In the wealthy, seaside community of Neptune, California, the rich and powerful make the rules. Unfortunately for them, there's Veronica Mars, a smart, fearless 17-year-old apprentice private investigator dedicated to solving the town's toughest mysteries. Veronica used to be one of the popular girls, but it all came crumbling down around her after her best friend, Lilly, was murdered, and her then-sheriff father, Keith, was removed from office for naming Lilly's rich father as the lead suspect. During the day, Veronica must negotiate high school like any average teenage girl. But at night, she helps with her father's struggling, new private investigator business--and what she finds may tear the town of Neptune apart at the seams.

CRITIQUE

At first glance, Veronica Mars seems to be a teenybopper drama series with a cliché Nancy Drew backdrop.  That’s what I thought at first.  Warner Brothers accidentally shipped this set, along with Gilmore Girls season four, to my door.  Mars was supposed to go to someone else.   I am glad, however, that the mistake was made, I probably wouldn’t even realize the unaware greatness the show has to offer.

I remember hearing about V-Mars last year during the fall lineup, but didn’t think anything of it.  There are a lot of shows that come and go through out a normal given season on the tube.  I thought Mars was one of them.  What sucks about this scenario is how I am still stuck on The WB, but slowly fading my interest with the network.  Expanding on that, when Everwood, Gilmore Girls, and Smallville ends, my ties with WB will also come to an end, since those are the only shows off the network I watch these days.  The damper here, is how I’ve already gotten into three shows over this past summer, away from The WB realms (Carnivale, The OC, and 24).  Mars seems to now follow in that same line.

These days, most shows (or at least, the teen drama) presents the show as a series of webs, intertwining with the characters of the story.  At first, that’s where I thought the series is going…through webs.  But as I got further into the series, I discovered the series had a lot more to offer.  In fact, the show is more like layers, than webs.

I guess the neat part about the series is the overview of it.  It’s almost like reading a suspense novel.  Each episode is a chapter.  Most chapters have its own sort of, subplot.  But the season itself follows a main plot.  Most TV series’ fears on doing this.  And that’s what makes Mars so original and unique.  If this was a book, certainly a page-turner and hard to put down.  And like a book, must be experienced from beginning to end, within sequence.

Each episode follows a simple formula with a few layers.  First layer is the teenybopper side of it, setting of a high school, adolescents with massive over-the-top dramas, and usually sparks that poplar rich kid versus the poor outsider kid.

The second layer involves the main character Veronica Mars, (hence, the title of the show), girl next door who happens to be working with her father, a private investigator. Veronica Mars, in this respect, reminds me of a Nancy Drew and comical (silly) Colombo.  Also has that Smallville quality to it, Mars being in the centerpiece and always helps people in their various problems, episode-by-episode (but less over-the-top than Smallville).  Speaking of Smallville, this show could be passed as a spin-off, since the characteristics of Veronica Mars are quite similar to Chloe Sullivan.

The third layer is what makes the season work, unique, and keeps the continuity really in tact from the first frame of the pilot to the last frame of “Leave it to Beaver” (the last episode of the season).  The main plot of the series as follows: Veronica Mars and her father investigate the murder of Veronica Mars’ friend.  This is a continued motif and story carried over from episode to episode, making the season feel whole.  As I said, it feels almost like a novel, an interactive novel at best.

This obviously wasn’t easy to film, nor write.  It’s easy to write story lines for a drama series. It’s even easier these days, to write a suspense “whodunit”.  Just rip off the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle or Alfred Hitchcock.  But to create a teen series, where each episode has a different Scooby-Doo like story line, and within each episode, follows a trail leading up to the main plot of the series.  Very difficult to do all of that and make it balance (and WORK!)  Only thing I see on TV now that does something like this is truthfully, 24.   Very ballsy to make an entire season connect instead of jumping up and down within the season.  Enterprise tried doing that, but failed.  So it does not always work.  And let me tell you, I was in total shock by the end of the season on the “whodunit” side of it.

The last unique aspect of this show is the flashback sequences used.  When you have a television show, it’s much easier to forget continuity when filming, over a motion picture.  So props to the producers and writers for making the flashbacks work.  Also, most ‘whodunit’ detective stories use the voice-overs by the main character.  A cliché move by the writers, but the very charming (and sexy, I might add) Kristen Bell makes it work.  And why not have it anyhow?  It’s like an updated suspense-thriller from the 1940s or a mystery radio serial.

The only thing that annoys me is the poor choice of music selected for the credits of the show.  I usually skimmed through it.

THE VIDEO

WB presents Veronica Mars in 1.78 anamorphic widescreen. The widescreen format is beautiful. The cinematography of the series looks as sleek as a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Vivid elegant neon colors invade the screen with greatness. Only thing that irks me is the unnecessary, “last time…on” beginning of each episode. Why do studios insist on including that with the DVD sets? And especially with this kind of genre where it’s being watched from beginning to end, it loses the integrity of the series.

THE AUDIO

WB presents Veronica Mars in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. It sounds pretty good. “Leave it to Beaver” is the only episode that sticks out in my mind when it comes to sound quality. Maybe because everything that rings around the season happens in that season (and some decent stunts are being done by the tail end). The selected pop songs are heard with loudness, as well as the score to the series. Dialogue is clear and crisp. It’s a fair, but not entirely solid audio track. A 5.1 mix would have been nice.

THE EXTRAS

Over 20 minutes of unaired scenes -

Yep – that is it, my movie/TV amigos. No featurette. No commentary by cast and crew. Not even trailer fillers are found. And what makes even no sense; you have a “special features” menu section on each disc. Not sure who the brains that included that on each disc when in fact there is one single “extra” on the entire set, which is provided on the sixth disc. Out of all the disappointments of viewing DVDs, this comes as a biggie.

FINAL THOUGHTS