What the hell am I going to do with my Tuesdays now?
Okay, hopefully LJ will let me post this now. 'Cause at this point, I'm done reminiscing, I just want to get it over with. I have other stuff to talk about.
Both hours were enjoyable, but I think I liked the second one slightly more. I don't know, I can't decide. I liked that the theme of class struggle was present again. Maybe that was one of the things missing this season - that sort of thing becomes harder to replicate in college. High school is a breeding ground for cliques and exclusion and the resulting angst in finding your place. But in college, with Veronica surrounded by more varied groups of people, from different places and different walks of life, it became harder to have her maintain her outcast status. That's when the show works best, and while I think it was good for Veronica to see that life beyond high school doesn't have to mean being ostracized, unfortunately it usually made for less interesting cases like finding lost playbooks.
That said, I'm generally not crazy about recycling concepts that have been used before, just because if they were done well the first time, there's no real reason to see it again. But in this case, with the secret society and sex tape stories, it worked. Rob has said before that some of the mysteries (like the serial killer in 'Silence of the Lamb') felt too big and ambitious for the show, so something like Veronica recovering dirty pictures was the ideal sort of case. In this respect, I'd agree she was in her element. Veronica got everyone involved in helping her solve the mysteries. The arrogant, privileged rich kids thinking they could buy her was reminscent of season one, and the mysteries affected Veronica personally, which made her (and, in turn, the audience) care a bit more. In fact, I think these two episodes were sort of a reminder of who these characters are, in a way, and their flaws and weaknesses: Wallace, the conscience; Mac, the hacker; Weevil, possibly returning to a life of crime; Logan being his old jackass self; Keith having the town turn against him again; and Veronica, vengeful, reckless and hurting the people she loves, unintentionally or not. I'm not saying it was perfect (I kind of feel like we got our s3 finale with Spit and Eggs, in terms of the thriller format the finales normally have). But for what we got, it was pretty good.
Lilly and Duncan were back in spirit, if not in body, which was a nice touch. I was all "wtf?" when we saw the portrait of Lilly, and then the old guy with the beard...who is that? I totally did not recognize him as Jake Kane for a moment. He's really aged since he lost both his kids. But here's what I don't get: if he's such a computer genius, wouldn't he have a backup of his hard drive? Or was he just more concerned about the information on it becoming public than losing the data? And just so that I've got this right, are we supposed to think that after Keith supposedly gave the drive to the police, he took it or kept it for himself to protect Veronica? I couldn't really tell what he was doing in the evidence room.
This is sort of a nitpick, but it seems odd that the Kanes would have a doggy door, since they got rid of Duncan's dog, and therefore we can assume they don't like them. Maybe they'd have a guard dog, but those generally aren't treated like pets that can come and go. I know Veronica is tiny, but I find it hard to believe she's tiny enough to fit through a doggy door.
Parker's earlier comment to Logan, "You should have seen that expression. It totally sold you out" is mirrored in the final fight scene: while Veronica wants to be mad at Logan for beating up Gory, part of her is grateful, maybe, and acknowledges with a little smile that this is who he is and she's glad. While Piz is horrified by the violence and earlier implored her not to fight, Logan almost encourages it. That's when I got this theory that Logan and Veronica are bound together by violence (among other things). I can't really explain it yet, but I think it makes sense, given the things that have happened to them and the way they both seem to recognize a need for it in each other.
I liked that Weevil was involved again. He and Veronica make quite a team. It's just a shame that Francis Capra's health problems prevented him from participating more this season. I hope he gets better.
Who knew I'd actually feel bad for Dick? Regardless of how much of a horrible person he is, he still lost his brother and feels guilty about the role he might have played in that, so that had to hurt. It would've been really interesting to see where they were going with that.
The scene with Veronica shaving her legs was kind of weird. Pretty pointless other than as a vehicle for product placement, but I have to admit, if it had to be done, it was clever to use celestially themed products. And it paved the way for the best quote of the episode, "Rob Thomas is a whore." The beach scene was a little surreal...I liked the callback of Wallace and his plane to the pilot, but the rest of it almost seemed to come out of a bad fanfic. Dick, apologizing to Mac? Am I seeing things? He's so nonchalant about it, too, that I can't tell if he's serious or just saying it because he thinks that's what she wants to hear. And then he tries to kiss her, making it canon that there's something there for the Mac/Dick 'shippers, which...eww. (I have to say though, ever since Logan and Mac started hanging out together more, I wouldn't mind reading some Mac/Logan fic, if there is any...) It was funny, but a little off.
Also strange was Parker's breakup scene, because I'm not sure what happened here. When Logan was talking to her earlier, was she already in Denver, or were they just making plans for after she left? Because it seems abrupt for her to just show up if she flew out there to give him hell about beating up Piz. How did she even know about that, anyway? I don't think Veronica would have told her, and she sure wouldn't have told her about the sex tape. If she's on Dick's mailing list (but why would she be?), I guess the tape got to her that way. Well, I can't say I'm going to miss Parker too much - she's become a lot needier. I still think she and Piz would be good together, they just don't see it yet.
It was nice that Wallace was ready to kick Logan's ass on his friends' behalf, but it's just as well that he didn't. No sense having both him and Piz in stitches. But is it wrong that I kind of wished Piz had been the one to tape them? If he'd done something devious like that, he would've been a far more interesting character.
I really liked the ending. I thought it was a very appropriate way to go out, with Veronica walking off alone in the rain. Very noir. It's the only way it could end, I guess. Veronica isn't destined for a happy ending.
In conclusion: as a season finale, it works pretty well. As a series finale, well...no. Last year would've been a better place to leave off than this, honestly. There should have been an epilogue at the very least, or an alternate ending filmed or something. I want to be mad at Rob for not writing a proper finale, but somehow I can't be. I know there's been talk of a movie, but I'm not getting my hopes up about it. A novel might be a good idea...the show was intended as a book in the first place, after all, so there are lots of possibilities of where that could go. And I guess the good thing is with an unresolved ending, you get to decide for yourself how you want it to end. Here's what I imagine:
Veronica and Piz break up before she leaves for the summer. Veronica attends her internship for the FBI, and while she learns a lot, she decides the regimental nature of the job just isn't for her. Dick and Logan go on their surfing trip after all. While in South America, Gory's family plans revenge on Logan. He also has the Castle to contend with, as Gory tells Jake Kane about Logan's beating. Jake has no problem with the idea of offing Logan like he did to his father and sends Clarence after him. Veronica somehow finds out and informs Logan not to come back, fearing for his safety. He goes into hiding for awhile but they continue to meet in secret.
Keith loses the election. He briefly wonders if there's any future left in Neptune for him anymore, but he stays, continuing to run Mars Investigations. He also rehires Weevil. Veronica helps them, eventually taking over the place when her dad retires. Mac gets a job with Apple on their security team (Mac, Apple - get it? It’s perfect!), trying to stop hackers - figuring that the best way to do that, is to be a hacker yourself. She still helps Veronica when needed. Wallace ends up working for a high profile flight company, designing planes. Although he lives elsewhere, he still keps in touch with people from Neptune.
Maybe that sounds dumb, I don't know. It's the best I can come up with right now. What's your scenario?
I'll stop here with a few favourite shots from the two episodes:
OMG, so pretty. I love the dark silhouette against the bright light.
Veronica Mars vs. the scales of justice. Symbolism, much?
This makes a great shot when you remove the other people from it.
Both hours were enjoyable, but I think I liked the second one slightly more. I don't know, I can't decide. I liked that the theme of class struggle was present again. Maybe that was one of the things missing this season - that sort of thing becomes harder to replicate in college. High school is a breeding ground for cliques and exclusion and the resulting angst in finding your place. But in college, with Veronica surrounded by more varied groups of people, from different places and different walks of life, it became harder to have her maintain her outcast status. That's when the show works best, and while I think it was good for Veronica to see that life beyond high school doesn't have to mean being ostracized, unfortunately it usually made for less interesting cases like finding lost playbooks.
That said, I'm generally not crazy about recycling concepts that have been used before, just because if they were done well the first time, there's no real reason to see it again. But in this case, with the secret society and sex tape stories, it worked. Rob has said before that some of the mysteries (like the serial killer in 'Silence of the Lamb') felt too big and ambitious for the show, so something like Veronica recovering dirty pictures was the ideal sort of case. In this respect, I'd agree she was in her element. Veronica got everyone involved in helping her solve the mysteries. The arrogant, privileged rich kids thinking they could buy her was reminscent of season one, and the mysteries affected Veronica personally, which made her (and, in turn, the audience) care a bit more. In fact, I think these two episodes were sort of a reminder of who these characters are, in a way, and their flaws and weaknesses: Wallace, the conscience; Mac, the hacker; Weevil, possibly returning to a life of crime; Logan being his old jackass self; Keith having the town turn against him again; and Veronica, vengeful, reckless and hurting the people she loves, unintentionally or not. I'm not saying it was perfect (I kind of feel like we got our s3 finale with Spit and Eggs, in terms of the thriller format the finales normally have). But for what we got, it was pretty good.
Lilly and Duncan were back in spirit, if not in body, which was a nice touch. I was all "wtf?" when we saw the portrait of Lilly, and then the old guy with the beard...who is that? I totally did not recognize him as Jake Kane for a moment. He's really aged since he lost both his kids. But here's what I don't get: if he's such a computer genius, wouldn't he have a backup of his hard drive? Or was he just more concerned about the information on it becoming public than losing the data? And just so that I've got this right, are we supposed to think that after Keith supposedly gave the drive to the police, he took it or kept it for himself to protect Veronica? I couldn't really tell what he was doing in the evidence room.
This is sort of a nitpick, but it seems odd that the Kanes would have a doggy door, since they got rid of Duncan's dog, and therefore we can assume they don't like them. Maybe they'd have a guard dog, but those generally aren't treated like pets that can come and go. I know Veronica is tiny, but I find it hard to believe she's tiny enough to fit through a doggy door.
Parker's earlier comment to Logan, "You should have seen that expression. It totally sold you out" is mirrored in the final fight scene: while Veronica wants to be mad at Logan for beating up Gory, part of her is grateful, maybe, and acknowledges with a little smile that this is who he is and she's glad. While Piz is horrified by the violence and earlier implored her not to fight, Logan almost encourages it. That's when I got this theory that Logan and Veronica are bound together by violence (among other things). I can't really explain it yet, but I think it makes sense, given the things that have happened to them and the way they both seem to recognize a need for it in each other.
I liked that Weevil was involved again. He and Veronica make quite a team. It's just a shame that Francis Capra's health problems prevented him from participating more this season. I hope he gets better.
Who knew I'd actually feel bad for Dick? Regardless of how much of a horrible person he is, he still lost his brother and feels guilty about the role he might have played in that, so that had to hurt. It would've been really interesting to see where they were going with that.
The scene with Veronica shaving her legs was kind of weird. Pretty pointless other than as a vehicle for product placement, but I have to admit, if it had to be done, it was clever to use celestially themed products. And it paved the way for the best quote of the episode, "Rob Thomas is a whore." The beach scene was a little surreal...I liked the callback of Wallace and his plane to the pilot, but the rest of it almost seemed to come out of a bad fanfic. Dick, apologizing to Mac? Am I seeing things? He's so nonchalant about it, too, that I can't tell if he's serious or just saying it because he thinks that's what she wants to hear. And then he tries to kiss her, making it canon that there's something there for the Mac/Dick 'shippers, which...eww. (I have to say though, ever since Logan and Mac started hanging out together more, I wouldn't mind reading some Mac/Logan fic, if there is any...) It was funny, but a little off.
Also strange was Parker's breakup scene, because I'm not sure what happened here. When Logan was talking to her earlier, was she already in Denver, or were they just making plans for after she left? Because it seems abrupt for her to just show up if she flew out there to give him hell about beating up Piz. How did she even know about that, anyway? I don't think Veronica would have told her, and she sure wouldn't have told her about the sex tape. If she's on Dick's mailing list (but why would she be?), I guess the tape got to her that way. Well, I can't say I'm going to miss Parker too much - she's become a lot needier. I still think she and Piz would be good together, they just don't see it yet.
It was nice that Wallace was ready to kick Logan's ass on his friends' behalf, but it's just as well that he didn't. No sense having both him and Piz in stitches. But is it wrong that I kind of wished Piz had been the one to tape them? If he'd done something devious like that, he would've been a far more interesting character.
I really liked the ending. I thought it was a very appropriate way to go out, with Veronica walking off alone in the rain. Very noir. It's the only way it could end, I guess. Veronica isn't destined for a happy ending.
In conclusion: as a season finale, it works pretty well. As a series finale, well...no. Last year would've been a better place to leave off than this, honestly. There should have been an epilogue at the very least, or an alternate ending filmed or something. I want to be mad at Rob for not writing a proper finale, but somehow I can't be. I know there's been talk of a movie, but I'm not getting my hopes up about it. A novel might be a good idea...the show was intended as a book in the first place, after all, so there are lots of possibilities of where that could go. And I guess the good thing is with an unresolved ending, you get to decide for yourself how you want it to end. Here's what I imagine:
Veronica and Piz break up before she leaves for the summer. Veronica attends her internship for the FBI, and while she learns a lot, she decides the regimental nature of the job just isn't for her. Dick and Logan go on their surfing trip after all. While in South America, Gory's family plans revenge on Logan. He also has the Castle to contend with, as Gory tells Jake Kane about Logan's beating. Jake has no problem with the idea of offing Logan like he did to his father and sends Clarence after him. Veronica somehow finds out and informs Logan not to come back, fearing for his safety. He goes into hiding for awhile but they continue to meet in secret.
Keith loses the election. He briefly wonders if there's any future left in Neptune for him anymore, but he stays, continuing to run Mars Investigations. He also rehires Weevil. Veronica helps them, eventually taking over the place when her dad retires. Mac gets a job with Apple on their security team (Mac, Apple - get it? It’s perfect!), trying to stop hackers - figuring that the best way to do that, is to be a hacker yourself. She still helps Veronica when needed. Wallace ends up working for a high profile flight company, designing planes. Although he lives elsewhere, he still keps in touch with people from Neptune.
Maybe that sounds dumb, I don't know. It's the best I can come up with right now. What's your scenario?
I'll stop here with a few favourite shots from the two episodes:
OMG, so pretty. I love the dark silhouette against the bright light.
Veronica Mars vs. the scales of justice. Symbolism, much?
This makes a great shot when you remove the other people from it.