Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars is a fantastic show - the greatest since Twin Peaks. I feel very sorry for those who can't appreciate its incredible acting, suave and wry humor, amazingly detailed storytelling and hyper-complex characters. The massive amounts of angst and intensity among these high schoolers is the only unrealistic (or rather, surrealistic) aspect of the show, and it is forgiven because this is an superbly crafted exercise in stylized fiction and symbolism.

The names, for one thing - Neptune, Tritons, Mars -, are not only planetary, but mythological. Neptune is a cold, distant place, but reluctant gods of war inhabit it. Keith and Veronica Mars do not instigate war, but when others declare it on them, they prove supremely good at it.

The show represents one of those very rare couplings of a great concept, great writing and great directing with a remarkable actress who totally "gets" the whole complex atmosphere of it, and can act the part perfectly. Kristen Bell is an incredible actress (I, for instance, became aware of this show solely because I took an interest in Bell after seeing her tiny but impressively acted part in the movie Spartan); she has every conceivable facial expression completely nailed, and on top of that she is also fabulously gorgeous - all the more so because of her obvious intelligence.

Veronica Mars is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the two best American TV-shows I've ever seen, and my rating of it would be 9 or 10.

This show WILL go down in history as a timeless TV classic.

I loved this show more than anything. It may or may not have had influence on me going to school to be a private investigator for some time.

It addressed concepts so before it's time. Rape, victim shaming, sexual freedom, women's rights, alcoholism, abuse on many levels. It took every concept seriously.

It seems like high school drama but it really was well written, well acted and funny at times.

Best show.

Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) was previously a popular girl in school next to her rich best friend Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried). When Lilly was murdered, her father Sheriff Keith (Enrico Colantoni) arrested Lilly's powerful father, but later someone else confessed. They ran Keith out of office and Veronica became a pariah. Now she investigates the deep dark secrets of her school divided between the ultra-rich and the poor minorities.

Rob Thomas has created a high school Nancy Drew with an edge. She's as smart as Sherlock Holmes. Only she's a girl trying to survive the High School world. It works as both a murder mystery, and a high school teen drama. This is Kristen Bell's break out role. She really gives a funny spunky likable compelling performance. This is a teen drama for smart people.

Season One: 8/10

Themes: Mystery, High School, Drama, Private Detective, Crime, Suspense, Murder Investigation, Lies, Blackmail & Relationships.

Review: This show has some really interesting and compelling things going for it. The main character being a smart, sarcastic bad-ass being amongst the first of those things. It's very easy to root for her and get sucked in with her shenanigans. Then again, I did find some of those 'adventures' to be a bit more on the boring side; especially when they focused on a storyline only related to one specific episode, rather than the over-arching plot of the whole season. I just felt like sometimes the show lacked direction and tended to drag. It still managed to be pretty entertaining but I definitely had a preference for the episodes that tended to be a bit more meaningful for the general plot and the character's relations to each other.

Top three character: 1) Veronica Mars, 2) Logan Echolls and 3) Eli 'Weevil' Navarro.

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.