Lilly Kane

Infobox character | colour = #7DC622
name = Lilly Kane
other_names =


caption = Amanda Seyfried as Lilly Kane
portrayer = Amanda Seyfried
creator = Rob Thomas
species =
gender = Female
first = "Pilot"
last = "Not Pictured"
cause =
age =
occupation = Student
title =
family = Jake Kane (father)
Celeste Kane (mother)
Duncan Kane (brother)
Lilly Kane (niece)
spouse = Logan Echolls (boyfriend)
Eli “Weevil” Navarro (lover)
Aaron Echolls (lover)
episode = 12
children =
relatives =
footnotes =

Lilly Kane is a fictional character played by Amanda Seyfried on The CW television series "Veronica Mars".

Arc

Lilly was the daughter of Jake Kane, the billionaire CEO of a software company. She was murdered roughly eight months prior to the time of the show's first episode. Abel Koontz, a disgruntled employee fired from Jake's firm, confessed to the crime and was awaiting execution.

Lilly is seen on the show through a series of flashbacks and Veronica's daydreams, which portray her as a fun, wild, and stylish teenage girl. Her wildness was a stark contrast to the then-demure Veronica. Although a grade above her, she was the best friend of Veronica, who was dating Lilly's younger brother, Duncan Kane. Prior to her death, Lilly had been dating Logan Echolls, but had also been in a relationship with Eli “Weevil” Navarro, as Lilly did not like to be tied down.

Her murder changed Veronica's life completely, and was the catalyst for a series of events that included Veronica's father Keith losing his job, Veronica's mother Lianne leaving town, and all of Veronica's friends abandoning her when she needed them most. The now hardened Veronica discovered that Abel Koontz was not guilty, and vowed to find whoever murdered her closest friend.

Through the entire first season, Veronica investigated her murder, and found that nothing was what it seemed. All three of the Kanes falsified their alibis, and Lilly's time of death was three hours off. Clarence Wiedman, the head of security for Kane Software, called in the tip that got Abel Koontz arrested.

Finally, in the episode Leave It to Beaver, Veronica discovered several tapes in Lilly's bedroom. They showed Lilly in bed with Aaron Echolls, Logan's father. Veronica realized that Aaron killed Lilly to get the tapes back. When Duncan found her body, he went into a catatonic state. When his parents discovered him reeling over Lilly's dead body they assumed he had killed Lilly in an epileptic fit. To protect their son, they began an elaborate cover-up of the murder. But before Veronica could take the tapes to the police, Aaron tried to kill her. Luckily, thanks to Keith, they managed to subdue him, and he was arrested.

After that grueling night, Veronica had a dream about Lilly. The two of them were floating in a lily-covered pool. Veronica said that it was the way things were supposed to be.

:LILLY: Don't forget about me, Veronica. :VERONICA: I could never.

Lilly also appeared as a hallucination in the season two premiere Normal Is the Watchword. This distraction allowed Veronica to miss the bus before it crashed, and ride with Weevil instead.

Lilly returned for one last dream sequence in Not Pictured, wherein Veronica's subconscious suggested that Lilly would have attended Vassar had she lived. As high-spirited as ever, Lilly bragged over her sexual experiments and promised Veronica would understand once she got to college.

A painting of Lilly is seen in The Bitch is Back, as a homage to the character in the final episode.

Casting

Rob Thomas described Seyfried as "the biggest surprise of the year". When casting a series regular, he was able to see all the best actors in town, mainly because they all wanted to be a series regular. When casting Lilly Kane, who would only appear from time-to-time as "the dead girl", Thomas did not receive the same level of actors. Thomas said that he had "never had a more cut and dry audition" than he did with Seyfried. He said that she was "about 100 times better than anyone else that we saw, she was just spectacular". He continued by saying that she ended up being so good in the series that he used her three or four more times than he initially planned.cite web|last=Thomas|first=Rob|url=http://www.slaverats.com/files/DVD_Commentary.mp3|title="Pilot" commentary|publisher=SlaveRats.com|accessdate=2008-09-17]

Comparisons

Lilly often is compared to the character Laura Palmer from David Lynch's "Twin Peaks", who was also deceased and appeared in "Twin Peaks" through various flashbacks as the plot unfolded. Laura's murder, and the mystery surrounding it, was a pivotal plot device in the first season of "Twin Peaks", as Lilly's is in "Veronica Mars". Comparisons could also be made to Jessica Costello on the first season of "Murder One" and Mary Alice Young of "Desperate Housewives."

Quotes

*"It's not my fault. I can't help it if God made me fabulous."

*"High on life, Veronica Mars. I've got a secret, a good one."

*"Why do you insist on suppressing your hotness? The world is ready for you, Veronica Mars. You don't have to blend in."

*"Hey, I'm only young once. How many braless years do I have left?"

*"Look at you Veronica Mars, you're like a rocker chick now. We two would have so much fun together.

*"Yeah, I could be there too if you know. If I wasn’t dead and stuff."

*"Don't you watch any horror movies? My soul is doomed to walk the earth until justice has been served. Yeah, that and as a side project, I dispense fashion advice."

Appearances

Season 1

* 1x01 Pilot
* 1x02 Credit Where Credit's Due
* 1x03 Meet John Smith
* 1x04 The Wrath of Con
* 1x06 Return of the Kane
* 1x07 The Girl Next Door
* 1x13 Lord of the Bling
* 1x17 Kanes and Abel's
* 1x19 Hot Dogs
* 1x22 Leave It to Beaver

eason 2

* 2x01 Normal Is the Watchword
* 2x22 Not Pictured

"The "ghost" Lilly that briefly appears in Normal Is the Watchword is a re-used effect from Kanes and Abel's. Amanda Seyfried did not film anything for "Normal Is the Watchword" and is not listed as a guest star."

References

Notes

*"Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season", Warner Home Video, 2005, UPC 01256972774.