Veronica Mars 1.08 'Like a Virgin'

‘Like a Virgin’ is one of those episodes that, for me, is near perfect. A lot of that is down to the way in which it balanced all the different aspects of it so perfectly, like Veronica helping Meg, Keith helping Alisha, and of course the major advancement of the season’s big mystery. Not only does it accomplish all that, but one of the things I adore most is the way in which this episode boasts the sense of community that it creates through the efficient utilisation of so many of its minor characters which is a major selling point of this series in and of itself.

In ‘Like a Virgin’ Veronica helps cheerleader Meg when somebody creates a ‘purity test’ and fakes her answers. When Wallace’s mother has trouble with her tenant, Keith steps in to help her out. 

Veronica tries to get a visit with Abel Koontz to answer some of her questions about Lilly’s murder.

When basing a series in a small community, or high school, there should always be the feeling that there are a lot of different people to interact with. ‘Like a Virgin’ is one of the best episodes in displaying that in showing this ideology in both the high school with Veronica working her way around to get her answer, and the larger community with Alisha’s perception of the Mars family due to water cooler gossip.

The ‘purity test’ was always one of my favourites of all of Veronica’s smaller cases. It got so many different characters involved, like the ever awesome Mac (gotta love that she was the one who took the rich kids for all they’re worth) and Meg; it was nice to see Veronica make some friends at Neptune High for a change, and get a few people in her corner. I also enjoyed the fact that it dealt with something that Veronica has had completely tarnished; her reputation. She puts on that she's above it all, but deep down it's hurting her so much more than you'd think. Isn't this whole season about her attempting to repair her family's own status quo in Neptune?

While stand-alones can lead to some fantastic installments, it’s always great when the episode deals with its episodic content, while also further advancing the major arc of the season as well. One of my all time favourite scenes of ‘Veronica Mars’ is Ronnie finding out about the doubt over her biological lineage. Since the Veronica/Keith relationship is so strong, and so centre stage, it was obviously a major bombshell that what we’ve come to like most about the series may not actually be for real. The most striking part of the whole thing is Veronica’s meltdown in her car afterwards; so raw and gut-wrenching.

There are many episodes of 'Veronica Mars' that accomplish the same things that this episode did, but its varying components partnered with it's strong plot help to make it stand out a bit more than the rest.

10/10