One Angry Veronica

Synopsis

It is almost Christmas break at Neptune high. Veronica tells Duncan (Teddy Dunn) that Meg (Alona Tal) is pregnant, and Duncan says that he already knew because of the letter he got previously. Dick (Ryan Hansen) comes up and invites Veronica and Duncan to a party while informing them that Meg has woken up. Veronica decides to sneak into the hospital. Woody Goodman (Steve Guttenberg) tells Keith that someone has stolen the Lilly Kane-Aaron Echolls sex tapes. Keith agrees to help him with the case. Veronica and Duncan visit Meg, who talks to them. Meg says that her parents want to give the child up for adoption and don’t want Duncan to have a say in the matter. After Duncan leaves, Meg asks Veronica to prevent the adoption if “anything happens to” her. That night, Veronica learns that she has jury duty. Veronica is voted jury foreman. Keith talks to Sheriff Lamb, who says that the Sheriff’s department is secure. One member of the jury gives the facts of the case—two men are charged in the assault of a woman named Anissa. The prosecution and defendant have very different accounts of the incident. Veronica takes a vote, and the vote is 11 innocent, 1 guilty.

Keith interrogates another member of the Sheriff’s department but gets nowhere. The holdout identifies herself and makes the other jurors question their votes. Keith talks to Leo D’Amato (Max Greenfield), who says that someone probably sold the tapes. Keith talks to an acquaintance in journalism, who agrees to contact the tabloids. One of the bikers comes up to Veronica and threatens her about the jury case. The holdout makes more deductions that support the guilty vote. Keith interrogates Logan before the journalism insider tells him that the sex tapes are on the open market for $500,000. The jurors take another vote, and another juror and Veronica have switched over to guilty. Veronica decorates the apartment for Keith. Veronica finds out that Anissa’s “pimp” was actually a sports star. Veronica ties up some loose ends that show that the defendants are guilty. However, one juror refuses to change his vote no matter what. The entire Sheriff’s department received an email about the sex tapes.

Logan (Jason Dohring) has the tapes and is watching them, crying. Afterwards, Logan burns the tapes. Keith comes in and finds out that Logan bought the tapes. The remaining juror changes his vote, believing that the defendants will appeal and win. After, one of the jurors invites Veronica to Hearst College. Veronica finds that her car is vandalized. Leo actually stole the tapes in order to pay for his sister with Down syndrome to go to a private school. Leo knowingly sent the tapes to Logan. Later, Keith tells Veronica that Meg has died, but her baby daughter has survived. On New Years’ Eve, Veronica hears a knock on the door, and Wallace (Percy Daggs III) appears. They spend New Years’ Eve together.

Arc significance

Music

The following music can be heard in the episode:

Production

"One Angry Veronica" was written by Russell Smith and directed by John T. Kretchmer, marking Smith's second and final writing credit for the show (after writing the teleplay for "Drinking the Kool-Aid") as well as Kretchmer's sixth directing credit for the show. The episode features the first reference on the show to Hearst College, the main location for the show's third season of the show. Despite being credited, Weevil (Francis Capra), Cassidy Casablancas (Kyle Gallner), and Jackie (Tessa Thompson) do not appear in "One Angry Veronica".

In the episode, the character of Meg Manning (Alona Tal) dies while giving birth to her and Duncan's daughter. Tal appeared in 8 episodes previously. Except for a small cameo in "I Am God", this would be her last appearance in the series. On the departure of Meg, Rob Thomas commented, "“The intention was always to get Meg to survive long enough to give birth. What we were really interested in was having that baby. So for our storytelling, it’s less about wanting to kill Meg [and more about] wanting to have this baby that’s in jeopardy, that’s Duncan’s baby, that brings a point of crisis with Duncan and Veronica.” In addition, the character of Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III) returns after an absence of four episodes. The episode's title refers to Twelve Angry Men and its film adaptation. Similarly to both, "One Angry Veronica" depicts a jury deliberating on and eventually changing its verdict. The episode would also be the final episode of the series to air in 2005.

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "One Angry Veronica" received 3.42 million viewers, marking a sharp increase in 600,000 viewers from "My Mother, the Fiend." At the time of its airing, the episode was the highest-rated episode of the series, surpassing the season premiere "Normal Is the Watchword". This ratings high would be broken roughly a season later, with "Spit & Eggs".

Reviews

The episode received a polarized reaction from both critics and fans. Television Without Pity gave the episode a "C+," its lowest rating for the series thus far. Rowan Kaiser, writing for The A.V. Club, gave a fairly negative review, saying that "those last three twists at the end put it at a whole different, odd, bad level." The reviewer criticized the out-of-the-blue nature of the plot twists involving Meg and Leo. "Leo, like Meg, is a character we have history with, suddenly wiped away by something that takes place essentially off-screen. […] It doesn't feel like a betrayal from the character—it feels like a betrayal from the author."

On the other hand, Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, gave a more positive review, saying that "the episode was surprising (and surprisingly heartbreaking!). Also I'm an absolute sucker for Christmas episodes of any show." The episode is controversial among fans, with The A.V. Club even comparing it to the episode "Seeing Red" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.