Dude, Where's Your Car?

Episode 1.5: You Think You Know Somebody. Original Airdate 10.26.04

"After a night in Tijuana, Troy finds himself in a tough situation when his car is stolen and turns to Veronica for help. But what she finds changes her relationship with him. Meanwhile, Keith and Rebecca begin dating against Veronica's wishes, and Veronica makes another shocking discovery about her mother."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• Tijuana! Where in American TV, nothing good can happen. Kinda shitty, that.
• Hey! Dude from Being Human! I know all three of these actors, so I can tell them apart, but they’re definitely a ‘type’. They all look similar. They all have that 90s/early 2000s hair.
• Hey, Troy just came back from the bathroom looking very suspicious…. It’s something you might not notice on the first viewing.
• “Dude where’s your car?” Awww, 2000s reference!
• But I mean, Logan has no friends that he could have called? Veronica was their only hope?

LOOK IT'S THE FUTURE

• Man, the banter between Veronica and Logan – so good; so flirty.
• Wallace calls Veronica Velma, but Veronica prefers to be Daphne. I kinda agree with Wallace on this one. She’s definitely a Velma.
• Back-Up! You know on TV when people come home and their dog doesn’t have to go outside immediately and pee? Yeah, so not realistic.
• Miss James = Jenny Calendar light?
•  I love that there’s just a random safety deposit box key in the one box of her mom’s things. How convenient...  And how did Keith not catch that when he was filling the box with things?  So I'm calling my first Shenanigan of the series.  Now it's possible that Keith just didn't want to use it since he's said in the past that he doesn't want to investigate Lianne - but he certainly would have hidden it from Veronica, because he doesn't want her to investigate either.
• Hey, contract character Ms. Dent has one line in this episode….(she has more later)
• Oh crap. I forgot about this part of the mystery – photos of Veronica with bullseyes on them. That’s freaking scary.
• I’m wondering how Veronica can afford this car….but I’m sure she has her wily ways.
• The things guys will do for a pretty girl – I’m kinda glad Veronica takes advantage of this. It’s only fair.
• Luke doing the Ferris Bueller run through the backyards.
• It’s nice when Veronica looks happy. It won’t last.
• Oh right, this is the first clue to the part of the mystery where Veronica and Duncan might or might not be siblings. They’re really good at laying down these subtle clues.
• I love when we see Keith doing his under cover thing. Because you can see where Veronica gets it from.
• Oh HS, where ending a three week relationship is the scariest thing.
• “Poor Miss Dent” – Agreed, Veronica. Such a pointless character.
• I don’t like when the Mars’ fight,  but I’m glad they do since it makes it more realistic.
• 2003 – GPS at its earliest.
• Troy is so lying but at this point, we want to believe him. He’s one of those guys are too good to be true.
• I love that she took Back-Up to her meeting with the bodybuilder.
• “Remember this moment. Because you’re gonna regret it!” – Love you, VM.

• All that investigating and she still has time to make a cake for her dad. Awww.
• OK, so Troy kinda planned this the whole time, and I guess that kinda makes sense in regards to how this episode is structured. He used Veronica for her PI skills – but did he seek her out from the very beginning for that purpose? That part is unclear.
• But Veronica of course got the jump on him…and that’s why we love this show.

Zelda's Thoughts:

• I remember watching this episode for the first time and realizing how much I couldn't tell the boys apart. When Luke (aka Josh the werewolf from Being Human!) showed up in the opening Tijuana scene, I thought it was Duncan or Logan. Ah, youth. (basically, it wasn't clear to me that this was a new character)
• Ah but there's Logan and there's Troy. So then I thought it was Duncan. Which is how unmemorable Duncan's face is, I guess? Sorry Teddy.
• Okay so back to the episode. Here we are at border control.
• Maybe the source of my confusion was also knowing that Troy was more friends with Duncan than with Logan.
• Logan, making a musical reference (Brigadoon). I love me some musical references.
• Topical reference no longer topical! "Dude, where's your car?"
• "Does this mean you're gonna play nice now?" // "Walk in front of the car. We'll see. *revs engine*"

• Mars banter is my favorite banter. "And now, your birthday will be spent skydiving. Alone."
• Keith wants to put Lianne's stuff in storage. CUZ HE'S DATING VERONICA'S GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
• Gasp! V found a mysterious safety deposit box key in her mom's things!
• "I don't help dealers find their lost products." Yeah, werewolf, even a junior PI has standards.
• Man, I'd forgotten about the stalker photos with V in the crosshairs. That had to have been so scary for Lianne.
• Man, why does Luke play baseball? He should clearly be on the track team, doing vaulting. This chase scene is quite impressive.

Cue: The English Beat - March Of the Swivel Heads

• Listen, Veronica, I totally get your being upset that your dad is dating. However, it is fairly shitty to be passive aggressive and surly to Rebecca James after you said - to both your dad's face and to Rebecca's - that this was fine. Use your words, stop punishing. I likes the Marses better when they communicate.
• God this is heartbreaking. Veronica mailing out burner phones to everyone she can think of, in hopes that her mom will call her. "It's my version of a message in a bottle."
• "I'll be nice to your boyfriend if you'll be nice to my girlfriend." Touche, Keith Mars.
• Oh come ON, Miss Dent. Veronica gets in trouble for her rude question, but Ashley doesn't? Her question was just as cruel.
• Veronica, who can't help herself: doing a background check on Miss James and bringing it to her dad. "Did you know she was still married?" // "I did. I'm still married, Veronica."
• "Protect me? I'm an ADULT, Veronica." I love Enrico Colantoni.
• "You can find anybody. If [Lianne] were a criminal, you'd make a couple grand tracking her down and you'd have her back in a week!" I also love Kristen Bell. Her fragility breaking through the tough exterior.
• This show is just so well done.
• And Keith's got an envelope on Troy for Veronica. "You can open it, you can throw it out. It's your choice."
• Fuck, and then he breaks up with Rebecca. Because Veronica is the most important thing to him.
• gasp Troy is the bad guy! He stole the 'roids and faked his car theft.
• Luckily, our Veronica is a smart cookie and replaced his stolen drugs with taffy.
• AND she gave Zigman's name and photo to border patrol, so he gets his too.
• AND Lianne called Veronica and she missed the call WHY IS THIS SHOW SO CRUEL.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: The best way to dull the pain of your best friend's murder is to have your mother abandon you as soon as possible. It's like hitting your thumb with a hammer, then when it's throbbing so badly you don't think you'll survive, you cut the damn thing off.

Zelda:

Arc/Continuity:

Neptune Roll Call: Logan, Wallace, Mallory Dent, Weevil (Absent: Duncan)

First Appearance: Luke Halderman

Recurring: Troy Vandergraff, Rebecca James, Lianne Mars, Veronica's "Office"

Future Famous Person: Sam Huntington

Veronica's Alias: personal assistant to Lawrence Vandergraff

Keith's Alias: James Anderson, head of security to L.T. Vandegraff

Stats:

Dead Humans - 0

Backup Sighting - 1

Veronica Breaks In - 0

Veronica Tases Someone - 0

Mac Hacks - 0

Who's Your Daddy? - 0

Wallace Does Veronica a Favor - 0

Veronica Wants a Pony - 0

Logan Punches Someone - 0

Dick's Single Entendres - 0

Shenanigans Called - 1

VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 0

VERONICA WAS WRONG - 0