Veronica Mars - Season 2 (2005)

This season Veronica Mars, our modern day Nancy Drew, enters her last year at Neptune High trying to help solve the troubling mystery behind a school bus accident that causes the death of numerous students on the way back from a field trip. Mars is haunted by the accident as she was one of the people on the field trip, but joined a couple of friends in a limo to their return trip to the school and was spared dying in the accident. Her guilt is accentuated when someone who possibly participated in the cause of the crash is found washed up on the shore with Veronica Mars' name written on his hand.

Structurally, Season Two follows a similar path as Season One... the major mystery is solved over the course of the entire season, full of red herrings, false leads and hidden clues. Each episode also has its own mystery to solve, some of which are tied into the bus crash, some are just high school kids asking for Veronica's help. On the personal relationship side, the story goes a little Dynasty as we deal with rich kids behaving badly and tumultuous events unfolding in a way which seems acceptable, but when synopsized ends up sounding like a soap opera gone awry.

All that aside, however, Season Two is even more enjoyable than Season One. Kristen Bell as Mars is magnificant... charming, beautiful and fills each moment with so many layers that she's a joy to watch. And the work of Jason Dohring, as the troubled Logan Echolls, is really phenomenal. His performance is so three dimensional, his moments and gestures so effortless, that you may find yourself wondering just what is scripted and what is improvised.

This season's mystery was much more complex and the season finale was full of great surprises and suspense... my daughter had a solid idea on the person behind the crash, but I was completely convinced she was wrong. In the end, I was wrong and she was right. How many times does the father of a teen publicly announce that!

Veronica Mars continues to be top notch television for televisions target demographic (18-34)... and it's pretty darn good for those of us outside of the demographic as well.