VERONICA MARS LOSES HER CHARM

December 1, 2006

The brilliant first season of "Veronica Mars" was so thrilling and inventive that it wasn't much of a shock that the series failed to reach the same ridiculously lofty heights in last year's sophomore season. Still, it remained one of TV's smartest shows, with no reason to think that season three would be anything less than can't-miss TV.

So the big mystery here is: What the heck happened?

Creator Rob Thomas' high-school noir went to college this season but forgot to bring the fun with it, and what we have now is a show being killed by the law of diminishing returns. Whereas season one was spectacular and season two still pretty darn good, season three has thus far been a faded copy of the "Veronica" that once was: an aggravating reminder of greatness past. Every mystery needs a few suspects, and here are ours:

Suspect number one -- a different show format. The first two years of "Veronica Mars" centered around a massive season-spanning mystery. In season one, Veronica (Kristen Bell) -- a modern-day Nancy Drew - tracked down the murderer of her best friend Lilly Kane. In season two, Veronica exposed the culprit behind a school-bus crash that killed a bunch of her classmates. This year, "Veronica" moved from the defunct UPN to a new network, The CW, and hoping to draw a bigger audience, Thomas decided to make the show less demanding by featuring three individual mysteries over the course of the season, each to be wrapped up in seven or so episodes. Season three's first big whodunit -- who is the Hearst College rapist? -- concluded earlier this week with a reveal and climax so uninspiring, it makes one yearn for the punch in the gut you felt when movie star Aaron Echolls was ID'd as Lilly's killer two years ago.

Part of the fun of season one and two was watching Veronica slowly unravel a vast, complex mystery, chock full of red herrings and shady characters straight out of a pulp novel. (Remember Clarence Wiedman, head of security for Kane Software? Remember how creepy and cool that guy was and how his arrival at the end of a first-season episode would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck? Well, in his place, we now have drunken frat guys. Ho-hum.) The first of the new shorter mysteries lacked that epic feeling and, ultimately, felt inconsequential.

Suspect number two - a much different Veronica. As originally conceived, our heroine was a feisty, whip-smart, independent girl with enough moxie to last a lifetime. The clever quips are still coming, but this season, Veronica seems like a whole new person. She's angry and clingy, needlessly chewing out boyfriend Logan (Jason Dohring) one minute and then falling into his arms the next. These two are supposed to be in a very complex relationship -- after all, his father did murder Veronica's best friend (and Logan's former girlfriend). This season, however, the couple has been dumbed down to the point where it feels like they belong on another CW show -- "One Tree Hill." And while the legion of Dohring fans would be aghast at the thought, it might actually be better for "Veronica" the show and Veronica the character if Logan quietly went away. His story essentially ended when his dad was killed at the end of last season, and unless his presumed-dead mom returns, Logan's tale is told. Time to move on, Veronica. Nobody likes it when you're mopey about your dreamy but troubled boyfriend all the time.

Suspect number three -- great supporting characters who are constantly given the shaft. Besides for Logan, Veronica has two other men in her life -- her private-investigator dad, Keith, and trusty B.F.F., Wallace -- and in earlier seasons, her relationship with each has been a strength to the show. Unfortunate then that each has been relegated to the background this year. Keith was given a go-nowhere story arc where he slept with a married woman, and Wallace is now less a useful sidekick and more just some guy with nothing to do standing to the left and slightly behind Veronica. And, oh, how my heart soared when I heard that Tina Majorino's Mac would finally be made a series regular this year. So you can imagine my annoyance that the girl is only appearing in every third episode or so. And why don't we get to see Mac use any of her tech savvy anymore? It's like the writers have forgotten what made these characters interesting in the first place. Their personalities have been dulled.

Ultimately, we must conclude that all three are guilty of contributing to "Veronica"'s decline. This week's episode ended with a murder, which leads us into the second of this year's mini-mysteries. Any hope that the show will recapture that season-one magic is gone, but I'm still optimistic that the series can at least rebound to season-two levels. The cast, when properly used, remains stellar. And the modern-noir concept should theoretically be able to survive the transfer from high school to college intact. Now we just need our old Veronica back. I sure do miss her.