Now I have another theory. A cheap trick like making Meg's family so villainous is not VM-esque; they're usually a little more restrained with motivations. But Veronica makes that mistake all the time-- she's always quick to think someone's got some horrifically machiavellian scheme or past they're covering up. (She gets that from Keith.) So Veronica will jump to the conclusion that the child is a product of abuse. I think this episode is seeding a larger plot where her unfounded suspicions get her in much, much bigger trouble.

I want to agree with you, but I think leaving a child that age, alone at home, never mind locked in a cubby, and all the notebooks (upon notebooks) of punishment-writing can't have a conclusion that lies outside the realm of abusive.

From the promo it seems like Veronica has jumped to the conclusion that Meg's baby was fathered by Duncan. (I hope it isn't because making Duncan the Worst. Boyfriend. Ever by way of dumping his pregnant ex is a cheap way out. As would be a cheating revelation, but I digress)

edited for spelling

Yeah, I am 75% convinced the baby is not Duncan's because of that promo. I'd say 100%, but UPN does tend to give away the HSQs in promos sometimes. My first reaction to it though, was that Veronica was totally jumping to the wrong conclusion.

I'm willing to bet it's not Duncan's, but I just wish we had a clearer time frame of:

1. The season 1 finale
2. Logan's hearing
3. Logan and Veronica break-up
4. Duncan and Meg break-up
5. Meg gets pregant
6. Duncan and Veronica get together
7. Bus crash
8. Present day

Without a time-frame, it makes it very difficult to even speculate. Did Meg have a fling with this Chris guy over the summer? Did she cheat on Duncan with him? (Which seems incredibly out of character, but after the rest of this season, who knows.) Or, if some of the nastier suggestions of the father are true, why was there no hint of anything like this going on previously?

I want to agree with you, but I think leaving a child that age, alone at home, never mind locked in a cubby, and all the notebooks (upon notebooks) of punishment-writing can't have a conclusion that lies outside the realm of abusive.

There's no question that it was. The question is what kind of abuse was going on in the home. Veronica would leap to the conclusion that if she caught one kind it must necessitate other kinds. But that's a huge jump.

ETA: I re-read my post and I meant that Meg's child is a product of abuse.

ETA: I re-read my post and I meant that Meg's child is a product of abuse.

Oh, I should have caught the word "product" there.

I'll agree that everyone's probably (?) had a chance to see the alternate ending by now, and we could stop white fonting. Just my two cents, of course.

Actually, having a bitch of a time getting the ending to play, here. Had to skip a bunch of posts. Trying to see if it's up somewhere else in some format I can get it to play in.

All right. Finally saw it. And uhm, I liked the aired-version better.

Based on what I've read here, I've decided to not even bother with the alternate ending. I sense it would irritate me.

I did, however, like this episode. The show has picked up a lot in the past few eps and I'm feeling better about the world of VM now.

'Tis a truth universally acknowledged that the UPN promo department is run by a pack of monkeys on crack.

Rob said it was Joel Silver's idea in his little UPN.com chat today.

Plus we find out her parents are psychotic freaks, which wasn't even hinted at previously.

Yes, it was. In "Like a Virgin":

MEG: First my dad wanted to sue the school or kill whoever posted that score and then he searched my room.
VERONICA: For what? Your porn stash?
MEG: [strangled laugh] No. There were these letters I got from a guy I met in Spain. He had a crush on me and wrote all this sexy stuff. Dad kind of flipped out. Told me I was acting just like Lizzie.

Not a psychotic freak, exactly, but the seed was planted from day one.