Veronica Mars (2004-2007): TV Series Review

When it comes to television show, not every series can enjoy a run as long as shows like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘South Park’, or ‘CSI’ have enjoyed. Some shows can get canceled only a few seasons in. It can be for a few reasons, but it’s usually a case of the show not getting as big of an audience as the networks want. It could mean that the show itself wasn’t that good, which can certainly apply to a lot of shows that get cancelled each year. However, there have been a few notable examples of great TV shows that were cancelled way too early, like ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Pushing Daisies’, and ‘Firefly’. Another show that got the unfortunate axe way too soon was ‘Veronica Mars’, created by Rob Thomas (not to be confused with Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas). The show originally aired on UPN for two seasons before moving to the network’s successor, The CW. However, after just one season there, the show ended up getting canceled, finishing after only three seasons on the air. However, like those aforementioned shows, while ‘Veronica Mars’ didn’t fare so well in regards to ratings, it amassed a very loyal fan base. In the end, it was this fan base and their love of the show that allowed Thomas and his cast and crew to make a ‘Veronica Mars’ movie, which just hit theaters last weekend. For now, let’s look back at this now cult classic TV series.

The show follows the titular Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), a young high school student living with her father Keith (Enrico Colantoni) in the town of Neptune, California, home of the rich and famous. One year before the show begins, Veronica was one of the most popular kids at her school, Neptune High, because while she wasn’t as rich as some of her fellow students (who are referred to as ‘09ers’), she was dating Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn), the son of popular software entrepreneur Jake Kane, and Keith was the local sheriff at the time. However, everything begins to change when Veronica’s best friend, and Duncan’s sister, Lily (Amanda Seyfried) is found murdered. When Keith frames Jake Kane, he then finds himself kicked out of office by the residents of Neptune; at the same time, Veronica becomes an outcast amongst her old friends for sticking by her dad. In the wake of all this, Keith opens up a private investigator office and Veronica begins to take on some cases of her own while at school. As she begins to get her life back on track through the help of some new friends, including Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III) and Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie (Tina Majorino), Veronica also begins to uncover some truths about what really happened the night Lily died.

On the surface, one might see this as just your average ‘teen show’ and while it technically sort of is given the fact that the main character is in high school for the first two seasons, it’s a lot more than that. This show really benefits from some top-notch writing that can be both edgy and witty at the same time. The cases that Veronica deals with from episode to episode are very engaging but of course, a show can’t get by on just its writing. It needs a great lead character to back it all up and this show has one of the best female television leads ever in Veronica. She’s smart, charming, and has a very sharp wit which she very much uses to her advantage while dealing with the bad guys. But at the same time, there’s also a vulnerability to her that was no doubt formed as a result of the things that she has been through; losing her best friend, being dumped by her boyfriend, becoming a social outcast (alongside her father), and much more. Because of this, we sympathize with her full-heartedly because she’s not like any of the stuck-up, spoiled, and sometimes corrupt people of Neptune. Sure, she might always do the ‘right thing’ when it comes to solving her cases, but she’s someone who firmly believes in justice being served.

At the end of the day, this show belongs to Kristen Bell, who does a fantastic job as Veronica. She is the one who infuses the character with her spunk, charm, and strength in the face of adversity. Also, if you want one of the best father-daughter duos ever put on television, look no further than Veronica and Keith Mars. Bell and Colantoni have excellent camaraderie, making their bond as father and daughter feel very natural. Aside from them, this show features an excellent cast of characters top to bottom; Veronica’s best friend Wallace, computer genius ‘Mac’, bad boy/future love interest Logan (Jason Dohring), good guy/second future love interest Piz (Chris Lowell), and much more. This show’s even had its fair share of excellent cameos, including Aaron Paul, Jessica Chastain, Paul Rudd, and even Joss Whedon… yes, you’ve heard that right. The director of ‘The Avengers’ guest starred in an episode of ‘Veronica Mars’… that is just awesome.

Now let’s talk about the ‘epic’ romance between Logan and Veronica, which has sort of become the defining element of the show. I’m just going to put this out there… I was very mixed on their relationship. Bell and Dohring do have excellent chemistry, and I can see how these two characters could be a match for each other given the fact that both have been through a lot. In the case of Logan, that includes not only Lily’s death (he was her boyfriend at the time) but also dealing with an abusive father as well. But for the first few episodes of the show, I was not the biggest fan of Logan as a character. To quote Veronica from the first episode, he was the show’s ‘obligatory psychotic jackass’ and I was left wondering just how the hell these two would ever get together considering how he treated her in those first few episodes. Somehow, someway, as the show progressed, Logan began to grow on me. He went from being an ‘obligatory psychotic jackass’ to a ‘somewhat charming jackass’. However, as for how he was written in the third season… well, we’ll get to that in a bit.

The first season of the show is easily its best. It has the best overarching mystery of the entire series in Veronica finding out who really killed Lily, resulting in the mystery that’s she’s perhaps connected to the most on a personal level being that Lily was her best friend and it was that event that drastically changed her whole life as a result of it. The season finale, ‘Leave it to Beaver’, is the episode that I would have to label as my favorite episode of the whole series. It’s well paced and I really like how it was during this episode when they finally revealed who Lily’s killer was, effectively keeping us at the edge of our seat for the entire season. The second season is also great as well; it has another solid mystery for Veronica to deal with; a bus crash that resulted in the death of some of her classmates. Like with Lily’s murder, Veronica was also connected to this case on a personal level as well because she almost was one of the victims of the accident. However, sometimes things got a little bit complicated in regards to all of the characters and storylines that were being juggled that season.

So then we come to the third season; the one that most fans are not the biggest fans of. And yeah, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand why that was. Season 3 is definitely the weakest of the three seasons. For the record, I don’t think it’s that bad of a season. The witty dialogue and great performances were still there. It’s just that there are a few changes made to the show from a creative perspective that sort of didn’t work out as well as one might think. Instead of a single case that would span across the whole season, this one had two and two rather weak ones at that; the first was solved barely halfway through the season and the second one just a few episodes later. Also Logan became a bit too whiny this season, meaning that the on-again, off-again relationship between him and Veronica became a bit too tiresome. They literally break up in one episode, get back together the next, and break up again two episodes later. In other words, I was relieved when they brought Piz in as Veronica’s second love interest, which was a breath of fresh air for the series.

And you know what... I actually think the season 3 finale is a pretty good one, mainly because I admire them taking a bold route with it and not ending the season on the most happiest of notes. This could have had a huge impact on the rest of the series… unfortunately, it’s now the ‘series finale’ and that is what holds this season finale back because as is, it leaves a lot of things open that were left unanswered when the show got cancelled. Thankfully, in March 2013, 91,585 fans decided that this wouldn’t be the end for ‘Veronica Mars’ and so we now have the ‘Veronica Mars’ movie. But of course, we cannot forget how great of a show ‘Veronica Mars’ was; a show that could have just ended up being your average ‘teen show’ but turned out to be much more than that thanks to engaging mysteries, compelling characters, witty dialogue, and of course, one of the best female TV leads ever in Veronica Mars in both character and performance. It’s truly sad, though, that ‘Veronica Mars’ ended up getting cancelled so early because it truly was a fantastic show.

Ratings:

Season 1: 5/5!

Season 2: 4/5

Season 3: 3/5

(My review of the Veronica Mars movie: http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2014/03/veronica-mars-2014-review.html)

Veronica Mars (2014) review

Never underestimate a fan base, because they might have the power to get something that had previously been canceled running again. That was exactly the case with the film adaptation of ‘Veronica Mars’, which follows in the footsteps of the TV show of the same name created by Rob Thomas. The show, which first aired in 2004, sadly only lasted three seasons before it was cancelled in 2007. However, like other prematurely canceled shows like ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘Firefly’, ‘Veronica Mars’ had a very loyal fan base, collectively known as ‘Marshmallows’ in relation to a line from the show’s pilot episode and it was these ‘Marshmallows’ who were responsible for making this film adaptation possible. In March 2013, Thomas and leading lady Kristen Bell started a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of $2 million in order for the film to get made. By the end of the campaign, the fans had raised nearly three times that amount; $5,702,153 to be exact. That, my friends, is the story of how one of the best shows that got cancelled way too early was brought back to life in a film that is not only a love letter to that loyal group of fans that had a hand in getting it made, but a continuing representation of why this show was so great in the first place.

9 years after the events of the series finale, Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) has moved away from not only her hometown of Neptune, California, but also her days as a teenage private eye working with her father Keith (Enrico Colantoni), Neptune’s former sheriff. Now, she’s living in New York with her college boyfriend Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski (Chris Lowell) and is about to land a job at a prestigious law firm. However, the past begins to come calling for her when her old boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is charged with the murder of his girlfriend Carrie Bishop (Andrea Estella, taking over the role that was originally played by Leighton Meester in the TV series). At the risk of throwing her new life away, Veronica heads back to Neptune in order to help Logan out. At first, it’s just to help him find a good lawyer, but soon Veronica finds herself getting back into the swing of things as she begins to investigate further into the case in order to prove Logan’s innocence; just like the way she did so on other cases nine years earlier.

As mentioned earlier, this was a fan-funded project and as such, this movie is tailor made for them. It’s clear that the cast and crew wanted to make the best ‘Veronica Mars’ movie that they could and that really shows in the final product. Whether it’s getting to catch up with some of our favorite characters or reignite the sparks of the iconic romance between Logan and Veronica that has basically become the most notable aspect of the entire show, I have the feeling ‘Marshmallows’ should be satisfied with this film. But what about those people who aren’t fans of the show? Well, on its own, the film perfectly represents the things that made the series so great in the first place. Like the show, this film really benefits from terrific writing; it features an engaging plot/mystery, compelling characters, and most importantly, one of the best female leads to ever grace a TV show in Veronica herself. The times may have changed, and she may have grown up a bit since we last saw her, but she’s still as smart, charming, and witty as she was during the events of the show. Her morals haven’t changed; she’s still someone who believes in proper justice and is willing to stand up against the corrupt, many of whom inhabit her hometown of Neptune.

But of course, Veronica wouldn’t be as great of a character as she is without the terrific performance from the lead actress portraying her. Kristen Bell returns to her role with ease seven years after the end of the series and is just as phenomenal here as she was back then. That can also be said for every other returning member of the cast; Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Percy Daggs III, Ryan Hansen, Tina Majorino, Chris Lowell, etc. They all do a great job once again. And of course, all of you ‘LoVe’ fans will no doubt be excited to see the continuation of, to quote Logan from Season 2, Episode 20, ‘Look Who’s Stalking’, the ‘epic’ romance between him and Veronica. While I’ll admit I was never that big a fan of their relationship because of how Logan acted like a real jerk in the first few episodes of season 1 (so yes, I guess you can consider me to be on the ‘Team Piz’ side of this debate, which will no doubt be settled by what happens in this film), Bell and Dohring have exceptional chemistry and I’ll also admit that Logan has sort of grown on me as a character since his days as the show’s ‘obligatory psychotic jackass’.

91,585 fans of ‘Veronica Mars’ contributed to the film’s budget via its Kickstarter campaign, showing how much they craved a continuation of a show that they loved and one that got cancelled way too early. As such, the cast and crew went out and made a film that is an open love letter to their loyal fans, which very much shows in regards to the film. For fans of the show, this is an absolute must-see; it brings back all of the characters that you love and should very much provide closure after the show’s premature cancellation. But even if you aren’t fans of the show, this is still a very good film that benefits from terrific writing, great performances from its cast, and most importantly, a great female lead in both the character of Veronica Mars herself and Kristen Bell’s performance in the role. I do recommend watching the show first so that you can enjoy this film to the fullest but as is this movie still holds up quite well on its own and hopefully it might turn you on to the show itself.

Rating: 5/5!