The Rapes of Graff

Infobox Television episode


Caption = Veronica runs into Troy on a visit to Hearst College.
Title = The Rapes of Graff
Series = Veronica Mars
Season = 2
Episode = 16
Airdate = March 29, 2006
Production = 2T7216
Writer = John Enbom
Director = Michael Fields
Guests = Michael Muhney
(Don Lamb)
Daran Norris
(Cliff McCormack)
Jessy Schram
(Hannah Griffith)
Rick Peters
(Tom Griffith)
Aaron Ashmore
(Troy Vandegraff)
Michael Cera
(Dean Rudolph)
David Tom
(Chip Diller)
Alia Shawkat
(Stacy Wells)
Tayler Sheridan
(Danny Boyd)
Episode list = List of Veronica Mars episodes
Prev = The Quick and the Wed
Next = Plan B

"The Rapes of Graff" is episode 16 of season 2 of the television show "Veronica Mars". It had an estimated audience size of 2.07 million U.S. viewers on its first airing. [ [http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/index.jsp Ratings are based on Nielsen Media Research data and are obtained from Mediaweek] ]

Plot

On a visit to Hearst College, Veronica encounters her former boyfriend Troy Vandegraff (last seen in "You Think You Know Somebody"). Troy has been accused of raping a fellow classmate and then shaving her head bald afterwards. Veronica clears Troy's name and in the process, tangles with a sex-obsessed group of frat boys and discovers that the rapist (whom Veronica does not catch at the end of the episode) has been stalking victims on campus for quite a while, when she encounters a second victim of the rapist.

Meanwhile Keith follows up on the theft of Cliff McCormack's briefcase, which leads to Keith discovering that Sheriff Lamb is secretly dating Veronica's barely legal high school nemesis Madison Sinclair.

Arc significance

* As part of his scheme to frame Duncan Kane for the death of Lilly Kane, Aaron arranges for an escort to be hired for the purpose of seducing Cliff and stealing his briefcase, which contained the Logan Echolls murder case files and keys to the storage locker containing Aaron Echolls' personal belongings, including an Oscar statue.
* It's revealed that Madison's mystery "older boyfriend" is in fact Sheriff Lamb.
* Logan goes back on his deal, and Dr. Griffith walks in on Logan and Hannah about to have sex. As a result, Hannah is sent away to boarding school.
* Veronica and Troy reconcile after their rather bitter split early on in season 1 of the series.
* Danny Boyd, Liam Fitzpatrick's cousin, works construction at Shark Stadium. He has access to the C4 explosives which will be used in the demolition.
* Perhaps most importantly, this episode sets up the first major story arc of season 3. Although Troy is exonerated, we don't find out who really was responsible for the rapes; Veronica's pursuit of the real rapist will run until the episode "Spit & Eggs".

Music

* "I Hate It That I Got What I Wanted" - Clearlake
* "Crank It Out!" - Ari Shine
* "I Know I Know I Know" - Tegan and Sara

Writing and acting

* The episode sees the return of season 1 character (and former love interest of Veronica Mars) Troy Vandergraff, played by actor Aaron Ashmore.
* The episode also features guest stars Alia Shawkat and Michael Cera, who both starred in the Fox series "Arrested Development" as cousins. Cera's character, Dean, was originally intended to return in season 3. However, due to scheduling conflicts, another actor was hired and the character of Moe was created. [ [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a12755/index-18.html Television Without Pity interview with Rob Thomas] ]
* While the episode features references to Veronica's past sexual assault, the script makes no mention of the meeting between Veronica and Sheriff Lamb that occurred the morning after the assault.
* Also, the man who stole Cliff's briefcase is still at large. However, since it is Aaron who hired him, he is not too important.

Quotes and trivia

:Veronica: Okay, I'm Veronica, I'm from Neptune, and I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.:Dean: How'd that go?:Veronica: It was a bit of a letdown.

* This is a reference to the Johnny Cash song Folsom Prison Blues.

---

:Troy: I'm not lying to you, Veronica. I just wanted you to know that.:Veronica: Do I care? Really, Troy, you're just water under the bridge. ["mutters to herself"] Duplicitous, evil water.

---

:Veronica: I told you, Dad, I am going far, far away. It's a dealbreaker.:Keith: Hearst is 10 whole exits.:Veronica: What do you know about plastic explosives?:Keith: Well, that's what I like: a good segue.

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:Veronica: Dad. Your hooker's here.

* The episode title is a spoonerism of "The Grapes of Wrath". Graff is also part of Troy's last name, Vandergraff, and because he is suspected of a rape on campus, the title is The Rapes of Graff.

* The episode title is also a play on the title of the mock-heroic narrative poem The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope in which a girl gets a lock of her hair cut off while attending a party.

* One of the frat boys is called Iceman. Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Ashmore's brother plays Iceman in the recent X-men series.

References

External links

* MI.net's [http://www.marsinvestigations.net/episodes/216/the_rapes_of_graff/roundtable Roundtable Review] .
* Soulful Spike Society's [http://www.soulfulspike.com/vmars/VMep2-16.htm Open Case] .
* Television Without Pity [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a2327/ Recap] .