An Ode to Veronica Mars

It has been nearly two years since the cancellation of Veronica Mars. At that point it joined shows such as Firefly and Freaks and Geeks in being canceled much earlier than its quality would indicate.

For those who have never seen the show, the premise is that Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is the daughter of a local detective. She is a detective herself, and each week is involved in some sort of case while the season has several larger cases as a whole. There is plenty of high-school/college drama involved which keeps things intriguing even when the mysteries are not front and center.

This combination of the individual characters and a weaving, over-arching storyline combined to make Veronica Mars one of my favorite series. Kristen Bell is fantastic playing Veronica, but she has plenty of great help from the rest of the cast. The acting is impressive, but the aforementioned story and the sharp writing is what propelled the show into greatness.

Sadly that greatness was cut short. While I love the series as a whole, there is a definite step down in quality in the third season. This is because The CW staff were forcing changes such as the number of episodes the entire season, which limited the creative team. Even with these difficulties the third season was solid, just not up to the level of its predecessors. It also ends in disappointing fashion, but I do not blame that on the director (looking into the history of the show will illustrate that point).

Veronica Mars Intro (image courtesy Wikipedia)

Though Veronica Mars ended prematurely, what did air is one of the most addictive series I have watched. The first season started rather slowly, but somewhere around episode seven or eight I was completely hooked. I was so hooked that within ten minutes of my viewing of the season one finale, I ordered the second season from Amazon. Only a few television series have had that effect on me. In fact the only one that comes to mind is the first season of 24 (best season of any show ever, period).

It seems odd to write an ode to a series that ended so long ago, but since that final episode I have held out hope that the series could be extended. Much like the Serenity for Firefly and the Arrested Development movie (finally a go), there has been talk of a Veronica Mars film since the conclusion of season three. Though slight, I hang on to that thread that a proper ending to the series will exist.

If you want to check out Veronica Mars, the complete first season is available for viewing at The WB. Give it a shot, but remember my comment about the slow start. There needs to be time to set up a world and its characters, so things really do not progress until several episodes into the show.

Have you seen and/or enjoyed Veronica Mars? What television series have hooked you to the point of excitement for each episode?