Veronica Mars/Meet John Smith

Meet John Smith
Season 1, Episode 3
Airdate	October 12, 2004
Production Number	2T5702
Written by	Jed Seidel
Directed by	Harry Winer
← 1x02 Credit Where Credit's Due	1x04 → The Wrath of Con
Veronica Mars — Season One

Meet John Smith is the third episode of the first season of Veronica Mars. Veronica begins taking on cases for people outside her circle of acquaintances, as a student enlists her help in finding his long lost father. She also has to deal with her father's meetings with her school guidance counselor, and her budding romance with Troy Vandergraff. Meanwhile, Duncan Kane continues to struggle with the murder of his sister.

Starring: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Teddy Dunn (Duncan Kane), Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Mallory Dent) (credit only), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro) (credit only)

and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars)

Guest Starring: Melissa Leo (Julia Smith), Aaron Ashmore (Troy Vandergraff), Lisa Thornhill (Celeste Kane), Amanda Seyfried (Lilly Kane), Bobby Edner (Justin Smith)

with Paula Marshall (Rebecca James)

and Kyle Secor (Jake Kane)

Co-Starring: Andrew Levy (Adam), Harrison Myers (Owen), Christopher Fairbanks (Sebring Man), Ryan Hansen (Richard "Dick" Casablancas), Eric Beck (Young Doctor), Michelle Fabiano (Adrianna), Alison MacInnis (Shelly), Darline Ann Harris (Delores), Cassie Benavidez (Nurse), Norman Mackinnon (Video Clerk)

Plot Overview

Three dorky-looking kids sit in the outdoor commons area, ogling girls. One of the boys, Justin, gives a passing Veronica "at least a nine", having studied her closely when she visited the video store he works at. But Veronica is more interested in hanging out on Troy Vandergraff's father's yacht than movie night with a nerd; the only thing holding her back is the constant awkward presence of her ex-boyfriend, which would be bad enough if she weren't having dirty sex dreams about Duncan... but she is, so it's definitely a stumbling block in the budding relationship. On top of that, Keith has been called in to meet with Veronica's guidance counselor, and still refuses to discuss Lianne's whereabouts with his daughter.

Duncan, meanwhile, is being pushed to move on with his life after his sister's murder, but appears uninterested, despite offers of a summer internship in Washington. It is revealed that Duncan has been on anti-depressants for the last six months at his mother's urging. Despite a lecture from his mother, Duncan drops his pill down the sink. Later, at dinner, Duncan interrupts the usual argument between his parents about his future with erratic, passive-aggressive behavior.

Justin, at his video store job, makes enthusiastic recommendations to his customers, including a friendly middle-aged lady and the Marses. Justin inquires about a personal matter regarding their PI jobs, and Veronica tells him to find her at school the next day. Meeting in the girl's bathroom (to Duncan and Logan's amusement), Justin asks Veronica to help him find his father, who left the family eight years ago. Unfortunately, Justin is not able to provide a photo, or a last known address, or any identifying information, except for his name: John Smith.

Keith apprehensively meets with Veronica's guidance counselor to discuss the changes in Veronica over the last year: she's late more often, her attitude towards teachers has worsened, she falls asleep in class, and she's become socially isolated. The counselor is willing to talk to Veronica about her problems, but Keith tells her he'll take care of it herself and walks out on the appointment.

Back with his friends, Justin boasts about his meeting with Veronica Mars. His friend points out that Justin's father died seven years ago, which Justin thinks is going to add up to a whole lot of meetings. Veronica and Wallace, meanwhile, are sending out letters in an attempt to reach the (dead) father in question. Veronica convinces Wallace to "borrow" her permanent file to try and figure out what Keith and her counselor are talking about. Veronica gets a mix CD from Justin for her troubles; all Wallace gets is sent to dig up Justin's permanent file.

Veronica and Troy date, which goes well for the most part but ends chastely. Veronica continues to worry about what holds her back from the relationship, and continues to fantasize about Duncan, who coincidentally is also fantasizing about her while still off his medication.

Veronica finds out about the death of John Smith and angrily confronts Justin, and tries to charge him for postage, but Justin receives contact from his father; Veronica's letter trick worked. Veronica is still angry about having been lied to, but Justin apologizes later, and says his mother told him his father was dead so he wouldn't try to find out the truth. Veronica agrees to take a look at the letter. Keith, overhearing their conversation, realizes the connection between Veronica's interest in the case and her own missing parent. He tells Veronica not to think of her mother as the bad guy in the split, but she already does, plus she's tracked down her mother on her own to boot.

Logan and Duncan's groups are sitting in the bleachers, watching lacrosse practice and drinking. Some ordinary roughhousing leads to one of the kids jumping off the end of the bleachers onto some padded mats, which leads to an increasingly-erratic Duncan seeing Troy and Veronica kiss near where his friend landed, which leads to Duncan somersaulting off the end of the bleachers and nearly killing himself. Veronica hauls him off to the hospital, leaving Troy behind. In the car, Duncan wants to reminisce, but Veronica is cold to him and leaves the hospital as soon as Jake shows up to see his son. Duncan asks the doctor about going off his medication, and the doctor warns him of nausea and hallucinations.

Keith goes back to the counselor's office to apologize for their earlier meeting, and admits that he is probably not properly equipped to help Veronica. Later, they meet coincidentally at a coffee shop and strike up a conversation.

Veronica goes to San Diego to do some recon on possible John Smiths. She comes back with three possibilities, but only one triggers any kind of familiarity: a bald, sunglasses-wearing man Veronica followed "from the junkyard to the pawn shop to the racetrack." Justin asks to come along for more surveillance so he can confirm it's his father. Veronica reluctantly agrees. They track their suspect to a nude bar, where Justin makes contact with the man, but seeing him up close, Justin doesn't recognize him. However, Veronica finds some handwriting in his car that matches the letter Justin received earlier.

At home, Duncan begins hallucinating a bloody Lilly talking to him. The hallucinatory Lilly wonders about her murder and tells Duncan the circumstances don't add up and that deep down, he knows it. Shaken, Duncan resumes taking his medication (and ignoring Veronica) the next day.

Veronica and Justin track the potential John Smith to his home in the suburbs of San Diego. Veronica checks out the house and breaks into the garage, but is caught by the home's occupant, a parole officer who denies having a son when Veronica asks him. Meanwhile, a car pulls into the garage--it's the woman from the video store. John Smith is now Julia Smith, checking in on Justin through the video store. Justin is upset (to say the least) about the deception and leaves. On the way home, Veronica points out that Justin's father had to drive ninety miles each way just to see his son for a few seconds each week. Eventually, Justin decides to make contact with his father again.

Later, she decides that if Lianne doesn't care enough about her daughter to come see her, her daughter is going to go see her. Heading out to an Arizona trailer park, Veronica thinks she's found her mother, but only finds an old college friend who claims Lianne left weeks ago to avoid her father. Veronica leaves, upset, and visits Troy when she gets home.

Notes

Mystery of the Week

• Justin Smith's father left home when he was six; his mother told him his father had died, but in reality John Smith was a transgendered person who moved to San Diego with a new boyfriend, and Justin's mother lied for fears the truth would be too traumatic.

Lilly Kane's Murder

• Duncan, on some level, understands that something is amiss regarding his sister's murder, but is unsure of what and unwilling to probe further.

Lianne Mars's Disappearance

• Lianne had, until recently, been living with a college friend in Arizona, but fled out of fear that Keith would find her.
• Between Keith's unwillingness to play the innocent victim in his and Lianne's breakup, and Lianne's apparent fear of being found by Keith, is it possible there are more sinister motives to the breakup than Keith claims?

Veronica's Rape

• No new information about Veronica's rape is revealed in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Veronica's Romance: Veronica goes on her first date with Troy, but something is stopping her from being fully committed to the relationship.

Characters

• Veronica: Despite the indications of the first episode, Veronica may have had a more active role in her disassociation from her circle of friends than first thought, but chose to try and preserve what was left of her family instead. Her mother Lianne thought otherwise, and left Keith and Veronica soon after.
• Duncan: Duncan has been on anti-depressants for the last six months, but stops taking them. Although he dislikes the effects of the drug, he dislikes the hallucinatory effects of withdrawal even more, and resumes medication soon afterwards.
• Wallace: Some clue to Wallace's slavish devotion to Veronica is revealed here: when Keith asks why Wallace would help Veronica with the more pedantic aspects of detective work, he mentions something about Veronica hooking her up with answer keys.
• Keith: Keith has rented "The Cowboys" five times, and "Slap Shot" more.

Trivia

The Show

• Unseen: Weevil and Ms. Dent do not appear in this episode.
• Subliminal Advertising: A Matrix Reloaded poster is prominently featured in the video store; Joel Silver, the producer of the Matrix franchise, helps produce Veronica Mars.

Behind the Scenes

• Presidential Privileges: This episode was delayed a week because of the vice-presidential debates.

Allusions and References

Duncan: Summer lovin' had me a blast!

• Grease: This line comes from a song in the musical Grease.

Logan: Okay, nowhere man; you be the fool on the hill.

• The Beatles: Logan is referencing two Beatles songs, Nowhere Man and Fool on the Hill.

Worldwide airdates

First runs of Veronica Mars: Meet John Smith around the world:

• Sweden: SVT2, January 26, 2006, 8PM (CET)

Quotes

• Veronica: I'd invite you over, but it's a school night, and my dad owns a handgun.