The crowd-funded “Veronica Mars” movie premieres this weekend. To fans of the cult CW series, the movie is the long-overdue compensation for the show’s abrupt and unfair cancellation. For those who have never seen the show, the movie and its three seasons of backstory might be a little intimidating.

READ MORE: "Veronica Mars" Is Back For The Big Screen

The show’s creator, Rob Thomas, has been reassuring non-fans that the series isn’t required viewing to enjoy the movie, but in case he’s wrong, here are some of the basic facts:  

 

Kristen Bell plays Veronica Mars, a modern day Nancy Drew

On the CW show, Veronica Mars is a sassy teenage private investigator from Neptune, a fictional town in Southern California. Her father, a former sheriff, has his own P.I. firm. When she’s not in school or dealing with boy problems, she works at Mars Investigations, a father-daughter sleuthing operation.

But that was seven years ago. At the start of the movie, Veronica is no longer a teenager, she’s moved out of Neptune and she’s retired from the P.I. business. She’s gone on to become a hotshot New York lawyer.

Logan is Veronica's on-again, off-again boyfriend

The entitled son of a movie star, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is Neptune’s resident bad boy and Veronica’s main love interest. Over three seasons, their relationship runs the full spectrum from friends to enemies to soul mates. Most of the time, Veronica is rescuing Logan from some kind of trouble (he gets accused of murder more than once in the show’s three seasons).

Logan is the reason Veronica returns to Neptune in the movie. He’s being investigated in a murder (again) and calls on Veronica for help (again).

But she’s dating Piz

Veronica and Logan are together for most of the series, but they break up in Season 3. Veronica starts dating Piz (Chris Lowell) just before the end of the series. They’re still together at the start of the movie, but Piz is likely going to get his heart broken. Veronica and Logan have three years of on-screen history that a decade off-screen just can’t match.

But she loves her dad the most

Whether Veronica ends up with Piz or Logan doesn’t really matter. Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) will always be the most important man in Veronica’s life. The show is filled with tender moments and sweet exchanges between the two characters that add up to make the show’s most compelling relationship. Even when they find themselves at odds, the love they have for each other is clear.

Veronica is a bit of a loner, but finds friends in Wallace, Mac and Weevil

Wallace (Percy Daggs III) makes enemies of the wrong people in the pilot and winds up taped naked to a flag pole. Veronica cuts him down and the two become best friends. Wallace is always willing to help Veronica with her cases, meaning he often serves as bait or a distraction in one of her schemes.

Mac (Tina Majorino) is a computer whiz who earns Veronica’s respect early on by conning her classmates. Anytime Veronica needs help cracking a password or setting up a website for blackmail, Mac is her go-to girl.

Weevil (Francis Capra) is the head of a Latino biker gang and the one responsible for taping Wallace to the flag pole. He’s a criminal, but one with a sense of honor. Veronica and Weevil have a mutually beneficial relationship. She helps him beat murder charges and he helps her with the more unsavory aspects of investigating crimes.

Reach executive producer Reid Nakamura here.