Neptune Noir, edited by Rob Thomas
Originally published at tansyrr.com. You can comment here or there.
I fell in love with the idea of the BenBella Smart Pop Books some time ago, and between actually finding the Jane Austen/Jenny Crusie one in my library, and the free essays that BenBella put up every week, I became an absolute convert. I bought a couple of piles of the books directly from the publisher in December, mostly to give away as presents. But I kept a couple for myself, including the one that made me bounce with excitement when I discovered its existence - Neptune Noir, a collection of fun, thoughtful essays about Veronica Mars.
This is one of the best of the BenBella books I’ve read - the balance of topics is good, covering the writing structure, noir influences and themes, and relationships of the show. There are even a few oddball topics like - why is Veronica Mars so popular among conservatives? By about halfway through, I was desperate to rewatch my VM DVDs which is quite an achievement as I only did my last mass rewatch less than 6 months ago.
The biggest disappointment of the book is that it was released in 2006 - after season two, but before any of the essay writers had seen the third and final season. It makes sense that the book would have been released at the height of the show’s popularity, and that they didn’t know there was only one year to go before it would be cancelled, but with so much great insight and analysis about the first two seasons, the book couldn’t help but feel unfinished without reference to that. It’s a particular shame because season three did several things to break away from the formula and traditions of the first two seasons, and many articles read how left me with the sense of ‘to be continued’ without reference to that final act.
(some mild spoilers follow)
Rob Thomas’s reflective introductions to each articles go some way to rectifying this, as he was working on season three at the time the book was put together, and makes many teasing references to what audiences will be seeing. Indeed, Thomas’s contribution adds great value to this book, as he appears genuinely enthusiastic about the essays, but does not hesitate to point out what the real story was, where the essayist has made assumptions - either about his pop culture influences, his writing intentions, or why we never saw Backup the dog outside of action scenes. He also lets slip all kinds of tidbits about the making of the show, his early writing process, the casting of Kristen Bell, and how Jason Dohring took a minor character and turned him into the slightly psychotic heart of the show. (heh he points out that Wallace Fennel is the only character with strong, unwavering ethics) He doesn’t shy away from criticisms of the show, though, and owns up to flaws in the writing and production, sometimes explaining how they came to be.
My favourite articles explored the use of first person narrative in the show, and how this evoked classic noir films; the key relationships between Veronica and her father, and between Veronica and Logan; the story structure of television; the uses of heightened reality and “camp” to balance out the noir aspects of the show, and even one on the symbolism of the cars used for each of the characters. Veronica’s rape and the dual answer to that mystery comes up a lot and boy oh boy, do those writers love talking about Aaron Echolls.
All in all, a great, pacy and very readable book. But it could *really* do with some examination of Veronica’s first year at Hearst College, the next act of her relationship with Logan, the changed mystery structure of season three, and the aborted reboot of the show, with Veronica as an FBI agent, as shown in the season 3 dvds. I suppose, sadly, a long gone show such as this doesn’t justify a second volume of Neptune Noir. But it feels wrong to leave Veronica’s story at the end of season 2, rather than the far more ambiguous, melancholy end of season 3.
I’m going to have to watch it again, aren’t I.