Recently, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas sent out a tweet which indicated that the film adaptation of the popular TV show will be released on March 14, 2014—exactly one year after an epic, fan-driven Kickstarter campaign raised over five million dollars to ensure the celluloid revival of Kristen Bell’s eponymous P.I. and her weapons-grade sarcasm. Check out this link from Entertainment Weekly to see Veronica, Wallace (Percy Daggs III), and Mac (Tina Majorino) deliver some classic snark at their ten-year high school reunion.
After hearing the news of this upcoming release date, I reflected back on my experience with Veronica Mars. It’s not a perfect show by any means—seasons two and three are just okay—but it did have one hell of an opening season. Since I’m feeling nostalgic, let’s go down memory lane and revisit some of season one’s finest moments.
Episode 1.1 “Pilot” – Wherein our cast, setting, and conflict are introduced. Kristen Bell is totally believable as a former member of Neptune High’s in-crowd—she’s got prom queen written all over her—but she’s also possessed of an uncanny ability to be cynical and endearing at the same time. Veronica’s friendship with fellow outcast Wallace Fennel—forged when she frees him from a potentially humiliating situation involving duct tape—is also one of the most important moments of the whole series as the two of them become a nigh-unstoppable crime-fighting duo. We also get a good look at the other half, known as the 09-ers. They’re the rich, snobby kids who have kicked Veronica to the curb for remaining loyal to her P.I. father during the Lilly Kane murder investigation. Led by the so-evil-he’s-actually-likable Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), they perfectly exemplify the term “first-world problems.” It would be wrong to overlook Eli “Weevil” Navarro (Francis Capra), the leader of a Latino biker gang and potential ace in the hole for when Veronica needs some muscle. Some of the show’s finest moments take place between Weevil and Veronica.
Episode 1.2 “Credit Where Credit’s Due” – Wherein Veronica earns Weevil’s trust when she helps get his grandmother cleared of a crime she didn’t commit, leading to an awesome scene in which Weevil and his gang beat the hell out of Logan Echoll’s car. Though this episode explains why Weevil remains loyal to Veronica, it’s really on my list because it introduces Cliff McCormack (Darran Norris), a smug yet self-deprecating city attorney who steals just about every scene he’s in.
Episode 1.8 “Like a Virgin” – Wherein Veronica meets Mac, who later becomes one of Veronica’s most valuable allies. The show was in need of some new blood on Veronica’s side, and throwing in Mac, a computer nerd who had been using her technological acumen to swindle Neptune’s rich kids, was a good move. We also see Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) rough up an ungrateful tenant, which leads to a romance with Wallace’s mom, sufficiently weirding out both Wallace and Veronica.
Episode 1.10 “An Echolls Family Christmas” – Wherein we meet Logan’s parents, and gain a better understanding of why Logan is so angry all the time. This is one of the moments when we truly get to examine Logan’s dad Aaron (a super sleazy Harry Hamlin), who later becomes a major suspect in Veronica’s investigation of Lilly’s death. Plus, Veronica’s deconstruction of a poker game gone afoul is pretty entertaining to watch.
Episode 1.14 “Mars vs. Mars” – Wherein Veronica attempts to defend a teacher who is accused of sexual misconduct with a student. The whole reason this episode made my list was because Adam Scott (Ben from Parks and Recreation) does a great job of playing a despicable, predatory history teacher. It’s also the first appearance of a series-wide phenomenon that I call “song bullying,” which happens when a group of characters harass another character by singing a popular song at them. In this case, the song bullies sing “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police at the girl who called Mr. Rooks out for being a perv. I have yet to document an actual occurrence of song bullying in the real world, but I’m sure it would have a positively scathing effect on its target.
Episode 1.16 “Betty and Veronica” – Wherein Veronica and Logan begin a torrential relationship. At the beginning of the season, the thought of Logan and Veronica hooking up is totally absurd. As Veronica attempts to help Logan track down his mom, however, their similarities end up outweighing their differences, and makeouts ensue. This relationship has all kinds of bad juju—before Lilly was murdered, she was dating Logan while Veronica was dating Logan’s best friend. Yes, it’s total soap opera stuff, but Bell and Dohring have some great dysfunctional chemistry.
Episode 1.21 “A Trip to the Dentist” – Wherein Veronica learns something terrible about her past. We get a series of flashbacks about a party in which Veronica was drugged and raped. It’s pretty shocking stuff, and it sets the stage for many of the twists and turns that happen in the much inferior second season.
Episode 1.22 “Leave it to Beaver” – Wherein Veronica finds out who really murdered Lilly Kane. I don’t want to spoil who it is, but let me tell you—when this mystery person is finally cornered, we get an extremely intense final act that leads to Veronica nearly being burned alive inside a refrigerator. Ironic!
Any Veronica Mars moments that I missed? Feel free to post in the comments section, friends! Just don’t call me a marshmallow. It makes me self-conscious.