I can’t claim that I’ve been a Veronica Mars fan for 10 years or thatI desperately waited for the movie and donated $213564 to their Kickstarter…but after watching all three seasons in 2 months or less and seeing the movie last night, I can claim that I am a fan.
Sorry this song is now stuck in your head for the next week.
Here’s the summary from IMDB:
“After her best friend is murdered and her father is removed as county sheriff, Veronica Mars dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune.”
I don’t know why I didn’t watch VM when it first started. Apart from the fact that I was 14 and didn’t watch much TV (in that aspect, I haven’t changed a lot in 10 years). But Ro watched it all and owns the DVDs…so last year, when they announced the Kickstarter for the long-awaited movie, she insisted that I watch the series. It took me several months to actually sit down and start watching, but it didn’t take me very long to get through it all.
Never underestimate the size of my bear claws.
The first two seasons were excellent. I think I stopped breathing at one point when watching the season one finale: even though I knew for a fact that Veronica would make it through (otherwise how did the show continue for another two years?), it was so well-written that I was literally on the edge of my seat.
The show found its strength in its depiction of relationships: the realistic parent-child pairing of Veronica and her dad, Keith (who, by the way, should totally win “Best TV Parent EVER” because he was incredible); the loyal friendships, especially Wallace and Mac, but also – on a different level – Weevil, the thug with a heart of gold; and, of course, the romantic relationships: her first love (and her dead best friend Lily’s brother), Duncan; Logan, the guy I believe she was meant to be with; and Piz, who I probably would have liked if he wasn’t blatantly introduced as a rival love interest in season three. Plus, you couldn’t help loving Veronica, who is basically the epitome of a bad-ass female lead who doesn’t take nothin’ from anybody (plus she has fantastic hair).
The supporting characters were equally fleshed out: Dick Casablancas was mainly there for comedic relief but was more complicated than you’d think (his brother, Cassidy, played a huge role in the second season – NO SPOILERS); the incompetent Sheriff Don Lamb; Meg, Leo, Parker…the list goes on. I may not have liked all the characters (I could have lived without Parker, for example), they were real. Maybe some of the story-lines were a little unbelievable or conveniently glossed over without a lot of explanation (and perhaps a lack of continuity, though that was a bigger problem in the movie than in the series), but they added depth to the show.
Team Logan forever!
The writing took a bit of a downward turn in season three, which probably didn’t help an already floundering show. The excitement and tension that made the series so addictive were diluted and there were a lot more filler episodes in season three than in the other two seasons combined.
I imagine it was hard to watch the show on actual TV and find out it was cancelled (not to mention, the series finale is so anti-climactic and very unsatisfying , especially compared with the first two seasons’ finales), but it makes sense that it ended when it did.
The movie, by the way, was very good and brought back a lot of characters, but there were SO MANY DETAILS that I wanted resolved (the thing with Keith!!) and occasionally it seemed like they were stretching the plot to include random characters (why focus on Carrie Bishop if Leighter Meester couldn’t reprise her role?!). But there’s talk of sequels or spin-offs, so Veronica Mars will never really leave.
[insert some witty reference to “We Used to Be Friends” here]
bellsiebooks 