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Critic Reviews
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A wonderfully complex drama, with plenty of sly humor, that showcases slick performances from its two stars, and magically straddles the parallel universes of film noir and high school high jinks, while generously tossing out amusing asides. [22 Sept 2004, p.D1]
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Best show of the season? Call me crazy, but it's a loopy-twisted-serpentine whodunit revolving around a whip-smart teenage girl...So let's recap. Engaging star, cool characterizations, witty scripts, meaty backstory. What's not to like? Only that networks always cancel deliciously offbeat gems like this. Let's hope UPN doesn't actually want to be a "real" network, after all. [22 Sept 2004, p.C01]
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What makes Veronica so strangely touching is that on a larger scale, her quest mirrors the common teen conundrum: My family's screwed up, and I'm not cool enough. How can I fix it?
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As cool as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" but with less other-worldly problems - date rape, a missing mother and a murder mystery among them - Veronica's navigating the tricky waters of a town full of secrets, on a network that until this season wasn't known for creating shows this good. [22 Sept 2004, p.38]
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It's an extraordinarily appealing series, one that's so much more than its easy label as a teen private-eye series. [22 Sept 2004, p.D12]
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The writers do a good job of layering surprises and plot twists. It may not be Raymond Chandler, but Veronica Mars is nevertheless quite hard-boiled. [22 Sept 2004, p.E4]
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The smartest teen-oriented drama since "Freaks and Geeks." A unique and inspired looked at teen angst shrouded in a P.I. show.
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Luckily for us, UPN has found a terrific young actress to play this terrifically engaging character: Kristen Bell. Whether you buy the idea of teen crime-solvers or not, there's no questioning Bell's credentials as a TV star.
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As improbable as the premise might sound, Bell's hard-edged performance makes it work. [22 Sept 2004,p. 1E]
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As Veronica, Bell delightfully plays the clash between sarcasm and sweetness. The actress, who appeared in Deadwood, is one of the most valuable performers this fall. As her struggling detective father, Enrico Colantoni displays more charm than he ever did on Just Shoot Me. [22 Sept 2004, p.E1]
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A quirky mix of light and dark, humor and grit, sentiment and substance -- "The O.C." if scripted by Raymond Chandler. [21 Sept 2004, p.E1]
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Bell does such a good job playing the world-weary Veronica that she manages to get away with voice-over lines like "I'm no longer that girl" and "The detective in me knew something was wrong" without sounding silly. She channels the charisma, smarts and frustration of Angela Chase, Claire Danes' character in "My So-Called Life." [22 Sept 2004, p.E12]
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Bell is an attractive lead, but the show... starts out by taking itself too seriously and working too hard to establish an atmosphere of teen angst mixed with noir mystery. It wouldn't hurt if the student-sleuth lightened up.
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Bell's acting, very real and often very raw, is this show's not- so-secret weapon. [22 Sept 2004, p.94]
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The show wants to be hip and cool, and it often is, but it makes no pretensions that it doesn't have a heart beating underneath, much like its cool but caring lead character. [22 Sept 2004, p.D-6]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 80 out of 90
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Mixed: 4 out of 90
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Negative: 6 out of 90
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Jul 5, 2015
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Aug 11, 2013
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Dec 27, 2010