"Welcome Wagon" was the first episode and season premiere of the third season of Veronica Mars.
Plot[]
"What did you do for the extra ten minutes."
It's a new school year, and Veronica is now attending Hearst College. She and Logan are still going strong and Veronica is still living at home with her dad. Mac and Wallace are also attending Hearst and each have new roommates.
On the first day of classes at Hearst College, Wallace's new roommate, "Piz," is the victim of a scam. A "Welcome Wagon" lady--supposedly there to help the freshmen--agrees to watch Piz's things for a few minutes, but when Piz returns he finds it all stolen. Veronica investigates with the aid of Wallace, Piz, Mac, and Mac's new roommate Parker Lee, and helps the Sheriff's Department to arrest the culprit and recover Piz's possessions. Several times during the investigation Piz asks Veronica why she does what she does, prompting some unsure responses.
Dick interrupts the Lilith House rally.
During a protest for more security and more women's rights on-campus, spearheaded by victims of the serial rapist, Dick shows up and tries to ruin things. Later, he gets beaten up by a guy for hitting on his girlfriend and asking her to move in with him. Dick is only saved by Logan, to whom he gives the cold shoulder. Later, Dick shows up at Logan's hotel room. He tells Logan, through tears, that he's got nowhere else to go and that he's screwed up pretty bad.
Veronica and Mac have midnight movie plans but realize their tickets are in Mac's dorm room... where Parker is currently with a guy. Veronica slips in, says "don't mind me," and grabs the tickets.
Cormac Fitzpatrick kills Kendall.
Meanwhile, Keith has been hired by Kendall Casablancas to pick up her lover Cormac Fitzpatrick who has just been released from prison. Kendall has been on the run from Liam Fitzpatrick after the two had a dispute over the money from the Phoenix Land Trust and has been hiding in a secret location in the desert. She has plans to run far away from Liam with his brother Cormac. Keith delivers Cormac to Kendall and while Keith is out getting something from his car, Cormac shoots Kendall. Keith hides in the desert as Cormac attempts to chase him down.
After their night on the town Veronica, quite tipsy, stays the night in Mac's dorm room once they're sure that Parker's latest boy has left. In the morning the two are awoken by Parker's screaming as she sees her now-bald head in a mirror: Parker is the latest victim of the Hearst serial rapist, and Veronica is horrified to realize she let it happen.
Arc significance[]
- The Hearst serial rapist, last seen in "The Rapes of Graff," is still at large on the Hearst campus.
- Keith picks up Cormac Fitzpatrick from jail who reveals that Kendall Casablancas had paid him to make her disappear. After he drops Cormac off at Kendall's hideaway, he witnesses him shooting into the next room at an unseen Kendall. Cormac then attempts to kill Keith.
- Parker is the latest victim of the serial rapist, having been raped and had her head shaved during the night.
Music[]
- "Rump Shaker" - Wreckx-N-Effect
- "Buttons" - Pussycat Dolls
- "Socks and Shoes" - Four Fifty One
- "Waited So Long" - Cheryl Murdock
Writing and acting[]
- Michael Muhney (who does not actually appear in the episode) and Tina Majorino are promoted to series regulars. Julie Gonzalo and Chris Lowell also join the cast as series regulars.
- James Jordan, who plays the role of teaching assistant Tim Foyle, also portrayed Lucky in Season Two.
- This episode is the final appearance in the series of Charisma Carpenter as Kendall Casablancas.
Production details[]
- This episode premiered online September 26, 2006, on MSN, and was available for a week until its broadcast premiere on The CW.
- This episode featured the new opening credits for the first time. Instead of a traditional clip package, images of the characters played over a slower, re-mixed version of the theme song.
Quotes[]
- Tim:: The game is set in the 1890s. You can't use the internet.
- Veronica: [to Dr. Landry] Was that a rule?
- Landry: [amused] It wasn't a rule.
- Tim: And there are two possible killers in the box. I mean, [chuckling with disapproval] you just took a fifty-fifty stab, didn't you?
- Veronica: Sorry, no. The other killer is Countess Magee. Dr. Landry just asked me who I was going to send away for the rest of his natural-born days. That kind of sold me on blind Rutherford. There is one thing I can't figure out though.
- [pauses and looks up at Timothy]
- Veronica: What did you do for the extra ten minutes.
- Veronica: Hot dog?
- Keith: [dryly] It's an expression of excitement and enthusiasm. Joe and Frank Hardy and I used to say "Hot dog" all the time while we were waiting for the car hop to bring up our malteds at the drive-in.
- Veronica: Drive-in?
- Keith: I hate you.
- Veronica: [coyly] You love me.
- Keith: [sighing] Yeah, but it's all instinct.
- Piz: Well, a Saturn for a Mars.
- Veronica: In Neptune. Yeah, the planets really aligned for this one. Now move your anus. The mercury's rising.
Trivia[]
- The episode had an estimated audience size of 3.27 million US viewers on its first airing.
- Despite being credited, Francis Capra (Weevil) and Michael Muhney (Sheriff Lamb) do not appear in this episode.
- Logan refers to Beaver jumping from the roof of the Neptune Grand Hotel ("Not Pictured") as "Greg Louganising." Greg Louganis is a gay Olympic diver who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He had a history of domestic abuse, rape and depression at a young age.
- Veronica uses the word "frak" twice during the episode after hearing a self-professed Battlestar Galactica fan say it. Battlestar Galactica characters use the word "frak" as a curse word.
- Vinnie Van Lowe, in trying to recruit Keith to work a case with him, says "What do you say? Huh? Wonder Twin powers activate!" and holds his fist out toward Keith. This is a reference to the Hanna-Barbera/DC Comics extraterrestrial twin brother and sister superhero duo who initiate their individual powers by invoking that phrase and touching fists.
- Stunned that Piz would leave everything he owns in an unlocked car on campus, Veronica asks if he's from Brigadoon. Brigadoon is a Scottish village in the musical by the same name that appears for only one day a century, magically cut off from the rest of the world to preserve it from change.
- Veronica mentions a picture of her father stuffing his face full of cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, a famous New York landmark that has been mentioned in Sex and the City, the romantic comedy Prime and the Saturday Night Live digital skit "Lazy Sunday".
- The name of the Hearst Welcome Wagon thieving ring's leader is Donald Fagan, a reference to both Fagin, the character from Charles Dickens' book Oliver Twist who had a thieving ring made up of prepubescent boys, as well as Donald Fagen, a musician in the band Steely Dan.
- When the deputy opens Fagan's garage to reveal items stolen from various students, Veronica exclaims "boom goes the dynamite." It is a reference to the lone coherent phrase in an otherwise forgettable sports news presentation by a Ball State University student.[1][2]
- The band Veronica and her friends go to see, credited as "The Unwashed", are actually a Towson, Maryland band called Four Fifty One. They perform a song off their self-titled EP called "Socks and Shoes".[3]
External links[]
- MI.net's Roundtable Review.
- Soulful Spike Society's Open Case.
- Television Without Pity Recap.