Did everyone realize the nasty bio dad was Richarch Grieco?

smacks forehead

I saw him in the credits, and then wondered why the actor looked familiar.

Since we learned of it, I suspected Claire's rape might not be legit, because Fern got the page that notified her about it while on the air with Nish, Piz, and the frat boys. The only thing that has me doubting my suspicions is that Claire does look so completely wasted in the ATM photo, and it's not like she knew someone was going to be using the ATM photo. I wonder if she was so wasted that someone decided it was an opportune time to make her look like another victim by shaving her head, without Claire actually being complicit in fakery.

The episode had a rather S1-like feel to it -- even the overpacked multiple storylines. Briskly-paced as well. It officially got me out of S3 apathy. Yay!

It did. Well, the prior two episodes had already gotten rid of any apathy I experienced after the first two, but this episode had a particularly right VM-feel to it.

I've seen a lot of VM commentary with some variation on the theme that no other season will ever be what S1 was, because the story lines were all so personal to Veronica in season 1. I think they could have made her connection to this one more personal, but I'm sort of glad they didn't. I mean, it made sense that Buffy was depressed in season 6 and isolated in season 7, but some of it was hard watching.

That said, I think there was another element in VM season 1 that made it so compelling. It was really Veronica against the world. It's not just that she was an outcast at school; she literally had no one she felt she could trust. I mean, even Keith, who she largely trusted, was keeping things from her (for her own sake, but from V's perspective, it was frustrating) and there was the whole spector of her paternity weighing on her. She was world-turned-upside-down girl, and had no good way to judge who she could trust, nor how much she could trust them. She's less isolated now, and has had enough experience with most of the people in her life to understand you can't trust everyone all the time, but you know the people in your life well enough to have a decent idea about most of what they say and do.

I thought it was an interesting choice last night that Veronica was so sure, at first, that Weevil was involved. It's totally in character for her. It is by allowing herself to jump to conclusions (or taking small steps, and there conclusions are) that she gets enough information to find out what's really going on.

On the other hand, I was a little frustrated by it at first, because the crime seemed like nothing we've ever seen Weevil do. She had some personal (and therefore emotional, and not so objective) reasons for suspecting him, though. Firstly, he turned on her as soon as he realized she was back with Logan. Secondly, it was Lilly's necklace that was taken from her, and Weevil could want to take that as a memento, and/or because he would now think Veronica didn't deserve it.

I thought that was the best episode of the season, hands down. Actual witty dialog! EXCELLENT Veronica/Weevil interactions! Honestly, that jail cell scene where they shared a rueful laugh after Weevil asked her why she couldn't take him at his words made me melt, it was so lovely. I don't ship them or anything, but I felt the rapport and the weight of the history between them, and I just loved that.

Yes! And that grace note what was what finally made her so-strong-suspicion-of-Weevil work for me.

Halloween completely screwed me up. I thought it was later than it was when we got home, and then someone had Fox on and I realized House was coming back ... and at about 9:45 I realized I had missed VM. Bad viewer. No biscuit.

Loved Veronica just snatching the necklace back from the snotty little girl and driving away.

Yes, this.

Two funny bits that no one's mentioned yet:

• Cliff's Olive Garden running gag
• Veronica's Pizza Fan Boy

See, at first I thought he'd ratted out the cheating, especially since I figured he was smart enough not to be first to bring a test up under the circumstances if he was cheating. But there was that later bit that I wasn't quite clear on what was happening.

At first I thought he got caught cheating, but how would the prof know so quickly that that was the case? I'm thinking he wrote a confession on the exam.

The actor who played Wallace's teacher: he was on The West Wing, wasn't he?

Well, he looked very familiar in any case.

The Wallace plot was definitely ambiguous as to whether he was caught or if he turned narc

i'm not understanding where people are seeing ambiguity. it seemed pretty obvious to me that Wallace had used the "study guide" to cheat, the professor was grading his test and realized it was way too perfect and sent the TA to get him to confront him about it.

i'm not understanding where people are seeing ambiguity. it seemed pretty obvious to me that Wallace had used the "study guide" to cheat, the professor was grading his test and realized it was way too perfect and sent the TA to get him to confront him about it.

While it seemed pretty obvious to me that Wallace realized that the test was exactly the same as the "study guide," realized he couldn't go through with cheating, and wrote a confession on the exam. The professor read it, then sent the TA to get him to discuss what to do next.

So I guess two "pretty obvious" interpretations = ambiguity.

I loved the one-fan Veronica Mars fan-club! He was adorkable. Of course geek boys would idolize Veronica. The German accent cracked me up something fierce.

I have never listened to the Olive Garden commercial, believe it or not, and thought Cliff was doing some kind of Godfather impression. (I know, I know.) But he had a fake Italian accent and was talking about family in a sort of menacing way, whilst brandishing a piece of meat! What was I to think?

I am NOT happy with Wallace-the-cheater. I know it does no good to put a character on a pedestal, but I sort of do, with Wallace.

At first I thought he got caught cheating, but how would the prof know so quickly that that was the case? I'm thinking he wrote a confession on the exam.

I think Wallace's friend (and teammate, right?) set him up, and that's how the prof knew so quickly. A teacher would be suspicious that a struggling student is the first one to turn in an exam, (and possibly get a perfect score???). If someone set up Wallace (and the teammate is a prime suspect, because he's the one who kept dragging Wallace away from his studies in the first place), that someone also would have dropped a dime.

I figure there are three likely scenarios:

1. Wallace was set up to cheat and get caught, and someone dropped a dime on him

2. Wallace wasn't set up, but cheated and got caught

I think there's also an outside chance that...

3. Wallace figured out he was being set up, and dropped a dime on the cheating network on his exam paper, because he figured out he was being set up.

He has been hanging around with V for a while. We saw evidence he's learned from her, in his prison experiment clock switcheroo. I'd love it if Wallace Fennel was smarter than us, too. And the emotions on his face and resignation are still understandable, because Wallace would feel badly that a teammate set him up and that he had to turn in the teammate.

He could have confessed, but why? Why not just rip up the paper, instead?

I couldn't figure out what was going on with Wallace and the test either--if he'd been caught for cheating or confessed. I just loved the whole bit about him having always wanting to be a mechanical engineer and now he was failing his first mechanical engineering class and how sad he was about that. It seemed very real to me and un-TV like.

What were Logan & Veronica supposed to be dressed up as?