Veronica Mars is a chock-loaded find to make on Hulu. The series will give your nostalgia a lift back to the mid-2000s when the show aired, but then require you to follow the lead through a 2014 film and then a final reboot season – this one produced by Hulu – which only drew its curtain around a year ago.
During the decade-spanning journey, the versatile Veronica Mars will keep viewers entertained with teen drama, hooked with a murder mystery, and intrigued with noir sensibility. At the epicenter of it all, of course, is the titular Veronica, portrayed by one of the biggest names in Hollywood today and the show's best courier of its particularly sharp, laugh-out-loud funny writing. These 10 quotes as memes show why Veronica Mars is just the best.
She Understands The Dynamic Nature Of True Friendship
From BFF Wallace to the popular crew she's been estranged from and one-off hang sessions with computer geek Mac or quirky new girl Gia, Veronica tends to have complicated relationships with her peers (to not even venture into the romantic ones).
Veronica often draws ire as a loner snoop amongst infamously secretive teenagers, as just about everyone in Neptune can be charged with an ulterior motive here or a nefarious agenda there. So who, in this helplessly interconnected universe, can fault her? The only constant Veronica can rely on is her heart-of-gold, gut-of-intuition self.
Which Obliterates Cliques
Truth and righteousness seem to be Veronica's only qualifications for her typically evanescent companionship. In one episode, she will be gumshoeing Weevil and, in another, he'll be in her employ, all based on whether or not he's up to no good. It's probably because Veronica herself can attest to the fact that a few rides in the back of a police car don't for a person's character. And how many murder suspects has she dated?
Weevil, the biker gang leader with a heart of gold, shares Veronica's philosophy when occasionally crossing boundaries to pal around in the spirit of toxic masculinity with rival clique "09-ers."
And Even Values Enemies
"Keep your friends close and...," well everyone knows the rest. A well-established and transparent beef can be a more comforting form of relationship than one defined by tiptoeing ive aggression and certainly more than most of the forms shared between Veronica and Duncan for that matter.
When differences are on the table, it allows them to be set aside when the situation calls for it. In "Betty and Veronica," Veronica is put to work by casual nemesis Vice Principal Clemmons; meanwhile, in "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner," even Sherriff Lamb takes Veronica's side. It's a rare moment to fully appreciate that handsome local lawman without the usual tinge of guilt.
She Has Mastered The Art Of Self-Deprecation
Nobody wants to be on the other end of a Veronica Mars tirade. When that always-witty tongue turns into a weapon, enemies lay slain by unfettered sass and carefully placed references. Just as quickly as she can spurn though, Veronica can charm with that same snap.
Here Veronica romances the hunky new guy at Neptune looking to score some traditional gender role points by helping her change her tire. Veronica cares less about adherence to those expectations, but maybe too much about this guy's melty gaze than she should have.
And Also Has Known Sage Wisdom
The question of Veronica Mars is never if she's going to get to the bottom of this, it's how and when. Without so much as a tripwire, she seems to conquer her enemies one by one through sheer force of intellect. She relies more on brains over brawn than even Walter White.
Whatever sarcasm might be expressed in this scene, even Logan is ultimately in awe of Veronica's aptitude for mystery solving and bad guy outwitting. Their intimacy takes off when Logan seeks her help in locating his pronounced-dead mother and gets more complicated around the time she reveals the heinous crimes of his father. To have wisdom is to have seen much apparently.
She's Got The Hip Lingo Down
Long before owning the triumphant "ya basic" in The Good Place, Kristen Bell was delivering lines like this – capturing the incisiveness of the hippest new slang while somehow also celebrating the ridiculousness. The delivery by Veronica Mars is another reflection of the unique position she holds within her universe.
Veronica is pretty, clever, and hey, even downright fun; yet, her refusal to follow the steps in the choreography of the usual high school clique drama leaves her far from popular. A kid struggling to figure out parents and boyfriends, she's somehow already world-weary. Veronica is the type of person who can say "Should I check myself before I wreck myself?" with full and equal parts teen girl tenacity and bitter irony.
But Also The Technical
Some investigative drama addicts wish they could fast-forward through character development and melodrama – they watch for the detailed "whodunnit." Veronica Mars aired during the digital revolution, and episode scripts often contain details on online activity tracking, -generated content, and more concepts which, while having household familiarity today, were intriguing plot elements for Veronica Mars.
This is in addition to good old-fashioned sleuth techniques like bugging, stakeout, and role-playing. Veronica is a pro, and for some, that's the best part of the series.
She Gives Off FBI Vibes To Exes
It makes sense that Veronica Mars would be mistaken for a fed. She has the espionage chops and even the unofficial resume built up during an eventful career at Mars Investigations. It makes even more sense that the mistake would be made by a former police officer who is simultaneously an old flame. Pop culture private eyes like Veronica are infamous for letting their work seep into their personal life and for hosting somewhat depraved lifestyles generally.
A few years after his part as a dreamy Paisan police officer who was always more into Veronica than she was into him, Max Greenfield went on to embody scene-stealing Schmidt in New Girl.
She Has A Comprehensive Understanding Of The Food Pyramid
Veronica and Keith Mars's single dad dinners are the stuff of dreams. They can be a bit off-kilter from a dietary perspective but are almost always laden with intrigue.
In this scene, Kristen Bell delivers her mock surprise at the maraschino cherry very convincingly, leading the viewer to think a plot point has suddenly arisen, and making the ultimate joke all the sweeter.
She's Just Got It All Figured Out
Veronica Mars rarely ever wavers. Emotionally, she handles moments of disappointment and breakups with absolutely professional wallow sessions. As for more tangible planning, take her outfoxing of the FBI to save Duncan's baby or this PR preparation packet as examples – the girl runs a tight ship of being Veronica Mars.
This hard-boiled attitude and world-weariness is yet another example of the series' dedication to its noir roots. Classic serial novel characters like Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe aren't so far from this teen girl.