Okay, let's get this rodeo started!

1.1 Pilot

Score

DVD version: 18

TV edit: 17

Characters: 4/5

• Lilly (+1)

• Logan (+1)

• Cliff (+1)

• Backup (+1)

• Corny (+.5)

Plot relevance 5/5

This episode does a masterful job of introducing the characters and the principal mystery, with just the right amount of backstory.

Story quality 5/5

The main storyline of the episode is Veronica getting the PCHers off Wallace's back, through a multi-step plan that involves Veronica out-thinking and/or manipulating just about every antagonist in the entire show. Beautiful. The original/DVD pilot gets full marks for storyline; the TV edit, which cuts out the cold open of Veronica at the Camelot, gets docked a point.

Iconic lines/memes +4

* Every school has an obligatory psychotic jackass.

* Tonight, we eat like the lower middle class to which we aspire!

* You know what they say: Veronica Mars, she's a marshmallow.

* Veronica shooting finger guns at sheriff lamb in court

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Cringe -.5

Arguably, Weevil calling Wallace a "skinny negro" is cringe. But it's also illustrative of Weevil's character, so we'll only dock half a point.

Outfit of the episode

The white dress Veronica wears to Shelly Pomroy's party, worn with a black elastic choker and a silver pendant necklace. I've been tracking these necklaces as I've rewatched the episodes, and while Veronica is almost always wearing them in the current timeline, in flashbacks it's always the silver necklace by itself -- until this party. While the long hair and white dress are still the "old Veronica," the choker definitely shows that her don't-give-a-fuck-era has begun. Honorable mention to the booty shorts, crop top, track jacket with (possibly fuzzy) boots that she's wearing at at Lilly's murder scene.

Song of the episode

We Used to Be Friends by the Dandy Warhols - a perfect theme song and also a bop. Dishonorable mention to Weak Become Heroes, maybe one of the worst rap/spoken word songs I've ever heard.

Anachronistic reference of the episode

Be cool, soda pop. I don't think they were still reading The Outsiders in school in the 2000s. But my daughter says every teenager in America is still familiar with The Outsiders, so I could be wrong.

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