Date of airing: October 12, 2004 (UPN)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.71 million viewers, 1.9/3 in Households, 1.2/3 with Adults 18-49
written by: Jed Seidel
directed by: Harry Winer
The Fall broadcast network television season of 2004 had a story about a post-op transgender character. This is s a fact we might be forgetting every once in a while, since there are not a lot of transgender characters on 2000s television and before (an episode of KAREN SISCO in 2003 had the first-ever transgender character be played by a transgender actor on broadcast network TV), although we have all the reason in the world to forget it, considering the eponymous “John Smith” has been on screen for less than two minutes, and was never much of an important character for the narrative anyway. Still, you could think that UPN really wanted some of their shows to break the ceiling of storytelling, to include minority and diverse characters, and to focus on those that have been neglected by any of the other broadcast television dramas or comedies. Sure, VERONICA MARS is also a predominantly white show (at least it has a reason to be one, since the only rich people in Western California are white, and the black and Hispanic characters have not gotten a lot of central storylines yet), but this episode could be proof that the writers and producers did not want to be just another cishet white show. Let’s see how that morale from this episode looks like half a season in, or when VERONICA MARS changed broadcast networks for the third season.
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| Veronica wants to know everything about you to solve the case. |
It was quite the episode, as the writers dished a surprising ending to the stand-alone private eye storyline, while it also continued to give the B plot to one of the other characters of this ensemble, with Duncan Kane being in the spotlight this time around. It is especially fascinating to me, because the previous episode made Logan less of an asshole, like he was depicted as one during the pilot, and this episode essentially did the same with Duncan. Both guys have gotten color and depth during their respective B storylines, and both have been given a connection to Veronica, which means they can easily become allies with the teenage private eye if the plot demands it so. The murder of Lily Kane might have already connected them before, during, and after Veronica removed herself from the 09ers, but after three episodes, they somewhat shared a few moments, they share an indirect relationship, and deep down they know they can rely on Veronica when they need to, whether it is because they need her help for something, or because Veronica happens to not be a dick to them. Besides that, in Duncan’s case, all of this is helped by the fact that he still has feelings for Veronica. That way, she can have two guys circling her, ready to be her boyfriend, but that way, Duncan also doesn’t distance himself from Veronica, and their backstory, their previous relationship, will always be an issue in the show. And it better be because the flashbacks so far certainly focused on their relationship. During this hour more so than during the previous two hours.
Meanwhile, Justin learned what it is like to live a life according to a hateful parent. What a shame the writers did not go deeper into Justin’s family dynamic, because I would have loved to hear how his mother really hated her ex-husband, and how the lie of Justin’s father having died seven years ago was a surefire way to keep Justin away from his origins, as well as away from anything that can be considered progressive. Either his mother really hated his father for something he did during the marriage, or maybe the hatred just stemmed out of the fact that “John Smith” was never able to live a life as a man because she was a woman. There is a story missing and I would have loved seeing it from Justin's mother's point of view, but unfortunately, she was never destined to be a character in this episode.
By the way, let’s not forget that Justin only “hired” Veronica to find his father because he was hoping to score with her. That by itself is messed up, but imagine how Justin must have felt when he went from “Hopefully I am going smash Veronica on prom night” to “Holy crap, I have a father who is now a woman.” The kid's world must have fallen into itself like a house of cards. And the episode had no interest in diving further into that part of Justin’s story.
At least Justin’s story was well connected to Veronica’s story of wanting to find her own mother. There were obvious similarities between those two premises, and those were even mentioned during the car ride back, when Veronica had to tell Justin about the 90 miles drive his father took every week to see her son. We should not be forgetting that Veronica is a teenager herself, and all she wants is a family who loves her, and supports her in everything she is doing, but here she is – her father gives her enough freedom to follow her own PI cases, but her mother is nowhere to be found and she does not get the experience of having two parents care for her. I can understand the jealousy Veronica feels for Justin, which makes the fact that Justin was never much of a character in this episode even more hurtful. Maybe it was just the choice of casting.
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| Conversations with a dead girl. |
And then there was Keith’s little potentially romantic connection with Veronica’s very much attractive guidance counselor. Apparently, there is no high school TV drama without one of the fathers of the students doing it with one of the faculty of the high school, or at least such an adult romantic relationship causing trouble for one of the main characters who happens to be a student in said high school. Let’s just hope that Veronica is as fine with her father dating part of her Neptune High faculty as Keith is pretty much fine with Veronica dating a random rich boy. Although he certainly did not seem to be fine with it, judging by his night watch on the couch, waiting for his only child to return home from her date night out.
