Everything you need to remember about Veronica Mars before we go back to Neptune
This story contains spoilers for Veronica Mars Seasons 1-3 and the Veronica Mars movie.
It’s almost time to go back to Neptune. Like Veronica Mars herself, we just couldn’t quit the P.I. life, so Hulu revived the fan-favorite series for a Season 4. New episodes drop today, Friday, July 19th, nearly 12 years after Season 3 ended and more than five years after the release of the Kickstarter-funded Veronica Mars movie. (Yes, the date moved up! The premiere was originally scheduled for July 26th.) Since then, creator Rob Thomas has written two books—The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line and Mr. Kiss and Tell—but right now it’s unclear whether those are canon for the revival.
It can be hard to keep all the important details in your mind across 12 long years, so we put together a little refresher for everything you Marshmallows should know before you jump back into Veronica Mars Season 4. After all, our love for this show is epic, spanning years.
What is Veronica Mars up to at the beginning of Season 4?
When we last left our badass, quippy heroine, she was returning to life in the Neptune P.I. business—very much against the wishes of our favorite TV dad, Keith Mars. But let’s backtrack. By the end of Veronica Mars Season 3, Veronica was attending Hearst College, slaying her criminology class, and submitting a glowing recommendation for an internship at the FBI. When we time-jumped nine years to the movie, Veronica was interviewing for a cushy job at an elite New York law firm. She seemed destined for greener pastures and much more green in her wallet.
However, the pull of Neptune, private investigating, and one Mr. Logan Echolls (more on him in a minute) drew her back home. After taking on a “one-time deal, a farewell tour” of a case, according to Veronica, she decided to stay and work at her dad’s business.
“Then again, you ever hear the one about the junkie who was satisfied with just one more taste of the good stuff? Neither have I,” Veronica explains in the movie.
The two books, which work as sequels to the movie, show Veronica working P.I. cases at Mars Investigations. And according to the trailer for the new season, that seems to be where she stays. Roles may be reversed, though, with Veronica taking the lead on cases while Keith acts as support.
So, what’s going on in Neptune?
Well, that depends a little bit on whether the books are canon. In Mr. Kiss and Tell, Neptune has incorporated—an issue raised way back in Season 2—and there’s a new police chief, Marcia Langdon. If we’re sticking with the show and movie, the late Sheriff Don Lamb’s brother Dan Lamb is sheriff. Suffice to say, he’s about a big of a fan of Mars family as Don was, which is to say, not at all.
No matter what you take as canon, Neptune is still in a harsh class divide. It’s the rich 09ers versus everyone else, including the PCH biker gang. This will almost definitely come into play as Veronica Mars Season 4 centers on bombings and a potential serial killer during Neptune’s busy spring break season, affecting all classes of people in different ways.
Are Veronica and Logan still in LoVe?
Their story was epic. Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. The couple was not together by the end of the TV show, but remember that case that pulled Veronica back to Neptune for the movie? That was to exonerate Logan for murder (again). And she totally fell back in love with him (again), despite her sweet-but-totally-doomed romance with Stosh “Piz” Piznarski.
Logan is now in the Navy, and at the end of the movie, Logan and Veronica’s happily-ever-after was interrupted by him shipping back out. In the book sequels, the couple is still together and Logan is still back and forth between deployment and Neptune—though there is some flirtation between Veronica and former flame Leo D’Amato. And ahem, Max Greenfield, who plays Leo, is back for Season 4.
The trailer for Season 4 definitely shows Logan and Veronica still together, but who ever knows with these two, right?
What about BFFs Wallace and Mac?
Tried-and-true bestie Wallace will return for Season 4, but tech-genius Mac won’t, as actress Tina Majorino did not sign on, according to TV Guide. Last we saw Wallace, he had joined the Neptune High faculty and was coaching basketball, which put him back in his old position of helping Veronica get into students’ academic files. In the books, Mac helped out at Mars Investigations, so it’s not clear how her absence will be explained in the new episodes.
Where did we leave our favorite TV dad, Keith Mars?
Keith seems to still be recovering from the car crash that killed Deputy Sacks and injured him in the movie. He walks with a cane and struggles with his memory, which can’t make the whip-smart P.I. happy, given his career. We never found out who purposefully crashed into the car, just as Sacks was revealing information about corruption in the sheriff’s department, so keep an eye on this storyline for Season 4, potentially.
And Weevil?
The bad boy-turned-good may have turned bad again. At the end of the Veronica Mars movie, Weevil was framed for a crime against iconic 09er Celeste Kane, and it sent him reeling—likely back to the PCH biker gang he fought so hard to get out of.
Anything else we need to know before Veronica Mars Season 4?
It looks like Richard Casablancas, Dick’s father, is back. Remember, he took off after Veronica and the police uncovered that his real estate business was conning people out of money. According to the trailer, he’s spent time in prison but is now out and ready to play a role in Season 4.
Check out the whole trailer below:
Armed with this info, you’re totally ready to take on Veronica Mars Season 4. Let’s just say nobody is going to have to taser us to get us to watch.
