This is sort of a baffling episode of Veronica Mars, in terms of how to recap it and why it exists, haha. But we’re here, so let’s just dive in.
Highlights
- Veronica is framed by a secret society within Neptune High called the Tritons for making and distributing fake driver’s licenses to other students. Of course, the sheriff comes and arrests her in the middle of the school day for everyone to see.
- That same secret society allowed one of the pledges to get terrible alcohol poisoning and abandoned him at the front doors of a hospital. Yuck.
- The guidance counselor is holding sessions with all of the people who were especially affected by Lilly Kane’s murder the previous year. V is a devious person sometimes, and she planted a listening device in the guidance counselor’s stapler so she could listen in. (This is the same guidance counselor who went on some dates with Mr. Mars, you remember.) She overhears sessions with Weevil, which reveals that he had been sleeping with Lilly; Logan, which reveals why he hates V so much; and Duncan, which reveals that he’s been medicated for a very long time.
- V and Wallace attempt to hunt down the person who is actually making the fake IDs, which includes V singing karaoke and meeting with a random dude in a bathroom. But she does eventually track down their pledge ceremony and photograph it.
- Mr. Echolls asks Mr. Mars to figure out who has been selling information and pictures to the gossip magazines about him and his affairs. It turns out it’s his own wife, and he threatens to cut her off entirely if she tries to divorce him. Logan defends his mom. Actually, Logan is pretty affected still by the Christmas party incident, which was interesting to see play out.
- V reveals that the guy who initially turned her name into the school for making fake IDs was actually the one making them all along, and it was mostly because he hadn’t gotten invited to join the Tritons. So the Tritons had nothing to do with it.
- In a cliffhanger ending, Lynn Echolls’ car is stranded on a highway bridge with the doors open, and it appears that she jumped.
Episode Mystery
There’s a lot going on in this episode, but there is really only one main mystery – who framed Veronica for making the fake IDs? It leads to this goose chase of the Tritons, which shouldn’t have been her target in the first place, because they were framed too. But it all works out in the end.
There’s also the side mystery of who is leaking Aaron Echolls’ stuff to the press, but they don’t really make us care about it all that much. The reveal doesn’t mean a whole lot. Until… well, until Lynn jumped off the bridge.
Overall Mystery
Buckle up, folks, we added another mystery!
- Who killed Lilly Kane?
No progress made in this episode.
- Who raped Veronica?
I SWEAR THIS IS COMING BACK.
- Where is Lianne Mars?
It’s funny how these things come and go, isn’t it?
- Who is Veronica’s father?
So right now, V has completely put this behind her. Mr. Mars is her father. So while this is still a mystery for the audience, it’s not for her, so this won’t come back for a little bit yet.
- Is Lynn Echolls dead?
Aha, here’s the new one. It’s only a couple episode arc, but it’s worth talking about. More to come.
What Aged Like a Dairy Product
… Secret societies? I know they’re supposedly a thing at the Ivy League schools, but what the what? In a high school? I’m not sure I would have believed it when this episode aired, but I super don’t now. Hanging out in school after hours? Chanting? Hell no, that’s not a thing.
What Aged Like a Fine Wine
Like I said up front, this episode was weird. But as is usually the case, anything with Wallace and V’s friendship is ageless.
Rating
A reminder of the rating system:
- Red = I couldn’t even get through this episode because it was so bad
- Orange = Pushed through, hated everything
- Yellow = Opposite of enjoyable, but had some bright spots
- Green = This was mediocre!
- Blue = A solid episode!
- Purple = Television at it’s finest, 12/10, must watch repeatedly.
I’m struggling with this one. Nothing really progressed, and the secret society thing was weird and not believable (for me). So I’m going to have to give this one my lowest rating yet. I’m giving Season 1, Episode 12 a YELLOW rating. It wasn’t really necessary, aside from the cliffhanger ending.
We back! Stay fluffy (and healthy!), Marshmallows!
Snark & Squee 