In 2006/2007, Dianna was a guest in three episodes of the popular TV series “Veronica Mars” as Jenny Budosh. She appeared in the third season of the show, in the episodes “President Evil” (3×05), “Papa’s Cabin” (3×15) and “Weevils Wobble But They Don’t Go Down” (3×19).

Creator: Rob Thomas
Stars: Kristen Bell, Percy Daggs III, Jason Dohring
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Episode length: 44 Minutes
Runtime: 2004–2007
Production locations: California
Distributor: Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Opening theme: “We Used to Be Friends” by The Dandy Warhols
Original Network: UPN (2004–2006), The CW (2006–2007)
Executive producers: Joel Silver, Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero, Jennifer Gwartz, Danielle Stokdyk

After her best friend is murdered, and her father is removed as county Sheriff, Veronica Mars dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune.

3×05: President Evil

Director: Nick Marck
Written by: Jonathan Moskin, David Mulei
Original air date: October 31, 2006
Other guest stars: Blake Shields, Ryan Pinkston, Krista Kalmus, Jaime Ray Newman

» The episode had an estimated audience of 2.70 million viewers on its initial airing.
» The title President Evil is a reference to the zombie video game Resident Evil.
» This is the only Veronica Mars Halloween-themed episode.

It’s Halloween at Hearst College and while Veronica is at a party with Logan at Mercer’s underground casino, the place is robbed by men in U.S. President masks. The thieves take Veronica’s necklace, given to her by Lilly Kane. Veronica suspects that Weevil was behind the robbery and soon after the robbery, Sheriff Don Lamb arrests him. Lamb suspected Weevil because a pizza was delivered with a VISA card. Weevil insists to Veronica that he was framed and she takes the case. After a lengthy investigation, Veronica discovers that a couple of members of the campus police were actually behind the robbery and they framed Weevil because he was the newest Hearst maintenance employee. Veronica gets her necklace back.

Meanwhile, Dean O’Dell and his wife Mindy seek Keith’s help in tracking down Steve Botando, the biological father of Mindy’s son, who is deathly ill. Keith tracks Steve down, but Steve is unwilling to be the bone marrow donor. Soon after, Steve disappears and Keith becomes the leading suspect in his disappearance. Keith soon discovers that Steve was knocked out and taken to the hospital by Dean O’Dell so that they could take the bone marrow without Steve’s consent. In the end, Steve is given Mindy’s car in exchange for the bone marrow and Keith is cleared of all charges regarding Steve’s disappearance.

Wallace, distracted by a new group of friends, struggles to pass his Mechanical Engineering class. One of his new friends directs him to a “tutor” who can give Wallace tests and answers in exchange for a fee. Wallace at first buys the tests and then succumbs to temptation and buys the answers. This does not work out well for Wallace, however, as he is caught cheating. (Source)

3×15: Papa’s Cabin

Director: Michael Fields, Patrick Fabian
Written by: John Enbom
Original air date: February 27, 2007
Other guest stars: Jesse James, Dendrie Taylor, Ed Begley Jr.

» The episode had an estimated audience of 2.66 million viewers on its initial airing.
» The views marked an increase in nearly 400,000 viewers from the previous episode, which earned 2.27 million viewers.

Acting Sheriff Keith Mars interrogates Mindy O’Dell, who reveals that the second man in her hotel room on the night of Dean O’Dell’s murder was Cyrus himself. On discovering her affair with Hank Landry, Cyrus threatened to destroy his career. After he left, she visited him in his office at Hearst College, gave him the Xanax which was found in his blood, and returned to the hotel. Keith indicates that he strongly suspects Landry of the murder. He releases Mindy but instructs her not to leave town. She is subsequently seen receiving the proceeds from Cyrus’s life insurance policy, which she uses to purchase a yacht. Keith arrests Landry. At his interrogation, Landry relates that during the hotel confrontation Cyrus also threatened Mindy with the potential for a financially disadvantageous divorce. He also gives an alibi: After leaving the hotel, he purchased a pack of cigarettes from a convenience store and gave two of them to an unknown brunette female. Tim Foyle, Landry’s teaching assistant, visits him in jail. Landry implores him to find the woman.

Veronica catches Tim breaking into Mars Investigations. He tells her of Landry’s alibi, and the two attempt to track her down. While waiting outside the convenience store Landry visited on the night of the murder, as Tim walks into the store, Veronica receives a phone call from Keith who informs her that Mindy is missing and has “shipped her kids off” to her mother’s house in England. She questions an exotic dancer who claims to have seen Landry there around the time of the murder, establishing his alibi. Keith takes her statement and releases Landry from custody, believing that Mindy framed Landry for the murder. Landry subsequently disappears from Neptune.

Convinced of Landry’s innocence, Tim and Veronica search the residence of Mindy’s ex-husband Steve Botando, presuming that he planted the recording device in Landry’s cellular phone and made recordings of the conversations. Tim is seen using latex gloves to search Botando’s computer. Tim discovers the recordings and plays two of them. The first recording was of a conversation between Landry and Mindy taking place after their altercation with Dean O’Dell in their hotel room, on the night of the murder. The second recording was a conversation between Landry and an unnamed faculty member at Pepperdine University wherein he gives an unflattering account of Tim’s aptitude in forensics. Veronica gives these recordings to Keith. Veronica continues to peruse Landry’s recorded phone conversations and hears Landry suggest to Mindy a trip to “Papa’s cabin”. She meets Parker, who attempts to tell her about her budding romance with Logan, but Veronica abruptly cuts her off. Mindy is then shown awaking in the cabin of her yacht, apparently disturbed by the sound of the engine. She ascends to the top deck, where Landry is waiting for her.

Veronica and Tim search Landry’s residence, discovering a picture of Landry’s grandfather standing in front of a cabin, and a picture of Landry and Mindy at a bar. Tim also discovers a disposable cellular phone in Landry’s trash. Veronica redials the last number called from the phone and extracts the address of the person who answers. She and Tim meet the callee, who is revealed to be the miscreant son of the same exotic dancer who established Landry’s alibi.

Armed with this evidence, Veronica and Tim discuss its ramifications with Keith. All three are now convinced that Landry manufactured his alibi. While Veronica and Tim speculate as to the location of “Papa’s cabin”, Keith notices a picture of Ernest Hemingway (who was nicknamed “Papa”) in the bar snapshot. He quickly Googles up “Papa’s Cabin”–a resort in Cabo San Lucas. Mexican police, accompanied by Keith, raid a yacht moored off the coast and find Landry, drunk and in great emotional distress; he describes an argument during which Mindy fell overboard. Mindy’s body is found washed up on the shore. Landry is arrested and charged with the murders of both Cyrus and Mindy O’Dell.

With Landry thus out of the picture, Tim is appointed to take over his Criminology class. The class discusses the O’Dell murders, and Tim gives a detailed description of all the elements of the crime. Veronica becomes suspicious when she realizes that Landry was in jail when the call from the disposable cellular phone was made, and thus had no opportunity to manufacture his alibi. Tim continues his explication of the crime, mentioning that Mindy’s children were “shipped off” to England, a fact he could not have known. Veronica discovers a recording device in her cellular phone and reasons that Tim had listened to a recording of her previous conversation with Keith, as well as Landry’s phone conversation with Mindy the night of Dean O’Dell’s murder. Veronica immediately confronts Tim, exposing his motive (Landry’s unfavorable recommendation) and opportunity (knowledge of the events immediately preceding Dean O’Dell’s death as they transpired) to frame Landry for murder.

Keith meets Veronica at their home after extracting a confession from Tim for Dean O’Dell’s murder, and a confession from Landry for Mindy O’Dell’s manslaughter. Veronica ruminates on the troublesome nature of justice, saying that even discovering Dean O’Dell’s murderer will not change the fact of his untimely and “unfair” death. Keith sees a news report of an unrelated murder in San Diego, turns the television off, but finally turns it back on. The episode ends with Veronica and Keith eating a peaceful dinner. (Source)

3×19: Weevils Wobble But They Don’t Go Down

Director: Jason Bloom
Written by: Phil Klemmer
Original air date: May 22, 2007
Other guest stars: Lauren Bowles, Michael B. Silver, Patrick Fischler

» The episode had an estimated audience of 1.78 million viewers on its initial airing.
» The episode is a play on Hasbro’s Weeble toys catchphrase, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”
» Eric Goldman, writing for IGN, graded the episode a 9.0 out of 10, indicating that it was “amazing”.

Weevil is arrested for selling fake debit cards to Hearst College students, but claims he is being framed because of his criminal background, and asks Veronica to clear his name. On Piz’s radio show, Keith debates Vinnie Van Lowe in relation to the upcoming election, while a tipsy Dick Casablancas apologizes to Mac for the way he has treated her in the past.

Veronica and Piz make up after their argument about spending their summer apart, and Logan attacks Piz after a mysterious sex tape of Veronica and Piz finds its way to the internet.