Tonight, the best show on television became another grave marker in the Brilliant But Cancelled cemetery -- tonight, the final episode(s) of Veronica Mars aired. (Sure, there's been gossip over the last month that a new incarnation of the show, jumped a few years in the future and featuring Veronica as an FBI agent, would surface -- but that's been pretty thoroughly shot down in the last few days.)Unlike other shows I love, which have suffered creative downturns this season, the quality of Veronica Mars never really waned. The nature of the show changed pretty dramatically this season, as the show tried "mini-story arcs" instead of a season-long mystery (and, in the last five or six episodes, no major mystery at all). Nevertheless, on an episode-by-episode basis, the show remained entertaining and witty, well written and well acted.
The last hour in particular tonight made me really feel sorry for what we're losing. Things came back around full circle, with Jake Kane -- an integral part of the season one story -- returning to the mix. It made for a fine solo episode, but I couldn't help but wonder if the whole plot of "The Castle" was originally intended to be the final "mini story arc" for the last third of the season, compressed when the decision was made to finish the year with stand-alones. It felt like a story that demanded more than 42 minutes could contain.
And it left us with a host of unanswered questions. Not just "will Keith win the election?", but "will he stay out of prison for tampering with the evidence of Veronica's crime?" Will there be repercussions on Logan for going after someone "connected" to the Castle? We'll probably never know.
Still, it would be a shame to focus only on the loose ends left here at this ignominious finish -- and in doing so, lose sight of the three good years the show gave us. Other brilliant shows didn't even get that much of a chance. And the DVDs will always be there to enjoy.
But Veronica will be missed.
2 comments:
I'm happy for you that you feel the show never waned, but I think the third season definitely wasn't as good as the first two. The writing was still well done, as were the characters, but the stories themselves suffered a bit. I don't think the focus on relationships between people rather than mysteries helped the show at all.
Season Three was still good, but the first two seasons were great.
All that said, I totally geeked out seeing Jake Kane and his security guy again. And I think you could be right about this being part of a third arc as the episode felt a bit rushed.
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