This week’s new episode of Veronica Mars, called “Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle,” finally gave me the opportunity I’ve been looking for: an excuse to introduce the UPN series, which airs Wednesdays at 9, to Idol Chatter readers. After many recommendations from friends and fellow “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” addicts (still looking to fill the years-long void left by the 144th and final episode of Buffy), who told me that “Veronica Mars” is the next best thing, I finally decided to give Veronica a chance. Within two weeks I was hooked on Veronica’s character: high school girl, master crime solver-private eye, complete with Buffy-style sense of humor.

Onto this week’s episode… Without going too much into back plot (you’ll need to watch the reruns, which air quite often, yourself), Veronica (Kristen Bell) is currently engaged in solving a number of long-term mysteries in her hometown of Neptune. These include a bus crash that killed several students from her high school and a murder that left her ex, rich boy Logan Echols, accused of the vicious crime. In an effort–albeit a rather reluctant one, since tension and some serious baggage between Logan and Veronica is still pretty heavy–Logan convinces Veronica to bug a confessional in a Catholic Church. After much cajoling, Veronica finds herself sneaking into the sacred chamber, worried she’s “going to hell” as she hides the bugging device. Just then, the parish priest enters the confessional, making for a rather amusing and awkward “confession” on Veronica’s end.

Turns out, the confessional serves as a drug dropoff-exchange site. Lovely front for a drug ring now, isn’t it? The local Catholic Church.

There’s a lot in this series to think about. Viewers will enjoy the constant ethical dilemmas Veronica faces. She often decides not to play by the rules, occasionally with the unfortunate repercussions of disappointing her friends, and worst of all, her father. For anyone still licking wounds over the fact that Buffy lives on only through our DVD players, longing for a good new high-school girl-power series, “Veronica Mars” is the best medicine I’ve found so far. Her, let’s say, “creative ethics” in the name of doing good, helping friends, and solving crimes as best as she can will grown on you quickly.