The "Series Series" has ended. Lost and Veronica Mars will no longer be airing in the same time slot. And Veronica Mars pulled out the win.
There was nothing "wrong" with tonight's Lost. My problem is that it was completely predictable from beginning to end. In the past, when watching Lost, I've had moments where I've been completely blindsided ("Walkabout" from season one, "Man of Science, Man of Faith" from season two), and moments where I've anticipated some plot threads while being surprised by others ("Maternity Leave" from a few weeks ago). But I've never had an episode where I guessed every single major beat from beginning to end.
The moment we see Hurley's asylum friend "Dave" shouting at basketball players who are strangely ignoring him, someone in the group I was watching with said, "he's not real." And she only barely beat me to actually saying it out loud. What can I say? Fight Club has mined this territory.
The moment Hurley headed off alone toward the caves (where Dave can torment him with no one else around), I knew Dave was going to tell him the entire island was a figment of his imagination. I knew because I saw this same plot thread on a sixth season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And before that, on a sixth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And I'm fairly sure that long before any of that, it must have been an episode of The Twilight Zone.
And then there was the twist with Libby at the end. Except that when Hurley first mentioned that she looked familiar many episodes ago, I immediately assumed it must have been from the asylum.
It was entertaining to watch. But it ultimately felt like an amusement park ride you've been on many times before. Too familiar to get your juices going.
Veronica Mars, meanwhile, served up major developments on several ongoing plots. The "who really killed Felix, and will there be justice?" thread was closed down. Weevil earned some serious dark side points.
Something new and strange is going on with Mayor Steve Guttenberg. He has a stalker, clearly knows what they're after, and doesn't want Keith Mars to find out what it is.
Something is up with Beaver. Mac confronts him about their relationship, and he pulls away. One can suppose a few reasons why that might be, but what's really going on there?
Meanwhile, an overdose of the pithy wit we all love about Veronica Mars. "I think that's Scout's Honor." "I told you, when I started on losers, I'd come to you first." "Fine, Dirty Sanchez, then." "What, like total silence? Imagine what that would be like."
An episode among the best of the season. So good, in fact, that I'm starting to get worried again. I absolutely loved the first season of Veronica Mars, but near the end I had come to terms with the likelihood there wouldn't be a season two. So I suppose I should look upon this season two as a gift, when so many other great shows I've loved didn't make it out of year one. But now I find myself getting greedy, and really hoping for a year three -- hoping that this move to Tuesday nights doesn't spell impending cancellation by the CW (Country and Western?) network.
Stay tuned.
6 comments:
I love Veronica Mars, too. I'm going to be so sad if it doesn't continue into season 3. Veronica is like the best friend I always wanted, so witty!
Well you had better get all your friends that are Nielsen friends to start watching on Tuesdays because VM was one of the shows USA Today recently put in their "on the bubble" list for renewal.
And if the ratings don't significantly increase on a less competitive night, the curtain will be closed this year.
If you doubt me check out what Michael Ausiello wrote on TVGuide.com last Friday about a April Fool's press release:
In a word, no. In another word, phew. But fans were understandably reaching for their Xanax stash when an official-looking press release began circulating around the Web Thursday claiming, "UPN has announced the cancellation of cult classic Veronica Mars." Turns out the whole thing was a big, nasty, cruel, heinous, unfunny hoax. But that's not to say there isn't cause for concern. Wednesday's episode averaged an anemic two million viewers — a number that should go up when the show moves from ultracompetitive Wednesdays to Tuesdays beginning April 11. Please, god, make it go up.
I'm with you on the predictability factor of "Dave." This one was more about character drama than moving into any new territory, but at least it was well done. This was about Hurley's attempts to keep from fitting in even to the point of resurrecting an imaginary friend and almost convincing himself to commit suicide.
Even the Henry Gale thread was somewhat predictable. I believe him when he says he didn't touch the computer, but the real drama here is that Locke never saw the control room for sure, so his faith isn't terribly shaken.
Predictions:
Following the topical incident that brought Hurley to the hospital, Libby is in the hospital because she killed her children.
"Henry Gale" is the leader of the Others.
From last week, the real Sawyer is Locke's father.
Glad to see Veronica come out on top! (That didn't sound right...) I think that CW really needs this show, and it'll make the cut. God, I hope so.
See, I really liked Lost this week. It was a great character development episode for Hurley, more so than the one where we find how winning the lottery affected his relationship with his friends. Really, I don't think we've had an episode like this for awhile (okay, the Sun and Jin one probably is about equivalent). And this episode also gave me faith that they know where they are going with the season finale which is good because the show felt pretty "Lost" up until last week.
They also got me with Libby. I had assumed that her connection with Hurley was as a clinical psychologist, not a patient in the same hospital.
I like all of Derek's predictions except the second one.
So, with my enjoyment of Lost, I didn't expect Veronica Mars could top it, but it sure did. I mean, they worked in the shocker and dirty Sanchez in the same show! Also, there was some real character development which I felt had been missing in some previous episodes. The whole Mac/Beaver issue felt very well done to me and the actors really said a lot without saying anything when Logan and Veronica were dancing. Plus, there were several great plot points. Man, I really hope the Conventional Wisdom network decides to pick up the show.
GiromiDe... if you read Ausiello's weekly Q&A session you would have learned a line from the previous episode of Lost was cut - and yes it dealt with Locke and his "father"... who's a con-man just like Sawyer's father.
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