Veronica Mars: Complete First Season (6pc) (Ws) [DVD] [2005] [US Import]

Summing up the basic premise of the show sounds misleadingly, well...lame, that of a high school student that acts as a private investigator in her spare time. I guess telling you that Paris Hilton shows up in the second episode won't help much either.

The precursor to the plot of the initial season is this; Veronica Mars lives in the town of Neptune, a town consisting of the extremely wealthy and the marginalized lower classes. There is little middle class here, but a lot of friction.

Veronica had it all: she was one of the popular kids, with a much sought-after boyfriend and a happy home environment. Her father was sheriff.

Then disaster strikes several times before the first episode. Her best friend is murdered - her father accuses the family of a cover up. He loses his job as sheriff and the Mars family have to move to a miserable two bedroom flat on the bad side of town while father Keith makes his money in the PI business. Days later, her mother leaves them in the night. To top it all, Veronica is drugged at a party and wakes up knowing something terrible happened to her.

So it's a typical "fall from grace" story, only it's incredibly well written and often has echoes of the film noir style of directing. The acting too, is always faultless, from the incredible main actor Kristen Bell right down to the supporting actors.

Many have called it the "spiritual successor" to Joss Whedon's masterful Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They'd be right too. Each episode peerlessly interweaves a stand-alone storyline in with the overall season arc of finding the killer of Veronica's friend.

So buy this. It has everything you could hope for in a top-notch drama mystery series. Flashbacks, passion, laugh out loud comedy and emotion that will pull on your heart strings. Also, the main mystery of the season is brilliantly concluded in the finale, so their is a definite conclusion and no attempt to string the watcher out forever.

Take a leap of faith and trust a random amazon writer you will never meet, and buy this today.

In the seaside town of Neptune, California, there are the haves and the have-nots. You're either one or the other with no middle ground. Veronica used to be part of the popular click. But that was before her best friend Lily was murdered, her rich boyfriend Duncan dumped her, and her father lost his job as the town Sheriff because of his handling of Lily's murder investigation. While her dad opened a PI office, her mom split for parts unknown, leaving the two to cope with the changes in town.

Because of her station as a former popular girl, Veronica doesn't fit into either crowd. Fortunately, the detective skills she's learned from her dad help her make friends. Seems like classmates are constantly coming to her to help with little things like bomb scares or missing pets. Even teachers turn to her in times of crisis, like false accusations of statutory rape. Along the way, Veronica begins to pick up pieces of the puzzle of Lily's murder. Will she piece them all together and figure out who really done it?

I tuned into the premier because several friends were planning to watch as well. I was hooked from the start. The show is smart with decent mysteries each week. The clues to the season long mystery of Lily's death were tantalizing as well. The show is definitely shown through Veronica's eyes, with her voiceover narrating events as well. Veronica has a sarcastic sense of humor that livens things up and keeps the often-serious storyline from becoming too depressing. Newcomer Kristen Bell does an outstanding job in the roll, believably hitting all the peaks and valleys each week. It is rather funny to see Zachery Ty Bryant and Jonathan Taylor Thomas show up in guest rolls as high schoolers.

The DVD was rushed out to help build interest in the currently playing season two. As such, the list of extras is small, limited to some deleted scenes and a season long gag reel.

Some of the plot lines are for the more mature, but teens and adults will love this smart, noir drama series. If you haven't watched yet, this is the perfect chance to find out what you've been missing.