Yep. My longer thoughts from this week’s newsletter: OK, we need to talk about Veronica Mars. First, I need to sound the largest of spoiler horns that I possibly can. If you have not watched the fourth season of this TV show yet, do not read what I’m writing here. Just skip right over it and scroll on down. I’m about to talk about a massive spoiler. Just blur out your eyes, go on to the next section, and do not read anything that comes next. Got it? OK. So, the fourth season of the show was both well done and made me angrier than any season of television ever has. The storyline itself isn’t bad, but the mystery wasn’t very compelling to me, because the mystery is never tough to figure out and was always the least interesting part of the series to me. What I like is a little of the mystery as a backdrop to the characters, specifically the main three (Veronica, Keith, and Logan), and their lives and interactions. Unfortunately, it seems from reading the interviews with the creator of the show, this isn’t the show he wants to make anymore. He is looking to make more stand-alone series where Veronica is off on her own solving mysteries more in the line of something like “Sherlock.” And apparently, if Veronica has a boyfriend, or is married, she can’t be a badass detective. Which is why they decided to kill off one of my favorite characters in all of television. And it makes me pretty angry. If you want to make that kind of show, fine, I guess. There’s a bunch of those out there already, and I think they do the whole “mystery” thing a whole lot better. I think a good writer could do a great job writing a badass detective show where the lead character has a significant other, the fact that Sherlock and Bond don’t, doesn’t mean you have to copy them. I’d argue it actually opens you up to a unique writing angle. Instead, we get Veronica being uncharacteristically cruel and toxic to basically everyone in a season that felt … off … and then Logan has to die. The more I’ve thought about it over the past week, the more I come back to this thought: Would I rather this season not exist, even though I enjoyed it while watching it, if it meant that this ending never happened but I never got any more from these characters ever again? And, I think my answer is yes. I would rather have had my head cannon, or the movie ending, or what happened in the books, and not ever get more Veronica Mars, than have this and now whatever future we may get. And that’s a real bummer. I’ll probably watch whatever comes next, but I don’t know how it’ll work. Do you really remove the drama and “teenage love” portion of the story, a thing that most of us watching loved, and make it work? My sister made a good point about how there’s an element of fan service this show should bend toward because no one really knows about or ever watched this show beside super-fans anyway. They’re not going to get new fans or turn it into the new “True Detective” or “Sherlock” and be a super popular show with new fans and followers … they have a die-hard fan base they should be thinking about, and the decision was so counter to that it makes it even worse. The fans are the people that brought this show back from the dead, and I can’t think of a worse way to repay them. I’m frustrated.
Y’all please tell me they aren’t going to deny that Veronica was raped. Please please please tell me we aren’t doing this. EDIT: I’M MAD NOW!
Season.... one? Anyway, season four is on out Blu October 22nd if you want to add this to your collection. Hard pass.
Great, now I’m mad again. I just re-read the first book and I got so upset every time Logan popped up or she mentioned him.
I guess it's just a re-release type thing. Either way I hate that image of her, doesn't look anything like her imo
I think this is S4 but they are calling it S1 if I understand because it’s the first on Hulu (see: gun on her desk) I too think she looks weird in this.
I really liked the hulu season, the main thing that didn't feel right was veronica and weevil's interactions. The ending, despite being a bummer, didn't bother me too much as I saw it as a way to write Veronica out of the show (I assume KB is the hardest to schedule around) and then reboot with Keith and Matty as Mars Investigation or something. Then I read the interview with Rob Thomas and the ending made no sense and really annoyed me, they already have the perfect excuse written into the show to not have Logan around.
Do they cover the Weevil case more in the books? They way they explain it in 2-3 lines of exposition on the show makes me think so but having not read the books it was still weird to me
I haven’t read the second book but the first one just covers high level info about it (Celeste shoots him, gun was planted by the sheriffs department)
Still trying to avoid spoilers but I keep seeing things about this season/finale being divisive. Is there any reason why I might not want to watch it right after finishing the original series and movie?
I think the season is enjoyable enough that it is worth watching, but you’ll probably be mad about it too. If you’re jonesing for more by the time you finish I’d go for the books first. You could watch the series first since they don’t really reference the book (besides an Easter egg or two) but I personally think the books are more true to the characters
Are you serious? This show wouldn't exist without KB. I understand what your saying but I don't see how they could still call it Veronica Mars if that was the case. Weevil's case is heavily involved in the 2nd book
I really need to get around to reading the books. It's terrible how much less I've read since I got a Switch lol
Finished season one last week. Forgot how good the finale is. We are about 9 or 10 episodes into season 2 now. My girlfriend is watching it for the first time and she loves it. She has no idea the heartbreak she will soon experience when she watches season four.