Season 1, Episode 3
Date of airing: October 12, 2004 (UPN)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.71 million viewers, 1.9 rating/3 share in Households, 1.2 rating/3 share with Adults 18-49
Written by: Jed Seidel
Directed by: Harry Winer
”90 miles.”
“What's 90 miles?”
“It's the distance your dad travels every week to see you for a few seconds.”
This is the standard every parent should live by, and if they fail that standard, they shouldn't be considered parents, and instead just a couple of random people who had sex, made you, raised you, and then threw you to the wolves to fend for yourself. I would have wished I had a parent like Justin – going on a day-long journey just to see their kid and have a quick conversation with them. My parents couldn't even be bothered to show up to my school plays or allow me to have friends over, especially when I was one of those kids who barely had friends (and later never did) in the first place. Justin should be ecstatic that he had a parent who loved him this much, even if she was distant and a bit of a mystery for the teenager.
That his dad was also a trans woman makes for an interesting plot that the episode decided not to get into, which is both a good and a bad thing. A good thing because the writers didn't make a farce out of it (for 2004 standards, that is great!), and a bad thing because it should have been a more meaningful story. But baby steps, I guess. American broadcast television just managed to cast an actual trans actor to play a trans character for the first time on FOX's DARK ANGEL (Jessica Crockett guest-starred in the 2001 episode "Out" – her one and only role), so it would take a while until writers, producers, network executives, and viewers would be comfortable with the transgender topic.
Connecting Justin's story with Veronica's, and having her wonder about her mother, was a neat choice. I love it when the random episode plot of the week advances the main character's story arc, and gives Veronica some emotional depth that she didn't quite have in previous episodes (except for the flashbacks when she woke up after the party she was roofied and raped at). And with the story of Lianne Mars, the writers created a second mystery plot that is destined to be solved by the titular character. The murder mystery of Lilly Kane is not the only mystery on this show, it's also the disappearing act of Lianne, and why Keith wants to keep Veronica distanced from all that drama.
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| Even in the afterlife, the Kane siblings have a positive relationship. |
