Veronica Mars/Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past
Season 2, Episode 5
Airdate	October 26, 2005
Production Number	2T7205
Written by	Phil Klemmer & Cathy Belben
Directed by	Harry Winer
← 2x04 Green-Eyed Monster	2x06 → Rat Saw God
Veronica Mars — Season Two

Blast from the Past is the fifth episode of the second season of Veronica Mars, and the twenty-seventh episode overall. When Jackie turns to Veronica for help regarding her stolen credit card, Veronica ends up going on a psychic's television show to try to prove (or disprove) the truth. Also, Keith's run for sheriff runs into some bumps as the incumbent Sheriff Lamb continues to sabotage his way into another term.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Teddy Dunn (Duncan Kane), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro) (credit only), Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas) (credit only), Kyle Gallner (Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas) (credit only), Tessa Thompson (Jackie Cook)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Guest Starring: Jeffrey Sams (Terrence Cook), Michael Muhney (Sheriff Don Lamb), Erica Gimpel (Alicia Fennel), Cress Williams (Nathan Woods), Claire Titelman (Mandy), Dana Davis (Cora Briggs), Christine Estabrook (Madame Sophie)

Co-Starring: Toy Valentine (Fader #1), Cherisse Osei (Fader #2), Molly Lorenne (Fader #3), Brandon Hillock (Deputy Sacks), Martin Yu (Mr. Wu]), Linda Castro (English Teacher), Jonathan Chesner (Corny), Melissa Reneé Martin (Mean Girl), Justin Foley (Pizza Guy), Lee Ann Kim (Moderator), Samantha Kline (Michele Thompson)

Uncredited: Lefty (Backup), Jesse C. Boyd (Head Jerk)

Notes

Mystery of the Week

• Jackie's Prank: Jackie comes to Veronica seeking help with her friend, Cora Briggs. It seems that Cora borrows Jackie's things all the time and may have maxed out her credit card without her knowing. However, Jackie asks Veronica to prove that she didn't commit the crime because Cora is her only friend at Neptune. With a list of charges to the credit card, Veronica sets off to see if Cora has any of the things on the list. She discovers that Cora works as a chicken mascot for a fast food restaurant and couldn't have made the charges on the bill as it conflicted with her work schedule. Veronica discovers that the first charge was made at the psychic that Jackie was seen at in the beginning of the episode and has clearly been using Jackie's credit card. Veronica vows to prove Madam Sophie as a fraud for payback, but is humiliated on Sophie's television show when Sophie spills a secret that Veronica told to Jackie. At the end of the episode, it turns out that Jackie wanted to take Veronica "down a peg," so she orchestrated the whole mystery.

The School Bus Disaster

• Veronica discovers a student has a voicemail recording from one of the victims of the bus crash. She listens to it, and then secretly forwards it to her own voicemail. The voicemail sounds as if there was an explosion just before the bus crashed. Keith takes the recording to Sheriff Lamb who is immediately suspicious of Keith's intentions.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Zombie Lilly Wants Brains: On the psychic's television show, Madam Sophie tells Veronica that Lilly has a message for Veronica. Sophie goes on to say that the message is that she "should have stayed away from her boyfriend." Although the rest of the show was a setup, Jackie denies any part in the message from Lily. It can only be presumed from the episode that Jackie is truthful in her statement.
• The Long and Winding Road: Wallace leaves Neptune with his father after seeing Veronica and Jackie fight.
• Dirty Politics: At a public debate between Sheriff candidates, Sheriff Lamb blindsides Keith with the revelation that he allowed Ed Doyle to go free after catching him driving while intoxicated. Had the DWI appeared on Doyle's record, he would not have been allowed to get a job as a bus driver.
• Blackmail: Veronica discovers that Sheriff Lamb is blackmailing Jackie's father, the baseball player with information that he might have fixed games while playing. Veronica plans on tricking the DJ at the homecoming dance into playing the incriminating evidence over the system, but doesn't when Wallace asks her to avoid getting revenge on Jackie.

Characters

• Wallace: Wallace is angry at his mother for lying to him about who his real father was. Wallace accepts her explanation at first, but after getting more information from his father, he changes his mind. Through all of this, he gets angry at Veronica and his girlfriend Jackie for fighting, and at the end of the episode, we see him in a car with his father, driving somewhere, we assume back to Chicago.
• Logan and Duncan: Logan and Duncan attempt to mend their friendship by hanging out and playing Hot Shots Golf in Duncan's hotel room.
• Jackie: Jackie is seen taking some pills and later seems dazed at the homecoming dance.
• Jackie and Logan: Logan and Jackie are seen flirting in the episode. At the end, she is seen dancing with him.

Referbacks

• 1x19 - Hot Dogs: This is Claire Titelman's first appearance since appearing as Mandy in the episode Hot Dogs.

Trivia

The Show

• Geography: During Lamb's speech, he mentions that Neptune is in the fictional Balboa County. Although there is a Balboa, California, it isn't a county. The city of Balboa is a subsection of Newport Beach.
• Music: The band plays during Homecoming is The Faders, an all female pop band from the UK which attempts to take advantage of the resurgence of punk's popularity. The songs that they play are No Sleep Tonight and Whatever It Takes.
• M.I.A.: Francis Capra (Eli 'Weevil' Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas Jr.) and Kyle Gallner (Cassidy Casablancas) are all absent from this episode. This is the second episode in a row Hansen and Gallner have missed, and is only the fifth where they are credited in the main cast. All three actors have reduced contractual commitments for the season, with Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars) being contractually obligated for all 22 episodes. This is to reduce the actor budget for the show.

Behind the Scenes

• Nielsens: This episode scored a 2.6/4 in the Nielsen ratings. It also scored a 1.6 in the integral Adults 18-49 demographic, a series high for the show.
• Hiatus: This marks the first hiatus of Veronica Mars's second season.

Allusions and References

• Papa Was a Rollin' Stone: Papa Was a Rollin' Stone is a soul song written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. The song was initially performed by The Undisputed Truth as a single in 1971, but it was largely ignored. However, the song was later rerecorded by The Temptations in 1972 and became a smash hit. The song scored the group a #1 hit on the Billboard Top 200 as well as three Grammy awards. Wallace sings the refrain in the store his his father looks on.

Wallace: Folks say papa never was much on thinkin' / Spent most of his time chasin' women and drinkin' / Mama I'm depending on you to tell me the truth / Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said son / "Papa was a rolling stone, my son / Wherever he laid his hat was his home / (And when he died) All he left us was alone."

• Howard Hughes: Howard Hughes was an eccentric playboy who was most famous for developing the Hercules ("Spruce Goose") airplane and for his production of several films, including the Conqueror which he was so ashamed of that he refused to screen it until 1974. In his later life, Hughes became reclusive and obsessive compulsive that resulting in a crippling germophobia.

Veronica: It's weird that you live here. I don't want you going all Howard Hughesy on me.

• Hot Shots Golf: The game that Duncan and Logan play is Hot Shots Golf, a series of arcade style golf games published by Sony for the PlayStation family of game consoles. It is likely that the two are playing Hot Shots Golf Fore!, the latest game in the series as of the airing of the episode.

• Live at Budokan: Although there are several Live at Budokan albums recorded by artists ranging from Dream Theater to Bryan Adams, Keith likely refers to the Cheap Trick album released in 1979. The album is considered to be the peak of the band's career, showcasing a more complete sound. It is also lauded for paving the way for the next generation of popular rock music.

Keith: If it's Live at Budokan, I've already discovered it.

Quotes

• Logan: Veronica Mars, saving the world one pointless act at a time.