The Girl Next Door

"The Girl Next Door" was the seventh episode of the first season of Veronica Mars.

In this episode, Veronica looks into the mysterious disappearance of her neighbor, Sarah. Meanwhile, Logan and Weevil have to deal with each other in detention.

Synopsis[]

The episode begins in medias res. Veronica sits outside of an apartment building, and we see a stretcher being carried off. Through voiceovers, Veronica tells that she was in some way connected to the crime. The episode then flashes back to one week earlier. Then, Veronica meets Sarah, a heavily pregnant neighbor, who asks her for help with a stolen journal. In newspaper class, Mallory Dent shows a woman, Evelyn Bugby to Veronica and asks for her help with a project on the class of '79. She eventually agrees to help with the project. Veronica looks through the old yearbook and sees a photo of her mother, Lianne. During a test, a teacher, Mr. Daniels fails both Logan and Weevil on a test after they talk to each other. They are placed in detention, during which the two fight and eventually play poker. The teacher comes in and sentences them to a full week of detention. Veronica returns home and views Sarah and her boyfriend, André, fighting. That night, Veronica is awakened by a woman's scream overhead and a body falling. The next morning, Veronica knocks on Sarah's door, but there is no response. She looks through the window and sees chaos and disarray in her house.

In the bathroom one day, another student talks to Weevil, and it is heavily implied that Weevil was carrying out an affair with Lilly Kane. Veronica talks to Duncan about something she found in the yearbook—that Veronica's mother, Lianne and Jake Kane were once a couple in high school. A flashback details Veronica's breakup with Duncan. At Sarah's workplace, her boss says that he doesn't know where Sarah is either. He also gives Veronica the information that she fights with her boyfriend a lot. Veronica goes to find André. She questions him, but he dismisses it as a simple fight and nothing serious. She doesn't believe him, and these suspicions are heightened when it turns out that André is painting a portrait of a female nude who is not Sarah. Veronica sneaks into Sarah's apartment and finds some mysterious things, including Sarah's phone and a gun. André comes in and finds Veronica. She manages to escape with minimal conflict. In another flashback, Veronica asks Lilly Kane why Duncan broke up with her, but she is vague and unspecific. In detention, Logan states that he has a plan to get the teacher back, which involves stealing the teacher's car and putting it on the flagpole.

1x07VMVeronicaSarah — Veronica & Sarah Williams.

Weevil is told by the principal that he is expelled in the aftermath of the prank. After Veronica gives Sarah's parents Keith's card, they visit Keith. Afterwards, Keith tells Veronica that he does not want her on the case. However, she convinces him otherwise as long as she stays away from André. She finds out that Sarah's baby is not André's. Logan confesses to the prank as well. Veronica visits Sarah's boss again, and she finds out from the boss that Sarah was raped and that the baby might be the child of the rapist. Veronica calls Weevil's motorcycle gang, and they come in order to convince the boss to give Veronica Sarah's journal, which he stole. This works successfully. Weevil is un-expelled and they are both sentenced to a punishment of removing graffiti. Logan finds a tattoo with Lilly's name on it, but Weevil comes up with an adequate lie. Veronica reads Sarah's notebook and finds her near her car. Sarah goes back to André. Over dinner, Keith asks Veronica who the father is. Meanwhile, upstairs Sarah's parents find out that she was raped, and the actual father of the child was Sarah's stepfather. Keith and Veronica come and help, and Keith ends up shooting the stepfather. We then return to the point at which the episode began.

Arc Significance[]

While gathering information on the Class of '79 reunion, Veronica finds out that her mom and Jake Kane dated in high school.
In a flashback, Veronica asks Lilly to find out why Duncan broke up with her. The next day, Lilly had apparently found something out and tells her to forget him and move on.
Principal Clemmons tells Logan to remind his father the offer he made about donating his boots from one of his hit movies to the school.
Logan finds out that Weevil has a tattoo of "Lilly". When questioned, Weevil says that his sister's name is Lilly.
Weevil and Logan put their English teacher's car on the flagpole. Only Weevil gets in trouble (he gets expelled), and later on, Logan admits to Clemmons that he was an accomplice. Clemmons lowers the punishment and brings Weevil back to the school.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Music[]

"The Trial of the Century" - French Kicks
"La Femme d'Argent" - Air
"Yellow Butta Sunshine" - Pop

Writing and acting[]

This is Sydney Tamiia Poitier's last episode. She left the show because she was pregnant, but she is not removed from the opening credits until "Drinking the Kool-Aid".

Adam Kaufman (who portrays André) would return to Veronica Mars as an FBI agent in the Season 4 pilot, a 12-minute teaser for the never-produced fourth season of the show in which Veronica had grown up and joined the FBI. This non-existent timeline is referenced in the film when Leo D'Amato says he'd heard Veronica had joined the FBI and she responds, "Another life maybe."

Quotes[]

Clemmons: Mr. Echolls. I was wondering if I could have a word?

Logan: "Anthropomorphic". All yours, big guy.

[Veronica says she heard something that sounded like a falling body.]

Keith: Would you describe the sound as Hitchcockian?

Weevil: Well, if I thought you had the cojones to pull it off I'd tell you, but…

Logan: Never underestimate the size of my cojones.

Goofs[]

When Veronica is looking at the 1979 yearbook for the first time, the man next to her mom's year book picture's name is shown as Victoria A Riggleman. You can clearly see, he is no Victoria.

The Girl Next Door

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