Veronica Mars first aired in 2004 and was canceled in 2007 after three seasons. Most people reading this blog will probably wonder why I'm bothering to write about a show that first aired eight years ago and was canceled five years ago. The reason is simple: it's a fantastic show and probably one of the best teen dramas to grace television in the last decade.
The story is about Veronica Mars, a teenage girl who's life turned upside after the murder of her best friend, Lilly Kane. Veronica's father, Keith, who was sheriff at the time, believed Lilly's father Aaron was responsible. Most of the community turned against Keith and the same was for Veronica and her classmates. Keith opened his own detective agency and Veronica assists him, whilst going after cases on her own.
I loved the story construction for a season. Each season had a core mystery to solve. In season one, it was to find out who killed Lilly. In season two, it was to discover the cause of the bus crash and in season three, it was the campus rapist. And every episode, there's a new small mystery, with clues leading to help solve the core mystery. Veronica is connected to these core mysteries: she was Lilly's best friend, was supposed to be on the bus when it crashed and her roommate was assaulted by the campus rapist. So I like that the show actually gives motive for Veronica's determination to solve these cases. Most detective shows, the detective goes after the criminal for the sake of justice. But in Veronica Mars, the personal connection causes the motivation to bring justice, which makes it just as layered.
The show had a wide variety of supporting characters, but what was great is that they weren't plot points. They actually had their own stories and their own lives, which made them more multi-layered characters. In this kind of show, they could've easily only served when needed. But the writers decided to give these characters something else, thus making them more interesting to watch.
The entire cast was amazing. The show aired for three seasons and the cast had a large cast. So I'm going to give my thoughts on the core characters and that we're relevant to the show.
Kirsten Bell was phenomenal as Veronica. Her ability to portray Veronica's fearlessness, wit, cleverness, determination, courage and vulnerability was great to watch. I still think that she should've gotten high recognition at awards like the Emmys. She deserved it. In many ways, Veronica Mars reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer- strong, determined portrayals of women. Enrico Colantoni played Keith, Veronica's father. He was fantastic. He and Kristen Bell had amazing chemistry together as father and daughter. Probably one of the best father-daughter duos I've seen on television. Percy Daggs III was Wallace, Veronica's best friend. Francis Capra played Weevil, the leader of the biker gang and Veronica's friend. I think they were both great on the show and slightly underused in certain plots throughout the show. Michael Muhney plays Don Lamb, the guy who replaces Keith as sheriff. I didn't like Don at all throughout the show but Muhney played the part convincingly well. Teddy Dunn played Duncan, Lilly's brother and Veronica's ex. I think Dunn played a complex Duncan very well. Jason Dohring played Logan, Duncan's best friend who eventually becomes Veronica's boyfriend. I think Dohring was fantastic and that he and Bell worked brilliantly together. I think that Bell had wonderful chemistry with both Dunn and Dohring and it made you root for both couples, although I think that one couple worked better than another.
The show's first two seasons were absolutely amazing. Fun, entertaining, suspenseful and thrilling. The third season was good, but fell slightly short. I think that in the third year, the show started loosing a sense of balance. Regular, well-loved characters were being written out and some characters were changed, in a way that made them less interesting. With some characters, like Logan, it was noticeable. Despite a slightly shifted last season, the show managed to do well.
Veronica Mars is forever in my top 10 of favourite shows and is in my opinion one of the best teen dramas to air the in last ten years.
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