Veronica Mars

The first two seasons of VM were my favorite two seasons of television ever. The writing was smart, the characters' interaction touchingly human, and the story lines fun (both the episodic and long arch story lines). It can be cerebral at times and laugh out loud funny others. I have watched the first three seasons back to back four times. I consider myself a true Marshmellow. These seasons were ahead of there time on so many issues. It is fun to watch the "before they were famous performances" of Amanda Seyfried, Tessa Thompson, Kristen Ritter, and Tina Majorino. Ken Marino slays the role of the slimy PI as does Darren Norris the role of dead pan smart-alec public defender. All the minor characters contribute to the overall enjoyable quality of the show VM's Dad, principal, the antagonists, the supporting crew are all great.

Season four was pure money grabbing garbage. Characters whose traits led you to watch the show week after week. (Yes, I used to set my DVR. I am old. I accept it) changed to fit a more female oriented demographic. Which is NUTS because what made the show great was empowerment without condescension and blatant pandering. Not shoving an agenda down the audiences' throat the made the underlying messages seasons 1-3 more potent.

So the first two seasons A+ Third season A-/B+ Fourth season F

Veronica Mars is a dark and poignant tribute to teenage angst and isolation. As a sophomore, we find Veronica popular and happy. She is dating the most popular guy in school, Duncan, and is best friends with Duncan's sister- the wild Lily Kane. After Lily's brutal and highly publicized murder, Veronica loses her friends, her social status all because she choose to stick by her father who accused Lily Kane's own father, the rich and beloved Jake Kane.

Season 1 follows Veronica's life post Lily's violent murder. Veronica has become cynical and disheartened due to what she feels as betrayal by her closest friends. Overnight Veronica became the most hated girl in school. She formed a hard outer shell, cutting herself off from her emotions in order to handle all the events that occur after the murder, the taunts of classmates, and the current class war that's been waged through out her town.

Veronica Mars is homage to the noir film genre of the 1950s with our main character being a high school teenager. The uses of color in scenes are key to understanding the story. Every aspect of the show is used to tell parts of the story from lighting to background prop placement and it all comes together to tell a beautiful story about death, betrayal, love, revenge and redemption.

The best thing about Mars, besides the character develop, plot twist, and witty dialogue, are the issues that Veronica Mars faces on a daily bases. Including murder, rape, teen pregnancy, gang violence, reports on abuse, and drug trafficking. It also tackles the normal high school issues all teens face like peer pressure, cliques, and gossip but in a smart way. The story lines are tasteful and believable; the writers did a great job avoiding the normal camp and clichés found in a lot of teen shows.

Veronica Mars is hands down the best show ever to be featured on UPN/CW, and possible network TV in general. It is defiantly worth your time.

After reading quite a few comments from people who thought this show is "horrible," I was really surprised with their reasons. First of all, there are very few TV shows out there that are in every way true to life. Of course the situations aren't completely plausible! That's why we watch TV shows in the first place - we're entertained by things that we would not normally do or see. If I wanted to watch something "realistic" I'd just tape myself and watch it at the end of the day.

What's real in this show is that every character is complicated and has layers in their personality. The bad guy isn't all bad, and the good guy isn't so great either. There's just this gray area - just the way people are.

Then there's the complaint that Veronica Mars is "too smart." And that's a bad thing because...? I'm sick of mindless shows that give away the ending in the first minute and/or have the same tired plots. If witty is not your thing, that is sad and someone needs a good dose of "sense of humor." Maybe everything we watch on TV should be bland and predictable from now on? By the way, detective work is supposed to be logical - not flashy. When you want to look for someone, you'd automatically put a trace on things they own. What did you expect would happen? Some kind of laser tracking thingy?

The writing on this show is amazing, as are the actors and everything else. The artistic value is also incredible. If TV watchers can't appreciate that, then I really am worried about the population.

First time I've heard about this show was when I saw Kristen Bell in Heroes. I came here and saw VMars. It took me a long time before I decided to watch this show. I started to watch it for one reason and one reason only -> Kristen Bell. Stupid I know, but when I saw the pilot episode I knew that this show will be something new, something different, something worth watching and I was hooked. The is one of the best TV shows that my eyes have ever seen before. Smart and funny dialogs, beautiful and talented cast of the show, interesting twists,mysteries... This show has everything. This show is awesome but sadly it has been canceled for a long time now. I really wish that this show will return to screen as a new season or a movie.

The story of Veronica and her search for the truth in the spoiled and famous Nepture is far more compelling that your average UPN teen drama.

Real characters, complex situations and issues and topics beyond who is hooking up with whom. The detailed story arc might make it a bit challenging for new viewers to pick up the threads, but each episode stands alone.

Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars mixes, humour and pathos, into both complicated life and death issues and high school life. Just as Buffy was about more than surviving high school with a social life, Veronica Mars looks at real things with a sceptical eye and an ironic twist.