"President Evil" is the fifth episode of the
third season of the American
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
television series ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
'', and the forty-ninth episode overall. Written by Jonathan Moskin and David Mulei and directed by
Nick Marck
Nick Marck is an American television director.
He has worked on a number of episodes from the television series ''Veronica Mars'', ''Northern Exposure'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural f ...
, the episode premiered on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
on
October 31, 2006.
The series depicts the adventures of
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
(
Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a college student while moonlighting as a
private detective. In this episode, Veronica investigates when two masked men rob a
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
party and steal Veronica's necklace from Lilly Kane (
Amanda Seyfried). Meanwhile, Keith (
Enrico Colantoni) helps Dean O'Dell (
Ed Begley, Jr.
Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series '' St. ...
) find the biological father of his stepson, the only person who can give the stepson a life-saving
bone marrow
Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...
transplant.
Dianna Agron,
Richard Grieco,
Ryan Pinkston, and
Robert Ri'chard
Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom '' One on One'' and Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter''.
Early life
Ri'chard was ...
guest star or make their first appearances as recurring characters in the episode. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics, with general praise towards Veronica and Weevil's relationship and criticism for the case of the week and the episode's ending.
Synopsis
Veronica shows one of the
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
victims (Krista Kalmus)
the photo of a suspect, but she doesn't recognize him. In
criminology
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...
class, Veronica does a
case study of Weevil (
Francis Capra), and the class enjoys it. After the study, Veronica tells Weevil that she's dating Logan (Jason Dohring), and he reacts negatively. Veronica then walks into Mars Investigations and finds Cyrus O'Dell and his wife (
Jaime Ray Newman) talking with Keith, while Veronica herself does some detective work. Keith informs Veronica that Dean O'Dell's stepson is dying and that he wants Keith to find the boy's biological father. At Mercer's (
Ryan Devlin
Ryan Patrick Devlin (born June 5, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his recurring roles in the television series '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''Cougar Town'', ''Veronica Mars'', '' Big Shots'', ''Jane the Virgin'' and ''Grey's Anatomy
...
) party, two masked men enter and steal everyone's valuables, including the necklace that Lilly gave Veronica. Wallace (
Percy Daggs III) is failing his
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
class, a subject in which he wanted to major. Meanwhile, Keith tracks down the husband, and Veronica accuses Weevil of robbing the party.
At the meeting, Dean O'Dell's wife asks the ex-husband to give their son a
bone marrow transplant. Meanwhile, Sheriff Lamb (
Michael Muhney
Michael Muhney (born June 12, 1975) is an American actor. His best known roles include Sheriff Don Lamb on the UPN/The CW television series ''Veronica Mars'' between 2004 and 2007 and Adam Newman on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the ...
) arrests Weevil for the robbery. Veronica visits Weevil in prison before she decides to look into a pizza delivered to Weevil's house. Sheriff Lamb and a detective from the LAPD tell Keith that the ex-husband has disappeared before accusing Keith in the ex-husband's disappearance. Keith thinks that Dean O'Dell was involved in the disappearance, but when he visits Dean, it turns out that Dean's wife and stepson have disappeared to a hospital in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, presumably taking the ex-husband with them. Wallace visits a "tutor", who charges him for a mysterious "study guide" before going back for the "answers." Veronica notices the masks being used in a short film, but they were stolen. When Keith and O'Dell are in Mexico, he reveals that he lied to Keith about their whereabouts and they were actually in a local hospital.
Veronica tracks the casino robber down to a volunteer police officer. She has evidence, and the police comes to arrest him, however, they don't find the necklace. At the hospital, Keith hesitates when O'Dell asks him what he would do to save Veronica. Veronica gets her necklace back from the perpetrator's daughter when she sees her wearing it. Because he gave bone marrow, the ex-husband now has a much more favorable divorce settlement. Wallace uses the answers he purchased and is called in to see the teacher after. Veronica tracks down the suspect in the photo with Claire, Wang Yi, but his roommate tells Veronica that he is Claire's boyfriend.
Production
![Dianna Agron 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Dianna_Agron_2014.jpg)
"President Evil" was written by Jonathan Moskin and David Mulei and directed by
Nick Marck
Nick Marck is an American television director.
He has worked on a number of episodes from the television series ''Veronica Mars'', ''Northern Exposure'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural f ...
, marking Moskin's first writing credit, Mulei's first writing credit for the show, and Marck's eighth directing credit for ''Veronica Mars''.
Dianna Agron, famous for her role as
Quinn Fabray on ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'', makes her first appearance on the series in this episode as Jenny, Veronica's classmate.
[A Definitive Ranking of Every Notable Guest Star On 'Veronica Mars']
The Wire, 17 September 2014, Retrieved 14 September 2015 She would eventually appear on several episodes of the third season.
Richard Grieco, known for his role as Dennis Booker on the original ''
21 Jump Street
''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...
'' TV series, appears for the first time as Steve Batando, Mindy O'Dell's ex-husband. In 2012, the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' called Grieco's role on ''Veronica Mars'' "his last mainstream role".
Ryan Pinkston guest stars as Danny Rossow, a pizza shop employee.
He would go on to make a guest appearance on series creator
Rob Thomas's later show ''
Party Down''.
Robert Ri'chard
Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom '' One on One'' and Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter''.
Early life
Ri'chard was ...
appears as Mason, Wallace's friend.
Reception
Ratings
In its original broadcast, "President Evil" was viewed by 2.70 million viewers, ranking 99th of 101 in the weekly rankings. This figure was a decrease in 630,000 viewers from the previous episode,
Charlie Don't Surf.
Reviews
The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. Eric Goldman, writing for
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
, gave a mostly positive review, giving it a 7.5 out of 10, indicating that it was a "good" episode. He stated, "Things are still a bit wobbly on ''Veronica Mars'' this season, though this episode had some elements that hopefully herald a turn in the right direction." While criticizing the case-of-the-week, he was more laudatory to the subplots, calling Sheriff Lamb arresting Weevil "the most entertaining scene of the episode" and that "the episode definitely picked up in the last act." Rowan Kaiser, writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', gave a very mixed review, commenting positively on Veronica and Weevil's relationship while criticizing other aspects of the episode. "While 'President Evil' was not a favorite, and has a few annoying moments, it was generally a perfectly adequate episode of ''Veronica Mars''. That is, until the ending.
€¦The implication here is one that I've been dreading for a few episodes: that the radical feminist Lilith House has staged Claire's rape, and possibly others."
Television Without Pity
Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...
gave the episode a "B−".
Reviewer
Alan Sepinwall also had mixed comments, comparing the episode to ''
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
'' and stating, "And yet as much as Veronica was annoying me, as much as I wanted to yell at her for automatically jumping to conclusions with Weevil (more on that in a minute), this was maybe my favorite episode of the season.
€¦Hell, they even had a cliffhanger ending to the mystery arc for the first time in forever. I dug it."
Price Peterson of ''
TV.com
TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...
'' gave a mostly negative review, writing, "This episode was not the best! Not terrible by any means, but it felt lacking in certain ways, particularly when it came to the total lack of Piz and Dick. Where were they? Also this episode made it clear that Logan didn't have all that much to do on the show anymore."
References
External links
*
"President Evil"at Mars Investigations
{{Veronica Mars
2006 American television episodes
Veronica Mars (season 3) episodes