(Season 3, Episodes 19-20)
Well, that’s that. Veronica Mars is all over, and it definitely went out with a whimper, not with a bang. I suppose I have to cut the show runners some slack, as they didn’t prepare the end of season three to be their swan song.
Coming into the final season I was really wary. A couple people even told me not to bother with it for my diary, as it was so sub-par. Honestly, I thought that episode for episode, season three was just as good as the first two. Granted, there wasn’t an overarching mystery, but I did enjoy the two mini-arcs that were featured. After that, though, the remaining handful of episodes were pretty terrible. Honestly, though, season one and two had some lousy episodes sprinkled in, too.
“Weevils Wobble But They Don’t Go Down”
I really enjoyed this episode; I thought it featured Veronica at her best. I thought it was a riot that she went around flashing her PI badge. It was classic VM fun watching her take down a group of spoiled rich kids. It definitely felt like the early seasons again, particularly with her having to bail Weevil out of trouble.
I have to admit that Piz is a whole lot less annoying than I thought he was going to be. When I was warned that he was just Duncan 2.0, I got really nervous. I think he’s far less annoying than Duncan ever was, and, frankly, with the aggravating behavior from Logan through the majority of this season, it was nice to see Veronica with someone else.
“The Bitch Is Back”
This episode barely felt like a season finale, let alone a series finale. The big question that popped into my head watching this was why The Castle would have tapped Wallace to begin with. Didn’t he almost flunk out of his major? Didn’t he have to quit basketball for a term just to get his shit together? Wallace is a great guy and all, but he doesn’t scream “future power broker of America” to me. That’s just a small nitpick on my end, though.
The real star of this episode, and every other episode really, was Veronica. She’s at her best when she’s seeking revenge from those who have wronged her. It was great to watch her completely destroy the one guy who refused to give her information — cutting off his credit cards, vandalizing his car, etc. At the end of the day, Veronica really is a great character, and I’m starting to see why so many fans are clamoring for a movie.
Part of her greatness comes from all her flaws, and they were on full display in the finale. She wasn’t exactly thinking about consequences when she broke into Jake Kane’s home and stole his hard drive. Unfortunately, it was Keith who had to pay the price. It would have been interesting to see what season four would have looked like with charges being filed against the elder Mars.
Of course, from what I hear, season four was going to fast forward and feature Veronica in the FBI. After watching the pitch video that was made to show to the network bigwigs, I think it could have worked, but it definitely wouldn’t have been for everyone, as it would have been a whole new set of characters. If you haven’t seen it, I’ve embedded the video below.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Sep 04, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
Piz was Duncan 2.0 because he was boring. At the end of the season we knew nothing more about the character than we did in the premiere- he’s a middle-class guy who had to work for his things (such an obvious anti-Logan move on the writers), he loved music and liked Veronica. That was all there was to him, and that’s why I don’t think he worked. He had no identity outside of his crush on Veronica, no layers. Even Duncan had more simmering below the surface. Neither PiZ or Parker (although I liked her a lot more in the first arc, with the rape mystery) fit in with this world of Neptune, and it annoyed me that they both ended up taking screen time away from the characters who did.
I think the reason season three was so poorly received compared to the other seasons is because it did focus too much on Veronica. All of the characters existed only in her context, it seemed, whereas before we got more of everyone else. In the first season we were learning about the other characters and their families separately, and not just through Veronica’s eyes, and then in the second season the other characters had their own storylines (Wallace’s bio dad, Weevil and Logan with the Felix mystery). I agree with you that Veronica is very flawed and that’s what makes her great, but the third season didn’t let her grow or call her out on her flaws, and many, many viewers felt she was a lot harsher that year but the showrunner denied writing her any differently.
The FBI show would have been horrible and I wouldn’t have watched it, because by the end of the series I was watching more for the other characters than for Veronica, so to have a show with a whole new cast (and I don’t care if some of the others popped up in recurring roles- that’s not enough), the show would have lost me completely.
I didn’t think Piz and Veronica was a very good couple. They did not seem compatible. Piz in the finale actually annoyed me because he did nothing. He was a in the video too and his girlfriend is pretty mad for being exposed to the school like that and he doesn’t do a damn thing. He just leaves it to karma. Veronica is not able to do that (she runs him over with her karma). And it just seemed obvious to me that eventually that the passive and aggressive differences would not of bode well for them in the future.
Now who else did Veronica date that was like this? Oh right Duncan. Duncan only seemed to act when it involved Meg or his very final scene when he had Clarence whack Aaron. Logan at least had some aggressive character traits that came in handy when Veronica was in over her head.
Bob: i always took the Wallace/Castle thing to be a little bit of a statement on organizations like that. Specifically that people with potential that can be controlled (via blackmail of their secrets) make better candidates.
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s an interesting point and not one that I had considered.
I totally agree with K about actually everything about this last season.
Veronica Mars is not only Veronica : it’s so much more even if Veronica is a great character.
Yes we are many to want a movie but above all with Keith, Logan, Wallace and Weevil with important parts.
And this promo for a season 4 with Veronica on FBI was an awful idea, i wasn’t at all convinced and attracted.
Actually it was a direction came from the “terrible” network CW.
Rob Thomas was not really enthusiastic with this idea but he tried to keep the show on air.
Actually He wanted to make a season 4 with Veronica still in College who had to deal with repercussions of Keith and Logan troubles (charges against Keith, threat of death by russian mob for Logan): yes it was pretty interesting.
Yeah the FBI idea was a rushed thing because he knew Veronica Mars was going to be canceled and he came up with any idea of how to keep the show on the air. I think it would have been better than that terrible promo because they could have used the 5ish year gap and done flashbacks and such.