Strange Happenings on 'Mars'

Go ahead and revoke my Veronica Mars fan club card because I LOVE the new "stand-alone" format. I know, I know we're only one episode into it, but I think it's going to be very good for the show. It's less bulky because I don't feel like they're trying to cram 2 hours worth of stuff into a 42-minute episode (without commercials, this is all we get on average). Plus, it's difficult to keep all of the mystery details straight from week to week sometimes. I say bring on the self-contained mystery-of-the-week and give us plenty of character drama that extends from episode to episode, and I'm a happy Veronica viewer. Speaking of the character drama, it seems we have ourselves a nice little 4-way love triangle (Love square? Rectangle?). It's no secret that I want Logan and Veronica to end up together (I can't help myself!), so watching them with other people and then watching how they responded to seeing each other with someone else was heartbreaking. Here I was thinking that Logan was totally fine with it and had moved on with Parker (he put their picture on her frickin' birthday cake for crying out loud!), and then he falls apart when he sees Veronica kissing Piz. Maybe his so-into-Parker routine complete with said cake was all to show Veronica that he's not the immature weasel that she has always known. After all, he made it clear to her that he's going to class, knows how to use a highlighter, and perhaps most importantly, can fully commit to someone without even thinking about the Madison Sinclairs of the world (much to Dick's chagrin). Veronica, meanwhile, is busy convincing herself that she has feelings for Piz because it might make her forget about Logan and spare her from feeling so lonely. Good luck with that, V.

Veronica didn't have a lot of time to dwell on either issue because she had her hands full with a hate crime involving ill-fated lovers and anti-American propaganda. I liked how this one played both sides while also stressing the importance of talking to one another before we assume something based on race or ethnicity. It was nice to see so much devotion to the case-of-the-week and the personal stuff thanks to the new format. I think I seriously forgot how good this show was while it was gone for like half a season. Yes, life is certainly perfect on Mars as we've come to expect. This is why it cannot get cancelled!!

If you missed last night's excellent hour ("Un-American Graffiti"), watch it for free at cwtv.com or download it for $1.99 from iTunes. The picture in this edition is courtesy of cwtv.com



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