Veronica Mars S1 Ep 21: A Trip to the Dentist

Original airdate: May 3rd, 2005

Rewatched: May 3rd, 2025

In this episode, Veronica finds out what happened at Shelly Pomroy’s party, when Veronica was drugged and raped. The events in the previous episode make her decide to figure it out, perhaps because of the uncertainty of Logan’s involvement. She only knows that Logan had the GHB, which he doesn’t deny when he shows up at her door to find out what happened between them. Veronica tells him about the events at the party and what she knows about his role in it. Then she sets out tracking down the witnesses, including several fellow students we’ve met in previous episodes. Everyone has a different version of events, but in the chaos of stories, Veronica is able to piece together some key features. She learns from Meg that Madison likes to give people she dislikes a “trip to the dentist” – she spits in a drink and gives it to them. Dick got GHB from Luke, after both he and Logan had brought some back from Mexico. Dick put it in Madison’s drink, but Madison gave her drink to Veronica. Then things started getting ugly, with no one stepping in to help Veronica, except Duncan. In the end, Veronica ended up with Dick’s brother Beaver in a bedroom, and Dick encouraged Beaver to have sex with Veronica. Beaver claims he left her there, and Carrie Bishop says she saw Veronica and Duncan having sex.

Veronica confronts Duncan, who claims it was consensual. Later, Logan admits to drugging Duncan, meaning both Veronica and Duncan couldn’t consent to sex. Veronica wants to know why Duncan just left her there, and Duncan finally tells Veronica he thinks they’re siblings. This finally explains the sudden break-up and why Lilly changed her mind on trying to get Duncan and Veronica back together. The Kane children were told that Veronica was their half-sibling.

In this episode, Keith manages to crack two cases. First, he tracks down Duncan in Cuba and returns him to Neptune. The Kanes are grateful, but Celeste refuses to pay, citing her agreement with Veronica in the episode “Hot Dogs”. Then he tracks down Abel Koontz’s alibi. He had a standing date with a call girl who has been laying low and moving around ever since Koontz confessed. Keith’s love life also gets a bit bumpy this episode. Alicia is not happy that Veronica had Wallace bug Wiedman’s office. She thinks Keith is not parenting enough. Then, Lianne shows up at the apartment, the cliffhanger end to the episode. It also hints at the possibility of Lianne being back for good and Keith deciding to save his marriage.

Finally, Veronica starts the episode on the outs with Logan, but once she knows what happened at the party, decides to give him another chance. Not everyone is happy about her relationship with Logan. Wallace is angry she gave him one of her absence slips. Wallace only wanted to do that favor for Veronica, not for people who don’t particularly like him. Later in the episode, Veronic and Logan stumble into a surprise party his father is throwing for him. Not everyone is supportive of the two, and Logan kicks out Dick. And then invites anyone else who doesn’t like his girlfriend to leave. Duncan leaves, leaving behind a shocked Meg, and then takes his anger out on his car. Is this a hint that Duncan could have killed Lilly? But Veronica and Logan survive the hostility and end up in the pool house. Logan leaves Veronica for a minute and Veronica discovers a camera in the ceiling. Then more cameras. All aimed to take footage of the bed. Worried about what Logan has been up to, she calls Weevil to take her home. Could Logan have killed Lilly for finding out about tapes he may have made of them?

This episode ties up one arc of the season, what happened at Shelly’s party, and finally proves Abel is innocent. But the end of this episode leaves viewers with as many suspects as before. And with only one episode to go!