Veronica Mars S1 Ep7: The Girl Next Door

Original airdate: Nov. 9th, 2004

Rewatched: Nov. 9th, 2024

Is every jerk guilty of a crime? On Veronica Mars this is often the case. In this episode, it turns out the jerk is a good guy. Veronica’s upstairs neighbor is a young, pregnant women who has been fighting with her boyfriend. When Sarah disappears, Veronica thinks her boyfriend, Andre, killed her. But the truth is much darker. It turns out she disappeared voluntarily, not ready to face her mother and stepfather, since her stepfather raped her and it’s his baby. Keith ends up shooting the stepfather in the shoulder to save Sarah.

This episode also explores privilege, although not as in-depth as the last. Logan and Weevil are in detention together and decide to put their teacher’s car on the flagpole together. Weevil ends up being expelled, but not Logan, however Logan uses his privilege (or rather a pair of his father’s boots the school wanted for an auction) to get Weevil back in school. While Logan did not use his privilege for good in the last episode, this episode shows deep down, he may not be all bad. On a final note, during detention Logan notices that Weevil has a tattoo with Lilly’s name. Weevil tells Logan it’s for his little sister who died. Viewers who remember Weevil crying at the memorial and Wanda’s assertion they dated are more skeptical.

Finally, Veronica is roped into doing an alumni project at school. It’s for the year her mother graduated. In looking through the yearbook, Veronica is surprised to learn that her mother and Jake Kane dated in high school. She has flashbacks to her break-up with Duncan. Is there a connection between their parents dating and their breakup?

In the fun facts category, this is the first episode that Veronica jokes about wanting a pony, something that will come up again in the future.

On a final note, this episode shows Veronica’s tendency to jump to conclusions and assume the worst of people (like Andre being a murderer).

Before closing, let’s take a minute to talk about mixing of genres. Both Buffy and Veronica Mars mix the classic teen drama genre with another. For Buffy it’s horror. For Veronica Mars it’s noir. Both series use lighting to contrast this difference, having scenes filmed in full California sun for the teen drama bits and in darker shots, the noir or horror elements. For Veronica Mars, her father’s office and her bedroom are both very dark sets, with the use of colored glass elements for a full contrast. Her school and other scenes are usually shot in full sunlight. I like how both shows use this contrast to show that teen years are not just full of light.