Veronica Mars
So I watched season two over the weekend. There isn't a lot to say that isn't absurdly spoiler-laden, so in the uncut portion of the post: if you haven't watched this series, do so. The second season is, in my estimation, better than the first. Very well written, acted, etc. Keith Mars is pretty clearly the best father-character on television now, maybe ever. Although, really, fathers tend to be either bad guys, hapless doofuses, or just lamely bland in television. For some reason.
Also, by himself, Logan Echolls is a better show than most other actual entire shows.
Now, spoilers ahoy!
Not that I have all that many spoilery things to say.
First: totally surprised by the culprit. In retrospect all the pieces were there to make it plausible, but I never connected the dots. I homed in on the Mayor right away, but Beaver seemed like such a good kid! A little over-clever, maybe, but he seemed okay. Oops!
(Also: seriously, Dick and Beaver?)
Things that were not surprises: Keith not being dead, and Aaron Echolls getting killed. Not because of anything in the story, really (although Aaron had enough people that hated him that you could expect something bad to happen to him), but for dramatic reasons. Killing Keith would have, I think, been a bullet in the head of the franchise. And Aaron had served any useful purpose; he was yesterday's news, and pretty much all interesting story possibility had been done already.
So, Keith. It might be tempting to draw some Buffy's Mom parallels, but I don't think so. First, that was after five seasons, and second, she was never so integral to the show. Veronica's relationship with her dad is a huge part of the show. It would, translated into Buffy-centric example, be like killing off Willow or Xander just to up the drama of a scene. And, as such, I thought this was a notable misstep. I don't think anyone was fooled, and it was something of a distraction.
On the other hand, I think that blowing up the plane served a useful purpose in getting rid of Woody.
Also, by himself, Logan Echolls is a better show than most other actual entire shows.
Now, spoilers ahoy!
Not that I have all that many spoilery things to say.
First: totally surprised by the culprit. In retrospect all the pieces were there to make it plausible, but I never connected the dots. I homed in on the Mayor right away, but Beaver seemed like such a good kid! A little over-clever, maybe, but he seemed okay. Oops!
(Also: seriously, Dick and Beaver?)
Things that were not surprises: Keith not being dead, and Aaron Echolls getting killed. Not because of anything in the story, really (although Aaron had enough people that hated him that you could expect something bad to happen to him), but for dramatic reasons. Killing Keith would have, I think, been a bullet in the head of the franchise. And Aaron had served any useful purpose; he was yesterday's news, and pretty much all interesting story possibility had been done already.
So, Keith. It might be tempting to draw some Buffy's Mom parallels, but I don't think so. First, that was after five seasons, and second, she was never so integral to the show. Veronica's relationship with her dad is a huge part of the show. It would, translated into Buffy-centric example, be like killing off Willow or Xander just to up the drama of a scene. And, as such, I thought this was a notable misstep. I don't think anyone was fooled, and it was something of a distraction.
On the other hand, I think that blowing up the plane served a useful purpose in getting rid of Woody.