My Big Fat Greek Rush Week

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
"My Big Fat Greek Rush Week"
Veronica Mars episode
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 2
Directed by John Kretchmer
Written by Diane Ruggiero
Production code 3T5802
Original air date October 10, 2006 (2006-10-10)
Guest actors
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Welcome Wagon"		 Next →
"Wichita Linebacker"
Veronica Mars (season 3)
List of Veronica Mars episodes

"My Big Fat Greek Rush Week" is the second episode of the third season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the forty-sixth episode overall. Written by executive producer Diane Ruggiero and directed by John T. Kretchmer, the episode premiered on The CW on October 10, 2006.

The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a college student while moonlighting as a private detective. In this episode, Veronica infiltrates the Theta Beta sorority as part of her investigation into Parker's rape. Meanwhile, the Hearst sociology teacher, Dr. Kinny (Dan Castellaneta), conducts an experiment similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Synopsis

A police officer talks to Parker (Julie Gonzalo) about her rape, and she says that she doesn’t remember most of the night. Veronica tells Sheriff Lamb (Michael Muhney) that she ran into the room and heard Parker having sex, and Parker blames her. Keith (Enrico Colantoni) hikes through the desert. Wallace’s (Percy Daggs III) and Logan's (Jason Dohring) sociology professor recruits volunteers for a Stanford prison experiment-like study. Cormac (Jason Beghe) starts following Keith. Veronica interviews for a photography position, and the person gives her a job to write an exposé of the Theta Beta sorority, where Parker was the previous night. Veronica agrees. Parker’s parents are taking her home. Veronica poses as a new recruit, but the sorority appears to be perfectly normal. The study starts, and Wallace is a guard, while Logan is a prisoner. Cormac gets stuck in a bear trap. Veronica is invited to attend a “private party”. Liam (Rod Rowland) appears and shoots Cormac. Veronica attends the party, and one of the people gives her a “panty dropper” drink. Dick (Ryan Hansen) is at the party. Veronica learns that anyone could have gotten into Parker’s room. Veronica pretends to be drunk in order to show her what they do, but they are nice to her.

The police search Kendall’s (Charisma Carpenter) apartment, and they only find a small amount of blood. The study continues, with the guards giving the prisoners sleep deprivation and one guard abusing one prisoner. Keith cries and tells Veronica that he made a mistake. The guard puts one prisoner in solitary confinement. Parker tries on wigs. Veronica learns that a student, Moe Flater (Andrew McClain), took Parker home the night of the rape. She confronts him about this, but his alibi checks out. Veronica learns that the surveillance camera was in the den mother’s room. The prisoners successfully escape from prison. Veronica breaks into the secret mystery room, but they are only growing marijuana. Veronica reports the news to the newspaper person, but the sorority girl says that it’s because the den mother has cancer. The article is already being published, but Veronica warns the sorority. Mac convinces Parker to stay at Hearst.

The prisoners believe they’ve won the study, but the guards have tricked them into winning. It turns out that Kendall gave Keith a valuable painting in a case that looked like money case, leading the Fitzpatricks to kill her over a painting. Cormac killed Liam out of anger that there was no money. Fulfilling a bet made earlier in the episode, Logan streaks through sociology class.

Cultural references

The following cultural references are made in the episode:[1]

Arc significance

Parker blames Veronica for her rape. Veronica learns more about Parker's assault. Keith makes it out of the desert, but Liam kills Cormac.[2]

Music

The following music can be heard in the episode:[3]

Production

Dan Castellaneta guest starred in the episode.

The episode was written by Diane Ruggiero and directed by John T. Kretchmer, marking Ruggiero's thirteenth writing credit[4] and Kretchmer's eleventh directing credit for the series.[5] The episode features several notable guest appearances. Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons, appears as Dr. Kinny, a sociology professor.[6] Rider Strong guest stars as a student who participates as a guard in the experiment.[7] The episode features a guest appearance by Samm Levine, best known for his role on Freaks and Geeks.[8] Levine had previously worked with star Chris Lowell on the recently cancelled Life as We Know It.[2] Rachelle Lefevre, known for her roles as Victoria in The Twilight Saga and in Under the Dome, guest stars as Marjorie, one of the sorority girls who becomes friends with Veronica.[6]

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "My Big Fat Greek Rush Week" received 2.96 million viewers, marking a decrease from the season premiere and ranking 83rd out of 88 in the weekly rankings.[9]

Reviews

The episode received mixed to positive reviews. Eric Goldman, writing for IGN, gave the episode an 8.3 out of 10, indicating that it was "great". He wrote that it felt "more like a normal episode of the series" compared to the premiere's "introduction type" tone. He also praised the prison experiment subplot, writing that it "introduced a who's who of recognizable guest stars, all of whom could clearly rerun on a show that loves to build a large cast of periphery characters."[7] Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, gave a very positive review, writing "Anytime Veronica goes undercover as her polar opposite is just a good time, you know? […] And as much as the Stanford Experiment thing was low-stakes and standalone, I enjoyed its unpredictable twists and reveals. Perfect early season plotline."[2] Alan Sepinwall wrote that the prison experiment plotline never getting "out of hand […] made it feel like a wasted opportunity" while writing that "Enrico Colantoni really sold Keith's despair at the resolution" of his plotline.[10]

Rowan Kaiser, writing for The A.V. Club, gave a more mixed review, stating that the show and Veronica were both still discovering there place at the show's new setting. "The show is still tense, still powerful, still amusing. But it doesn't know how to apply those things in its new setting." However, Kaiser concluded that "Veronica Mars is a mess right now. But it’s an extremely ambitious mess. I’d watch rather 'ambitious and difficult' than 'boring,' and 'My Big Fat Greek Rush Week' was anything but boring."[11] Television Without Pity gave the episode a "B".[12]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=My_Big_Fat_Greek_Rush_Week&oldid=905091"