I certainly don’t consider myself any sort of high authority on the subject of Veronica Mars, but the guilt weighing on me for not contributing to our week-long tribute was too much to bear. My initial intention was to get an interview lined up with someone related to the show, but those I was able to reach were understandably too caught up in the holidays at the time. So, chalk one up for me simply waiting too long to get on the ball. I am told there’s still a chance I’ll be getting something back soon from one of them, so you can hold onto that for now.
It’s All About Season One
With new TV programming at a pleasant (for a TV reviewer) lull, Deb and I decided to start watching Veronica Mars season one again. If there was anything that was going to ignite that fire under my ass to get this post going, it was a re-watch of the first few episodes of this series.
We did a poll here on what readers thought of seasons beyond the first, and about 14% thought seasons two and three sucked. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they sucked, but season one undeniably stood out as top-notch above the rest. When I first did a “virgin diary” watch of Veronica Mars over at TV Squad, after watching the first season, I remember thinking Rob Thomas had one hell of a tall order to fill going into a second season. There was simply no way to top the depth of mysteries and character unveiled in the show’s first season, and I have a feeling Thomas felt that weight when the show was picked up again. Though season two wasn’t necessarily bad, it didn’t hold the same magic as the first season, and its mystery wasn’t able to match what we sat through for 22 episodes prior.
Season two was ultimately able to cash in, as a whole. The characters that were so well fleshed out in the first season were all there, along with some new ones. It’s when the show was picked up yet again for a third season that I really thought there might be trouble. Again, Rob Thomas was presented with the task of fulfilling the expectations of not only die-hard fans but also of those who’d heard great things before and wanted to tune in to see what they were missing. As a newcomer, catching Veronica Mars for the first time in its third season meant you thought those friends of yours who hyped the show were nuts. Who’s this Piz guy? What happened to high school? Where’s the season-long mystery? In case you forgot, the idea of a season-long mystery arc was tossed in the garbage in hopes that they wouldn’t alienate viewers who like to tune in occasionally. As it turns out, that obviously didn’t work.
So, to those who’ve never caught Veronica Mars before, my advice to you is to watch season one, enjoy the hell out of it, and stop. Just stop right there. Do not continue on into season two, and just go read some season-long synopsis on Wikipedia or something for the rest. If you’re able to do that, I’ll envy you as much as those who were able to stop after the first Matrix and Highlander movies.
The Music Moves
I tend to pay a lot of attention to soundtracks. I’ve always been an audiophile, though for some odd reason I’m not huge into current trends in music. However, I tend to be able to pick tunes out from the background of episodes quite readily. In one episode in season three, I picked out a song from a band a high school friend of mine played, and I thought that was amazing. More amazing was the fact that my friend didn’t even know it when I mentioned it to him! In fact, he’d never heard of Veronica Mars before. Apparently his band had the music up on MySpace under a Creative Commons or similar license, so the show used it. As far as I was told, they were more thrilled than angry at not being asked.
The music from both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars do something to move me. They do something to take me back to my younger days, even though the music I was listening to then was n0thing like it. It puts me in the place they are in, feeling what they’re feeling at the time. The stuff from Ivy and Zero 7 — just something about it. Maybe this is one reason Joss Whedon expressed his love for the show.
I remember the idea of a new TV show popped into my head because of the music of Veronica Mars. A show about music, where music was more center stage than in the background, and where indie bands could be more prevalent and gain more exposure for having their music featured. Original stuff, not anything anyone’s heard before. At the time the closest thing I could describe it as was “The Monkees, but not necessarily goofy.” Cut to several years later, and we have Glee. Not really what I was thinking, but it’s not far off.
My point is not that I think I came up with the idea for Glee, so stop right there. My point is that music really does make an impact. It’s what helped make an impact for me in Veronica Mars, and it’s clearly a reason why not only for Glee‘s success, but why it was able to launch Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” to the top of the charts.
Of course let’s not forget the opening credits music from The Dandy Warhols, which got crappy in season three, but we’ll remember it for this version:
The Future
I was able to see the pilot for what would have been season four of Veronica Mars, and, quite simply, I hated it. It put Veronica in a very much adult arena, and all of the beloved characters from seasons past were completely eliminated. Logan: Gone. Wallace: Gone. Keith: Nope. Just Veronica and a slew of new people we were going to have to stomach. It simply wasn’t going to work, at least for long-time fans. It was clear to me that Thomas had no choice but throw a Hail Mary to the network, presenting a completely new show to them rather than more of the same, since there was just no way they were going to pick it up again in its current condition. A valiant effort, but we’re all better off that it never got off the ground.
The idea of Veronica in the FBI never settled well with me, and after seeing just the first three episodes of season one I’ve come up with a better career choice for Veronica: Investigative reporter. The show had all the elements to pave the way for such a career for our girl. She loved — and was good at — taking photos, and she knew her way around the camera. Clearly she knew how to get information out of people, and she loved to see her work in print. Let’s not forget the diary-like voiceovers in every episode, too, which could flow right into a reporter-like dialog for later seasons. No suit-wearing marshmallow!
There’s a lot of talk about the desire for a Veronica Mars movie, and if Rob Thomas could kill the idea of Veronica in law enforcement and show her as a reporter instead, I’d love it. The best idea I’ve heard for why all of the old characters would be back for a movie is to have one of the old main characters killed off, with everyone back for the funeral. Have Veronica there to do the investigative work, and someone needs to make this movie now!
Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas are on board for a movie. As for the others … I have no idea. One of my interviews was to be with Jason Dohring, and I’ve posed this question to him. Hopefully he’ll have something to say about it.
Blowing The Hatch
Originally I said Veronica Mars Blew the Hatch with the transformation of Logan Echolls, and I’m going to make a change to that now, after having seen the first three episodes again. Veronica Mars Blew the Hatch, for me, in episode three, “Meet John Smith.” I remember the first time watching this episode that the self-contained mystery blew me away; I didn’t see it coming at all. In fact, even in Deb’s third watching of the episode the other night, she forgot what the outcome was going to be — it’s that difficult to predict. The music and the character advancement … it all made for a perfect episode.
So, there you have it, my longer-than-intended entry to Veronica Mars week, which seems to unintentionally have turned into a month. Thanks for bearing my nostalgia before the end of the year.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Dec 31, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Oh wow, you nailed it with the investigative reporter idea. That never would have occurred to me, but it’s perfect. And now that the idea’s in my head, I really want to see that “where are they now” movie (miniseries? ;)
i honestly had no interest in seeing this series, even though several people told me it was “so good”, but with all the love you guys “expressed” in my feed i caved in a watched it. While i found it enjoyable and like the characters enough, the interactions between father and daughter were great, i didn’t find it all that shocking, groundbreaking or any other adjective people like to use. if you have spent any amount of time watching tv, and sadly i have, and watched things like soap operas, detective shows or hell the original (or new) 90210 then a lot of what transpired in the show was a, “well ok”, kind of moment. in fact i found some of the dialog a bit dire and sounded like what a older person thought or was trying to write for younger people and getting it wrong, i.e. using outdated phrases.
the show was an updated Nancy Drew with some Colombo thrown in with a healthy dash of soap mentality. It was fun but i failed to be super wowed as many people said i would be. maybe it was too much hyped?
anyway i agree with what you said about the “new” version of the show that was made to pitch the studios. they took a fun quirky show, that is more made up by its cast then its single player, and turned it into a generic cop/FBI show it was truly boring. Also it did not suit her personality to be in the field at all.
*POST AUTHOR*
What outdated phrases did you run into? It first aired in ’04, so maybe that’s it?
being a little over 4 years old did not date the phrases. it was stuff that i would not considered to be normal verbal usage for kids from this decade or hell even when i was one.
things like “does he have fits” using the term “fits” to describe a seizure is something my grandmother use to say. also “i’m beyond tardy for my…” kids are more apt to say “i am beyond (or way) late…” when was the last time, outside of your parents and 80s movies, that you heard the term “tardy” used?
there were others but those are the ones that are on the top of my head. i get that the writer was trying to make them sound more intelligent and so on but it just came off as trying too hard and just oddly antiquated in some spots.
The FBI idea was a lame way to try to save the show, but I’m sure it would have been better, and with more people we know of, than the lame mini spinoff pilot. However Thomas talked about how Veronica Movie would be in senior year of college and not the stupid FBI crap.
I do like your idea of investigative reporter.
Veronica Mars season 1-3 were excellent. I certainly enjoyed season 1 the best but was able to get enjoyment out of all of them. Also, I don’t think the idea of investigative reporter is good for Veronica Mars. She didn’t always think that everyone had the right to know something and that is what reporters are all about. She made the decision herself depending on the situation. Though I would want to see more of Veronica in College, I thought the season 4 mini pilot was good. Most likely all the big characters would have been in the show, it wasn’t a complete episode. Veronica would be an excellent FBI agent, capable of catching the serial killers and such.
Disagree with you Dawn Veronica as a investigative reporter who have been perfect, in the fbi generic cop mode she will not accept the “play by the rules” modus operandi, she will be pretty quickly bored by the conventional methods, nop doesn’t fit Veronica..but we could have seen her fail at the FBI then become a reporter which suit her so much more !