Retrospective: Veronica Mars

We've all been there, having a show that we love  get canceled, and it really stings when they can't wrap up all their storylines or end on their own terms (and its especially frustrating when it goes out with a cliffhanger). Dozens of shows bite the dust each year, and time was that any prospects of a revival were just wishful thinking. However, in today's television climate, we are very fortunate that cancellation doesn't always mean gone forever. It is getting more and more common for competing networks to pick up their rivals' low-rated-but-quality shows (TBS saving Cougar Town from ABC, TNT saving Southland from NBC, for example), and with the rapid growth of online-viewing, this trend should only increase (Netflix is reviving Arrested Development this May and helped AMC revive The Killing as well). In the internet age, fans no longer have to resort to mailing peanuts (a notable campaign that convinced CBS to revive Jericho for a second season, despite canceling it afterwards) to save their shows. With resources like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, fans can make their voices heard more loudly than ever before. Now Kickstarter, the crowdsourced funding site, is getting into the program revival game with Veronica Mars. Thanks to the tireless efforts of creator Rob Thomas (Party Down) and star Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), fans like myself could contribute directly to fund a Veronica Mars movie, which reached its goal in record time. This brings us to our Retrospective on the series, encouraging you to catch up in preparation for the film.

Much more than the show that launched Kristen Bell's career, Veronica Mars premiered back in 2004 on the WB and ran for two and a half seasons. Then WB merged with UPN to form the CW, where the second half of its third season got lost in the transition and the series was unjustly cancelled. The first season (also the best one) begins with Veronica Mars' Junior year at Neptune High (yes Veronica Mars lives in Neptune, California), nearly a year after her best friend Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried) was murdered. Veronica's dad, Sheriff Kieth Mars (Enrico Colantoni), was convinced Lilly's family was responsible, but a few months later an anonymous tip led to a Kane Software employee, who then confessed. Lilly's billionaire father had Kieth ousted as Sheriff, while Veronica was dropped from by her rich clique (and her boyfriend Duncan, Lilly's brother), making them local outcasts and leading Veronica's mother to abandon them with the town. Kieth then became a private detective with Veronica working after school as his assistant, typically taking on her own clients (both within and outside the school) as well. She also starts her own investigation into the suspicious elements surrounding Lilly's murder, determined to find the real story and culprit, all in a modern-noir setting.

Despite all she's been through (including a suspected rape--she can't remember what happened--at a party right after her outcasting) and her pariah status, Veronica, as we know her, is far from a victim. Instead of being sullen, wistful, or angry, she is proactive, persistent, and tough. Armed with a camera, a taser (not to mention her dog, Backup), and her own quick wit, she never backs down from a fight and readily defends herself from the popular bitches and douchebags she once called her friends. The most prominent of them being the wise-cracking Logan Echols (Jason Dohring), the wealthy, broody son of actors (played by Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna) and former boyfriend of Lilly (Ryan Hansen plays another named Dick Casablancas who provides some dimwitted comic relief as well). Veronica does end up finding a friend in the form of new student Wallace (Percy Daggs), and eventually teen motorcycle-gang leader Weevil (Francis Capra) as well, who helps demonstrate the steep class separation present in the small town. To delve deeper into these characters and their relationships with Veronica would be to spoil the surprising and rich developments that ensue as the primary mystery is slowly uncovered, along with various other twisty cases.

Yes despite the show's cancellation, the mystery of Lilly's murder is solved by the end of the first season, with another central mystery introduced and resolved in the second season, and two more that divide the third (which moves the setting to college, changing the show's formula slightly). You won't be left with lingering mysteries, though you will be left wanting more of Veronica, her snarky insults, and her inquisitive narration. So come discover this high school noir gem and get sucked into its fairly dark plotlines, but often hilarious characters, and then join us for the high school reunion in 2014. (the first two seasons are available for free at www.thewb.com)