Five Reasons You Need to Binge Watch Veronica Mars Right Now

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OMG, the Veronica Mars movie trailer just hit the Internet and IT LOOKS SO GOOD.

Maybe you weren’t one of the few but EXTREMELY loyal Veronica Mars diehards, aka “Marshmallows,” like myself, when the series ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007. Kristen Bell starred as a sassy teenage private detective/high school student trying to solve the mystery of her best friend’s murder all while navigating the treacherous journey known as adolescence. I was sold from the start when the show was billed as “the new Buffy,” another one of my favorite teenage girl power shows.

Via an earth shattering kick-starter fund, Veronica Mars the movie was created, and comes out on March 13th. (Told you that Marshmallows are dedicated and obsessed—the creators asked for $2 million, but scored $5.7 mill instead.) And you can catch up on the twisty, clever dialogue and addictive mystery-filled back-story starting January 13 when Pivot runs back-to-back episodes of Veronica Mars (and Buffy the Vampire Slayer!) from Mondays through Fridays from 10pm to 11pm.

Here are five reasons you really need to jump on the Marshmallow bandwagon and get ready for March 13.

Reason #1:

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Not sure if creator Rob Thomas was weirdly psychic, but the series that debuted in 2004 featured storylines eerily prescient of headlines relevant today.

The show is set in the small, fictional Southern Californian town of Neptune, which is comprised of a population distinctly divided along socio-economic lines—sound familiar? There are the uber-rich and very white one-percenter “09-ers,” anchored by the offspring of the tech billionaire Kanes (whose murdered daughter Lily is the focus of the storyline in season one), the real estate mogul Casablancas (the brothers awesomely go by the nicknames Dick and Beaver), and the Hollywood movie stars, the Echolls. The 09-ers lord over the rest of Neptune: the lower-middle class outcasts including Veronica (the daughter of the ousted sheriff) and her bestie and Chicago-transplant Wallace, plus other-side-of-the-tracks PCH-ers motorcycle gang (aka the Latinos).

Plus, with an incompetent sheriff in office, the feisty and resourceful Veronica needs to enact her own vengeance after she’s the victim of what looks to be a roofie-involved sexual assualt. With the Steubenville date rape and trial in the headlines and similarly awful cases in the media, re-watching the show in 2014 felt extra harrowing, but really applicable to right now.

Reason #2:

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Two words: Kristen Bell.

She’s awesome and delightful in a badass sort of way. Bell is petite, cute, and blonde, but as Veronica, she’s the ultimate power girl with clever back talk, spot on timing, tough attitude, and a brilliant mystery-solving mind. Bell plays it perfectly. You’ll feel bad for her, admire her, crush on her, and be disappointed in her—sometimes all at once—and love her even more. I honestly feel like she’s kind of like Veronica in real life. That Dax Shepard is a lucky, lucky man.

Reason #3:

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Veronica and Logan or “LoVe” as they’re referred to…

I’m a sucker for a really good, addictive, tumultuous love story—who isn’t? This isn’t a total spoiler—if you watch the movie trailer you get the idea that Veronica and 09-er Logan Echolls have a thing. They start out as ultimate nemeses: a borderline sociopathic Logan mercilessly bullies Veronica. But they eventually grow close, culminating in one of the best drunken (anti-) prom night love declarations ever. I watched it the other day and I’m still invested.

Reason #4:

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The best guest spots ever.

First off, Amanda Seyfried plays Veronica’s best friend and murder victim in many dreamy, filtered flashbacks. Apparently, they were only going to have her in a few episodes, but she was so good they kept her on.

And while binge-watching three seasons on SoapNet, I saw:

• A Blair Waldorf-channeling, but non headband-wearing Leighton Meester as Veronica’s classmate.

• A wide-tie-wearing Adam Scott as a wrongfully-accused (maybe?) teacher.

Buffy vets Alyson Hannigan as Logan’s airheaded actress sister Trina and Charisma Carpenter as Dick and Beaver’s gold-digging step-mom.

• Dianna Agron channeling Glee’s Quinn Fabray (along with that cute Jonah Breeland from Hart of Dixie, Travis van Winkle) playing felonious privileged college students.

• Maurice Kostroff—wait, who?—plays an econ teacher. You might know him as the Barksdale crew lawyer from another one fo the best shows on television, The Wire.

• And best of all SCHMIDT. I’ll always have a soft spot for The New Girl’s Max Greenfield playing the sweet, small town Deputy, Leo D’Amato. Although it is sort of weird to see him not spouting out offensive statements or stuffing dollar bills into a douchebag jar.

Plus keep an eye out for Jessica Chastain, Armie Hammer, Ari Graynor, and Jane Lynch.

Reason #5

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So you can watch the movie!

I’ve read that the producers are making sure newcomers can enjoy the full-length Veronica Mars movie without knowing any back story from the TV show. The movie fast-forwards to Veronica working as a big time New York City lawyer, only to head back to Neptune to save ex-boyfriend Logan from a murder rap (again). Oh and it’s just in time for her high school reunion, hence an excuse to bring back all the characters we love and hate. So it would be a shame to miss any insider-y references. Plus you really just have to watch to understand what a stone cold bitch that Madison is (the blonde that Veronica punches at the end of the trailer—that felt good) and have reference points for how huge of a douche bag Dick Casablancas is (can Deputy Leo/Schmidt bring the jar in for that?).

Seriously, winter makes for the perfect binge-watching weather and final plug: we’ve heard that movies with strong women help circulate the economy.

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