VERONICA MARS S4

STARRING: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring

Originally running from 2004-07, Veronica Mars was ahead of its time, boasting many elements that are now de rigueur in teen dramas: a dark, season-spanning mystery; other ‘adult’ elements like police corruption, date rape and class inequality; a flawed, complicated lead who wasn’t the most popular girl in school; and an extended universe of recurring characters and guests.

Now, Veronica Mars is back for a fourth season that draws from the same well. (It’s also literally ahead of its time, being rush-released last weekend.) Summoned home from New York in 2014’s stand-alone film, former high-school detective Veronica (Bell) has settled back in Neptune, now actually the age she seemed to be in the original series. She’s still the smartest and sassiest in the room, and despite no longer being a precocious teen, there is still the element of the underdog about her. Yes, she is living with Logan (Dohring) and running Mars Investigations with dad Keith (Colantoni), but it feels less like living the dream and more like making do.

Rather than exploring a mystery from the past, as the not wholly satisfying fan-funded movie did, Season 4 is concerned with a case that’s very much in the present. Neptune is under attack, a bomb blast targeting the seaside town during the lucrative spring break period. It’s a turn of events that is classic Veronica Mars – something seemingly too dark to play out in such a sun-kissed locale. But as Marshmallows – the series’ fans – know, Neptune has an unseemly underbelly and the show works best when it scratches that.

The eight-episode mystery is a bit too convoluted for its own good – something that worked better in the original series’ longer seasons. And while the use of returning characters doesn’t feel as nostalgia-baiting as in the movie, not all those old pals are well utilised. Still, with new cast like J.K. Simmons and Patton Oswalt, and fresh personal and professional challenges for Veronica, there are enough reasons to catch up with this longtime-ago friend. (On Stan now)

“They are grown up and they do have more interesting relationship issues,” Dohring says of Veronica and Logan. “Everything is better than it was five years ago, and twice as better as it was 15 years ago,” Colantoni says of VM.