Everything you need to know about the enduring legacy of Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars has become a cultural phenomenon. But what is it about the series that fans just can’t seem to get enough of this surly private eye?

The first season of Veronica Mars debuted in 2004 on the fledgling UPN network (which then turned into The CW) and starred a relatively unknown Kristen Bell as its eponymous character. The show was a teen noir mystery drama that seemed to combine the best elements of Buffy and Bogart.

The series ran for two more seasons but was unceremoniously canceled with a cliffhanger at the end of its third season. The show was praised for the ballsy charm of its lead, along with intricate and thoughtful storytelling that intertwined life and death situations with everyday life.

Dedicated fans of the show, referred to as Marshmallows, campaigned for years after the show’s cancellation to get it brought back in some form. Thanks to the internet and a little company called Kickstarter, enough money was raised to do film a feature-length movie ten years after the show premiered.

The movie served as both a continuation of the original series and as a more fitting end to the overall story, providing lots of fan service along the way. With fans still craving more, the series creator, Rob Thomas, continued the story after the events of the film by writing two canon novels that were published in 2014 and 2015.

Riding on the success and popularity of the show, a metafictional web spin-off series was developed around Ryan Hansen’s character, Dick Casabalancas. The series featured other cast members who played heightened versions of themselves along with their characters from the show.

In September of 2018, it was announced that an eight-episode Veronica Mars revival would be made and streamed on Hulu. This fourth season of the show was going to be released on July 26, some fifteen years after the first episode aired. But, as a pleasant surprise to Marshmallows everywhere, Hulu actually released the entire season yesterday, announcing the news at the Veronica Mars panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

So what makes Veronica Mars so special, anyway?

Veronica is a high school teen who moonlights as a private investigator under the guidance of her former police sheriff father, and has a band of friends and allies to help her solve cases. Snarky and smart, Veronica is a former popular girl who is shunned by the cool kids after her father wrongly accuses one of the more affluent residents of fictional Neptune, California.

While a teen girl detective may sound trite, the series has actually dealt with really mature topics such as rape, assault, classism, and racism. Series creator Rob Thomas had originally written the story as a young adult novel with a male protagonist, but he changed the gender, thinking that a noir piece told from a female perspective would be more interesting and original. (He was right.)

A survivor of sexual assault herself, Veronica has an extremely tough exterior that helps her get through the traumas of her life. Veronica’s mother left after her father’s fiasco. She was drugged, then raped. All of her friends turned their backs on her while she stood by her father.

And Veronica’s relationship with her father is one of the best aspects of the show. While they may fight, it is always out of love for one another. Even though her misanthropy was justified, she also found time to help those in need — whether it was finding a lost dog or finding out who murdered her best friend (and that’s just the first season).

Her distrust of people seemed to hamper any romantic relationship she had, particularly her on-and-off again relationship with local bad boy Logan Echolls (played by Jason Dohring). These two started out as high school adversaries but found themselves drawn together following the death of Veronica’s best friend, who was also Logan’s girlfriend. Their relationship was perfectly summed up when Logan stated he thought their love would span years and continents with lives ruined and bloodshed.

In addition to Bell’s acting and the smart writing, the supporting cast brought the show to next level. Percy Daggs III played Veronica’s new best friend Wallace, Tina Majorino played computer whiz Mac, Enrico Colantoni was Veronica’s devoted father Keith, and Francis Capra took on the role of Weevil, the leader of a local biker gang. The majority of these characters returned for the feature film and will be returning for the new series on Hulu, except for Majorino as Mac, who had previous commitments. (We’re hoping she reappears in season five.)

The upcoming Hulu series is said to have a darker tone than the show previously had, centering around a serial bomber who targets popular tourist destinations in Neptune. Veronica is now a full-fledged private investigator who works alongside her father at Mars Investigations. Logan and Veronica’s relationship is also said to have a new dynamic, as Logan has become the stable one while Veronica is impulsive and, at times, reckless.

We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Veronica and Co., and we certainly hope there’s much more of her to come.

The fourth season of Veronica Mars is streaming on Hulu now.