Play" by Lake Holiday "No Sleep Tonight" by The Faders "Whatever It Takes" by The Faders Production The character of Weevil (Francis Capra) does not appear in "Blast from the Past," despite being credited. The episode features a cameo appearance by Mandy (Claire Titelman), who previously guest-starred in the first-season episode "Hot Dogs". "Blast from the Past" also marks the last episode for several months for series regulars Percy Daggs III (who plays Wallace Fennel) and Tessa Thompson (who portrays Jackie Cook). Daggs would not appear until "One Angry Veronica", while Thompson would not appear until "Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle". The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Cathy Belben and directed by Harry Winer, marking Klemmer's sixth writing credit, Belben's first writing credit, and Winer's second directing credit (after "Meet John Smith"). As a joke, the character of Jackie can be seen TiVoing the TV series Cupid, a show that was created by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas. In addition, another show on Jackie's TiVo list is Sunset and Vaughn, a fictional TV series within Cupid. Reception Ratings In its original broadcast, "Blast from the Past" received 3.58 million viewers, marking a sharp increase from the previous episode and serving as the series' highest rated episode overall. Reviews The episode received mostly positive reviews. Television Without Pity gave the episode a positive review, rating it an "A". Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, gave a mostly positive review, writing that "overall this was a good, if slightly unsatisfying episode. I think that's mostly to do with the fact that we're still early in the season so it's all just a bunch of loose ends at this point (even the case of the week ended up having no closure). Still, Veronica Mars is a much more confident, layered show than before and it's still really fun to watch." Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club wrote a mixed review, saying that "This, dear readers is easily the single most melodramatic episode of the series so far. It's hard to say how I feel about it. If it's an indicator of how the season will continue from here on out, I expect a fascinating levee of exhaustion. If it's a way to raise the stakes early on, it's damn effective. There was a lot going on here, maybe too much for down the road, but it worked." References External links