Dimsum and then some: A ‘Veronica Mars’ success story

MANILA, Philippines - The scene unfolds like this: with a voiceover of the surly, tiny girl clearly on the outs of her high school social strata. This is how good coming-of-age television is made.

The premise of Veronica Mars is a little bit Twin Peaks, in that they ask the same overarching question: “Who killed Laura Palmer/Lilly Kane?” It is then mixed with the humor, wit, and drama of the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and an obvious though tiny dash of Encyclopedia Brown. What ultimately drives this show, which truthfully has the potential to be a little hokey, is the actors performing the characters’ motivations with great emotional depth and believability.

Veronica Mars, the titular character, is a teenage detective, a girl on a mission to solve her best friend’s mysterious murder. Through a series of unfortunate events, Veronica becomes a social outcast, shunned by all her friends. She plummets to the bottom of the social food chain, and investigates on her own, and manages to forge new friendships with other “bottom dwellers”—people who actually turn out to be cool.

Veronica Mars explores the nature of change, and how humans choose to cope with the shifts in the world. Like many of the shows that came before it, it deals with overcoming monsters (not of the supernatural kind) and personal demons, being okay despite these whirlwind changes, all with an unnerving inner strength and a sense of humor.

Sadly, it suffered the “college slump,” getting canceled after the characters’ freshman year of college. It was also during this season that creator Rob Thomas decided to change the format of the show, introducing smaller arcs, instead of the typical season-long mystery. With the solved case of Lilly Kane’s murder, casual viewers turned to other shows as well.

Many of the fans yearned for a fourth season, however, and after years of pitching numerous ideas for Veronica & Co., Thomas started a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise $2 million as proof for the Warner Bros. execs that there still exists a market for a Veronica Mars movie. As of the print time, the campaign has raised $3,708,954.

Veronica Mars is, at turns, dark and unbearably funny, smart and at times, a little silly. The characters are all quite flawed, even Veronica, who is sometimes a horrible detective whose only talent seems to be jumping to conclusions. She allows herself to be driven by her feelings and emotions, being tied so closely to the case she tries to solve. They are all heavily flawed, but that’s what makes them real and that’s what sets them apart.

In every generation, there is a Chosen One—a tough girl who can hold her own, doesn’t take shit from anyone, relentless in her pursuit for justice, and is often quite funny. If there were someone on television that I hoped girls would aspire to be like, one of them would be Veronica Mars, flaws and all.