I’m not going to lie to you – I didn’t understand the name of this episode until I just typed it in the title line. WOW. That’s really sad. It’s not a difficult reference to understand! I guess I’m just kind of slow. *shrug* In any case. This episode was a vast improvement on last week’s, for SEVERAL reasons! Which I’ll get into! Below!
Highlights
- Veronica and Logan go through Logan’s mom’s credit card statements, and she tells him which card has been active. It’s the only one that is still registered in Logan’s mom’s maiden name, rather than Echolls.
- There’s a school dance, and Meg (remember Meg? From an earlier episode where V has to wear her cheerleading uniform out of gym class? The one with the slut test or whatever Mac called it? [Edit: That episode is “Like a Virgin.“]) pulls Veronica aside to see if she can help Meg find her secret admirer. He’s been texting and then starts sending flowers. V is distracted by Logan and the case she’s working this episode, so she’s not a very good friend to Meg. But Meg is good to her… for the most part. V doesn’t figure out who the secret admirer is before the dance, but she supports Meg regardless.
- Logan’s mom’s card is used at a local hotel, so Logan and Veronica go there to try to figure out who’s in the room. When they’re told the room has a private elevator and the person rarely comes out, Logan decides to stake out the room. He’s there for a long time before V comes back to “smoke” the occupant out by cancelling the card. It turns out… it’s Logan’s half-sister, Trina, who has been masquerading as her step-mom for the time being.
- Once Trina leaves and Logan and Veronica are alone in the lobby again, Logan breaks down and V holds him while he cries. It’s heartbreaking.
- A Russian lady comes to Mars Investigations requesting help finding her lost suitor, or whatever. She was a mail order bride who thought her dude wasn’t hot enough for her, she said, but then she regretted it and wanted him back. V can’t find him through the normal checks – he had a tricky name to find. Tom Cruz hahaha. So the Russian lady pays for a full PI service and V tracks him down for her.
- Mr. Mars, meanwhile, is trying to figure out this insurance scandal thing, and he notices a car following him while he’s following the other guy. He has someone run the plate and it comes back to these two Russian mobsters. Guess who’s working with them? The Russian lady. Her long lost love was in witness protection, and V almost gave up his location! Big yikes, and a close save by Mr. Mars. I also want it noted that Wallace helped V a lot with this Tom Cruz investigation, lol. I love Wallace.
- At some point in the episode, V stops by the Sheriff’s office to get something from Deputy Leo (gotta love a young Max Greenfield *heart eyes*), and Meg sees them together. Leo was part of the arrest of the Russian dudes, too, so he’s mixed throughout the episode. This is relevant!
- The big dance at the end is where everything comes together. Meg and V get ready and go together. V convinces Meg to give the secret admirer a chance. The secret admirer turns out to be Duncan?! So V has to see that, and then she goes out to her car and cries. BUT THEN. Deputy Leo shows up at the dance! Oh, it’s the cutest. They dance and they’re having a great time… but then a very drunk Logan shows up dressed like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. (It was an 80’s dance – that’s important to that description, lol.) V keeps trying to get his keys and Logan keeps asking who Deputy Leo is and it’s kind of comical. But then Trina shows up to bring Logan home. And then Deputy Leo and V kiss. And then V gets another call from this number who keeps calling her and not saying anything, and Deputy Leo calls back and some guy answers and says it’s a pay phone. He describes a blond lady who keeps using it. V kisses Leo again and then runs out on him.
- Veronica heads straight to the location of the pay phone. It’s outside a bar. Inside, she finds her mother!! Drunk, and not doing well. She doesn’t want to go with V, says it’s not safe, and V says she knows who is after them and it’s fine. But then GUESS WHO SHOWS UP IN THE BAR?? Clarence fucking Weidman. Go away, man!
- And that’s the end. Uffda, after having a lot of episodes where not a lot happened, a lot happened here!
Episode Mystery
This one’s tough! The main mystery was tracking down Tom Cruz, but there’s also the mystery of Meg’s secret admirer. It seems like a lesser mystery, but it’s really not because it ends up being Duncan and that tilts Veronica’s entire world. So anyway. This stuff wasn’t as interesting this week (although, had they explored the witness protection a little more, that could have gotten good), but the Overall Mystery category is going to be on fire from now on.
Overall Mystery
- Who killed Lilly Kane?
Not a lot of advancement here, but Clarence Weidman is back, and that’s not great.
- Who raped Veronica?
No progress made in this episode.
- Where is Lianne Mars?
AHA! She’s at a bar in the desert and keeps calling V on her cell phone from a pay phone but not saying anything!
- 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? [solved!]
Yeah, she is. And that really sucks for Logan, who finally breaks down with V.
What Aged Like a Dairy Product
Mail order brides? Lol, I kid, those def still exist, unfortunately. I highly doubt that a teenager would be able to track down someone in witness protection, but what do I really know.
There’s also the ability that Trina had to impersonate her stepmom with a hotel for so long. I don’t think that would work in this day and age, honestly. They always ask for ID.
What Aged Like a Fine Wine
The friendships in the show. Logan’s honest grief and acting out afterward. How sweet Deputy Leo is to Veronica. There was a lot of good in this episode.
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.
This was a good episode! I’m glad we’re back on track to start tackling those season-long mysteries. There was so much I loved about this episode, but the three biggest things are watching V’s friendships with Wallace and Meg, Logan completely trusting Veronica in his time of need, and sweet, sweet Deputy Leo. I’m giving Season 1, Episode 15 a BLUE rating! Super solid.
Sorry this was a day late! I wanted it to be good and not half-assed at the end of a busy week. Stay healthy, Marshmallows!
Snark & Squee 