'Veronica Mars' Season 1: How Does It Hold Up?

Everyone knows the primary reason to have children is so that, one day, they’ll be old enough to give you an excuse to rewatch your favorite old movies and TV shows. Watching a beloved series through the eyes of a younger generation doesn’t just revive nostalgia; it sharpens our perspective. It allows us to reevaluate not just how good something was in its time but how well it holds up. Today, we’re revisiting the first season of Veronica Mars.

Where to Find It — As of publication, the first season isn’t available to stream on any major platform (though season four is on Hulu). Unless you own physical copies, you’ll need to buy it digitally. The first season is just $10, which is a bargain for 22 episodes. (The second season is $42 on some platforms and $15 on others).

The Premise — Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is a high school student with a side hustle as a private investigator for her dad, Keith (Enrico Colantoni), who was ousted as sheriff of Neptune, California, after a controversial murder case. Once part of the popular crowd, Veronica is now an outcast at Neptune High. But she’s also solving mysteries for classmates. Think Nancy Drew, if Nancy dealt with sexual assault, murder, and class warfare.

Each episode usually features a self-contained case while Veronica juggles life with her fiercely devoted father; Wallace (Percy Daggs III), her best friend; Weevil (Francis Capra), the misunderstood leader of a local motorcycle gang; Duncan (Teddy Dunn), her emotionally withdrawn ex-boyfriend; and Logan Echols (Jason Dohring), Duncan’s best friend and the school’s resident jackass.

The first season also includes two season-long arcs, back when such things were a novelty on network television. One involves Veronica’s own rape, which occurred after she was roofied at a party. The primary arc, however, revolves around the murder of Lilly Kane — Duncan’s sister, Logan’s girlfriend, and Veronica’s best friend.

The investigation into Lilly’s murder is what got Keith Mars kicked off the police force. His replacement, Sheriff Lamb (Michael Muhney), who is just the absolute worst, arrested Abel Koontz (Christian Clemenson), who confessed to the crime and now sits on death row.

Production Quality — For a 2004 broadcast series, the production quality holds up remarkably well. We recently tried watching Felicity, but my daughters never got invested. Two reasons: 1) There weren’t weekly mysteries, and 2) it wasn’t in HD. For Gen Z, the divide between Standard and High Definition is as stark as the shift from black-and-white to color was for earlier generations. They complained that the blurriness hurt their eyes.

Veronica Mars doesn’t have that problem. The digital release is crisp, and the janky early editing hiccups quickly smooth out. Even better, the original licensed soundtrack is intact, including The Dandy Warhols’ “We Used to Be Friends,” which still absolutely hits. (This, too, was a deal-breaker on Felicity, where the soundtrack was replaced with generic filler.)

Overall Review — The first few episodes are a little wobbly as the characters settle into themselves, but the series quickly becomes as compelling as ever. At the heart of it all is Veronica’s relationship with her father, Keith, a warm, funny, complicated bond that drives much of the emotional arc. Their dynamic is deeply satisfying, with Keith caught between trying to protect his daughter and being proud of her sharp investigative skills.

Veronica’s friendship with Wallace is another highlight, made stronger by the fact that it remains strictly platonic. That kind of non-romantic male/female friendship was, and still is, immensely refreshing.

Romance isn’t a major part of the season until later on, when Veronica briefly dates Deputy Leo (Max Greenfield) before falling for the last person you’d expect: Logan Echols. Meanwhile, her feelings for Duncan linger, complicated by a plot twist that suggests they might be half-siblings.

The case-of-the-week format keeps the pace brisk, but the binge-hook is the season-long mysteries. Kristen Bell is outstanding in what still remains her defining role, and the same can be said for Enrico Colantoni. Jason Dohring manages to make Logan compelling, even when he’s awful. Teddy Dunn, as Duncan, is a bit of a dud, but the rest of the cast more than makes up for it.

Brother Chuck — Ms. Mallory Dent, played by Sydney Tamiia Poitier, was introduced as a regular but appeared in only four episodes, mostly in passing. It’s one of the season’s minor mysteries: why she’s in the opening credits for half the season when her character vanishes without much explanation.

Before They Were Stars — The first season is stacked with early appearances from actors who later blew up: Leighton Meester, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Jessica Chastain, Jane Lynch, Anthony Anderson, and Adam Scott, among others.

Problematic Elements — A few lines and storylines haven’t aged well. There are slurs that would not be acceptable on TV today (or at least, in 2024), a storyline involving blackmailing someone by threatening to out them, and some stereotypes and accent choices that feel cringey. That said, it ages better than many of its contemporaries (Scrubs, for instance).

My daughters were especially disturbed by the age gap between Veronica (17) and Leo (20). In 2004, no one blinked. In 2025, it sets off alarms.

The most troubling element, however, is how the show resolves the rape storyline. Consent becomes a gray area because both Veronica and the boy she slept with were drugged — both “consented,” but neither was in a position to do so. The show kind of hand-waves this, and that’s frustrating. Even more troubling is how quickly Veronica forgives Logan after discovering his role in what happened that night. I won’t spoil the details, but she lets it go a little too easily, considering the stakes.

The potential incest subplot between Veronica and Duncan is also a lot. It’s relevant to the larger mystery, but it still feels like too much for a show set in high school.

Meanwhile, midway through the season, my daughters hated Logan and swore they’d quit if Veronica ended up with him. By the finale, they loved him and were ready to forgive all of his past transgressions. (One of them is still shipping Wallace and Veronica, despite my repeated reminders that it’s just not going to happen.)

Final Grade: A. I considered watching Veronica Mars with the twins when they were a little younger, but I’m glad I waited. Thirteen feels like the right age. The themes are heavy, the characters are complicated, and the mysteries are genuinely gripping. Nearly twenty years later, the first season still slaps.