Where Did 'Veronica Mars' Leave Off? Catch Up Before You Watch Season 4

The long-awaited return of Veronica is finally here!

Spring Break Forever
(Image credit: Hulu)

Where was Veronica when we last saw her?Who was she dating?Where are Veronica’s friends?What about Veronica’s dad? Is he okay?

Marshmallows, rejoice: The highly anticipated fourth season of Veronica Mars has finally landed on Hulu. And though we’re all stans here, it’s been a minute: The Veronica Mars movie debuted in 2014 (which was somehow five years ago?!) and the original run of the series ended in 2007 which was approximately 45 years ago. Okay, it was 12 but it was a long time ago (we used to be friends).

So if you haven't binged the new season yet, it’s understandable if you might be feeling a little rusty. Therefore, it might be worth a revisit to see where we last left our heroine.

Read on for a quick refresher course in everything Veronica. (Just an FYI, we’re keeping it canonical so just the original series and movie. Sorry, FBI plot spinoff proof-of-concept lovers.)

Warning: Lots of spoilers for past seasons and the movie—but not the new season—ahead!

Where was Veronica when we last saw her?

Let’s start with where we left her in the series. When season three ended after the show was cancelled, Veronica (Kristen Bell) was last seen leaving a voting booth having cast a ballot for her father, Keith, in the upcoming Sheriff’s election. However, he’d recently been caught tampering with evidence (more on that below), so even though we never find out whether he won, the odds weren’t great.

The final episode—though it wasn’t intended to be the final when it was filmed—involved a plotline about sex tape that was secretly filmed and circulated of Veronica and her then-boyfriend, Piz. Logan beats Piz up out of the suspicion that he taped it (though it ended up being the plot of a secret organization at Hearst College).

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In the 2014 movie, set nine years after the events of the season finale, we reunite with Veronica as a recent law school graduate in New York City, far from Neptune and the drama she apparently left behind. And she’s still with Piz (played by Chris Lowell)! But when she’s dragged to her high school reunion, she gets embroiled in the crazy drama of Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), who has apparently been framed for murdering his girlfriend. He hires Veronica to help figure out what happened, and she ends up neglecting her studies and her internship, blowing a chance at an offer from a prestigious law firm.

In the end, she stays in Neptune and takes over her father’s private investigation firm. And that’s where we left her!

Who was she dating?

As mentioned previously, her best boyfriend (IMO), Piz, was her partner at the beginning of the movie—but it was not to be. After Veronica kept postponing her return to Piz and their shared life in NYC to help Logan out of his murder jam, he breaks things off with her. And wouldn’t you know it, Logan swoops in. Once Veronica figures out who actually killed Logan's popstar girlfriend, things heat back up.

Is it just us or was Logan always kind of a buzzkill? Their relationship was (and is!) so dramatic, and she had to pull so much emotional weight while he dealt with the baggage of Lily’s death—not to mention the million other things his terrible temper got him involved in. Their will-they-won’t-they has always been just kind of...tiresome? Piz, on the other hand, was charming and drama-free and super supportive. Veronica, WYD?!

Chino and the Man

Ugh, Logan. Nice arms, though.

(Image credit: Hulu)

Anyway, she's with Logan in the new season so I guess our dreams for a Piz reunion will have to remain just that.

Where are Veronica’s friends?

When we left her BFF Wallace (played by Percy Daggs III), he was helping Veronica solve the murder of Logan’s girlfriend and was working as a coach and faculty member at Veronica’s alma mater, Neptune High. Aw!

Meanwhile, when the movie ended, Veronica had hired her other best friend—the extremely necessary computer hacker Mac (Tina Majorino)—to work with her at her father’s private investigation firm. Sadly, it doesn't seem like she's back this time around. We hope she's happy, wherever she is?

Weevil (played by Francis Capra), on the other hand, didn’t fair so well in the movie. The leader of Neptune’s resident PCH Biker Gang, Weevil went from antagonist to an accomplice of Veronica’s, often helping her track down shadier characters when a case called on it. When we first see him again in the movie, he’s a family man with a daughter and he’s given up his life of crime. But when, in the course of events of that film, he’s accidentally shot by a spooked Celeste Kane, he ends up getting framed for possession of a firearm and he falls back in with his old rough crowd.

What about Veronica’s dad? Is he okay?

Poor Keith Mars! One of TV’s best dads ever, Keith (played by Enrico Colantoni) has gone through the ringer the last few times we’ve seen him. At the end of the series, he was the favorite to win the Sheriff’s race against the incompetent Don Lamb—until a break-in case he’s investigating seems to lead to Veronica, and he tampers with evidence to protect her. He gets caught, and as we find out in the movie, loses his election and returns to P.I. work.

Conversation, Suit, Scene, White-collar worker,

Keef!

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the film, things have gotten extra corrupt in Neptune under Sheriff Lamb. While trying to get Weevil’s shooting case resolved, he’s attacked by a driver and left in critical condition. He recovered, but it's clear from the new trailer that he still walks with a cane, which seems like it’s related to this incident. That said, he’s working with Veronica as a P.I., and their banter is as adorable as ever.

So that's the scoop! Now get a-watchin', because we can't wait to talk to you about what happens in Season 4.

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Cady Drell

Cady Drell is a writer, editor, researcher and pet enthusiast from Brooklyn.