at The WB
Despite dismal ratings and crazy scheduling, in 2 short years 'Veronica Mars' has obtained a cult following... so what is all the fuss? Well, I'll tell you...Season 1 centers around the murder mystery of Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried); daughter to software billionaire and best friend of the show's protagonist, Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell). Before the murder of her best friend Veronica lived a pretty idyllic life in Neptune, California; a town, as Veronica puts it "without the middle class". By all means Veronica shouldn't have been apart of the elite 09ers (kids who live in the prestigious 90909 zip code), her parents didn't meet the pay-cheque quota and despite the fact that her father used to be Sheriff (which had a certain 'cachet') the only reason Veronica was one of the 'beautiful people' was because she was dating Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn), Lilly's brother and heir to the Kane software company. But everything changed when Lilly was murdered –Veronica's father, Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) accused Lilly's father of murdering his only daughter and was booted out of the force when a video of the crime scene was released over the internet. Veronica's home-life began to fall apart when her family had to move out of their house and into a cheaper apartment, and when Veronica's mother could no longer handle being shunned by the elite community, she took off. Things got even worse for Veronica's social scene when Lilly's supposed murderer was captured after an anonymous tip-off. One-year on Veronica is no longer the preppy princes she once was; she has an attitude problem, no friends and now helps her father in the P.I business; 'Mar Investigations'; Veronica investigates everything from unfaithful husbands to a dog kidnapping conspiracy. But things begin to change with the arrival of new student and sidekick, Wallace (Percy Daggs III), as Veronica tries to figure out who really murdered her best friend, and who raped her the summer she was shunned by her former friends.Veronica Mars is very reminiscent, but in no way a clone of previous successful teen dramas. VM has the same quick-witted writing jam-packed with pop-culture references as 'Buffy' and 'Gilmore Girls', combined with the mystery plot lines of 'Twin Peaks'. With a blonde, female P.I protagonist the show is constantly paralleled with 'Nancy Drew'; but be assured the investigative teen is the only similarity between the two. Veronica's mysteries aren't as corny or Scooby-Doo as figuring out who is really haunting the house on top of the hill – the show deals with infidelity, sexual abuse, murder and kidnapping…. Taking a page out of Joss Whedon's book, Veronica Mars is extremely character driven – while the season's big mystery is very edge of your seat, it's the characters you care about and keep coming back to watch. Kristen Bell brings many shades and layers to the jaded Veronica; she's a wise-ass who tries hard to keep her shields up, but at the same time she is very fragile; and some of the show's best and most memorable moments come when Veronica lets her guard down, or feels totally beat by life. Perhaps the best thing about the character of Veronica Mars is the fact that she's extremely flawed. Sure, she looks cute with her perfect shiny blonde hair and impeccably cool wardrobe, but she isn't always the best judge of character and sometimes she just plain screws up. Whether it's dating a drug dealer, accusing the wrong person of murder or faultily stereotyping someone; Veronica is the best kind of heroine because she isn't perfect, she's damaged and that makes her real and accessible to audiences. Veronica is the high school underdog; living on the fringe of popularity, shunning the 'cliques' and mainstream, unafraid to put herself on the front-lines of unpopularity for what she believes in. She is the ultimate outcast, and everyone at least once in their life can relate to her because of her constant social struggles.One of the other great things about 'Veronica Mars' is the fact that Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell have a great rapport. Amidst the seediness of Neptune's underbelly, it's nice to see that the father/daughter relationship is quite often the beating heart of the show. Jason Dohring who plays Logan Echolls; Veronica's former friend and current rival; is also absolutely fantastic. His character is constantly shedding layers, going from 'psychotic jack-ass', to tormented teen. Logan is a conundrum, one minute he's the typical high school jerk, with lewd comments galore: "my underbelly is rock hard. It can go all night" the next he's quoting great minds like William M. Thackeray for his daily inspirational phone message: "To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best". Logan has one of the most interesting and complex character transformations that have endeared him to 'Veronica Mars' fans.Veronica Mars is 'on the bubble'; a TV show term for when a show is about to make it big. 'Veronica Mars' constantly receives rave reviews, but poor ratings (usually due to yo-yo scheduling and bad time slots). The show has ferociously devout fans and an extremely dedicated cast. It is a breath of fresh air at a time when cookie-cutter TV shows like CSI are ruling the box and reality TV shows are being churned out and devoured for no good reason; 'the Bachelor', 'Dancing with the Stars'. Do yourself a favor and dip your toes into this TV show; I guarantee that from episode one you will be taken in, hook line and sinker.
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