thecelebritycafe.com: TV Review - Veronica Mars

Original Article

Television at its best.

Life’s a bitch. 17-year-old Veronica Mars has known that for a while now. Her life has fallen apart in the past year: Her best friend Lily was brutally murdered. Veronica’s father lost his job as the sheriff after accusing Lily’s father, the wealthiest man in town, of the murder. Her popular friends, including her boyfriend, ditched her. And finally, her mother left the family and vanished off the face of the earth.

So yeah, fate has dumped a lot on Veronica. But the former girlie girl has toughened up and learned to live with it. She uses her newly-discovered sleuthing skills and her father’s equipment – he is a private detective by now – to solve little mysteries at her high school by day and makes a little cash off that. But by night, she tries to solve the mystery of her best friend’s death.

The plot of Veronica Mars’s first season was originally intended to be a novel by series creator Rob Thomas. And you can tell: The story arc of the search for Lily’s killer spans the whole season and is crafted beautifully. There are no coincidences in Veronica’s story, and everything falls into place in the end – even if it’s not the kind of solution Hollywood would choose.

The writing is just as flawless as the storytelling. The story moves along smoothly, there are incredibly satisfying plot twists, and more witty one-liners than in an episode of Seinfeld. The characters seem human even though they are clearly contrived to serve a plot. And yet, they are just as unpredictable as real people and surprise you with their flaws as well as with sudden and unexpected goodness.

This is not least due to the actors who portray their roles with great skill and dedication. Kristen Bell leads the cast as Veronica, and she plays tough no-nonsense detective just as well as helpless bimbo when Veronica is on undercover research.

Bell is supported by a line-up of actors who really seem to sink their teeth into their roles – most notably, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni and Michael Muhney. Amanda Seyfried makes a great guest star as dead Lily in several flashbacks.

Veronica Mars is definitely not your average teen drama, and has more in common with a film noir. It is dark and cruel, and shocks you more than once with a sudden reverse of fortune. It deals with death, rape, extortion and violence, and yet, never becomes a soap opera. It is just too cool for that.

Watch full episodes of Veronica Mars here.