Veronica Mars: Show Me the Monkey

"Show Me the Monkey" is the tenth episode of the third season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the fifty-fourth episode overall. Written by John Enbom and Robert Hull and directed by Nick Marck, the episode premiered on The CW on January 23, 2007. 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 is hired by researchers in the disappearance of a Capuchin monkey being used for animal testing on non-human primates. However, she has a change of heart after infiltrating an animal rights group as part of the case. Meanwhile, Piz (Chris Lowell) becomes increasingly friendly and gives her advice, but after a heartfelt talk about love, Veronica decides to start dating Logan again. In addition, Keith (Enrico Colantoni) starts investigating Dean O'Dell's (Ed Begley, Jr.) mysterious death. "Show Me the Monkey" was initially scheduled to have a cameo appearance by Ted Nugent, but when they writers could not schedule him, they changed the name of the character to Ed Argent. The eponymous monkey is played by live animal actor Katie, known for her role on Friends. In its original airing, the episode received 3.23 million viewers and positive reviews from television critics. Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club called "Show Me the Monkey" one of the best of the season, while Eric Goldman of IGN lauded Mac's new love interest. However, Keith McDuffee of AOL TV did not like the development of the love triangle between Logan, Piz, and Veronica.