The Girl Detective
I just finished watching the first season of Veronica Mars. Everyone had said, 'oh, it gets much better in the second half of the season'; I'd been enjoying the first half so much that I'd basically ignored them, but they were right. Somewhere around what I guess must have been February sweeps there's a tipping point, and you just have to keep watching. I went through the last, what, eight? Nine? episodes in three days. Five of them today. I haven't had that sort of visceral reaction to a TV show for a while.
And yeah, you get worried, because you think there's no way they can do the setup justice. Answers are always less interesting than questions. And saying 'but this case is an exception!' is always risky, because it raises expectations still further. I know that. And the true test of something like this season of Veronica Mars is whether it stands up to rewatching. But since I'm looking forward to finding out if it passes that test--and I'm pretty sure it will--I don't feel too bad about saying:
I think the first season of Veronica Mars is the best piece of sustained storytelling I've ever seen on television.
It's not my favourite TV show. Not quite. But the plotting, the pacing, the characters, the complexity--they all make for a hugely dense, rich, vibrant, emotionally satisfying, balanced text, one that shuffles an amazing number of plots and characters and ideas on a weekly basis, managing to work in strong single-episode stories while advancing the ongoing plot in a way that no other show I've ever seen has done. It answers the questions it raises, and it does so without feeling either falsely drawn out in the middle or inelegantly rushed towards the end.
I'm not saying it's perfect: there are always niggles. That's part of the fun, after all. But it's really, really hard to believe that season two can match the level they've set here. It's hard to imagine they can come up with a story with as much personal involvement for Veronica, with parts for all the existing characters, without seeming contrived. Plus, the show is no longer new, and nothing is ever as special second time around. But hey, that doesn't matter: this season stands alone. I'll be buying the DVDs as soon as they're available, and I'll be tuning in in September hoping for the best.
In the meantime, two things:
1. Link me! I need reviews, commentary, discussion, and (aside from a few peoples' memories) I don't know where to look.
2. I'll be at the ton on Thursday. Anyone want copies of the pilot? :-)
And yeah, you get worried, because you think there's no way they can do the setup justice. Answers are always less interesting than questions. And saying 'but this case is an exception!' is always risky, because it raises expectations still further. I know that. And the true test of something like this season of Veronica Mars is whether it stands up to rewatching. But since I'm looking forward to finding out if it passes that test--and I'm pretty sure it will--I don't feel too bad about saying:
I think the first season of Veronica Mars is the best piece of sustained storytelling I've ever seen on television.
It's not my favourite TV show. Not quite. But the plotting, the pacing, the characters, the complexity--they all make for a hugely dense, rich, vibrant, emotionally satisfying, balanced text, one that shuffles an amazing number of plots and characters and ideas on a weekly basis, managing to work in strong single-episode stories while advancing the ongoing plot in a way that no other show I've ever seen has done. It answers the questions it raises, and it does so without feeling either falsely drawn out in the middle or inelegantly rushed towards the end.
I'm not saying it's perfect: there are always niggles. That's part of the fun, after all. But it's really, really hard to believe that season two can match the level they've set here. It's hard to imagine they can come up with a story with as much personal involvement for Veronica, with parts for all the existing characters, without seeming contrived. Plus, the show is no longer new, and nothing is ever as special second time around. But hey, that doesn't matter: this season stands alone. I'll be buying the DVDs as soon as they're available, and I'll be tuning in in September hoping for the best.
In the meantime, two things:
1. Link me! I need reviews, commentary, discussion, and (aside from a few peoples' memories) I don't know where to look.
2. I'll be at the ton on Thursday. Anyone want copies of the pilot? :-)