Veronica Mars/Hi, Infidelity

Hi, Infidelity
Season 3, Episode 6
Airdate	November 7, 2006
Production Number	3T5806
Written by	John Enbom
Directed by	Michael Fields
Stream
← 3x05 President Evil	3x07 → Of Vice and Men
Veronica Mars — Season Three

Hi, Infidelity is the sixth episode of the third season of Veronica Mars, and the fiftieth episode overall. Veronica is accused of plagiarizing work done on a term paper for her Criminology class and she is forced to clear her name.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas) (credit only), Julie Gonzalo (Parker Lee), Chris Lowell (Stosh "Piz" Piznarski), Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie) (credit only), Michael Muhney (Sheriff Don Lamb), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro) (credit only)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Special Guest Star: Laura San Giacomo (Harmony Chase)

Guest Starring: Robert Ri'chard (Mason), Chastity Dotson (Nish Sweeney), Patrick Fabian (Prof. Hank Landry), James Jordan (Tim Foyle), Ryan Devlin (Mercer Hayes), Krista Kalmus (Claire Nordhouse), Adam Rose (Max), Matt McKenzie (Coach Tom Barry), Michael B. Silver (Prof. David Winkler), Jaime Ray Newman (Mindy O'Dell)

and Ed Begley Jr. (Cyrus O'Dell)

Co-Starring: David Magidoff (Jeff Ratner), Anna Campbell (Tina Callis), Simon Anthony (Lawyer), Jesse Matthew Bernstein (Proctor), Brian Hatton (Driver)

Plot Overview

Bringing the evidence she found of the most recent rape to Dean O'Dell's attention leads to the subsequent expulsion of Claire and the unfortunate creation of new enemies for Veronica. Nish's unwillingness to run the story showed her journalistic bias which causes the dean to crack down on her as well by removing her from editor of the paper.

On her way out of the Dean's office Veronica passes Wallace whose cheating had caught up with him. With some persuasion by Mrs. O'Dell, the dean decides against granting Wallace the same fate as Claire. Instead he is given the option to drop the class or take the zero.

Logan "cheats" on his test by continuing to write seconds after 'pencil's down' is called. When told that he is no longer allowed to hand in the paper, Logan demands "Do you know who I am?" It's clear the prof does not, so when his back is turned, Logan cleverly mixes his paper in with those of the other students knowing that the he will be unable to discern which was his.

In following with the name of the episode, Veronica too is accused of cheating in her criminology class. Tim Foyle informs her that her paper was instantly flagged for plagiarism.

Piz invites Veronica to bowl with the "gang" that evening, but is disappointed when she brings Logan along. Parker shows up as to Veronica's request, but then fears that it was an attempt to set her up with Piz. By the end of the evening her opinion completely changed enough to request Veronica learn what he thought of her. Later Parker convinced Veronica to stop by Piz's radio show. They planned to go out for Pizza, but when Mercer introduced himself to Parker she ushered Veronica away quickly. His cologne was a powerful reminder of the night she was raped.

Veronica was able to follow the trail of her paper to Rory Finch at the Neptune Grand where Keith's new lady friend Harmony was planning to cheat in another manner. Keith refused initially, but moments after setting out from the hotel, he was hit by a car. Though unscathed, the event changed his outlook and he quickly returned to the hotel for a night with Harmony.

Upon opening the door supposedly occupied by Rory Finch, Veronica is confused to find Mrs. O'Dell. Things are made slightly more confusing when on her way back to the elevator she bumps into Professor Landry.

She later confronts Tim Foyle saying that she knows he did it, but she doesn't know why. Though he denies actually doing it, he reveals that if he had, it would have been so Veronica could see what kind of a person Landry really was, so that she would not someday be disappointed the same way he had been. On her way out of his office, Veronica sees that Foyle is investigating the Hearst rapes. She seems to notice something Foyle had not, but is distracted before she can reveal what it was.

Notes

The Hearst Rapist

• Mercer Hayes, a DJ at the Hearst radio station, is thrown into the fray of potential rapists when Parker smells his cologne and links it to her rapist. Because of her bad vibes about him, Veronica investigates his room and finds electric hair clippers. When she takes this evidence to Lamb, he divulges that they found two vials of GHB in Mercer's stolen cash box.

• Mercer is arrested for the rapes, but Logan insists that he has an alibi. Logan won't tell Veronica what exactly they were doing together when the rapes occurred though.

• Tim Foyle, the TA for Veronica's criminology class, has been keeping up with the rape case with a board of press clippings and a map indicating where the rapes happened. He mentioned that there's been no DNA evidence so far and implies that the only way the case will be solved is with old-fashioned detective work. Veronica seems to find a pattern on the board but doesn't say what it is.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Keith: Despite initially turning down Harmony's advances under moral grounds, Keith pushes their relationship into a full-on affair after his brush with death in a car crash.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• London Calling: London Calling is the third album by seminal punk rockers, The Clash. The Clash is a punk band from England who formed in 1976 and is among the grandfathers of the genre. In 1979, the band released London Calling, which was lauded as the band's mainstream breakthrough album due to its diversity in sound and genres.

Piz: London Calling, on vinyl, unscratched. 99 cents.

• Maltese Falcon: In 1946, Humphrey Bogart starred in the film noir classic The Maltese Falcon, in which a detective is hired to find a golden bird. The film is known for solidifying the hard-boiled detective character archetype and is often cited as the root of detective films.

Keith: I personally have never been hired to find a Maltese Falcon, per say.

• Rocky III: The third installment of the Rocky series, Rocky III featured Sylvester Stallone as the boxing champion whose title is questioned when Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T, takes him on. Although he lost the first bout, Rocky trained for a rematch (to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor) and won his rematch with Lang.

Veronica: Ok, you're Rocky. Mechanical Engineering is Mr. T. Eye of the Tiger is playing.

• The Big Lebowski: A sign in the bowling alley says "Wednesday: The Big Lebowlski." This is in reference to the Coen Brothers film, The Big Lebowski starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. The film has gone on to become a cult sensation which spawned entire conventions devoted to the movie. In the film, several scenes take place inside a bowling alley, including a shootout with some nihilists.

Quotes

• Veronica: Wallace?

Wallace: Not here.

Veronica: And you would be...?

Wallace: Evil Wallace. And I know Veronica Mars doesn't hang with the evil and morally bankrupt.