TV Show Review: Veronica Mars - Season Two

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Great writing and acting keep you glued to the story.

Cons: The ratings were so low.

The Bottom Line:

School bus "accident"

Means senior year of intrigue

For TV's teen sleuth

Only Getting Stronger with Season Two

Veronica Mars was a ratings challenged show on the former UPN network. It has been given a third season on the new CW network as well as a second season DVD set release.

The show follows the exploits of high school student Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell). She's got quite the nack for detective work, and uses it to help her classmates solves the mysteries that plague their lives. Her town is highly divided along class lines. The extremely rich and the poor rarely have anything to do with each other, but must co-exist at high school.

Along the way, she also finds herself involved in a case that takes the full season to unravel. In the first season, she solved the murder of her best friend, Lily Kane. Now, as the dust settles, she's trying to move on with her life.

In fact, Veronica's quit detective work completely. She is just going to relax and enjoy her senior year. She's got a boring job serving coffee in an effort to be just your typical high schooler.

Unfortunately, just when she thinks she's out, she's pulled back in. Firstly, on again off again friend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is accused of killing a PCHer, a local motorcycle gang. Then best friend Wallace (Percy Daggs III) is part of the group of starting athletes accused of steroid use.

But worst of all is the bus crash. After a routine field trip, the bus the kids were riding in plunges over the side of a cliff, killing all on board. The rich kids had gotten off, so once again social status plays an issue. But worse yet, Veronica thinks it was intended to kill her. Was she the target or was there another sinister purpose?

This show started off with a strong first season and only improved with this one. The writing is as sharp as ever. Not only did the season long storylines keep me guessing from start to finish, but the individual mysteries that only last one episode were full of twists and turns as well. In addition to the great plotting, the dialog is fast moving. Veronica's sarcasm, both in dialog and her voice over narration consistently cracks me up every week.

Building on the great writing is equally strong acting. All of the actors take the wonderful words they are given and nail it every week. Kristen Bell receives lots of praise for her work here, and it is well deserved. She consistently hits all the peaks and valleys the role demands, and makes it look effortless. Equally praise worthy is Enrico Colantoni in his role as Veronica's Dad. Their scenes together are the heart of the show, and I love watching the two of them together.

Despite the fact that the show is set in high school, it's not for the young. The plots can be very adult in nature, dealing with murder and rape upon occasion. Still, adults will find the show highly addicting and won't be able to stop watching.

While the first season set contained little in the way of extras, this one does include some. There are 22 minutes of deleted scenes, a gag reel, and two behind the scenes featurettes. All this is on top of wide screen picture and surround sound. If you are a fan of this show, this set is not to be missed.

And if you aren't a fan of this show, what's wrong with you? With how cheap the DVD sets are, you have no excuse to miss out on this great show.