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Veronica Mars Season 1 Episode 15

Ruskie Business

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9.4

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 2/22/05

As Valentine's Day approaches, Veronica finds herself working as a love detective, tracking down Meg's secret admirer and helping a Russian woman find her missing fiancé, both with unexpected results. Meanwhile, Logan's family troubles continue when he stakes out a hotel that he believes is hiding his mother.moreless

FAN RECAP

TV.com Episode Review

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 (17)

Valentine's Day approaches&Veronica finds herself working as a love detective, tracking down Meg's secret admirer and helping a Russian woman find her missing fiancé. Logan's troubles continue when he believes he sees his mother.moreless

8.0

By andrada_charmed, Jun 08, 2011

As Valentine's Day approaches, Veronica finds herself working as a love detective, tracking down Meg's secret admirer and helping a Russian woman find her missing fiancé, both with unexpected results.

Meanwhile, Logan's family troubles continue when he stakes out a hotel that he believes is hiding his mother but who in fact is his older sister TRina.
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So much to enjoy, So Little time.

10

By verbaldaggers, Apr 30, 2008

Veronica takes on three cases, Helping Logan find his mum, Helping Meg find her secrete admire and helping an internet bride track down her runaway husband. Ohh what a classic Ruskie Business is. So this is the first straight out love episode and is very much awesome. With Veronica working three very different cases it makes way for a lot of interesting moments. Meg and Veronica has the comedy and cute teenage romance stuff which will give you tiny little butterfly's. The Russian bride delivers one nice twist for the end, she seems so sweet and lost at first. Then we have the very powerful Logan scenes, Jason Dohring once again nails a very subtle performance. We also get a nice guest appearance from Alyson Hannigan who adds the comedy in the right places. Obviously I could not review the episode without mentioning the 80's dance which is visually a stroke of genius and lots of fun. Ruskie Business is a Veronica Mars that has everything that makes the show so great.moreless
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9.3

By cavanagh15, Feb 11, 2008

Another really good episode where it seemed like the action never really stopped. This episode was jammed pack full of things for our characters to do and we get a lot of answers, many of which raise a lot of questions. Logan Echoll is going through a lot in the past couple of episodes. His mom his dead. His mom is alive. She is seen jumping off a bridge. But she might still be alive. Now it would seem like she is dead again. I really liked his acting in this episode, mainly the scene where he fell into Veronicas arms. That was the scene where you could really tell that all of this was taking its toll on his character. I thought the double case was good too - with neither giving us the outcome that we would have thought. I really enjoyed the high school drama scenes over the Russian Woman ones, but I did enjoy both to the episode. Veronica finds her Mom at the end of the episode to give us a big cliffhanger, but she onec again is plauged by the man who seems to have his face all over this investigation. I cant wait to see where the writers take this in the next episode.moreless
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Love is in the air

9.6

By PabloExobar, Feb 03, 2008

Great episode. The episodic case was superb, not as excellent as in the last episode though... but I really loved the twist with the end. In fact without it it would've been a serious downer, but then again, sometimes a good ending can justify the rest.

The sideplots on the other hand were simply stunning. The theme of the episode is "love" but it's not soapy at all.

Deputy Leo and Veronica are a couple now I guess, howeverI've the feeling Veronica's main goal with Leo is to be closer to the sheriff department and it's resources.

Meg has a secret admirer and Veronica's to find out who is it. Well, it's Duncan. Now I've to say I was really surprised by this. The scene where Leo and Veronica and Meg and Duncan are dancing was very well done. Obviously both Veronica and Duncan still have feelings to eachother... but then why did Duncan dump Veronica? Hmm...

However to me the best part was Logan's storyline. This midseason arc has came to an end. Despite all the hope Lynn Echolls is dead. It was only Logan's sister who used the credit card. Logan's emotional breakdown in the arms of Veronica was very... real. And it just gives Logan's character so much more depth. The funny thing is, I could feel some real good chemistry between Logan and Veronica(LoVe anyone?)... so this episode is almost based on a Love rombus! (Meg,Duncan,Veronica,Logan,Leo.. oh god!)But then again: it wasn't soapy AT ALL. It was really gripping and great quality.

The ending's superb, Veronica finally locates her mother, but then so does someone else... Mr. Clarence Wiedman.

Uh oh.moreless
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Veronica helps Meg track down her secret admirer.

9.5

By amfarley84, Jun 09, 2007

I thought that this was a very good episode of Veronica Mars. I thought that it was really nice of Veronica to help Meg track doen the person who is secretly attracted to her who knew that it would be Duncan. It was nice of Veronica to help pu the Russian women to bad the women was only there to have the person Veronica was looking for killed because of what he saw. I thought that it was very sad that Logan got his hopes up thinking his mother was alive instead it was his sister using his mother's credit card.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Enrico Colantoni	Keith Mars
Jason Dohring	Logan Echolls
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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Cynthia Lamontagne	Catherine Lenova	Guest Star
Zachery Bryan	Caz Truman	Guest Star
William Regan	Martin	Guest Star
Alona Tal	Meg Manning	Recurring Role
Max Greenfield	Deputy Leo D'Amato	Recurring Role
Corinne Bohrer	Lianne Mars	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- The song that plays in Veronica's flashback to her and Duncan dancing, "Just Another, by Pete Yorn, was in the show's pilot. In that episode, the song is playing as she had a flashback to her party, where Duncan says, "Hey babe, it's our song."
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- When Logan is in the hotel lobby sitting on the couch, he is leaning to the left. In the next shot, he is leaning to the right.
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QUOTES (16)
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- Trina: (talking to Logan and Veronica) So, is the whole brat pack here? What is this, like prom night? You guys get a room here for some after-party. Oh, hey. Oh. I've been kinda outta the loop lately. Are you two...
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- Trina: She was your mom, my step-mom. The lady who liked to parade though the house in a string bikini, whenever I had a boy over.
  Logan: Yeah, well to be fair when didn't you have a boy over.
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- Veronica: Come on, Logan just give me your keys. Leo, can you follow us in your car?
  Logan: (laughing) No. No. No. No. I have to party like it's 1999. Wait, who's this dude?
  Veronica: As I have told you now three times, this is the friendly officer of the law who is going to overlook your underage public drunkenness.
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- Meg: Wow. '80s fashion. Grody to the max.
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- Veronica: Hey, you're on the basketball team, right?
  Wallace: You obviously haven't seen us play. I am the basketball team.
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- Wallace: Damn. This dog is a freak show. He oughta be in show biz.
  Veronica: D'you think that's some kind of rare breed or something?
  Wallace: That or a drunk dingo had a three-way with an ocelot and a porcupine.
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- Veronica: (voiceover) J. Geils was right. Love stinks. You can dress it up with sequins and shoulder pads, but one way or another, you're just gonna end up alone at the spring dance strapped into uncomfortable underwear.
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- Trina: I guess I'll just drag your sorry little self home.
  Logan: As long as you let me puke in your car.
  Trina: Of course, just like old times.
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- Keith: Who the hell names a dog Steve?
  Veronica: Tom Cruz?
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- Wallace: About this secret mission...
  Veronica: What you got?
  Wallace: A reputation as a jock sniffer. You can 'B' your own 'FF'. I'm retired.
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- Veronica: How hard can it be to find an actor named Tom Cruz?
  Wallace: Tom Cruise? Not as good a private eye as I thought.
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- Logan: Wang Chung or I'll kick your ass!
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- Meg: (talking about Deputy Leo) My God Veronica, he totally wants to protect and serve you.
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- Veronica: I look like Manila Whore Barbie.
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- Duncan: Don't be stingy with the glitter. Remember this is an 80's dance.
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- Veronica: When I've had my fill of soul mates, glitter and puppy love, I always find a private detective's office a refreshing change of pace.
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NOTES (3)
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- Francis Capra (Weevil) doesn't appear in this episode despite being in the opening credits.
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- Music:
  
  "Just Another" by Pete Yorn
  "Waiting" by Taxi Dolls
  "One Thing Leads To Another" by The Fixx
  "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper
  "I Know This Much Is True" by Tears For Fears
  "True" by Spandau Ballet
  "Warm Breeze" by Jeff Tatum
  "Ballade for piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 38, CT. 3" piano instrumental, composed by Frédéric Chopin
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- Alyson Hannigan, Cynthia Lamontagne, and Zachery Ty Bryan all previously appeared on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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ALLUSIONS (15)
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- Veronica: The game is afoot.
  
  Veronica uses a William Shakespeare phrase from King Henry IV, later made more commonly known by the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. An Shakespearean way to say "game on".
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- Logan: So book me a room, Jeeves.
  Reginald Jeeves is the personal valet for Bertie Wooster, the main character in P.G. Wodehouse's popular book series. Contrary to popular belief, Jeeves was not a butler but a valet, but the term 'Jeeves' is a commonly misused pejorative.
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- Veronica: J. Geils was right. Love stinks.
  
  The J. Geils Band is an American music group that had a successful blues-rock/R&B style sound in the 1970's, before moving towards a more pop-influenced sound in the 1980's. Their song "Love Stinks" is the title song from their 11th album released in 1980.
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- Costume references: Pretty in Pink
  The costumes that Meg and Duncan are wearing are from the 1986 film Pretty in Pink, directed by Howard Deutch and written by John Hughes. Meg's dress is the same as the one Molly Ringwald's character 'Andie' wore, while Duncan's suit is the same as Jon Cryer's character 'Duckie' wore.
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- Wallace: How many cases are you working on here, Rockford?
  
  Wallace compares Veronica to Jim Rockford, a private investigator from the '70s TV series The Rockford Files.
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- Keith: Honey we're private investigators. Not the frickin' Love Boat.
  
  The Love Boat was a television series that ran from 1977 to 1987. It featured the crew of a cruise ship who frequently meddled in their passenger's lives to bring people together.
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- Veronica: Hamburglar glasses in the kitchen.
  Refers to the cartoon character used in McDonald's advertisements and immortalized on promotional water glasses.
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- Trina: The Big Bad Wolf, cigarette burns, broken noses.
  Reference to the villain of Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs. The BBW huffed and puffed 'til he blew their house down.
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- Logan: Crockett or Tubbs?
  
  Refers to the main characters of Miami Vice, Sonny Crockett played by Don Johnson and Ricardo Tubbs played by Philip Michael Thomas.
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- Trina: Is the whole Brat Pack here?
  
  Refers to the many teen stars of John Hughes' 80's films including Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and Rob Lowe. Brat Pack is itself an allusion to Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack.
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- Logan: Who will play Dead Hooker 2 on CSI.
  
  Refers to the Jerry Bruckheimer TV megahit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
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- Veronica: Relax Dad, cutting pictures of Ashton out of Teen People as we speak.
  
  Refers to the former star of That 70's Show and host of Punk'd.
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- Character Name: Tom Cruz
  
  The name of the missing person and the object of Catherine's search is Tom Cruz (full name Anthony Thomas Cruz with a Z) referring to Tom Cruise, the noted Scientology scholar and star of the 1983 film Risky Business.
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- Logan: Everybody Wang Chung tonight!
  
  Refers to the '80's new wave one hit wonder British band Wang Chung and their single "Everybody Have Fun Tonight."
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- Episode Title: Ruskie Business
  
  The title of the episode is a reference to the Tom Cruise movie Risky Business (1983). The reference is reinforced by Logan's appearance at prom in a buttondown shirt, white socks, and tighty whities.
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