'Mars' Attacks

One of TV's Best Shows Airs on, Believe It, UPN; Why Aren't You Watching?

TOMORROW NIGHT UPN WILL AIR a new episode of Veronica Mars, and once again a fraction of the people who should be tuning in will actually do so. I have to concede that among TV critics' darlings, I never expected VM to zoom to the top of my list, but after catching most of last season's episodes during summer reruns, I was hooked. I extolled the show's virtues a month ago, and since then I've gotten even more attached, something I didn't think was possible.

Anchored by the amazing Kristen Bell in the title role, VM tells the story of a high school private investigator who's juggling sleuthing, boyfriends, school, part-time work for her dad, and the myriad troubles of teenagers everywhere. Lest you think that she's the typical picture-perfect TV teen, Veronica is one damaged girl, having (a) been date-raped, (b) had her best friend murdered, (c) been abandoned by her mother, (d) been forced to break up with one boyfriend who happens to be the son of the man who murdered said best friend, and (e) failed to be included among the cool kids at Neptune High. Bell pulls all of it off with amazing aplomb, switching effortless from sassy, self-confident ingenue to wounded and unsure teen, often in the same episode.

Complementing Bell's work is one of television's best-cast ensembles. Everyone plays his part to perfection; deserving extra praise are Enrico Colantoni, who plays Veronica's PI father, Keith, and Jason Dohring, who's her ex, Logan. Colantoni and Bell bring such a light touch to their father-daughter relationship that you're almost convinced they're really related, while Dohring electrifies every single scene in which he appears.

Finally, VM's writers are tremendously fond of their characters -- they treat them with respect and depict them in glorious complexity. Unlike way too many shows aimed at, um, people younger than I am, Veronica Mars gives us fully drawn, truly human adults, not paper-thin buffoons. Like last season, the show's sophomore year gives Veronica a lengthy mystery to investigate, in this case the deaths of several of her classmates whose sabotaged school bus skidded off a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean, as well as smaller puzzles which she solves episode by episode. This is terrific television. Please watch.

Comments

[MAW]

I've been a fan since I caught the pilot after a friend's recommendation. It's a great show, and probably one of the best ones on the air currently.

[Jeff Martin]

It's worth note that Rob Thomas (not the guy from Matchbox Twenty; the guy who created VM) is a poster on the Mars message board on Television Without Pity. You always have to love when people in power reach out to the fans.

Not to mention that the show's stellar.

[Chris Durso]

Just waiting for GR's profession of love for Kristen Bell. GR?

[gr]

i wonder if she'd marry me. no seriously. just thinkin' out loud here.

[Tom Durso]

You'll never know by asking us, gr.