore identical dark sunglasses and white robes with black armbands; the deceased H. Chandler briefly appeared, complaining about the boring afterlife where she repeated sang 'Kumbaya'
• Veronica abruptly woke up from her nightmare when her mother called out "DINNER!"; she sat down to write in her diary, vowing that she was now the only one who could stop J.D.'s killing spree:
  • "Well, now it's my turn. Let's see how this son of a bitch reacts to a suicide he didn't perform himself!"
• outside, J.D. (with a gun) used a ladder to climb up to Veronica's bedroom window; he discovered her hanging by a bedsheet noose from her bedroom ceiling - an apparent suicide; in a distressed monologue, he admitted he had intended to kill her, but had already found his revenge by having the entire student body sign the "Big Fun" petition - a disguised declaration of mass suicide the next day (Friday) at a pep rally in the gymnasium; outloud, J.D. read the exact petition statement, describing how the undersigned students of Westerburg HS had agreed to die in a massive suicidal explosion:
  • "We, students at Westerburg High, will die. Today. Our burning bodies will be the ultimate protest to a society that degrades us. F--k you all!"
• J.D. expressed dismay: "It's gonna be a Woodstock for the Eighties! Damn it, Veronica! We could have toasted some marshmallows together!"; he hurriedly left when he heard Veronica's mother approaching the room; moments later, it was revealed that Veronica had faked her own death - she disattached the harness that had supported her; meanwhile, J.D. had returned home to manufacture multiple bombs (sticks of dynamite wrapped together, with timing devices and detonators)
• Veronica rushed to school, where she learned that J.D. had told teacher Pauline Fleming that Veronica had committed suicide; she noticed J.D. entering school with a large satchel; she discreetly followed him as he slipped into the gymnasium to plant and strap home-made explosives under the bleachers-stands

• she encountered him in the 'Boiler Room' underneath the gymnasium while students began to gather for the afternoon pep rally; she caught him off-guard and held him at gunpoint as he had the final bomb in his hand:
  • "Like father, like son. A serious-as-f--k bomb in the boiler room to set off a pack of thermals upstairs. OK. Let's start by putting the bomb down on the ground."
• J.D. knocked her unconscious against the wall, but then she regained consciousness; she confronted him again, and struck him with a fire extinguisher, with only about 1:40 minutes remaining on the timer; as they fought and struggled together, he tried to kiss her, but she kneed him in the groin and then grabbed his dislodged gun; he ran off, but she followed and threatened to kill him; she ordered him to tell her how to disable and turn off the detonator: ("How do I turn off the god-damn bomb, asshole?"); he responded by giving her the middle finger; she fired one shot and removed the offending finger from his hand
• as his hand bled profusely, with only 40 seconds left, he collapsed and complained of being unloved, but was eager to be welcomed into heaven where he thought there would be social equality:
  • "Maybe I am killing everyone in the school, because nobody loves me! Let's face it, alright! The only place where different social types can genuinely get along with each other is in heaven"
• after he preached to her that the school was itself to blame for self-destructing, he instructed her to press the middle red button to turn off the bomb; she asked: "Which red button?" and then shot him twice more, causing him to thrust his switchblade knife into the time bomb to cut the wires and disable the detonator - with only 4 seconds left; after saving the school, she walked outside, believing that the severely-injured J.D. was dead; however, he stumbled after her and gave her a compliment: "I'm impressed. You really f--ked me up pretty bad, Veronica. You, uhm, you've got power, power I didn't think you had"
• to wipe the slate "clean," he opened his trench-coat to reveal that he had a secondary solution - he had strapped a bomb to his chest; he activated the timer buttons and then delivered his own eulogy as he walked away:
  • "Pretend I did blow up the school. All the schools. Now that you're dead, what are you gonna do with your life?"

• apathetic to any more of his words and freed of his influence, Veronica responded by placing an unlit cigarette into her mouth to dangle from her lips; moments later after tweaking the wired connection, J.D. assumed a crucifix pose (with his arms outstretched) as the bomb detonated and suicidally blew him up; after the explosion, Veronica's face was singed with soot and her cigarette was lit, leaving her disheveled; the students from the gym rushed outside after hearing the blast
• Veronica re-entered the school corridor, approached H. Duke, and symbolically condemned her and ended her reign as "Number One" by grabbing her red scrunchie and placing it on her own hair - while successfully proclaiming:
  • "Heather, my love, there's a new sheriff in town."
• she kissed Duke's cheek, leaving a black mark; further down the hallway, Veronica invited neck-braced Martha (in a wheelchair) to join her on prom night: ("My date for the prom kind of flaked out on me") - to eat popcorn and watch a rented movie; Martha smiled and accepted the kind invitation: "I'd like that"; Veronica answered: "Yeah, so would I"
• the scrolling end credits played with a second version of "Que Sera, Sera," performed by Sly and the Family Stone