Veronica Mars, how I miss you. Your snarky banter, your devious investigative skills, your taste in yummy bad boys. Shame on the CW for cancelling your show after only one season after taking it off of UPN’s hands. At least, I still have the DVD sets, so I can see you whenever I want. And with season three now out, I can also see what might have been if there ever was a fourth season.
The series debuted in 2004 and followed the adventures of Veronica (Kristen Bell), a former popular girl at Neptune High School in So.Cal., who had fallen from grace after the murder of her best friend. Her father, too, was in a similar situation, having been kicked out as the county sheriff and now living as a private investigator. While Veronica faced a sea of enemies at school, her dad had his own problems with local law enforcement who were resentful of him still being in town.
Like father like daughter, Veronica takes on PI cases for her friends and tirelessly pursues answers to the greater mysteries that surrounded her. Seasons one and two took place during her last two years of high school and were centered on one or two story arcs. These included the murders of Lilly Kane and Felix Tombs, and a mysterious bus bombing/crash.
Season three follows Veronica and her friends to Neptune's Hearst College, where more trouble abounds – and not just for the characters. In this season, Veronica Mars suffered from moving away from the season-long mystery that was successful for its first two seasons. Instead we got three shorter mysteries and stand-alone episodes that seemed to lose the ability to let the story progress to its natural conclusion. These include a series of campus rapes, the dean's murder, and a secret society. We are also introduced to many new characters that grow on you throughout the season, but since the series was cancelled, we’ll never get to know them better.
DVD set extras include:
- Season Four Preview: The best featurette in this set has to be the fourth season pitch. Veronica Mars was once again close to cancellation, but the CW was still interested in the show. So, creator Rob Thomas developed a preview that flashed Veronica forward several years to the beginning of her FBI career. Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
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