Season 1, Episode 4
Date of airing: October 19, 2004 (UPN)
Nielsen ratings information: 3.12 million viewers, 2.0 rating/3 share in Households, 1.4 rating/3 share with Adults 18-49
Written by: Diane Ruggiero
Directed by: Michael Fields
”Hey, what about my SAG points?”
If there is one episode I would tell prospective VERONICA MARS watchers to watch (besides the pilot episode, but it's too heavy with exposition) to make their decision whether or not to watch the show, it's this one. It may not be the best episode of the series, but it's the one that depicts Veronica's street-smart and investigative skills when they are at their peak. Veronica goes all-in on helping Wallace's new girlfriend, and she does it by going undercover and facing the biggest douches of American colleges that exist: two white boys who think they are the masters of the universe.
This is the most fun episode when it comes to Veronica solving a case, and in addition, it's also an episode heavy on the flashbacks which happen to be part of the greatest evening in Veronica's life – which also happened to be Lilly Kane's life, giving Amanda Seyfried an entire episode to play up her cool-girl persona and giving the producers a reason to give her a couple more episodes to appear in flashbacks or as a vision to drugged-out characters.
Veronica, as a Japanimated character going undercover into the lion's den and gaming with other nerds, may be the highlight for some people – Kristen Bell in a black wig and schoolgirl attire, sitting in front of a screen and playing a first-person shooter game, as if it's the only genre of games these boys play day in and day out. You're a real gamer when you play games in at least three different genres; what those college gamers are can't be described as nerdy. Oh well, at least they allowed women in their little club, as no one batted an eye when Veronica entered and took a seat. How progressive of this show's Neptune universe.
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| Veronica Mars is sitting in front of a real hard nut to crack. |
