Veronica Mars (or V-mars) is the real reason I came up with TV Thursday. I re-watched all three seasons this summer. Afterward, I wanted someone to talk to about what I loved, what I missed, and my lingering issues with the show. The answer was right there before me: you, gentle reader. I can always talk to you. Not only is V-mars in my personal pantheon of favourite shows ever, but it also happens to be one of the best shows ever made. Though season three barely reached the glory of season one (surely one of the greatest seasons of any show to ever be recorded), its cancellation still stings. For me, the strength of each season is a combination of three elements: the season mystery, the supporting characters, and Veronica herself.
The creators could not have been luckier to have had Kristen Bell in the lead role. She is a genius at creating a multi-layered, believable, mature character who felt like a real teenager. Veronica was tough and jaded when we met her, making her vulnerabilities and her occasional rebellion, as well as her even more rare silliness, that much more moving.
Season one's big mystery was Lilly's (Amanda Seyfried) murder, but the murder connected to the other mysteries of Veronica's rape, her mother's disappearance, her break up with Duncan (Teddy Dunn), and even her parentage. One of that season's great strengths was that it sprinkled at least one clue about one of these mysteries, if not more, in every single episode. We always saw Veronica working to bring these mysteries to a close, and watching a teenage girl trying to solve such overwhelming cases while still dealing with being a teenage girl and solving often personal mysteries of the week (MotW) made for some pretty compelling drama.
Even in the midst of all this, the writers took time to develop the supporting characters in such a way that we cared if we saw them in the next episode. Weevil (Francis Capra IV) and Logan (Jason Dohring) were standouts that season, thanks to tremendous talent, charisma, chemistry with Bell, and links to the season mysteries (not to mention the HoYay. Oh, the HoYay was strong between those two). Weevil went beyond young thug thanks to his emotional ties to family, Veronica, and Lily, and Logan's family situation and self-destructive streak pushed him past the poor little rich boy archetype.
All of these things came to a head in the season finale when Veronica finally solved Lilly's murder: Aaron Echolls (Harry Hamlin), Logan's famous actor dad, had an affair with Lilly and killed her in a fit of rage with she threatened to go public. It was incredibly well developed (Aaron's violence, abuse, and philandering were well established over the course of the season), and it had satisfying repercussions that lasted through the rest of the show.
Season two began with a mystery carried over from season one (Felix's murder - a plotline that was once again was heavy on Logan and Weevil) and picked up a new mystery (bus crash) by the end of the season opener. Despite the fact that she early on drew the erroneous conclusion on that the bus crash was meant for her, Veronica was never particularly emotional invested in figuring out who caused it. Entire episodes could go by without any forward motion on the case, and it became difficult to see why we should care when Veronica didn't. Episodes like "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough" stood out instead because of their creative mix of MotW and character development. "I am God" provided boatloads of information about the crash, as well as a renewed fervour on Veronica's part to solve the case, but, at episode 18, it came too late in the season to spark audience interest in the same way. It didn't help that it followed "Plan B," which, for me, was the high point of the season.
"Plan B," episode 17, saw the conclusion of the Felix murder storyline. This mystery arc was far better handled than the bus crash. It was addressed in nearly every episode, had a tangible emotional involvement for two main characters (Logan and Weevil), and drew Veronica in. It showcased Logan and Weevil at their worst (Logan planting drugs) and best (Weevil's courtyard declaration). Like the conclusion of Lilly's murder, it had rich emotional and plot ramifications that rippled out for the rest of the season and the series.
Cassidy 'Beaver' Casablancas (Kyle Gallner) was by far the standout of season two, so making him ultimately responsible for the bus crash was good in theory. The writers carefully sowed the seeds of of his abuse, and it was abundantly clear that he was one seriously sad, messed up kid by the end of season two. So why, then, did they suddenly write him as a sneering villain? It was obvious that Gallner was talented enough to switch back and forth between the personae, as he did in those final scenes. It was also obvious that Beaver was very smart, so we could believe that he was a criminal mastermind/evil genius (although that stuff with Curly Moran never really added up for me). Throwing in the possibility that he murdered Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), Veronica's dad, was cheap. Keith and Veronica's relationship was central to the show, and there was just no way it would go on without it.
It didn't help that the last two episodes also focused on Aaron's murder trial, recalling the better handled season one mystery and manging to be risible simultaneously. That the defense would base their entire case on the idea that Veronica was a slut (I am not making this up) and that the prosecution would be absolutely unable to counter this was a slap in the face to intelligence and dedication of the audience. The two narrative reasons for the disaster of a trial were satisfactory: 1) Aaron finally confesses that he murdered Lilly to Veronica and 2) in Duncan's best move ever, he has badass motherfucker Clarence Wiedman (Christoper B. Duncan) kill Aaron; however, the trial was emblematic of the way things would go down hill in season three.
New network, new structure: season mysteries were dumped for three smaller arcs. When things didn't look good for the show, the two smaller arcs were followed by five stand alone episodes. The first arc, a serial rapist on campus, came from a realistic post-secondary place, and the culprit was handled well. The entire thing fell apart for me when Veronica revealed that Claire faked her rape and accused the Lilith House of faking the series of rapes, a charge which they did not deny. In hindsight, it's clear to me that the first two rapes were real (especially given that the first victim didn't report it), and Parker's (Julia Gonzalo) rape was real. The rest are questionable, which is murky moral territory, even for this show. That the Liliths held Pis responsible for their friend's suicide attempt and subsequent institutionalization and that they wanted restitution wasn't the problem. Even that Nish (Chastity Dotson) would draw the conclusion that the Pis were responsible and getting away with something horrible once again wasn't the problem. It was the idea that such radical feminists would chose to fake that particular crime that rankles. They knew that both Veronica and the police were on the case, and Veronica cracked the case in two episodes makes it all the more ridiculous that they would do it in the first place. Just how stupid are these girls supposed to be?
The second mystery, Dean Cyrus O'Dell's (Ed Begely, Jr.) murder, was better handled by far (sensing a pattern here?). It relied on solid detective work, and, despite the fact that Veronica is herself a rape victim and that she held herself responsible for one of the rapes, both Veronica and her dad were emotionally involved in solving the case. The case pointed clearly to two possible murderers and, in a nicely done moment, indicted a third.
Unfortunately, Veronica, the character, hit a real low point in season three. In season two she was sort of all over the map, but it tied into a believable emotional place: for two years, her life had been hell, and now it just . . . wasn't? What was she supposed to do with that? Solving Lilly's murder hadn't fixed everything, and it makes sense that it would be difficult for Veronica to move forward. One of the show's strengths was that they would let Veronica be an asshole once in a while (we all do it, after all), but they took it too far in season three. Instead of maturing and growing up in college like we would have wanted her to, Veronica started wildly jumping to conclusions in her cases (often nasty ones like when she accused Weevil of holding up the on-campus casino, even no there is no way in hell that Weevil would ever get violent with Veronica) and showing a shocking combination of indifference and judgment toward her fellow man (what was with her immediate dislike of the perfectly friendly Parker? why was she so tough on Max when he fell for a hooker? how could she not see that Piz was pining away for her?). In short, Veronica slid toward insufferableness.
When Veronica broke up with Logan for sleeping with Madison (Amanda Noret) while they were broken up because she held Madison accountable for her rape (a complete retcon), Veronica's character's low point hit its nexus with my biggest problem with the series on the whole: the complete lack of accountability for Dick's (Ryan Hansen) involvement in her rape. There were plenty of other good reasons for Veronica to dislike Madison, so there was no reason to go there. There was no indication at the time or at any point thereafter that Madison knew the drink she handed Veronica was drugged; all she thought it was laced with was saliva and sugar. Dick was the one who put the GHB in the drink; Dick had every intention of drugging and raping his girlfriend; Dick plied Veronica with alcohol after he drugged her; Dick put Beaver in the room with Veronica; and Dick told Beaver to rape her. And what does Dick get for his troubles? A busted surfboard? Fuck. I understand why the writers would want to keep Hansen on the show (he's a treasure), but, from a narrative point of view, the fact that Dick gets away with everything and that Veronica doesn't even blame him or try to ward other women off is the most glaring narrative failure on the part of the show.
The stand alone episodes were hit and miss (the first, "Un-American Graffit," is arguably the worst entry in the series), although they seemed to be pushing the show closer to a procedural and away from its noir roots that helped it command attention and critical praise in the first place. The series went out on a high note with the two-parter "Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down" and "The Bitch is Back," an episode that once again proved that a Veronica wronged is the best Veronica to watch. It also set up what could have been an interesting fourth season if they picked up where season three left off: Sheriff Van Lowe (?), the dissolution of Piz and Veronica's burgeoning relationship, the certain knowledge that Veronica and Logan remain as in love as ever. Most importantly, what would happen after Keith put himself on the line for Veronica (again) even though she lied to his face and possibly cost him the election?
We'll never know, so we'll just have to take the show for what it was: a brilliant and occasionally flawed gem, centred on a truly worthwhile protagonist, surrounded by talented and dynamic supporting players, and mounted on a seething underbelly of noir. Ah, television: sometimes you're just so damn good.
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