Excellently written, with a fantastic cast. The combination of high school drama, film noir, and snarky comedy works surprisingly well.

Very underrated show. Since it looks like a typical high school teenage drama, people avoid it. But don't be so quick to judge, there's a whole layer of darkness and intrigue in there. Solid writing, top notch actors, and a good recycling of characters and storylines between seasons to keep things interesting. Would rate it even higher if season 3 was on par with the first two (it wasn't a bad season though, just not excellent like the ones before).

Your boy mattorama12 was an extra on the first season of this show. They didn't tell us what episode it would be, so I had to watch the show until I saw the one. It was passable, and Kristen Bell was well cast [and I've since come to really love her]. PS, I didn't watch enough to give this show a fair rating, so 50 is simply a placeholder so I could brag about my Hollywood career.

This teen show is actually a very sad story about a city taken by social injustices, misogyny and racism, and how you can never actually heal from its traumas.

A real starmaking turn from Kristen Bell anchors this witty, twisty and, in its best arcs, genuinely gripping teen detective show. In its first two seasons it does a very fine job balancing a mix of season-spanning arc mysteries and cases of the week (less so in its third and last season - the series finale is actually a case of the week; very odd). I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys mid-00s network TV, when writers were still feeling out how this serialization thing worked.

[Complete] Seasons 1 and 2 could make it a 90 for me, but the Season 3 fails by changing some elements and making less complex and interesting mini-archs, instead of having a full season mystery. The series mix perfectly mystery, drama and comedy elements and the character of Veronica is one of the most memorable in TV.

S1-3

This show is excellent, one of my favorites. Despite being early in Kristen Bell's career, she still gives a brilliant performance, and the supporting cast is great as well. Rob Thomas allows his cast to adlib a lot as well, which really adds to the chemistry between the characters. The first two seasons especially are brilliant. Season 3 and 4 don't hold up as well (or the movie), but there's still some strong stuff there.

Season 1 = 100 Season 2 = 75 Season 3 = 50 Season 4 = 90 Seasons 1 & 4 really crystallize what creator Rob Thomas was going for in this drama about a whip-smart teen detective and her father traversing the seedy underside of sunny southern California. Those two are funny, brutal and twisty. Seasons 2 & 3 veer too much into WB/CW-influenced romantic teen drama. It's obvious the storylines were crafted to be more steamy and attract eyeballs at the expense of story. Still a solid watch overall

Concocting such a fine season after 12 yrs is pure brilliance.

very nice series

S1 84 / S2 89 / S3 79 / S4 79 / Somehow the gestalt is higher than the average, I guess.

Excluding Season 3

I only ever watched this show when I was with people who were fans of the show that wanted me to get into it. I ended up watching the entire show that way, albeit in a somewhat disengaged and distracted way. I remember what I saw was okay, I remember liking the father character, and I remember there being a disproportionate amount of rape.

It's better than the premise due to the likable, talented cast.