A Long Time Ago We Used to be Friends

While I have been fairly busy the last couple of weeks, a main reason for lack of updates around here is that my free time has been taken up by a new TV addiction: Veronica Mars.

I had only a vague idea of what the show was about before downloading last year’s premiere season: something about a girl who was a reporter or detective working undercover at a high school. And that it was good. Well, that second part was correct, anyway. The premise is actually as follows: Veronica lives in a 90210/The O.C.-esque area, where her dad was the local sheriff, and at school hung with the rich & snobby by virtue of dating a guy named Duncan and being best friends with his sister, Lilly. Then some bad stuff happens: Duncan mysteriously dumps her, Lilly is murdered, Veronica’s dad thinks the father did it, the rich & powerful get her dad fired as sheriff but he sticks it out in town as a private investigator, Veronica’s mom abandons them, Veronica is ostrisized at school, and some other dude confesses to Lilly’s murder. Veronica works at her dad’s office, picking up more than a few tricks of the trade.

The good:

• season-long murder-mystery plot, carefully advanced each episode. Lilly seems to be Laura Palmer-like with the secrects she kept, and uncovering the truth of her death often leads to more questions than answers.
• not your typical teen drama that you’d expect from UPN; when it does cross over into cliched territory, the stories at least have an interesting twist.
• besides the overall Lilly storyline, the weekly cases/detective work/mysteries are often fun; sometimes it’s like a teenage version of Alias.
• the charming Kristen Bell as Veronica.
• Veronica’s cynisim, wry humor, and cool and collected personality to get her out of many a tough situation.
• guest appearances by Alyson Hannigan.
• Enrico Colantoni (of Just Shoot Me) as Veronica’s dad.
• catchy theme song by The Dandy Warhols.
• more than a few appearances of BlackBerrys, including the use of one to leave behind a suicide note. As they mentioned, how post-modern.

The not so good:

• early guest appearance by Paris Hilton.
• guest appearances by multiple kids from Home Improvement, still waiting for their careers to skyrocket.
• detective resources available to Veronica and her insight into cases can stretch plausibility a little too much … but if I can get over it with Alias, I can do it here. Hmmm, she’s like the love child of Sidney Bristow and MacGyver.
• does venture into teenage melodrama stories sometimes.

All in all, it’s been quite addictive so far, with about half a dozen episodes from season 1 still to get through.