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Veronica Mars/Season Three

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Season Three
Veronica Mars
VeronicaMars-S3-cast.jpg
Season Premiere October 3, 2006
Season Finale May 22, 2007
Episode Count 20
Notable Episodes 3x09 - Spit & Eggs
3x15 - Papa's Cabin
3x20 - The Bitch Is Back
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Season Two

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Season Four

Season Three of Veronica Mars premiered on October 3, 2006. It is the first and only season of the show shown on The CW, a new network formed from the merger of UPN and The WB during the off-season. The season follows Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), accompanied by her best friends Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino), during their freshman year at Hearst College.

Due to low ratings of the second season, the third season's renewal was contingent on altering the previous seasons' serialized season-long mysteries into three smaller, self-contained mysteries in an effort to bolster viewership. The first half of the season is therefore separated into two arcs with Veronica investigating a campus serial rapist and later a campus murder. Both mystery arcs aired without interruption by repeats but were separated by a brief hiatus. The final five episodes of the show do not contain an overarching mystery.

Contents

Plot Overview

Having turned down Stanford, Veronica joins Wallace, Mac, Logan, and Dick as freshmen at Hearst College. On campus, Mac's new roommate, Parker, becomes the latest victim of Hearst's serial rapist, first introduced in the second season's "The Rapes of Graff." Her past experience prompts Veronica to help Parker catch the rapist. The following mystery involves the murder of a prominent figure on campus.

Cast

The third season featured ten billed actors, including two recurring characters that were upgraded to series regulars and two new characters. Three previously billed series regulars did not return for the third season: Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn), who left the country midway through the second season, Jackie Cook (Tessa Thompson), who returned to New York following her year at Neptune, and Cassidy Casablancas (Kyle Gallner), who committed suicide in the season two finale after Veronica confronted him about the murders.

Main Cast

Supporting and Recurring Cast

Production

Background

The third season's renewal was not announced until late in the renewal process and was contingent on making the episodes more viewer-friendly by reducing the serialized elements of the previous two seasons. The CW originally decided to order 13 episodes of the show, with the option to order more depending on how the show fared in the Nielsen ratings. On November 16, 2006, The CW renewed the series for a non-traditional 20 episode season.

Crew

Series creator and executive producer Rob Thomas directed and wrote the first mystery arc finale and wrote two further episodes: the season premiere and series finale. Additional writers for the third season were Diane Ruggiero, Phil Klemmer, John Enbom, Jason Elen, Jonathan Moskin, David Mulei, Robert Hull, and Joe Voci. Additional directors for the third season were John Kretchmer, Harry Winer, Jason Bloom, Nick Marck, Michael Fields, Steve Gomer, Tricia Brock, Michael Fields, Dan Etheridge, and Jason Bloom.

Episodes

# # Title Written By Directed By Airdate Viewers 18-49 Rating Prod.
45 1 Welcome Wagon Rob Thomas John Kretchmer October 3, 2006 3.36M 1.4% 3T5801
46 2 My Big Fat Greek Rush Week Diane Ruggiero John Kretchmer October 10, 2006 2.96M 1.3% 3T5802
47 3 Witchita Linebacker Phil Klemmer & John Enbom Harry Winer October 17, 2006 3.12M 1.4% 3T5803
48 4 Charlie Don't Surf Diane Ruggiero & Jason Elen Jason Bloom October 24, 2006 3.33M 1.4% 3T5804
49 5 President Evil Jonathan Moskin & David Mulei Nick Marck October 31, 2006 2.70M 1.2% 3T5805
50 6 Hi, Infidelity John Enbom Michael Fields November 7, 2006 2.75M 1.3% 3T5806
51 7 Of Vice and Men Phil Klemmer Harry Winer November 14, 2006 2.69M 1.2% 3T5807
52 8 Lord of the Pi's Diane Ruggiero Steve Gomer November 21, 2006 2.57M 1.2% 3T5808
53 9 Spit & Eggs Rob Thomas Rob Thomas November 28, 2006 3.44M 1.6% 3T5809
54 10 Show Me the Monkey John Enbom (Story)
John Enbom & Robert Hull (Teleplay)
Nick Marck January 23, 2007 3.23M 1.5% 3T5810
55 11 Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves Diane Ruggiero John Kretchmer January 30, 2007 2.69M 1.2% 3T5811
56 12 There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill Jonathan Moskin & David Mulei (Story)
Jonathan Moskin & Phil Klemmer & John Enbom (Teleplay)
Tricia Brock February 6, 2007 2.40M 1% 3T5812
57 13 Postgame Mortem Joe Voci John Kretchmer February 13, 2007 2.37M 1% 3T5813
58 14 Mars, Bars Phil Klemmer & John Enbom & Joe Voci (Story)
Phil Klemmer & John Enbom (Teleplay)
Harry Winer February 20, 2007 2.27M 0.9% 3T5814
59 15 Papa's Cabin John Enbom Michael Fields February 27, 2007 2.66M 1.1% 3T5815
60 16 Un-American Graffiti Robert Hull John Kretchmer May 1, 2007 2.35M 1% 3T5816
61 17 Debasement Tapes John Enbom Dan Etheridge May 8, 2007 1.85M 0.9% 3T5817
62 18 I Know What You'll Do Next Summer Jonathan Moskin & David Mulei Nick Marck May 15, 2007 2.10M 0.9% 3T5818
63 19 Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down Phil Klemmer Jason Bloom May 22, 2007 1.78M 0.7% 3T5819
64 20 The Bitch Is Back Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero Michael Fields May 22, 2007 2.15M 0.9% 3T5820

Release

Distribution

In the United States, the third season aired on Tuesdays at 9pm following Gilmore Girls for the entire duration, a show that focus groups found best fit the thematic elements of Veronica Mars. The season was simulcast by Fox 44 in Canada after CTV and Sun TV opted out of airing rights of the third season. Living in the United Kingdom and Network Ten in Australia aired the season on a delay. New Zealand's TV2 aired the third season.

Media Releases

The third season was released in Region 1 on October 23, 2007. A Region 2 release followed on December 12, 2008 and Region 4 on February 11, 2009. It contained unaired scenes with introductions by Rob Thomas, a gag reel, and several featurettes, including a pitch reel for season 4 which was set several years after the events of season 3 and features Veronica as an FBI agent.

Online, the third season was available on Netflix's Watch Instantly service until July 2011, when it was removed due to the expiration of Netflix's distribution contract with Warner Brothers.

Reception

Ratings

After the third season premiere ("Welcome Wagon") increased over the ratings of the second season finale ("Not Pictured"), ratings remained stable for the first ten episodes, with "Spit & Eggs" becoming the second-highest rated episode of the entire series. However, viewers gradually decreased after the hiatus. The third season averaged 2.5 million viewers and a 1.2 18-49 demo, ranking it 138th out of 142 shows on basic television that year.

The first arc, centered on the Hearst College rapist, averaged 2.99 million viewers and a 1.3 demo. The second arc involving the campus murder averaged 2.60 million viewers and a 1.1 demo.


Veronica Mars Seasons
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4