Looking Back at the First Season of Veronica Mars

“Sarah, you have to watch this show.”

Like most fans of Veronica Mars, I heard about the show word-of-mouth.

“Really? What’s it about?”

“It’s about this girl who’s trying to solve the murder of her best friend. It’s really good. You should watch it.”

So began my high school obsession. Veronica Mars soon skyrocketed to become my favorite TV show as I powered through the 11th grade. Strong, relatable, female lead? Check. Clever dialogue? Check. Intriguing mystery arcs? Check. Neo-noir feel? Double check.

Admittedly, I was watching reruns of the series at that point. Though Veronica Mars reached high critical acclaim for its first season, which aired in 2004, its ratings were never quite able to keep up. The show was abruptly cancelled after its third season in 2007, without too much thunder.

But there was still a lingering rumble. For years afterwards, hardcore fans were pressuring Warner Brothers–who owned the Veronica rights–to make a feature-length movie. The film was finally realized last year when a Veronica Mars movie initiative on Kickstarter raised enough cash, in addition to shattering Kickstarter records. In less than 24 hours, the project reached its initial $2 million ask, but fans still kept donating. In the end, over 90,000 fans contributed to a total of $5.7 million to make the movie. Filming began shortly afterwards and the movie premiered on March 14 of this year, ten years after the first season’s premiere and six years after the final season’s cancellation.

I’ll admit it: I was not one of those 90,000+ fans. I never donated to the Kickstarter project, despite my younger self’s proud dedication to the show. Veronica and I used to be friends, a long time ago, but to be honest, I hadn’t thought of her lately at all. In many ways, I wanted to put my high school days behind me.

Nevertheless, the hype has brought me back; this semester I found myself powering through the first season all over again, nostalgically remembering what I liked about the show so much in the first place and what I still love about it now–years later.

The first season opens in the aftermath of a series of traumatic events that happened in the life of the teenage main character, Veronica Mars. It starts with the murder of her best friend Lilly Kane–daughter of billionaire software developer Jake Kane and sister of Veronica’s ex-boyfriend. When Veronica’s father, Sheriff Keith Mars, goes after Jake for Lilly’s murder, the town goes crazy and forces Keith out of office. The Mars family soon become outcasts and Veronica’s mother skips out of town shortly after. Keith gets a private investigator’s license and Veronica learns “the tricks of the trade” under her father’s tutelage. Throughout the season, she applies the skills she learns at her dad’s PI agency to solve Lilly’s murder.

Most of the exposition is told via flashback sequences scattered throughout the season. This helps ground the viewer in some solid character development, particularly on the part of Veronica who, during the flashbacks, is portrayed as a preppy, popular pushover. When the dreamlike flashback ends, however, viewers are thrown sharply back into reality. Instead of a teen fairytale-esque Veronica, we see a spiky-haired outsider with a razor-sharp tongue and a hard-boiled attitude. It’s clear that Lilly’s death changed Veronica deeply–in some bad ways, but also some good.

Despite her tough exterior, however, Veronica is not immune to vulnerabilities. Throughout the season, Veronica solves one minor, standalone case per episode (whether it’s dognapping, school bomb threats, or rigged student council elections) alongside piecing together clues to several other cases that test her confidence and personal strength. The most prominent (and central) of these cases is her best friend’s murder, but throughout the series she also attempts to resolve her rape, her mother’s disappearance, and her true paternity.

Ultimately, the season turns on Veronica’s relationship with her dad–perhaps one of the most positive parent-child relationships ever portrayed on TV. As Veronica narrates in an early episode, “[My friends] gave me a choice. I could stand by my dad or I could stand by [my boyfriend] and my dead best friend’s family. I chose my dad. It’s a decision I live with everyday.” Whether her faith in her dad, and the sacrifices she made in sticking by him, will be rewarded is left unresolved until the final episode when Veronica solves the murder (not without a dangerous confrontation with the killer.)

All told, the first season of Veronica Mars is jam-packed with great character development, strong mystery arcs, and subtle nods to classic noir films. To date, it remains one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever seen–and something I still love even seven years after I first watched the show. Hello again, Veronica, I’m glad we’re still friends.