Customer Reviews

Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season

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WARNING: SPOILERS!

The 2004-2005 will hopefully go down as one of the most important seasons in recent television history, not because there was such a plethora of great new series-there weren't-but because it was the beginning of the end of the dominance of reality programming and the rebirth of the scripted television show. The two shows that are getting most of the credit for the sudden demise of the reality show are the two mega-hits on ABC, LOST and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, but I hope that UPN's lovely VERONICA MARS will get at least some credit. If LOST and VERONICA MARS are the face of things to come, rather than WIFE SWAP or THE SWAN, then the future for TV could be very bright indeed.

Of all the series that were developed in the wake of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, VERONICA MARS hues most closely to the original (especially in Buffy's high school years) and is one of the best. [October 2005 addition: VERONICA MARS in its second season is highlighting the ties to BUFFY not merely by bringing BUFFY regular Alyson Hannigan back for a brief appearance, but having Charisma Carpenter as a semi-regular and BUFFY creator Joss Whedon as a guest star in one episode in November. Salon.com did its part by awarding this years Buffy Award, for the best show on TV neglected by the Emmys--and named for the Best Show ever ignored by the Emmys--to VERONICA MARS.] If we were to describe the original recipe for the show, it is about 50% BUFFY, 20% NANCY DREW, 15% BEVERLY HILLS 90210, and 15% TWIN PEAKS. In other words, the show is about a super cable blonde high school student who takes on do-badders and tilts the scales of justice, who is an amateur female sleuth, whose escapades all take play in her upper class high school with a contingent of working class students, and who in her spare time investigates the mystery of the death of her best friend Laura Palmer . . . er, ah, I mean Lily Kane.

At the start of the series, Veronica can look back at a very bad year. Her best friend died; her father, the former sheriff, was fired because of disapproval of his handling of the investigation; her boyfriend, Duncan Kane, and the brother of the deceased Lily, has broken up with her; because of her father's firing and the snubbing of her by Duncan and his friends, the formerly popular Veronica finds herself ostracized by her fellow students, especially after her drugging and rape at a party provide her with the label of being a party girl (all expressed by the superb theme song "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols); and in the aftermath of her father's firing, her mother mysteriously disappeared and hasn't been seen or heard from in months. But Veronica is nothing if not resilient, and she is not one to passively take the misfortunes that life heaps upon one. In other words, she has spunk, as well as a quick and inventive wit and lifetime supply of street smarts. Upon being made ex-sheriff, her father sets up as a private detective, and Lily serves both as his receptionist and aide, and ends up having a bit of a practice at school once her reputation as one who can resolve awkward situations begins to spread. By the end of the season one might find Veronica struggling with three mysteries at once, the ongoing one of Lily's death, as well as whatever her father is working on, and some friend at school.

All in all, I found the first season to be thoroughly fascinating and persistently entertaining. The structure of the narrative is a bit of a blend of the long-story-arc episode and the stand-alone episode. Each episode will move the core story for that episode forward, while also taking up any of a number of the ongoing mysteries. And there are a host of mysteries. For instance, we wonder about who are the biological parents of who, whether the have been inadvertent incestuous relationships, and characters who run away to escape the difficulties. Through it all it the utterly unflappable Veronica, utterly determined to get at the truth of things. By the end of the season the big arc for that season-who killed Lily Kane-is solved, thanks to Veronica.

Veronica Mars is a great character who is more than aptly handled by the extraordinarily cute Kristen Bell, who is perfect for the role except for the fact that she is a bit too old to be playing a high school junior. She is so otherwise perfect for the role it is easy to overlook the age gaffe. Although Veronica is a transparent girl-power heroine in the tradition of BUFFY, she stands apart from other such heroines such as Max Guevara and Sydney Bristow in not having especial super powers or abilities, and has no special mystical destiny. What is Veronica's special power? Her quick wit. That's it! She just thinks faster than others. She emerges as both a great strategic and tactical thinker, always two or three steps ahead of everyone else, always anticipating what someone else's response is going to be. Very rarely is she surprised by someone, or unable to response instantly to a variation.

The rest of the characters form a nice and believable group of characters. They largely fall into the competent and outstanding categories. In fact, the only three I would not place merely into the competent category are Enrico Colantoni, who is superb as Veronica's dad Keith. Though they sometimes disagree on things, throughout the show they are obviously the greatest of friends, and when they need to be, great colleagues. Keith tries to protect his daughter, but he also knows that she is someone of rather prodigious abilities, so he doesn't always try to stand in her way. He has a great kid, and he knows it. The only other cast member I think deserves especial notice is Jason Dohring as the mercurial Logan Echolls, who at various times in the course of the season is sadistic, vulnerable, angry, magnanimous, courageous, cruel, tender, grateful, selfish, and romantic. If you don't like him one week, wait a couple of episodes and reevaluate. One bit of casting irony should be noted. Francisco Capra plays Weevil, the head of the local motorcycle gang. In fact, he is a member of one of the most thoroughly connected families in the history of Hollywood, his great grandfather being the great director Frank Capra, his grandfather one of the great power brokers in Hollywood, and he father nearly as active in a host of tinsel town activities. So much for his outsider cred. Nonetheless, Capra, despite being the ultimate Hollywood insider, does a good job as one of the school's bad boys.

All in all, this was a great first season, with a great series of storylines, one of the best season-long mysteries to be unraveled in ages, and a group of characters we come to care for. The show ended with most of the loose ends tied up, probably in part an instance of defensive writing on the part of the production team. With a bevy of rather shocking cancellations in recent years, a lot of writers decide to end a season as if they were ending the season. WONDERFALLS is a great example of this. We are sure to see more. Thankfully, UPN renewed VERONICA MARS, so we'll get to see the spunky, resourceful, irrepressible high school sleuth back in action for a least one more season, and hopefully for more. And maybe, just maybe the powers-that-be in Hollywood will realize that this kind of quality scripted television with long story arcs, and not forgettable, cheap, unrehearsed reality shows are what viewers really want.

I got hooked on Veronica Mars during the pilot, which I tuned to on a whim. I thought it was one of the best written hours of television I'd ever seen. While some of the "mystery of the week" episodes were stronger than others, I was impressed that the threads of the over-arching story were kept going throughout the season. The last 4 episodes of the season, where everything started to come together were gripping. I really loved this show and was so glad to see it renewed. I hope it comes out on DVD!

Forget the high school set up, this is the smartest, most mature and complex show to come out of network TV since the glory days of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", the early seasons of the "X-Files", "My So-Called Life" and the first season of "Twin Peaks". And sorry "Lost", you know I love you, but the Most Compelling Mystery On TV award goes to the cute-as-a-button petite blond with the smart mouth and the attitude. This is one of the few shows that are able to combine style and substance, drama and comedy and thrills, chills and character-driven stories successfully and intelligently.

Most every single episode is tightly packed with engaging storylines, crisp dialogue, fun mini-mysteries with outcomes that are hard to guess and tantalizing little clues that keep the viewer on the edge of their seat and intrigued by the season-long whodunit. There is no fat, there are no fillers and there so much going on that even the awesome songs carefully selected for each scene serve a clear purpose.

And every single episode reveals so much about the characters that you can't help but become emotionally attached. The writers and actors take great pains to make you care about all of the main people involved in Lilly's death and, in what may be one of the most brilliant moments in TV ever, in Lilly herself. Not one of them is your average, clichéd teen show character and you may even find yourself loving AND hating some of these folks. This is, after all, a gritty show that pushes the limit and never sugarcoats growing up, talks down to its viewers or romanticizes high school. The characters are real and flawed and their actions and motivations are not always noble or righteous. There's plenty of moral ambiguity, tough lessons and realism to go around.

Likewise, the main character isn't some unrealistic, unattainable fembot or a flawless, impervious superhero. She is, we are often reminded, a hurt, lonely, vulnerable, scrawny 17-year-old who's only strengths are her unflinching determination, resilience and smarts. Bell is outstanding and subtly yet effectively conveys all the conflicting emotions with an endearing mixture of vulnerability, panache, wit and bravado that are all of her own. She is never a victim and she never screams for attention, yet she can always command it. By the third episode, you don't just like Veronica, you love and understand her.

The relationship between Veronica and her dad is just beautiful and the chemistry between both actors undeniable. Jason Dohring is explosive as Logan Echolls and is another actor with great chemistry with Bell. Kudos are also in order to Francis Capra and the actress playing Lilly, who manages to steal every one of the few scenes she is in.

Veronica Mars isn't your average TV mystery. There's so much more there than meets the eye. You can watch and re-watch the first season and always enjoy it and discover something new. Further more, it is fun and exciting TV, the kind we hardly ever get anymore outside of Cable. I'll take this over moguls looking for apprentices and desperate 40-year-olds acting like crazed teenagers any day of the week.

After I stumbled upon Veronica Mars and discovered that it was actually amazingly good, my big challenge was to try to get my friends to watch it. For some reason everyone who had heard of it at all thought that it was a 'Nancy Drew type show'. No critcism of Nancy implied, but Veronica Mars (both the character and the series) has a very mature, dark and cynical outlook that defies most simplistic expectations. Veronica isn't always the nicest person; she is cynical, bitter and (highly) vengeful. She enjoys manipulating people, she can be frighteningly cavalier with the truth (and law... and basic human rights), and she wants to be feared by people that she doesn't like. But ultimately she is a champion for those who don't have other options. The greatest evil in Veronica's home town of Neptune, is not a serial killer or even the murderer of Veronica's best friend; it is the caste driven system which disenfranchizes many of Veronica's peers, while elevating others. Veronica Mars is not all social message or politically posturing though, and it brings to the table a number of strengths that make it standout (head and shoulders) among the current crop of teen dramas (the best since Buffy).

-Great writing; particularly in the witty repartee and in Veronica's often wickedly cynical expository voice over.
-Kristen Bell's extraordinary range and dead on delievery. Unlike many actor's trying to play smart, she actually seems very smart, and very competent.
-A strong story arc that threads through each episode, driving Veronica's actions.
-A great supporting cast (both regular and recurring) playing complex characters that have their own agendas and who grow and change throughout the season.

There are many dynamics that go on in a show this complex, some of which work better than others. From the central murder mystery of Lily Kane, to Veronica's search forher mother, and her complex relationships with her father, Kieth Mars; Logan Echolls; and Duncan Kane; we are given both great drama and a real mystery. Saying more runs the risk of giving away too much for those who haven't seen it. Let it suffice to say I rank Veronica Mars with Lost, as one of the two best, new dramas from last season... And I for one cannot wait for the next mystery to unfold.

This show is not only the best new show on television but I would rank it in the top 5 shows on television period. All the check boxes are ticked. Great Cast. Check. Great Writing. Check. Great Direction. Check. Even a great soundtrack. This show has no faults except for being on the wrong network (UPN). Veronica Mars (played brilliantly by Kristen Bell) is a teenage girl who has had to grow up overnight following the death of her best friend, her father (played by Enrico Colantoni) being fired and publicly falling from grace, her mother seemingly abandoning them and her ex-communication from the in-crowd. While trying to solve the mysteries of her best friend's death and her mother's disappearance, Veronica maintains a heavy class load while being a sleuth-in-training in her Dad's private investigation firm. In each episode of the first season we follow Veronica as she unearths clues for the major mysteries in her life as well as the Mysteries of the Week. In several episodes Veronica is seen juggling several cases at once and the audience is left breathless on the edge of their seats. It's a great show and should not be missed.

Here's a chance to catch the best new show of the 2004-2005 TV season - ratings challenged Veronica Mars. While the ratings are low, it has a loyal following for a very good reason.

In the seaside town of Neptune, California, there are the haves and the have-nots. You're either one or the other with no middle ground. Veronica used to be part of the popular click. But that was before her best friend Lily was murdered, her rich boyfriend Duncan dumped her, and her father lost his job as the town Sheriff because of his handling of Lily's murder investigation. While her dad opened a PI office, her mom split for parts unknown, leaving the two to cope with the changes in town.

Because of her station as a former popular girl, Veronica doesn't fit into either crowd. Fortunately, the detective skills she's learned from her dad help her make friends. Seems like classmates are constantly coming to her to help with little things like bomb scares or missing pets. Even teachers turn to her in times of crisis, like false accusations of statutory rape. Along the way, Veronica begins to pick up pieces of the puzzle of Lily's murder. Will she piece them all together and figure out who really done it?

I tuned into the premier because several friends were planning to watch as well. I was hooked from the start. The show is smart with decent mysteries each week. The clues to the season long mystery of Lily's death were tantalizing as well. The show is definitely shown through Veronica's eyes, with her voiceover narrating events as well. Veronica has a sarcastic sense of humor that livens things up and keeps the often-serious storyline from becoming too depressing. Newcomer Kristen Bell does an outstanding job in the roll, believably hitting all the peaks and valleys each week. It is rather funny to see Zachery Ty Bryant and Jonathan Taylor Thomas show up in guest rolls as high schoolers.

The DVD was rushed out to help build interest in the currently playing season two. As such, the list of extras is small, limited to some deleted scenes and a season long gag reel.

Some of the plot lines are for the more mature, but teens and adults will love this smart, noir drama series. If you haven't watched yet, this is the perfect chance to find out what you've been missing.

Lost and Desperate Housewives got all the hype last season. They were supposed to be the pendulum swing away from Reality programming and back to quality hour long scripted drama. But the outstanding freshman drama of 2004-2005 was Veronica Mars.

Desperate Housewives descended into soap opera. Lost failed to deliver a plot to go along with its pretty and talented cast. Veronica Mars on UPN, on the other hand, proceeded to show the big boy networks how it is done.

Veronica Mars is a well scripted, phenomenally acted show that rewarded its viewers with a complete story arc that answered all questions posed in the pilot.

The cast is mostly young unknowns who proved their talent and ability to engage the audience with an engrossing storyline. The show is smart, funny, tragic, romantic and film noir all rolled into one pleasing confection.

The incredibly talented Kristen Bell (Showtime's Reefer Madness) stars as Veronica Mars. She is a high school student who has lost everything. Her rich boyfriend broke up with her with no explanation. Her best friend was murdered. Veronica's sheriff father lost his job in the ensuing investigation, while Veronica lost her social status as a result. Her mother abandoned the family. Veronica was drugged and raped.

In order to make ends meet her father becomes a private investigator and Veronica works in his office after school All this is laid out in the pilot.

Kristen makes you believe this character with every frame in which she appears.

Rob Thomas, a former teacher and creator of the too quickly cancelled Cupid, is the mind behind Veronica Mars. He knows today's high school students and presents them in a fairly matter of fact fashion.

Kids drink. They do stupid things. There are consequences. And they are cruel to outsiders and Veronica is an outsider. Just not as much as she likes to think. She manages to make quite a few friends along the way, solving cases for fellow students who need her help, as well as helping her dad with his cases.

Unlike the claustrophobic sets of many high school shows where characters rarely interact with anyone outside the main cast except for the MOTW plot, classmates you meet in early episodes here actually reappear in later episodes and even with limited screen time their stories seem as rich as the main characters stories.

Veronica is not perfect or always right. She does not give self-righteous speeches. She is all about Old Testament 'eye for an eye" vengeance. She is complicated.

She has a loving relationship with her father. A sweetly supportive platonic best friend Wallace. Weevil is the leader of the local motorcyle gang as well as Veronica's muscle when she needs a favor. Duncan is the ex-boyfriend with secrets to hide. And Logan, played by the excellent Jason Dohring, is the snarky rich kid that makes her heart beat faster even when she hates herself for it.

Veronica, in short, is a self admitted "trainwreck". And watching her sort out the mysteries in her life while sorting out her place in Neptune high school is a pure pleasure.

Thankfully the DVD's will be out in October. Unfortunately the second season of Veronica Mars starts Wednesdays on UPN in September. Try to catch the show in reruns to be up to speed for the second season of this wonderful show!

"Veronica Mars" is a lot smarter than your average show featuring attractive teenage characters. To use the term "teen drama" is misleading, as the story is darker, subtler and more sophisticated than other shows like "The O.C." and "Dawson's Creek." It's a modern twist on the noir genre placed in high school, centering around 17-year-old Veronica, once popular but now a social outcast after a chain of events following the murder of her best friend, Lilly Kane.

In every episode, Veronica, a P.I.'s daughter, solves a smaller mystery, while also assembling clues and delving further into the bigger mystery of Lilly's case. The brilliance of the show is in tying the small cases into the larger, overarching themes surrounding the larger mystery. While there are a few episodes that feel more stand-alone, as is the case in all TV drama series, the writers do an excellent job in avoiding letting them become mere filler, throwaway cases -- instead, they use them to feed us more information to further Lilly's case. (As a result, it's hard to skip any episodes without missing some crucial bit of information about the main msytery.)

It's amazing how carefully drawn the entire season is, with clues placed in a meticulously careful, controlled manner, all amping up to an intense crescendo in the last four or five episodes. As the season draws to a close, the intricately laid details click into place as Veronica solves the two biggest cases -- the mystery of her rape (which occurred shortly following Lilly's death and her subsequent ejection from the "cool" crowd) in the penultimate episode (a wonderfully complex, dark and emotional episode), then Lilly's murder in the season finale.

Despite the darkness of the series, there are notable lighter moments too, and the show has quite a bit of humor thrown into the mix. The writing is witty and smart, and the actors pull off comedy just as capably as they do angst and drama. The cast is excellent, and the actors have noticeable chemistry with one another, but two standouts are Kristen Bell as Veronica and Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls (who has an amazingly complex character arc that is drastic, enthralling and utterly believable). As Veronica's former friend, nemesis, then reluctant ally (and the lines blur frequently), Dohring steals every scene he's in, and when he's with Bell the sparks really fly, whether they're pushing each other's buttons, antagonizing each other or simply bantering.

Man, I love this show. Thank goodness UPN had the guts to renew it for a second season.

In my almost 28 years of watching (and being addicted to) television, I had NEVER written to a network's executives to thank them for a job well-done. Veronica Mars swooped in and changed all that.

This is just a fantasticly written, stellarly performed dramedy. The actors are given incredible material to work with each week and the cast (led by the fiercely talented Kristen Bell) makes the material sparkle. There's not a bad egg in the bunch. Kristen Bell deserves all the praise she has received -- and then some--there aren't many actors who have chemistry with everyone they're put onscreen with, yet she does!

And let's not forget the supporting players. Three in particular stand-out for me:

Jason Dohring (as Logan Echolls) has the uncanny ability to make you want to slap him, hug him, laugh at him, laugh with him and just basically stand in awe of his performance in every scene--no matter how small. This guy isn't another run-of-the-mill Hollywood prettyboy out to see his picture plastered on movie posters. You can tell how dedicated he is to his craft--he simply oozes talent.

Enrico Colantoni (as Keith Mars) does a terrific job playing Veronica's father and former town Sheriff. His offbeat humor made me hestitant at first but very soon I came to love every scene he was in.

Francis Capra (as Eli "Weevil" Navarro) has yet to get as much screen time as I'd like. But I am impressed with his ability to take a fairly "vanilla" scene and twist it and turn it to make it his own. It takes a deft performer to make his 3-minute scene more memorable than the plot's "A" story!

Oh, I love every one of them--even the recurring characters! But I'll stop there. Bottomline: If you enjoy quality television where everyone in front of and behind the camera clearly is at the "top of their game" then buy this DVD AND don't forget to watch the second season this fall on UPN--Wednesdays at 9pm. Veronica Mars epitomizes appointment television!

This is the only thing I was looking forward to see every week on TV. Excellent writing with main story going across all the episodes and sub-stories that get resolved at the end of each episode. Veronica Mars is a 17 years old daughter of a private investigator, a former sheriff. She's helping him with his cases, has her own to solve and she's decided to find out who killed her best friend Lilly Kane. Almost all the answers get answered by the end of the season. Excellent acting from all the actors. I cannot praise highly enough Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars and Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls. Highly recommended!