My Mother, the Fiend

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“My Mother, the Fiend”
Veronica Mars episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 9
Written by Phil Klemmer
Dayna Lynne North
Directed by Nick Marck
Guest stars Alyson Hannigan
(Trina Echolls)
Alona Tal
(Meg Manning)
Duane Daniels
(Van Clemmons)
Tina Majorino
(Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie)
Lisa Thornhill
(Celeste Kane)
Kari Coleman
(Deborah Hauser)
John Bennett Perry
(Alan Moorehead)
Charisma Carpenter
(Kendall Casablancas)
Production no. 2T7209
Original airdate November 30, 2005
Episode chronology
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"Ahoy, Mateys!" "One Angry Veronica"
List of Veronica Mars episodes

"My Mother, the Fiend" is episode 9 of season 2 of the television show Veronica Mars. It had an estimated audience size of 3.01 million US viewers on its first airing.

Contents

[edit] Plot

When Clemmons sentences Veronica to hours of filing, she still manages to find something to investigate: a mysterious report about her mother spreading "malicious lies." It turns out that someone had given birth at school and the baby was none other than Trina Echolls. Now Veronica wants to know if her mother was being a fiend or a friend.

[edit] Arc significance

  • Mary Mooney, the deaf lunchlady, had an affair when she was in school with then-vice principal Moorehead. She told Lianne Reynolds about it when she got pregnant and Lianne asked for advice from Deborah Philipina Hauser (now Veronica's health teacher), who spread the news across the school. Lianne said she made it all up, however, to protect Mary, who left the baby (who became Trina Echolls) at Moorehead's door. It was Principal Moorehead who left the baby in the bathroom during a school dance.
  • Logan and other 09ers beat up Weevil and tape him to the flagpole. Later on, Weevil gets Logan alone and says he no longer believes he killed Felix, so they decide to work together. They fight to keep up appearances and keep their collaboration secret.
  • Cassidy uses his trust fund money to start Phoenix Land Trust, with Kendall as the figurehead CEO.
  • Keith tells Veronica about the dead rat and she thinks it's a message to her.
  • Veronica is called to the hospital to get Abel Koontz's possessions. While she's there, she decides to visit Meg and finds that she's very visibly pregnant. After Veronica leaves, Meg opens her eyes.

[edit] Music

[edit] Production details

  • This episode was advertised with an "alternate ending" that you could only see online. The alternate ending begins with Veronica finding Meg pregnant; however, this time, Meg's mom decides to enter and Veronica hides in the bathroom. When she comes out, Meg is dead, a pillow over her face, and Veronica pulls it off just as a nurse comes in. This alternate ending is also available to see in the deleted scenes of the season two DVD. [1]

[edit] Quotes and trivia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Kendall: Gee, Cassidy I thought you didn't like me.
Cassidy: I don't, but I find value in your desperation.
Ms. Hauser: Now, find a partner, pick a baby.
Veronica: Oh. Aren't we supposed to have a shot of tequila first?
Veronica: You've been working here for, what, like, ever? Any idea what my mom did her senior year to get herself suspended?
Clemmons: Let me get this straight: you want follow-up on what I explicitly forbade you from doing yesterday?
Veronica: Ummm...yes.
Logan: Oh yes, where are my manners? Kendall Casablancas, Trina Echolls. Rode hard, meet put away wet.
Trina: I'm guessing she's the wet one. Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got places to be.
Kendall: Where? Is there a club where you, Dedee Pfeiffer, Joey Travolta, and Melissa Rivers all meet for drinks?
Trina: There is. I don't think you'd like it, it's twenty-one and over. We're hitting an after party at Chuck E. Cheese, though, if you're free. 'Kay, well, I need him in bed by ten p.m. sharp. He's got school tomorrow. 'Night, all.
Logan: Well, the joke's on her: she came over to borrow my video camera. The girl does love a good exit line.
  • Among the ring of keys that Clemmons orders Veronica to hand over is a key that "fits any Vespa scooter." This is an allusion to the 1967 neo-noir film Le Samouraï, in which the protagonist carries a ring of keys enabling him to steal any Citroën DS.
  • The title "My Mother, the Fiend" could be a reference to the 10,000 Maniacs song "My Mother the War", from their 1985 album "The Wishing Chair," or the television show My Mother the Car.
  • Joey Travolta was a recording artist for Casablanca Records in 1978.
  • At the end of the fight scene between Logan and Weevil, you can briefly see the arm of a stray cameraman just to the right of the frame just as Mr. Clemmons and the security guard break them up.
  • In one scene, around 14:10, Logan mockingly introduces Kendall (Charisma Carpenter) and Trina (Alyson Hannigan). Carpenter and Hannigan appeared together in 54 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 3 of Angel as Cordelia Chase and Willow Rosenberg respectively.

[edit] References

Ratings are based on Nielsen Media Research data and are obtained from Mediaweek.[2]

[edit] External links