The Atlantic

The <em>Veronica Mars</em> Twist That Undoes a Strong Season

Hulu’s revival of the detective drama ends with a curveball that cheapens the arc of one of the show’s most fascinating figures.
Source: Hulu

This story contains major spoilers for the new season of Veronica Mars.

While previewing Hulu’s revival of Veronica Mars, the noir drama about the titular, once-teenage sleuth, the show’s star, Kristen Bell, dropped a grim clue. “This will be a controversial season, let me just say that,” she hesitantly told E! “I’m also going to probably stay off the internet once it airs … There’s some stuff that happens that people will have strong feelings about.”

She’s right. The fourth season, which arrived on the streaming platform in a surprise drop Friday afternoon, . The hero, now an adult, is investigating a series of bombings in her hometown of Neptune, California, and. What’s more, it’s a curveball that cheapens the evolution of one of the show’s most fascinating characters.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi
The Atlantic17 min read
How America Became Addicted to Therapy
A few months ago, as I was absent-mindedly mending a pillow, I thought, I should quit therapy. Then I quickly suppressed the heresy. Among many people I know, therapy is like regular exercise or taking vitamin D: something a sensible person does rout
The Atlantic7 min readAmerican Government
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This is Work in Progress, a newsletter about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here. Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why peop

Related Books & Audiobooks