Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | July 30, 2025
I’m going to forego the format of the previous two seasons because most of that is applicable here: Neither season three nor the movie are available on any streaming platform for free — they have to be purchased — the production values remain top notch, but there are fewer problematic elements, save for Veronica’s relationship with Logan Echolls, which in and of itself is problematic.
I did have a couple of people ask after the last write-up how old kids need to be before being introduced to Veronica Mars, and I’ll repeat what I said here: It is a surprisingly mature series, which you may not fully appreciate until you’re watching it with teenagers. That’s even more of the case in season three, which moves from high school to Hearst College (with no real explanation of why Veronica chose Hearst after being accepted to Stanford in season two). The first half of the season involves the investigation of a serial rapist. My twins are a mature 13 and I don’t think they would have been ready for Veronica Mars any younger, though I will note that it has provided for a number of moments where we pause the series to discuss certain issues (you all may also recall that a sex tape of Veronica gets passed around college).
It’s also the season where Rob Thomas — in a (failed) effort to cultivate a bigger audience and avoid cancellation — decided to break up the serialized arcs. The first half covers the serial rapist at Hearst, the Dean’s murder is covered in the back half until the 15th episode, then there are a few mostly self-contained episodes until Veronica investigates the secret society behind the leak of her sex tape.
Breaking up the serialized arcs was actually a lot more successful than I remember. The bigger issue, honestly, is that the arcs involve some characters more than others, so there are long stretches where we don’t see certain characters, like Wallace, Weevil, and Mac, while Parker (Julie Gonzalo) basically fades into the background after the first arc up and until she begins to date Logan, which I’d completely forgotten about.
And then there is Piz (Chris Lowell). All these years, and I’ve been on Team Piz, but I think that my mind has exaggerated his role in Veronica’s love life. There’s some flirtation early on, but they don’t even officially get together until the second-to-last episode of the season and then break up in the movie. Piz never had a chance in hell. He was a nice guy, but also kind of a needy, wet blanket. I am reluctant to say so, but VM and Logan belonged together in all their broken dysfunction. It’s not a healthy relationship, but I’m not sure either of them is capable of healthy relationships. Veronica belongs with Logan just like she belongs in Neptune. It’s just who she is.
The show really makes an effort to mature Logan in the third season and make him more likable before ultimately undoing some of that when he sleeps with Madison Sinclair. I mean, WTF, Logan? Or when Logan beats the sh*t out of Piz over the sex tape before even asking him if he was responsible. But then at the end of the season, he beats the snot out of the secret society guy, and even I was like, “Yep. Piz is cooked.”
I should also note that Keith has a brief affair with Harmony (Laura San Giacomo), a turn that sparked a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand: It’s hard to see the perfect Dad make an out-of-character decision to sleep with a married woman. On the other hand, I think it’s OK to show that Keith Mars has the occasional flaw, too. It made him more human.
All that said, the season holds up much better than I remembered, and the movie was remarkably good, too, separated from all the negative discourse at the time. I’m pretty sure the Internet picked the movie apart. I think that we wanted more from the movie in 2014 because we’d been waiting for seven years, but watching it right after season three? I was pleased to see what was basically a continuation of the series. No notes, except that I hated Jerry O’Connell’s Sheriff Lamb (which was the intent), and I was crushed by the death of Deputy Jerry Sacks.
Also, James Franco has a cameo in the film, and try explaining to teenagers why it was funny at the time, but not funny anymore because Franco got cancelled, and they’re just like, “Who is James Franco?” That said, big ups to Ed Begley Jr., who was also spectacular as the Dean of Hearst College. He was genuinely one of my favorite characters of the season.
I should also note that, while there were fewer “before they were stars” actors in season three, Armie Hammer does appear in one episode, as does Dianna Agron (which is less interesting but also less troubling). Also, I’d forgotten that Paul Rudd has a guest appearance in a very fun late-season episode.
Finally: The season three theme song? Not as good as the original, but it did grow on me over the course of the season.
Grade: A for the season, and A- for the movie.
