‘Veronica Mars’: It’s elementary, my dear CW.

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Sometimes I wake up screaming. Why? Here’s some dialogue from the opening of Tuesday night’s return of Veronica Mars to the CW:

Veronica: 8 a.m.? Shouldn’t you be in a wetsuit somewhere?

Logan: Early poli sci.

Veronica: And you’re actually going?

Logan: Yeah. I even bought this amazing pen that accents text in neon colors.

Veronica: Ah! A highlighter!

Logan: Lots of advancements since the last time I buckled down. How about you?

Veronica: Violence in Early Adolescence.

Logan: You’re going to be autographing textbooks?

Witty, charming, clever -- and Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring doing their perfect Gen Y Nick-and-Nora routine. So why do I wake up screaming? Because the CW’s recently wrapped ‘The Pussycat Dolls Presents: The Search for the Next Doll’ consistently tallied higher ratings than my favorite noir co-ed detective -- and that’s a big, bad sign that points to this being the last mini-season of Veronica Mars.

The most recent episode reflected some changes to suck in a new audience while giving a nod to longtime fans: It seems as though the big, season-long mystery story arc has been abandoned in favor of one-off whodunits each week.

For the oldtimers, this debut was more of an ensemble, with beloved characters who were marginalized last season -- Veronica’s best guy pal, Wallace, the hilariously fratty and lecherous Dick -- back in the game.

And the show remains intriguingly political -- Tuesday’s episode dealt with hate crime, interreligious dating, underage drinking and the war in Iraq -- without becoming preachy or movie of the weekish.(And still funny! Veronica: Your fly’s open. Dick: I know. Party ritual.) This kind of deft writing -- the episode was scripted by Robert Hull -- should be encouraged, not whacked in favor of another booty-shaking reality show.

C’mon CW, give depth a chance.

(Photo courtesy The CW)