For this week’s edition I decided to do a more recent program, similar to when I did the review of “Brothers and Sisters.” I’m sure a lot of you heard of but few of you watched the UPN (eventually CW), teen mystery show, “Veronica Mars.” If you did I have to say that you missed out on one of the most quick witted, suspenseful, and overall entertaining shows of the new millennium.
For those of you who haven’t heard of “Veronica Mars” it was a show that starred Kristen Bell as teen sleuth Veronica Mars. The show ran for three seasons from 2004-2007. Veronica is the daughter of former sheriff Keith Mars who was shamed out of office after falsely accusing the parents of Veronica’s best friend, Lily, of murdering their daughter. They live in the town of Neptune which is divided into the haves and have not’s. It sounds like your average teenage soap-opera doesn’t it? While that’s partly true, I can guarantee that you need look no further than this show if you want to see the wittiest dialogue since “Gilmore Girls” as well as hard hitting mysteries that put Law & Order and any of its various spin offs to shame.
Each season has a core mystery, or in the case of season three, two core mysteries, that span the entire season. Each season also includes another big, yet less important mystery, and about twenty small mysteries that set the stage for each individual episode. Every episode of the various seasons adds another piece to the puzzle of whatever mystery happens to be the primary story arc of that season as well as having its own mystery for Veronica to solve. For example, in the first season the primary mystery that Veronica was trying to solve was who killed her best friend Lily Kane? Along with that there is a side plot where she searches for the man who raped her at a party. With each episode of that season we get a piece of what happened with Lily and may or may not get a clue about who raped her. Each week the series keeps you hanging on but never lets you get frustrated enough to want to start watching.
The real highlight of the program though is Veronica herself. Her dialogue is irresistibly funny and the way that she handles tough situations makes you want to follow her and see what she is going to do next. Not to mention Veronica is never one to turn down someone who has been shunned by society who she thinks really needs her help. She’s like a cross between Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes. She protects and looks out for those who need her help, but she can handle any mystery and handle it with precision and intelligence. One of the best parts of the show is figuring out how she is going to manage to figure out what usually seems to be such a hopeless case.
I think the most appealing factor about “Veronica Mars” is that it shows a strong young woman who is able to take control of any situation and to outsmart anyone who tries to do wrong by her. Unfortunately that’s probably what helped to bring the show to a close. However the show is still around to watch and enjoy. The entire series is available on DVD and various clips are available on YouTube if you want to get a glimpse of what “Veronica Mars” has to offer. I know that I usually recommend my favorite episodes at the end of each of these columns. Unfortunately the ones I think are the best are the season one and two finales and if you were to watch those, there would be no point in watching any of the other episodes. For this show I’m just going to have to say, start at the beginning and enjoy the ride. Do you think that you can figure out the mysteries before Veronica?
Jeffrey Payne
Pierce Arrow Blogger