Eulogy for Veronica Mars
I did my fair share of griping about the third (and now final) season of Veronica Mars, so I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Yet the final six episodes of the season/series were a welcome and entertaining reminder of why I started watching this show. (To be precise, though, I think I watched because my friend The Big Brain told me to).
The third season meandered and squandered excellent secondary characters, like Wallace, Mac, Dick, and Piz. It killed off two of the funniest ones, Sheriff Lamb and Dean O’Dell. These absences were all the more strange because season three also saw a lessened presence for star Kristen Bell. After two seasons of appearing in almost every scene, Bell needed a break. Unfortunately, she was like gravity for the show. When she was offscreen, the story and characters spun out of control. Additionally, season three was divided in two in case it was canceled midseason (it wasn’t), and took a long hiatus after Veronica solved the second long story mystery, the dean’s death. Many viewers didn’t return when VM resumed six weeks later. I nearly didn’t, but again, my friend The Big Brain told me to watch, and I’m glad he did.
The last six episodes were standalones. While the weekly mysteries weren’t that strong, the cast interactions were as good as ever. Veronica finally got a nice boy in Piz (though my friend Rock Hack thinks they did a bad job of making him Indie Rock Boy), told an annoying Logan to go to hell, and in general was her sassy, smart, kick-ass, girl-detective self for the remainder of the season/series. The second to last episode had Paul Rudd in an excellent turn as a has-been rocker, and the last episode finished with a dark, sexual storyline that harked back to season one. I choose to view the repetition of certain story elements (secret society, viral digital spread of a sex video, Veronica tracking down the guy who messed with her) as homages to great stories from season one, rather than rehashes of same.
During season three, I griped. In retrospect, I think the loss of focus felt like fingerprints from the interference of VM’s new network, the CW. I was reminded of the permanent downshift in quality that took place when Buffy the Vampire Slayer switched networks.
In the end, Veronica Mars, the character and the series, finished strong. The creators did a good job of ending in a way that gave closure, while leaving the door open. Creator Rob Thomas had an interesting idea for the fall. Rather than start with fall of the following school year, he suggested they jump ahead four years to Veronica in training as a government operative. Sadly, the CW decided to shut the door on both ideas.
Veronica Mars was never a ratings winner. As Nathan Alderman noted at TeeVee, though, it lasted three seasons, when it could have been canceled immediately. Season one still stands as one of the best, cohesive television seasons I’ve seen. While seasons two and three never attained that former glory, they still featured one of the most clever heroines on television. Veronica was a teenage, noir, girl detective. She was a strong, unique character, and I’m going to miss her come the fall.