Save Veronica Mars! Help Me Keep the Best TV Show on CW

There is a show on television that differs wildly from all the police procedurals on, and has a backstory as complex as "Heroes" or "Lost". It also has enough conspiracy theories in a single episode for "X-Files" fans to be giddy about. It also has a Teen/ Parent relationship that rivals the "Gilmore Girls", and enough teen and post-teen angst to fill "Dawson's Creek". The Show is "Veronica Mars", and it airs Wednesday nights on the CW, or at least, it did.

The show has not faired well in the ratings, but it is my intention to implore you to watch. The Show is reminiscent of the old Stephen J. Cannell detective series, like Magnum PI or the Rockford Files, but it concerns Veronica, a perky College freshman (She was a high school senior when the show began).

Played by Kristen Bell, Veronica is a smart, sassy teen. Smarter than most adults around her, she works as receptionist at her father's detective agency, stealing the odd case or two to solve on her own. She is also occasionally drafted by her friends to solve their petty little capers. She does all of this without guns, only smarts.

She has a very open relationship with her single parent father, and this is a good reason to watch the show ion and of itself. They banter, bicker, but clearly love and respect each other. He Struggles with his daughters blossoming sexuality, but has chosen to let her develop into her own woman. He doesn't shy away from correcting her mistakes, and he is not ashamed to admit when he has made one. The great Enrico Colatoni Plays the father.

Now, they've given Veronica a boyfriend, and here is one of my issues with the show. This boyfriend is involved with something too dense to get into here, and over the run of the show, he has gone from Millionaire to penniless pauper, and Veronica has stuck with him. I don't think this particular message is a good one for the shows core teen audience, but that's one small niggling little complaint. Jason Dohring portrays this boyfriend, and is kinda a sad puppy kind of cute. His stories do tend to get a little maudlin, but as I said before, this is a small complaint.

Veronica has a best friend named Wallace, played by Percy Daggs III. Their relationship is another gem in the show. They can talk to each other about any and everything. Despite their race and gender differences (Wallace is a young Black man), they rarely go down the "You can't understand cause you're a white chick" road, although that theme was explored once in an episode in which Wallace was arrested falsely. In that episode, the discussion of race rang true.

Then there's Veronica herself. I have heard her character described as a Gen-X Nancy Drew. Well, her character is much more than that. A better comparison might be Clarice Starling: The early years (the Heroine of Silence of the Lambs, for you Noobs). More often than not, her penchant for investigation gets her in trouble rather than solving problems. She has a difficult time trusting people since she spends all her time trying to catch them in lies, and her list of enemies grows much faster than her list of friends.

The show is a fascinating mix of Mystery, teen drama, and family show. It is well-written and the dialog has a real feel to it. Often times Characters in TV shows talk like they're on TV. the Veronica Mars Cast seems like real people to me, even in the most unreal situations.

Don't let another episode pass you by!