"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars.
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.
In this episode, Veronica investigates the mysterious cult of which Casey, another student, is part, the Moon Calf Collective.
The next day, Keith (Enrico Colantoni) talks to a couple, who tell him about their son, Casey (Jonathan Bennett), who has joined a cult.
Eventually, Veronica gets stuck with milking a cow, and begins talking to one of the younger members, Rain (Megalyn Echikunwoke) in order to get information.
At a meeting, the other members ask for Veronica to read her poem, but she quickly leaves to enter the barn which was previously mentioned as forbidden.
They tell him that his brain dead grandmother has left him $80 million in her will and ask Keith to quickly finish the case and find evidence that will close down the cult.
Veronica sees Casey several days later, who apparently has been successfully "deprogrammed" and arrogantly flaunts his newfound wealth.
After musing on the possibility that the test could prove she is a heiress to the Kane empire, Veronica decides to shred the document in a befuddled Keith's presence before reading it.
The phrase has its origins in the 1978 Jonestown deaths, which killed 909 followers, many of whom were children, of the Peoples Temple cult, headed by Jim Jones.
Price Peterson, writing for TV.com, wrote in his verdict that "I was pretty uncomfortable with this episode's unsettling pro-cult stance."