I’ve been doing a Veronica Mars rewatch with my daughters. We covered season one last month, and now that we’ve completed season two, we’re ready to revisit and reevaluate it through a 2025 lens.
Where to Find It – Once again, it must be purchased. For whatever reason, the show still isn’t available on any streaming platforms — a real missed opportunity. Fortunately, you can buy the full season (22 episodes) for about $15 on most digital platforms.
The Premise — Though it has the same number of episodes, season two feels even more packed than the first. The central mystery kicks off with a school bus crash in the premiere, killing several Neptune High students. Meg Manning initially survives but falls into a coma; it’s later revealed she’s pregnant and Duncan is the father. Meanwhile, Logan Echolls is accused of killing a PCHer, Aaron Echolls stands trial for the murder of Lily Kane, Steve Guttenberg’s Woody Goodman is elected mayor and tries to incorporate the city, and a new character, Jackie (played by Tessa Thompson), is introduced as Wallace’s love interest, Veronica’s foil, and the daughter of disgraced baseball star Terrence Cook, who himself becomes a suspect in the bus crash.
As usual, the show includes several cases of the week, but this time, most of them eventually feed into the season-long arc. If I remember right, Veronica Mars caught some criticism from casual viewers — not hardcore fans — for leaning too far into serialization, which probably led to the shorter arcs in season three. But from the 2025 vantage point, when everything is binged anyway, the serialization is a feature, not a bug.
Production Quality — The show is so sharply shot and well-composed that, if not for the flip phones, it could almost pass for a contemporary series. I genuinely think one reason Veronica Mars still resonates is that it remains just as appealing to 13-year-olds now as it did in 2005, minus a few pop culture references and cameos (Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Michael Cera) that flew over my daughters’ heads because I’ve clearly failed them as a parent.
Overall Review — Honestly, I think season two is peak Veronica Mars. The show had ironed out its season one kinks and hadn’t yet tried to broaden its appeal to avoid cancellation. It barely survived season two due to low ratings, but The CW (a newly formed merger of UPN and WB) picked it up for a third season.
The plotting this season is phenomenal. Several characters — Woody Goodman, Terrence Cook, Aaron Echolls, Kendall Casablancas, and the Fitzpatricks — have motives to crash the bus, and the show keeps you guessing. It also continues the darker themes from season one: rape, abusive parents, multiple murders, even pedophilia. I hadn’t rewatched it in over 15 years, so while I remembered a few major beats, I completely forgot who was behind the crash until the finale. My daughters were annoyed that I wouldn’t spoil anything, but truthfully, I didn’t remember enough to spoil.
I will say the Duncan arc was a little weird. I wonder when Rob Thomas decided to write Teddy Dunn out. As likable as the actor may have been, he always felt like he belonged in another show. Having him abduct his baby from his dead ex-girlfriend and flee the country felt off-brand for the series, but it did help cement Ken Marino’s Vinnie Van Lowe as one of the show’s most delightfully weaselly recurring characters.
The one element that’s hard to grapple with is Logan Echolls. He makes so many awful choices — violent outbursts, casual racism and elitism, and repeatedly sleeping with Kendall Casablancas, one time mere hours after confessing feelings for Veronica. Redemption should’ve been off the table.
And yet … that chemistry. One of my daughters rooted for Veronica with anyone but Logan, while the other was a ride-or-die Logan shipper, constantly trying to excuse his terrible behavior. By the end, even the anti-Logan sibling came around. Hell, even I did — briefly, and I’ve always been a Team Piz guy.
Before They Were Stars: Tessa Thompson, of course; Krysten Ritter; and Kyle Gallner. Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat also make cameos (during the original run of Arrested Development).
Problematic Elements — A few racial slurs are used that wouldn’t fly today; there are far too many teens sleeping with adults (including the sheriff!); and Dick Casablancas feels ripped from a bad ’80s sex comedy. His misogyny goes way past the point of parody into just plain gross. I will also add that Veronica herself says things on occasion that sound tone-deaf as hell today, but would have gone largely un-commented upon in 2005.
Overall Grade: A+. Despite its flaws, it’s remarkable how well-written, acted, and structured this season is. It remains one of the best single seasons of TV this century. I’m concerned that season three won’t be able to live up to it.
