Veronica Mars: The Bitch is Back

Piz: "I promise you, karma is going to take care of it for you."
Veronica: "I know. I'll run him over with my karma."

I'm the faithful type. When I fall in love with a show, it takes a lot to disenchant me. I tried so hard to stay a faithful fan of Veronica Mars during season three.

But this was it. They finally lost me.

Veronica Mars: Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down

Veronica: "And the injustice league strikes again."

A complex mystery worthy of Veronica's talents. I don't think we've had one of those for awhile. It was fun to see Veronica saving Weevil again, although the way they left it, with Weevil literally holding the bag, was troubling. The library denouement was cool, too.

Veronica Mars: I'll Know What You'll Do Next Summer

Mac: "So. Pizneyland is the happiest place on earth?"
Veronica: "Happy enough. There's no roller coaster, but I think I can do without the adrenalin and nausea."

Summer internships are trumping budding romances. This may be a good thing.

Veronica Mars: Debasement Tapes

Veronica: "Me? I'm not ordering good boy while wishing I ordered bad boy."
Mac: "No. You gave up bad boy, but keep asking for samples of good boy."

Less than halfway through this one, I got a sinking feeling that I was in the middle of an After School Special. I thought, please don't tell me that Piz's has-been rock idol will redeem himself and Logan will learn a valuable lesson while trying to cheat on his business plan assignment.

Veronica Mars: Un-American Graffiti

Veronica: "So where is the sugar rush of sweet justice I should be feeling right now?"

I feel like we've been waiting for a new episode forever. So why was I less than thrilled?

Veronica Mars: Papa's Cabin

Tim: "Once a perpetrator starts improvising, the sloppier his work becomes."

Clever, well-written, and very watchable, with a great denouement right in the middle of the classroom.

So why was I disappointed?

Veronica Mars: Mars, Bars

Veronica: "Clifford. Something wrong?"
Cliff: "I just remembered I need to return Caged Heat to the video store."

What a shocker.

Veronica Mars: Postgame Mortem

Dick: "By the way, I did a little research on pathetic sad sackery, and 'hot sister' is the recommended treatment."

Logan in the grip of a major depression was something to see. And I really enjoyed his involuntary adventures in babysitting.

Veronica Mars: There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill

Veronica: "Bonnie's a preacher's daughter. How very Footloose."

Interesting episode about a controversial topic. They're not afraid to tackle anything, and I like that.

Veronica Mars: Poughkeepsie Tramps & Thieves

Veronica: "You'll always have Comic Con."

I loved this episode. In fact, these last two episodes have been like old times. Have they finally hit their season three stride? I was never crazy about the Hearst rapist plot. Maybe they just do murder better.

Veronica Mars: Show Me the Monkey

Parker: "I'm saying there's a saddle, Veronica. And we should be back in it."

I wasn't expecting Veronica to lie to a client and let the monkey go. She does occasionally show her marshmallow center. I also wasn't expecting her to throw herself at Logan, because we've all been expecting the writers to put Veronica and Piz together and that Veronica/Piz scene in the food court completely threw me off. I was going, "No! Not Piz, Veronica!" And then I was floored when she showed up at Logan's hotel room. Which is why this show is so good. It's unpredictable.

Veronica Mars: Spit & Eggs

Logan: "I'm always here if you need anything. But you never need anything."

This show does climactic mystery denouements better than just about anyone. I hadn't even come close to figuring it out. (God, I'm pathetic.)

Veronica Mars: Lord of the Pi's

Veronica: "Ah. The incredible, inedible egg."

I found this ep mildly confusing. Who exactly did what to whom?

Veronica Mars: Of Vice and Men

Veronica: "I can't believe this is happening to me. Again."

Tonight's theme: men are pigs. Except when they're not.

Veronica Mars: High Infidelity

Keith: "It's great talking to someone for whom Bogart isn't a verb."

When I first saw the title "Hi, Infidelity" a few weeks ago, I thought it would be about Logan. But Keith? Who knew?

Veronica Mars: President Evil

Logan: "Is it still called deja vu when something happens more than twice?"

I didn't care much for this one. It made me uncomfortable.

Veronica Mars: Charlie Don't Surf

Veronica: "I have options. I could be excited for Logan. Thrilled, even, that his new brother is such a keeper. Or, I can be me."

Logan has been a bit remote and even somewhat negative so far this season. This episode finally brought us back to his horrific past, and introduced a possible major new source of either joy or trauma: a half-brother named Charlie Stone.

Veronica Mars: Wichita Linebacker

Veronica: "Football. The systematic violation of the Geneva Convention made into sport."

I can tell this review is going to turn into a relationship ramble.

Veronica Mars: My Big Fat Greek Rush Week

Nish: "Welcome to the home of Theta Beta. What do you think?"
Veronica: "I think it's the gateway to Hell, and I don't want to keep looking directly at it."

Clever and funny, as well as topical. And how can you beat Veronica in a floral print channeling the Bush twins, and a masked Logan streaking through his sociology class?

Veronica Mars: Welcome Wagon

Mac: "It's like we never left Neptune High."
Veronica: "It's exactly like we never left Neptune High."

Very, very busy episode. But it wasn't overwhelmingly dense, like "Normal is the Watchword." I suspect it was intended to be more new-viewer friendly, and it probably succeeded.

Veronica Mars: Not Pictured

Clemmons: "Anything I should know in case I get another one like you someday?"
Veronica: "Don't keep all your passwords taped to the bottom of your stapler."

These last two episodes were just spectacular.

Veronica Mars: Happy Go Lucky

Veronica: "So apparently, if you're handsome and famous enough, you can just lie under oath, and that's cool."

The trial of Aaron Echolls. Finals before graduation. A school shooting. The mayor revealed as a child molester. Broken hearts, and incipient arrests. When they rev up for the season ender on this show, they don't fool around.

Veronica Mars: Look Who's Stalking

Logan: "I thought our story epic, you know. You and me."
Veronica: "Epic how?"
Logan: "Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic."

Veronica Mars: Nevermind the Buttocks

Veronica: "The wicked stepmother trying to bump off her rich husband's spawn. That's a Disney movie, isn't it?"

Many, many bus crash theories.

Veronica Mars: I Am God

Ms. James: "So that's it? The tombstone artwork was just an album cover?"
Veronica: "And rosebud was just a sled. (pause) I didn't just ruin Citizen Kane for you, did I?"

Veronica went through a ton of sleepless nights and bad dreams just to discover that one of the crash victims liked a song called "I am God" by the Wannabes.

Veronica Mars: Plan B

Weevil: "An 09er could come in here with tea leaves and a Ouija board, and they'd send out a SWAT team."

Plan B was Weevil taking out Thumper by proxy by getting him in trouble with the Fitzpatricks.

Veronica Mars: The Rapes of Graff

Logan: "You're a really sweet girl, but..."
Hannah: "But what?"
Logan: "But I'm not a sweet guy."

Hearst College is an obvious set-up for next season.

Veronica Mars: The Quick and the Wed

Veronica: "You can laser a guy's name off your ass, but I wonder whether you can really ever cut him out of your heart."

A fine runaway bride episode with the usual surprise VM twist.

Veronica Mars: Versatile Toppings

Veronica: "Why can't the evil just get jobs like the rest of us?"

I loved Kylie Marker coming out in front of the school. But the fact that she was behind the blackmail immediately lessened her cool factor. Wanting her girlfriend Marlena to be "out" with her does not excuse her from committing, what's blackmail? A felony? And persecuting her fellow gay students? Despicable. At least it wasn't related to the strangely racist (in an anti-"coconut" sense) pizza boy muggings.

Veronica Mars: Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough

Veronica: "It's not a carnival until somebody shows butt cheek."

A lot of this episode was about how something that looked good on the outside was corrupt and sleazy on the inside.

Veronica Mars: Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle

Veronica: "My boyfriend just fled the country with his dead ex-girlfriend's baby. I need a project."

Whenever we have a superheavy episode like the last one, going back to business as usual always feels a bit strange.

Veronica Mars: Donut Run

Sheriff Lamb: "You need to be careful with this one. She's slippery."
Agent Morris: "Sheriff, we have interrogated al Qaeda members at Gitmo. I think we can handle a teenage girl."

Did they just write Duncan out? Please tell me they just wrote Duncan out.

Veronica Mars: One Angry Veronica

Keith: "It's not always easy doing the right thing."
Veronica: "If that phrase isn't on the Mars family crest, it should be."

It was a blue, blue Christmas for Veronica. Things weren't going well with Duncan. And getting stuck with jury duty during the holidays would bring out the Grinch in anyone.

Veronica Mars: My Mother the Fiend

Ms. Hauser: "Find a partner, pick a baby."
Veronica: "Aren't we supposed to have a shot of tequila first?"

Sex Ed part two, with many, many babies. There was the famous prom baby, the somewhat creepy Baby Think it Over, and as a cliffhanging shocker, Meg is pregnant. Knowing Meg, that baby has to be Duncan's. So he's going to be a real father with Meg, not just pretending with Veronica.

Veronica Mars: Ahoy Mateys!

Logan: "Help me, Mars-won Kenobe. You're my only hope."

It's been three months since the crash, and the roster of bus crash victims is filling out: Ms. Dumas the teacher, Ed Doyle the bus driver, Meg, Cervando the PCHer, Rhonda, and interestingly enough, a dead rat taped to a seat. This week's new name on the list was Marcos Oliveres, a.k.a. Captain Krunk, the Howard Stern of Neptune High. The grief-stricken Oliveres' turned out to be despicable, putting their son in a "But I'm a Cheerleader" Camp Homophoby, and trying to take advantage of being harassed to get a bigger settlement.

Veronica Mars: Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

Logan: "Honestly, how much easier would your life be if you were indifferent to me?"

The Fullers, the Hausers, the Goodmans, the Mannings. Veronica discovered that, with the possible exception of Keith and Alicia, there really are no normal parents in Neptune. (I think Veronica hated babysitting as much as I did when I was a teenager.) Discovering that Meg was trying to report her own parents on behalf of her little sister Grace was a shocker. I didn't see it coming. (But as I've said, I almost never see it coming.)

Veronica Mars: Rat Saw God

Keith: "I'm here because of my daughter."
Aaron: "Now, that's funny. So am I."

Super bad week for Logan, after many other bad weeks for Logan. Arrested for Felix's murder, confined in a cell with his father the murderer, and the icing on the cake? His house burned down.

Veronica Mars: Blast from the Past

Keith: "I'm not going to leverage the deaths of seven people to win an election."

What's Veronica Mars without major parental angst? It was Wallace's turn, with his new rogue narcotics detective father, whose appearance seems to have made Wallace re-evaluate his friendship with Veronica. And Veronica didn't come out looking all that good. Was that part of why Wallace decided to take off? I hope they're not writing him out.

Veronica Mars: Green-Eyed Monster

Veronica: "If you want my opinion, I'd say there's a fine line between looking for a problem and creating one."

Veronica was unable to resist taking on one of Keith's cases. I'm relieved. Things were almost back to normal.

Veronica Mars: Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang

Veronica: "Tailing young Mrs. Kendall is about as hard as following Malibu Barbie to the beach house."

Embezzlement, cheating, and yet more sex. Loved the title.

Veronica Mars: Driver Ed

Jessie: "Your dad drives one bus off a cliff, and your days of being under the radar are over."

Life is short. There are cliches and everything.

Other than life being short and all, this one was all about finding someone to blame, fast, so that the moronic Sheriff Lamb wouldn't have to actually work the case. Ed Doyle, a guy who was guilty of the heinous crimes of buying a slushie and wanting to leave his wife, is now the official bus crash scapegoat. Guess that means the official investigation is over.

Veronica Mars: Normal is the Watchword

Kelvin: "So who's supposed to help me out, then?"
Veronica: "Encyclopedia Brown. I hear he's good."

I was oddly disappointed.

Veronica Mars: Leave It to Beaver

Lilly: "Don't forget about me, Veronica."

This episode was amazing. One strong scene after another. And the end was outright shocking.

Veronica Mars: A Trip to the Dentist

Veronica: "This is so not an 'I told you so,' but do you see why I kind of keep things to myself?"

This was a fascinating episode. We watched Veronica going from one clue and one witness to the next, and the next, and the next, until she finally figured it out. Why hasn't Veronica taken the time to seriously investigate her own rape before now? Was she afraid of what she would find out? The whole weird thing with Logan must have just pushed her over the edge.

Veronica Mars: M.A.D.

Veronica: "The Navy's got that don't ask, don't tell thing? If we tell, they're going to ask. Mutually assured destruction."

Sleazoid boyfriends, romantic secrets, parental affairs and a possible divorce.

Veronica Mars: Hot Dogs

Veronica: "If someone is stealing dogs in Neptune, they need to be brought down hard, then beaten with some sort of tire iron and dumped into the nearest body of water."

Oh my, how I love this episode. So many plotlines plotting away. So many clever lines. Many, many dogs. And Veronica and Logan in a heavy-duty clinch. Who could ask for more?

Veronica Mars: Weapons of Class Destruction

Veronica: "He likes me? He 'likes me' likes me?"

Yes, the plot bits with Ben, kid ATF agent, were okay. Especially interesting was Ben's penchant for planting false evidence, which was probably how he achieved his high arrest record.

Veronica Mars: Kanes and Abel's

Veronica: "Why is it the Cazes of the world are forever in transit between romantic failure and the gym?"

The Lilly Kane murder case is revving up, probably for resolution in the season finale.

Veronica Mars: Betty and Veronica

Wallace: "Unlike you, I have some school pride."
Veronica: "And a goat crapping apples in the back of your buddy's van."

Hell must have frozen over. Vice principal Clemmons asked Veronica for help finding their missing mascot. And she did it. Of course she did.

Veronica Mars: Ruskie Business

Wallace: "How many cases you working on here, Rockford?"

The theme of the spring fling? "A Total Eclipse of the Heart." Finding your soul mate or being unlucky in love was what this one was about. And heartworn Veronica was up to her ears in cases.