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Veronica Mars Season 1 Episode 9

Drinking the Kool-Aid

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8.9

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/30/04

Against her father's wishes, Veronica infiltrates what she believes to be a cult in order to rescue her classmates, but after meeting the people on the farm, even she begins to doubt their intentions. Meanwhile, her investigations into Abel Koontz's claims about her family continue.

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The Veronica Mars Season 1 Dossier: Episodes 9-16

Set your time machines for 2004: We're taking a closer look at one of TV's most beloved cult series.

By Price Peterson, May 23, 2012

Fan Episode Reviews (12)

Against her father's wishes, Veronica infiltrates what she believes to be a cult in order to rescue her classmates, but after meeting the people on the farm, even she begins to doubt their intentions.moreless

6.4

By andrada_charmed, Jun 04, 2011

Against her father's wishes, Veronica infiltrates what she believes to be a cult in order to rescue her classmates, but after meeting the people on the farm, even she begins to doubt their intentions.

Meanwhile, her investigations into Abel Koontz's claims about her family continue. Blah blah blah abel koontz again..i'm tired of same things
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The only episode of the season I'd say truly sidetracked.

7.7

By PabloExobar, Jun 04, 2011

Well, the episode continues right where the previous one left off. And wow it surely kicked in high gear! Veronica Mars suddenly transforms into Sydney Bristow and within only 5 minutes(until the shows's title card) she figures out who made the photos with the crosshair on them and also comes to a couple of conclusions. For starters, if she really is Jake 's daughter she basically dated her own brother. IS that why Duncan left Veronica? Hmm...

I liked the rapid cuts and the whole thing was just awesomely fast paced. But after the title sequence... ouch.

The writers used all of their magic power for the first 5 minutes i think. They ran out of interesting material for this episode anyway.

The mystery of the week... huh, well... Let's just say it was.. dull. The only thing that I liked is how after all the Cult thingy turned out to be harmless and the ending with Josh(?) being a jerk again, lovely irony. But that's about it. I've watched 18 episodes of Veronica Mars within 24 hours and this is the only episode where I thought I should take a rest because it was really dull. I just stopped caring for the case halfway the episode. And then the worst part is the ending. In my opinion. Veronica's right, her father is the man who raised her, therefore Keith. Nothing changes that. So why not just take a look at the results of the paternety test? At least it could've proved if she was sleeping with her brother or not. No of course this episode does not "close" or "end" the "is Jake Kane Veronica's real father" storyline but depsite how promising it started, it really ended sluggish and slow.

Probably the weakest episode of the season.moreless
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A Three Episode Slide...

7.8

By cavanagh15, Jun 04, 2011

Veronica Mars, which started off very consistant and was looking to finish with a season one average of 9.20 is now on the brink of finishing below a nine. After 9 episodes, 4 have been ranked by me below a 9 - the last three coming seemingly out of nowhere. This episode picks up right where the other episode left off - and they really feed off of that energy for like - 7 minutes. Veronicas adventure in finding out who the man who took the picture of her was very fast for the average "Veronicas gonna solve this puzzle" that they usually do. The rest of the episode was simply below average. Veronica was the main pivot of the episode, which is why Im so shocked that the writing simply didnt hold up for me. Usually I love all the scenes that she is in however I think the doom of this episode was simply the case that couldnt hold my attention no matter what it tried to do. Caseys mother dying didnt get to me emotionally (not that anything ever does, but you know what I mean - I just didnt care) The cult thing could have been so much better written if they wanted it to be. Overall, a bad episode that lowers my season one rankings to an 8.86 which right now would be one of the lowest rankings Ive ever given to an entire season. (Alias 4 is lowest with 8.75)moreless
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It's Pretty funny.

8.4

By verbaldaggers, Apr 22, 2008

Keith is hired by two parents who fear their son has been taken advantage of my a local "cult". Okay, so Drinking the Kool-Aid has its moments of excellence there are allot of great father and daughter moments both emotional and comedic. Veronica gets some killer lines all the way through and the episode and everything comes together well in the end. I'm glad Veronica shredded the papers it make no sense to me why she would even consider the idea of another father considering how great her and Keith are. So the plot of this episode is a little thin and starts off a tad tedious. But the episode does picks up offers some great turns. The final moments of the story fells rushed and little under explained. Drinking the Kool-Aid is a strong episode in terms of comedy and Keith and Veronica moments but the episode lacks a strong story.moreless
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Even better than what I already expect from this superb show, they take a typical storyline from many shows and tilt it on its side, and make you see why this is a classic.moreless

9.1

By AleroRatking, Jun 26, 2007

While you watch this episode you will keep thinking of what will happen next following these typical stereotypes. But thats what Veronica Mars avoids, being normal. Now the episode does not develope the main storylines very much, and besides the paternity test nothing that happened in the past weeks come to life in this. No mention of Lily Kane is even made, the first episode to really stand out on its own. I know to some that is disapointing, but when a show can right a sidestory that makes you forget all that, you know you have a keeper.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Enrico Colantoni	Keith Mars
Francis Capra	Eli "Weevil" Navarro
Percy Daggs III	Wallace Fennel
Kristen Bell	Veronica Mars
Teddy Dunn	Duncan Kane

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Ray Proscia	Ice Cold Man	Guest Star
Inger Tudor	Restaurant Manager	Guest Star
Albie Selznick	Bill Gant	Guest Star
Linda Castro	Mrs. Murphy	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- When Veronica first sees Clarence Wiedman he is driving a new Chevy Malibu with steel wheels and wheel covers. When he pulls into the Kane Software parking lot, it is an older Malibu with aluminium wheels. Veronica knows her cars well enough that she would have seen that and mentioned it.
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- When Veronica gets into her car after the funeral you can see that the passenger door is closed, but then when the angle is changed, the door is suddenly open. A few seconds later a long distance view of the car shows that again the door is closed. She does not have a passenger with her in this scene to explain the door. Also in the scene, you can see her door open in the distance as soon as her friend is being kidnapped, but then a close up view shows that her friend is almost into the limo before she opens the door to get out.
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QUOTES (9)
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- Veronica: (voiceover) Enough already with this mellow 'Incense and Peppermints' vibe. Let's break out the mushrooms and dance naked. Strap on the goat-skull headgear, sacrifice a few infants. Come on, people, you're cultists. Start acting like it.
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- Veronica: I'm so ashamed of myself for my meltdown last night. I was a rampaging jackass.
  Casey: Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I'm Casey Gant, okay? I wrote the jackass Bible, the jackass Qur'an, the jackass Talmud.
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- Veronica: (voice-over) The attributes and style of crap teen poetry. Must be written in a funky color of ink. Must include dominant themes of alienation, sexual ambivalence, self-loathing, death, et cetera.
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- Veronica: He [Casey Gant] joined a cult? What do they worship? Wedgies? Keggers? Their parents' platinum cards?
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- Veronica: (to her dad) What is your deal? You're jacked up like some hillbilly kid who just stumbled into daddy's meth lab.
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- Keith: You're covered in mud.
  Veronica: See, that's why you make the big bucks.
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- Veronica: You're saying that you don't want my mind, you don't want my body, you don't want me working in your ganja fields, you just want me to be happy. Strange.
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- Keith: This is so endearing, my bad-ass action-figure daughter is afraid of drawing a teensy little drop of blood.
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- Veronica: Forbidden barn? Check. Implied polygamy? Check. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a cult.
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NOTES (4)
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- Jason Dohring (Logan) doesn't appear in this episode despite being in the opening credits.
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- Music:
  
  "Fireflies" by Amy Cook
  "Make A Deal With The City" by East River Pipe
  "Famous Lover" by The Fire Marshals of Bethlehem
  "(You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back" by Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger
  "Have A Nice Day" by Stereophonics
  "When The Angels Sing" by Social Distortion
  "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" sung around campfire, originally performed by The Velvet Underground
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- Jonathan Bennett (Casey) previously appeared with Amanda Seyfried (Lilly) in the 2004 blockbuster hit Mean Girls.
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- Sydney Tamiia Poitier is removed from the opening credits.
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ALLUSIONS (6)
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- Veronica: Enough, already with this mellow 'Incense and Peppermints' vibe.
  
  In 1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock, a psychedelic rock band, released their debut album called Incense and Peppermints, which includes the Billboard No.1 hit "Incense and Peppermints".
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- Veronica: I learned all I know about country life from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman reruns.
  
  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was a show that focused on Dr. Mike, a woman doctor in a time when that was unheard of. It started with her journey to Colorado Springs to be the town's physician after her father's death in 1868.
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- Keith: Honey, it's fine. Chicks dig scars.
  
  "Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever," was used as the tagline to the 2000 film The Replacements starring Keanu Reeves.
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- Veronica: As God is my witness, I'll never take cold showers again!
  
  A reference to Scarlett O'Hara's famous line from Gone With the Wind, "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again."
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- Veronica: Wow, it's Bizarro World. Out here, I'm Miss Popular.
  
  This is probably a reference to the 1959 Action Comics, "Superman" issue. Bizarro World, is a creation of Bizarro, who is supposed to be the exact opposite of Superman.
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- Episode Title: Drinking the Kool-Aid
  
  The title is probably a reference to the murder/suicide of over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, at Jonestown. Jonestown refers to an agricultural project established by the Peoples Temple, a religious group based in California which moved to Guyana in the late 1970s to establish a religious utopia. On November 18, 1978, 900 men, women, and children committed mass suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide mixed into a vat of punch (Flavor Aid, often mistaken for Kool-Aid) and tranquilizers.
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