The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a high school student while moonlighting as a private detective.

Meanwhile, Duncan (Teddy Dunn) returns from running away earlier, and Veronica and Logan's relationship matures as she reacts to the news that he had roofies the night of the party.

Keith (Enrico Colantoni) surprises a now-bearded Duncan (Teddy Dunn), who denies killing Lilly (Amanda Seyfried).

Veronica approaches Luke (Sam Huntington) about a trip to Tijuana to pick up some GHB; he admits getting the drugs, but he says that he gave them to Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen).

Veronica attempts to barge in on a fight between Keith and Alicia over Wallace's involvement in the Wiedman case, but her intervention does nothing to defuse the situation.

Veronica and Logan go into his darkened house, kissing, only to realize too late that Aaron is throwing a surprise party for him—meaning that virtually the entire high school now knows that they are dating.

Unable to unlock his car, Duncan flies into a rage and starts smashing it; coming upon him engaged thus, Meg chastises him and accuses him of still loving Veronica.

[3] "A Trip to the Dentist" has the return of several guest stars from a previous single episode, including Luke (Sam Huntington) from "You Think You Know Somebody", Cole (Daniel Bess) from "Like a Virgin", Casey Gant (Jonathan Bennett) from "Drinking the Kool-Aid", Sean Friedrich (Kevin Sheridan) from "An Echolls Family Christmas", and Carrie Bishop (Leighton Meester) from "Mars vs. Mars".

"[8] In one scene of "A Trip to the Dentist", Weevil (Francis Capra) accuses Logan (Jason Dohring) of having hit Lilly during their relationship.

The series' writers were planning to develop that plot strand into a storyline, with it eventually being revealed that Duncan had hit Lilly during an epileptic seizure.

When asked whether the writers knew that Beaver would be eventually revealed as the rapist when writing "A Trip to the Dentist", Thomas responded, "I wish I could claim that we were that clever.

[10] The narrative style of "A Trip to the Dentist", in which Veronica's fate unfolds through flashbacks focalized through her various peers, establishes in fact the opposite — that everyone bears guilt for the season-long exploitation of the heroine.

Sean narrates a particularly vile vignette in which Dick Casablancas drags an unconscious Veronica into the guest bedroom and invites his younger brother Beaver to rape her.

Victoria E. Thomas, writing for In Media Res, opined that Veronica frequently distances herself from her rape, noting a scene in the pilot in which she states, "I'm no longer that girl."

"[5] Sarah Whitney, in Investigating Veronica Mars: Essays on the Teen Detective Series, found the episode's portrayal of rape "troubling".

Women are frequently told (or tell themselves) that they have "misinterpreted" sexual situations by missing cues ("leading men on") or by being "unclear" about their lack of consent.

"[18] The reporter went on to praise the "expertly scripted" reveal and thought Diane Ruggiero's "command of the tightrope high-school milieu seems pretty much spot-on.

"[The date rape mystery] all comes to a head in the penultimate episode, which puts Veronica on the emotional rollercoaster until she gets to the uncomfortable truth."

Club gave a positive review, stating that the reveal was "an effective narrative, and one which creates a "satisfying" resolution for the viewer as well as the character.

Veronica Mars has done a good job of subverting expectations on a regular basis, but it's still a TV show, with requirements for satisfying resolutions.

[21] Conversely, Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, gave a more mixed review, heavily criticizing the resolution to Veronica's rape case.

"[2] Kimberly Roots of TVLine called the episode "cathartic" and that "we get a huge reveal from Duncan, some unintentionally very public LoVe PDA and a say-it-ain't-so-Logan!

"[22] BuzzFeed ranked the episode 3rd on its complete ranking of Veronica Mars episodes, comparing it to Buffy the Vampire Slayer—"both these shows have always managed a perfect balance between high school drama (gossip, futile betrayals, and short-lived romances) and extremely powerful and dark themes (sexism, rape, harassment, addiction, and domestic violence).