My favorite ladies over at PopGurls.com have a new interview with Tina Majorino from Veronica Mars and Big Love up today, which along with this super-cute picture from the launch of the new CW made my teenage crush swell up again like the big embarrassing secret it should be.

On Veronica Mars, Tina (actually the very legal age of 21) plays Mac, a geeky gal-pal who provides tech backup for the titular teen detective’s wild goose chases. Like her cousin in crime-fighting TV, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Willow, Mac is a confident but undeniably outsider sidekick. And like Willow, to me, she’s always read as a little bit queer.

She’s just like all the boys on VMars who can’t deny Veronica a favor — no matter how illegal, how far-fetched or how ridiculous. And her relationship with Cassidy (aka Beaver) this past season was full of all the sexual confusion you could shake a stick at, even if the bulk of that was on the Beave’s psycho shoulders.

PopGurl interviewer Amy did her best to pin Tina down on that count:

If you were to pair Mac with someone on the show, who would it be? Oh my goodness, that’s a hard one. To be honest with you, I was really surprised that they gave Mac a boyfriend last season, I was really stunned. I was really surprised because I never saw her character arc going that way and it was definitely a pleasant surprise - because I think that was the whole point because she’s not one of those girls who gets all flustered over a guy and then all of a sudden, she does. It catches even her by surprise.

Tina’s doing double-duty over on HBO’s polygamist drama, Big Love, where she plays traditional LDSer Heather, the best friend to the family’s eldest daughter, Sarah (Amanda Seyfriend, who also haunted Veronica Mars as the dead best friend, Lilly Kane). There’s a long, almost sexual scene in the first season when Sarah calls Heather to rescue her from a party that’s gotten out of control. Sarah rests her head on Heather’s lap in the front lawn and Heather strokes her hair and reassures her things will be all right, that Sarah’s family secret is safe with her.

"I really like the chemistry between Sarah and Heather," Tina tells PopGurls. "There are so many different ways that people have viewed my character - that she’s being manipulative or she’s just really naïve. You won’t find out until later."

Sooner’s better than later, and later’s better than never: Veronica Mars comes back — to the CW, not the defunct UPN — on Tuesday, October 3. Big Love is currently shooting season two and should return to HBO in mid-2007.