LogFAQs > #889936150

Season 1, Episode 8

Recap: There's an online Purity Test that everyone is taking, and the non-mean-girl, virgin cheerleader girl has been slandered. Veronica tracks down the jealous #2 girl and saves Meg's reputation. Meanwhile, Keith helps Wallace's mom with a nasty tenant. Veronica also speaks to Koontz, who spells out what was implied last episode - that Veronica is Jake Kane's daughter.

Well, this happened. Virgin and the whore! Computer technology! Sex, lies, and videotape!

It's an okay episode whose primary purpose seems to be showing us that not every non-Veronica/Wallace character at Neptune High is a gigantic asshole. That they do so by using such a bizarre Mary Sue isn't so great. Further disappointing: that her virginity is actually upheld as virtue in this episode, with other girls jealous of it. Not that slut-shaming isn't a good tactic, but the show is fairly uncritical about her purity being a good thing (and not something that's just important to her).

Also, I get that the virgin/whore thing is intended to be a big deal here, but how are we gonna front that the episode's villainous cheerleader really is jealous of Meg's musical roles? I get that Cabaret is a good pick for virgin/whore, but are we really seeing a dozen of the popular kids show up to an audition for a high school musical?

There is one aspect that I think is meant to placate critics of the 'purity'-goodness correlation drawn this episode - Veronica herself is more sexualized here than in previous episodes. With the help of Meg, she squeezes into a cheerleader outfit with an extremely short skirt, and very shortly after shows her bra and cleavage to Wallace (and is immediately caught, of course). So I guess this is supposed to show us that it's okay to be sexy? (She also seems surprisingly worried that Duncan will believe the hacked email about her having a VD, even though the two of them never had sex.)

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* Veronica getting bullied at the beginning - getting her clothes taken - seems promising, but quickly she bounces back and she's saving the damsel in distress instead of being remotely bothered by it anymore. Show me some pain!

* I'm critical of the high school storyline overall and rolled my eyes a lot, but 'EVERYONE'S TAKING IT' and everyone FREAKING OUT about the results is pretty fantastic.

* Computers in the early 2000s! Veronica overwhelms a gym teacher with psychobabble and is extremely impressive for having a complex password such as gj!70x.

* Pretty lukewarm on the Veronica's dad/Wallace's mom storyline. It's not the worst, but nothing really notable. Keith making crazy monkey noises ("This is crazy") was fun, though. Also: 'That guy is sleazy, so I hope merk means something bad!'

* Nice touch this episode: Duncan and Veronica talking to each other like friends.
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yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness