Veronica Mars Season 3 Episode 1

Character Name: Donald Fagan

It may be a reference to the character Fagin from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. Both men used a gang of young men to steal for them.

Veronica: Some girl going wild? As I understand it, it happens all the time in college.

Girls Gone Wild, a video series targeted towards adult male audience, shows college girls and young women often drunk and performing lewd activities captured on camera.

Veronica: You mess with the bull...
This quote and Veronica's coinciding hand gesture are an homage to The Breakfast Club's Principal Vernon. The full expression is: "You mess with the bull, you get the horns."

The person who tries to sell Piz back his guitar is named Donald Fagan. Donald Fagen, who along with Walter Becker formed the band Steely Dan that was very active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The allusion is flawed however, because Donald Fagan was the keyboardist/vocalist and Walter Becker was the guitarist for the group.

Veronica: Boom goes the dynamite!
This catchphrase comes from Brian Collins, a college student whose abysmal turn as a sports news anchor led to a phrase that will go down in Internet history. Collins agreed to fill in as a sports anchor for a student-run TV newscast and let his nerves get to him on air. Throughout the broadcast, Collins became more flustered; tripping over his words, holding awkward silences, and eventually, during a clip of the highlights of a basketball game, blurting out "and boom goes the dynamite!" The clip was immediately uploaded to the Internet and reached pop culture fame.

Vinnie: What do you say? Wonder Twin Powers, activate!
The Wonder Twins were two DC Comics characters who activated their powers by touching and saying, "Wonder Twin Powers, activate!"

The large banner shown in the first scene of the show reading "Take Back the Night" refers to the first "Take Back the Night" rally held in the United States in San Francisco in 1977. These rallies are common occurrences on college campuses and are designed to empower women against violence and other sexual offenses through "taking back the night" from rapists and other offenders who prey on women by night.

Veronica: You a bounty hunter, boy?
Logan: I really shouldn't have pushed for the Clint Eastwood marathon.

This is from the Eastwood movie The Outlaw Josie Wales, a western set during the Civil War. In the film the line "You a bounty hunter?" leads to the more known quote "Dying ain't much of a living."

Parker: You know you should watch Top Model with us tonight.

America's Next Top Model is a reality show aired on the CW every Wednesday at 8/7. The show is hosted by Tyra Banks, a former model.

Logan: Hey, uh, people are saying Dick's a mess, on account of his brother 'Greg Louganis-ing' off the roof.

Greg Louganis is an American Olympic athlete who has won gold medals in diving events. He is probably most remembered for winning a gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics after hitting the diving board with his head on one of his dives.

Keith: Hot dog!
Veronica: 'Hot dog'?
Keith: It's an expression of excitement and enthusiasm. Joe and Frank Hardy and I used to say 'hot dog' all the time while we were waiting for the carhop to bring us our malteds at the drive-in.

Joe and Frank Hardy are fictional teenage boy detectives, popular throughout the 20th century. The books were written by various writers under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon beginning in 1927.