Veronica Mars: She’s your average, everyday collegiate. She aces all of her classes, spurts a variety of one-liners at a moment’s notice and kicks a little ass on the side. What’s wrong with this picture? Veronica has been on TV for three years, and you probably never even knew she existed.
Veronica is the central character on the CW’s three-year-old series aptly titled Veronica Mars (it airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m.). She lives in the enigmatic city of Neptune, Calif., that is equal parts Shangri-La and shady side streets. As in any other city, there are class tensions, corrupt politicians and cold-hearted murderers. Of course, whenever the bumbling local sheriff and his merry gang of thugs drop the ball, Veronica is always on hand to pick it up and impart her expertise.
When we first met Veronica three years ago, she was a junior in high school. While her peers were picking out prom dresses and ordering multi-karat class rings, she was trying to solve her best friend’s murder. Three years and dozens of mysteries later, Veronica is in college and has developed a reputation that makes her the go-to girl for all of her inquisitive peers with problems to solve.
Veronica Mars is quite simply the best show on television right now. So, why is it consistently near the bottom of the pack ratings-wise? The fans it does have (myself included) are hopelessly devoted, but the issue seems to be reaching a broader audience. Maybe that problem is the result of overzealous network executives who are eager to force the teenage take on film noir into “concepts” that are far too narrow to encompass this sprawling show.
It’s been compared to the now-defunct, plucky teen drama The O.C., the funky ’80s sleuth spoof Twin Peaks and the spunky and obviously girly Gilmore Girls. These shows all have their places in the world, but Veronica cannot be slapped into a designated label, be it “sexy teen soap,” “bizzaro mystery” or “witty gab-fest.”
In reality, it is a little bit of all of these and more. In its first two seasons, it featured season-long mystery arcs complemented by isolated mysteries for each episode. This season is toying with that formula, offering three smaller mystery arcs along with the usual individual mysteries.
The mystery arc is what first started my love affair with Veronica, but it is the writing, with dialogue that snaps, crackles and pops, that really keeps me tuned in. Well, that and Kristen Bell, who plays Veronica with a warm heart that is sometimes hidden by her cold shoulder. The fact that Bell is amazingly good-looking is icing on the cake, but she never rests on her genetic good fortune. She channels grit, wit and intelligence, using a composite sketch of the leading ladies of the 1940s as a model.
Bell is luminous. She gives Veronica a hard-bitten cynicism, but never makes her unlikable. What really sells this snarky Nancy Drew shtick is the brainy quality that Bell lends Ms. Mars. She is the sharpest tool in the shed and if you cross her, she won’t let you forget it.
Now, I know many college students have a habit of avoiding TV like the plague, but don’t let cheesy, sleazy shows like Flavor of Love keep you from the heights of ecstasy that this modern-day den of iniquity has to offer.
For those of you who have schedules that simply won’t allow an hour on Tuesday nights to revel in this brainy brilliance, you can check out season one of the show at the Pius Library. Or you can watch current episodes at cwtv.com. Beware though; when you let this super-sleuth into your life, she won’t be ignored.
