I first started watching Veronica Mars during the summer reruns following the first season. My sister, who is intimately familiar with my championship of female empowerment, could not believe I wasn’t watching a show that prominently featured a strong, intelligent, sassy woman. She also kept mentioning that it was the best show on TV. So, to humor her, I agreed to watch. She was right. I liked it. It was smart, funny, poignant, highly entertaining, and extremely well-acted. Kristen Bell in particular was a joy to watch. I looked forward to it every week but I wasn’t obsessed. I sometimes only just remembered that it was on. That wee bit of sanity about the show, however, remained only until the Kiss, which is what diehard shippers (as in those who favor specific relationships) call the first time Veronica and Logan Echolls locked lips. After that, I was a goner. I bought the first season DVDs, joined fan forums, attended a fan event in Austin, read fanfiction about the couple, and eagerly scoured the internet for all things Veronica Mars. The night UPN ran the show became Veronica Mars Night and no one was allowed to talk to me until I’d finished watching the episode. I had never done these types of things before and am not usually a gung-ho kind of person, so I was puzzled as to why I was so mesmerized.

Veronica Mars has a lot of fascinating aspects: Humor, great plots and dialogue, a solid father-daughter bond, gender  …