Crime TV: Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars

Review by: Amy Parker

If you asked me which two prematurely-cancelled shows I’d bring back on the air, I wouldn’t have to think. One would be Joss Whedon’s Firefly. The other would be Veronica Mars.

I mean, a show where a father tells his daughter to ‘take backup’ on a run to shoot some surveillance photos at a motel, which culminates in the revelation that ‘Backup’ is the name of the family dog? Absolutely classic.

Anyone I Know in It?

Probably! This is what Kristin Bell and Amanda Seyfried were doing before they really hit Hollywood. And if you’re a Buffy fan, you’ll have no trouble spotting a couple of familiar faces: Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter (Willow and Cordelia) are both recurring characters. Oh, and Jason Dohring, who was in Moonlight? He’s a regular cast member.

The Setup

Veronica Mars is a wisecracking high school student with a very sharp tongue and an even sharper wit. Neptune, the fictitious community she lives in, is divided into two halves: the ridiculously rich, and the working class who clean their houses and sell them groceries.

The same applies to Neptune High, Veronica’s school. The popular kids all have wealthy or high-status families. Veronica was permitted into the rich kids’ social circle because her father was the town’s sheriff, until Keith Mars was run out of office following a scandal. The series picks up after this event: Veronica is ostracised at school, and her father is now a private detective.

The case that ruined Keith Mars’ career is the murder of Veronica’s best friend, Lilly. Most of the rich families in town owe their fortunes to Lilly’s father, Jake Kane, and when Veronica’s father had Jake arrested for Lilly’s murder, it spelled the end of his career as sheriff.

Veronica holds regular conversations with Lilly, her dead best friend, throughout season one of the show. It’s one of the quirkier traits, along with Veronica’s postmodern narration of certain events, but it’s fun, and it works. When she finds evidence that the man convicted of the murder is innocent, she begins looking into the murder herself, to try to salvage her father’s credibility.

Cool Stuff in Every Episode

This is the underlying plot of the first season of the show, but there’s an investigation-of-the-week formula, too. Veronica often helps her father out with his PI business, taking surveillance photos and running internet searches, and when word gets out around school, some of the students pay her to look into their own personal cases.

The relationship between Veronica and her single-parent father is at times heartbreaking, often humorous and always touching, and it really makes the show. Kristin Bell and Enrico Colantoni are a very convincing family.

Veronica’s friend, a new student named Wallace who was taped to the flagpole outside the school on his first morning, is a fantastic sidekick, and later they’re joined by a computer genius named Mac. And let’s not forget the head of the local teenage biker gang, Weevil, who Veronica clashes with early on, then later befriends.

Looking for Love?

And yeah, there’s romance. Before Lilly’s murder, Veronica was dating her best friend’s brother, Duncan Kane. He broke up with her after the murder, and hasn’t spoken to her since, but during the series they begin to interact again, slowly.

By the end of the show, you’ll be rooting for a very different romantic pairing, though. I’m not gonna spoil it, but there’s a sexual tension between Veronica and the guy I’m talking about that leaps off the screen!

You Said This Was Season One?

Yup – and there are two more seasons afterward. The mystery of Lilly’s murder is dealt with by the end of season one, and season two involves a new mystery. A school bus filled with students crashes from a high cliff into the ocean, and there’s only one survivor. Veronica works to discover the truth behind the crash while her father attempts to be re-elected as the town’s sheriff: was it an accident or sabotage?

Season three takes place after Veronica’s graduation from high school, in her first year of college. The mystery involves a rapist on the college’s campus, and due to the change of setting, the season falls a little flat. If you really want to leave Veronica Mars on a high, stop watching after season two. Otherwise, don’t expect too much of the final season.

Any Final Words?

I think Max, who blogs on Marianne’s Burn Bright young adult site, said it best when he handed over the DVDs to me: “Paris Hilton’s in the first couple of episodes, but it’s okay – she’s only got a small part, and she’s not in it for long. Other than that, you’ll love it.”

Enough said!

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