Well, the good news is, it appears that Veronica Mars might be coming back in some form next year. The bad news is, it appears that the entire supporting cast will be changed as “Another reason for the turn-around is that network executives seem to be responding favorably to a new trailer by Veronica Mars series creator Rob Thomas which would place the young detective as an agent for the FBI. What would this mean for Veronica Mars the show? Well, there's a good chance that the title of the show would change, and there would probably be a major cast shake-up, which would leave star Kristen Bell as the only carryover.”
Okay, first of all...Kristen Bell is unbelievable as Veronica Mars. The show wouldn’t have been as stellar over the first three seasons with anybody else in that role. However...the supporting cast is almost as good. I could see this ‘new’ show working possibly, but can we at least make sure that Enrico Colantoni, who plays Veronica’s dad, has a role? He’s every bit as great as Bell, and their chemistry has always been one of the things that make the show tick. Without him, this might as well be a new pilot for a new show.
And speaking of which, I must say...as this season limps to a close with the interesting combination of a) enjoyable episodes, b) no semblance of a running plot to close out the season, and c) no worry about having to tie things together for next season, I fear that it’s going to end with something shocking, like Keith Mars dying or something. I really don’t want that to happen, but if we’re just going to fast-forward five years after the finale, it’s the perfect time to pull something like that without the fear of having next season be one giant bout with post-traumatic stress. Cross your fingers that they don’t kill off such a fantastic character.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Good news and bad news...
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
And by the way...
...utterly fantastic episode of Veronica Mars last night. Smartest, wittiest episode (and the best dialogue) of the season. They even made the painfully inevitable Veronica-Piz hook-up enjoyable...an amazing feat. I have no idea how they wrap up the season in three episodes, but kudos to Rob Thomas et al for hitting all the right notes last night.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Random Entertainment Notes
We’ll do it in berlin niebuhr-esque bullets...
- Isaiah Washington goes to rehab for...using offensive words. Didn’t know Slur Rehab existed.
- A very healthy return for Veronica Mars this week. The previous episode (which aired, like, 2 months ago) was the best of the season, and this was probably a close second. Do not underestimate the strong contribution the Mac character (Tina Majorino) makes to this show. This was easily the most amusing episode of the season, and it’s not a coincidence that she had more of a role in this episode than the rest of the season combined to this point. Her deadpan humor and social awkwardness go right in line with Veronica’s, but when one of Veronica’s fake personas gets them into awkward situations while ‘on the case’, Mac’s honest reactions to these situations (like the thought of posing nude for an anti-fur calendar) are a fantastic contrast to Veronica’s.
They decided to stretch out the “Logan + Veronica” thing for at least one more week, which was both exciting and disappointing. It further reaffirmed that they care about each other to an insane degree, which is nice, and their chemistry is quite strong after a season and a half of this, but it just delays the inevitable breakup (though according to the previews for next week, it might not have delayed it very long). - While I’m loving VM again, I still don’t really know what to do with Studio 60. Monday’s was one of the best episodes of the season, and it was still almost every bit as frustrating as it was enjoyable.
Good: All of Steven Weber’s scenes. He’s great. The boardroom scene with Ed Asner was quite good (other than the shaky plot device of having the newspaper on the table, pointing the way to Mr. Macao), and I'm actually really liking the "soldier curses on live TV" plotline. The “man to man” conversation with Mr. Macao.
Good: Amanda Peet and Bradley Whitford continue to have great chemistry.
Bad: The stalker-esque moves Whitford’s Danny took toward winning over Peet’s Jordan was, in a word, creepy. In two words, horribly creepy. I was actually glad when those attempts didn’t actually win her over because that would have been unrealistic and lazy.
Good: The two new writers (Lucy and Darius) have been very good for Studio 60 as a whole. Two very good characters.
Good: No horrible skits to watch in this week’s episode.
Bad: Two horrible skits (Militant Fruit of the Loom and Husky Gymnast? Are you kidding me?) were still prominent, though they were only discussed and not actually shown. Either way, ugh.
Good: The chemistry between Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulsen continues to improve.
Bad: Their relationship continues to be completely stagnant and unrealistic (though bonus points go to Paulsen’s character for basically telling Matt to poop or get off the pot).
I guess two steps forward and one step back is still a net gain, though. Bottom line is, I will continue to watch, I will continue to be encouraged by the strong aspects of the show, and I will continue to grow tired and frustrated by the weak aspects. I sure am showing some strong will there, aren’t I?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Deep Thoughts on Veronica Mars, Part III
As we near the end of Mystery Arc #1 in Veronica Mars Season 3, I figured I should make some comments...
- The “Will Veronica dump Logan for Piz?” plotline that I predicted 10 minutes into the opening episode has gone down such a predictable line that “LoVe / Piz = ?” has been in the advertisements recently. And Piz hasn’t even made his move yet. Note to Rob Thomas (VM writer, not Matchbox Twenty singer): if it’s this predictable, and has been for a while, go ahead and move along with the storyline.
- Get it? LoVe = Logan & Veronica? How clever. Did the Aerie girls think of that? And speaking of which, why must they still clutter up the CW on Tuesday nights? Must we listen to 15-year olds talking with attempted wisdom about love and loss? And must I be reminded that I’m in love with a show whose designed audience is 10-15 years younger than me and female?
- I agree with EW’s “TV Watch” writer, who said that last week’s discovery that many of the rapes were faked in a way to get the Greek system shut down, was a huge letdown. I mean...Veronica getting drugged and almost getting her head shaven bumped the intensity up tenfold...and then it was brought back down with that discovery. But...not to worry!! Someone will die this week!! That’s what the ads told me!! Seriously, CW...please do not start using NBC’s advertising techniques of “DO NOT MISS THE LAST FIVE MINUTES BECAUSE SOMEBODY WILL DIE AND YOU WILL BE SHOCKED.” It kills any sort of shock that loyal viewers of the show (and that’s the only kind of viewers that VM has) have come to love, and it’s just tacky. Besides, when it ends up being some third-tier character that dies (not saying this is definite, but it’s still the most likely possibility), it looks like the writers chickened out by not killing off a main character (which is unfair to the writers since they most likely didn’t ask you to advertise the show in that way).
But back to the disappointing plotline...things dragged for a couple formulaic episodes, but I was actually looking forward to the payoff after Veronica got drugged. That created some interesting possibilities. All I can say is, tonight’s episode better be phenomenal...if the major players behind the rape scandal are a bunch of females who hate Greeks, then this will have been a severe letdown.
- Where in the hell has Mac been? She’s not my favorite character by any means, but this was supposed to be the season in which she emerged as a major player...and instead she hasn’t made an appearance, I believe, since the second episode. How long was this supposed “family funeral” supposed to last? Two months? The Butterfly’s theory is that she was deemed to hefty for TV, and I scoffed at that notion...though she did look a bit skinnier in the previews for this episode. Man...that will piss me off if true. Seriously, she was the same weight at the beginning of the season as she had been for the last two seasons. Why, if true, did she have to lose weight now? And since when was her weight deemed “too hefty”? I just refuse to believe that this is true...please don’t prove me wrong, CW.
- Meanwhile, I read that Rob Thomas will likely be focusing a good portion of Mystery Arc #3 of the season around Wallace and, I guess, Mac. Good thing, because there is nothing being made of Wallace’s character. He got caught cheating in mechanical engineering, refused to drop the class because he’s always wanted to pursue that subject, then dropped basketball to buckle down and pull off a C in the class. Still...the writers are smart enough to figure out how to get him on the screen more.
- While I am complaining a lot here, I will take the time to compliment the plotline surrounding Keith Mars, not to mention the inspired casting of Laura San Giacomo (his love interest when he was That Guy in Just Shoot Me) as his married love interest. His involvement with Charisma Carpenter and the Fitzpatricks at the beginning of the season was convoluted and confusing, and while the plot will obviously circulate back to that soon enough (I assume that will be Mystery Arc #2), things have simplified for him a bit as he found love in a married woman and decided he needed to stick to being Veronica’s hero and not let her down by being The Guy Who Ruined the Marriage.
- Meanwhile, Veronica’s disappointment in the two men of her life has once again allowed Kristen Bell to show off a different set of acting chops. It’s to the point where I would watch her in anything (even with bad hair). At times, Veronica seems to mature, and the anger and slight immaturity she’s shown toward Keith and Logan have served to remind everybody that she’s still supposed to be 19 or 20 years old. She has also revealed (and admitted to) major trust issues, particularly with Logan, and that is apparently going to be the major cause for their inevitable breakup.
- I mentioned in my last update a while back that Jason Dohring seemed bored with Logan Echolls’ plotlines...well not anymore. He’s great when he’s mixing the bad boy/sad puppy dog personas, the scene in last week’s episode in which he called Veronica from the other end of the food court and watched her see his name on the caller ID and put the phone back in her pocket was his best scene of the season...which is impressive since he didn’t even say a word.
- Speaking of being complimentary, the guest appearances (with one exception) in this season have been both phenomenal and hilarious. No other show could get away with featuring Laura San Giacomo, Ed Begley Jr., Patty Hearst (who was awful and completely devoid of personality in last week’s episode), and The Guy from The Nanny, in addition to Rory's Boyfriend from Gilmore Girls, The Most Well-Known of the Geeks from Freaks and Geeks, the Best Friend from Boy Meets World, etc.
- One more memo to Rob Thomas: Heroes has now passed VM as The Butterfly’s favorite show. Just so you know. You gonna let that happen? Get to crackin’.
UPDATE: Apparently Tina Majorino, who plays Mac, has also been filming the next season of HBO's Big Love, and that's the major reason why she hasn't been on the show recently. Good. Don't tell The Butterfly, but for once I'm glad she was wrong.
Seriously, don't tell her.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Deep Thoughts about Veronica Mars (Episode 2)
Quick synopsis: Veronica starts the episode off feeling extreme guilt about Mac’s roommate’s rape (and subsequent buzz-cutting) because she could have prevented it—she walked into the room to get tickets to something or the other and the lights were out, but she figured whatever was going on was consensual because she and Mac had the impression that Mac’s roommate was a slut. Turns out she was being raped. She overcomes the guilt by vowing to catch the rapist (and something tells me she will...call it a hunch). In the meantime, she joins the school newspaper as a photographer and gets assigned to infiltrate a slutty sorority that gets pledges drunk and has them strip in a ‘secret room’ with a 2-way mirror for members of the brother fraternity to watch. She pledges that sorority and manages (of course) to sneak into said secret room...and finds that it’s actually a sun room with lots of marijuana plants in it (what’s with my favorite shows and weed? First Weeds and now Mars...hmm, don’t answer that...in fact, forget I brought it up at all). She takes the story to her Greeks-hating editor, then finds out (from a sorority sister who is actually cool and down-to-earth and violates the whole sorority stereotype) that the marijuana is actually for the house mother, who has been undergoing chemo. She got the seeds from a botany professor, and they’ve been growing it secretly so she could keep doing her job or something. She feels regret and tries to prevent the story from being published, but to no avail. She goes to the house to warn them to get rid of the pot...and loses a friend in the process.
That darn Veronica...pissing people off wherever she goes...
Meanwhile...
Logan and Wallace take part in Unrealistic College Moment #2...a sociology experiment where volunteers are separated into torturers and torturees to see how well torture works. Wallace is part of the team of guards (along with the best friend from Boy Meets World), Logan one of the detainees (along with one of the guys from Freaks and Geeks). Loser has to “streak across campus” (because this is apparently 1967, not 2006). Long story short, Wallace’s team wins, and apparently “streak across campus” turns into “streak through sociology class”, which, in my experience at least, would be Unrealistic College Moment #3.
Also, Mac’s roommate’s parents come to take her home to Colorado, and it turns out her mother is domineering and angry, telling her things like “You’re not mature enough to be on your own” and “I should have known this would happen” and the like. Mac surprises herself by telling her roommate she should stay, and I assume that’s what will happen. This could lead to an interesting dynamic since her roommate now hates Veronica, who revealed the whole “I could have stopped it had I known you weren’t actually a slut in so many words” thing.
Also, Veronica’s dad wandered through the desert (literally) for most of the episode before finding a police station and directing authorities to the house of the now-murdered Charisma Carpenter...I mean, Kendall Casablancas. Of course, there was no dead body there. And one Fitzpatrick killed another. And then Keith sold a million-dollar painting and gave the proceeds to the Neptune Food Bank. Honestly, I haven’t totally processed this plotline yet (I obviously missed something here), so that’s all I’ll mention of it.
Thoughts...
* No Piz this episode? And no Weevil in the first two? I guess it is the sign of a great show when you can take one of the more obvious upcoming plotlines (Veronica leaves Logan for Piz; Weevil gets tried for murder...he’s still in the opening credits, so I have to figure this is coming) and put it on the back-burner...and still end up with a relatively interesting episode.
* Honestly, I have the feeling the writers don’t really know what to do with Logan at this point. You have to figure a breakup is coming, especially since he and Veronica have spent a total of about 4 minutes on-screen together so far, but they either don’t know how to orchestrate it, or they don’t know what to do with his character after the breakup, so they’re just sort of putting it off. But again, they avoided this completely and still ended up with a watchable episode. That’s...something. And honestly, in the first couple of episodes Jason Dohring (who plays Logan) has seemed pretty bored. He’s at his best when things are intense, and that definitely hasn’t been the case so far.
* Line of the Night comes from Dick, spotting a pretending-to-be-drunk-to-see-if-they’ll-take-her-into-the-secret-room Veronica at a Theta Beta party: “Somewhere in an alternate universe, Bizarro Dick is being a total killjoy.” (Runner-up, Veronica: “In the ‘70s, they had The Hustle. In the ‘80s, it was the Moonwalk. Now, we have the faux-lesbian dance.”)
* I was actually pleased with the characterizations of both sororities and people who hate sororities. It’s too easy to paint one as evil and one as good, and few shows would show the shades of grey here. Veronica expected to walk into a cult or a whore house and found that a lot of the people were kind and respectful; meanwhile, the anti-Greek newspaper editor (and the bitchy volunteer who drove pseudo-drunk Veronica back to the dorms after the sorority sent her home for being too drunk) came across as a little too lustful for bringing the Theta Betas down. Lots of stereotypes still at play here, but I was grateful for at least a few grey shades. (Honestly, my early candidate for the Buzz Cutting Offender is the bitchy free ride giver. But I know I'm wrong, and that's okay.)
Alright, I think that’s it for now. Off to http://talkingvm.blogspot.com to see what else is being said...
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Veronica Mars Season Premiere Live Blog!
8:21pm – Alrighty. The Butterfly’s made her tea and sufficiently recovered emotionally from that gripping Gilmore Girls (dammit, Luke, why must you be so cold?), I’ve set up the laptop, and we’ve allowed enough time to go by to where we don’t have to watch any commercials. This can only mean one thing...
VERONICA MARS LIVE BLOG*, BABY.
That’s right. For those of you who were worried about how I was going to fill that hour-long hole in my Tuesdays since I no longer have Pirates Rants™ to write for a while, fear not. I have come up with a way to fill that hole in the most unproductive way possible.
ON WITH THE SHOW!
8:23 – Scene 1 begins with Veronica, new curly hairdo in tow, walking across a campus that, as Butterfly quickly points out, looks a lot like UC-Sunnydale from Buffy.
8:25 – First unrealistic college moment of the season—an unreasonably attractive professor hands out clues to a murder mystery in a class called Introduction to Criminology. Gee…I wonder who’s going to be the first one to solve it?
8:26 – Veronica gets in trouble for reading a magazine…and then it turns out she’s already solved the mystery! She set the new record! Six minutes! Who knew? And the previous record-holder, now teacher’s assistant, is huffy. And she embarrasses him. Not a good way to make friends.
8:28 – Okay, the new intro is weird. They remixed the song. I hate remixes. And it’s slow and strange. Boo.
8:29 – Logan has heard from Dick, who’s apparently a mess. I guess at some point I should fill in some background plot and cast information since, judging by the ratings, not that many potential readers have probably watched this show. Here goes...
Cast of Characters
Veronica – obviously the main character. Her dad, Keith, is a private detective and former sheriff, and she’s joined in on the family business. In high school, classmates were coming to her to solve their problems, and methinks the same thing will happen in college.
Logan – Veronica’s rich-boy boyfriend. His dad is famous actor Aaron Echols (Harry Hamlin, absolutely perfect casting). Season One (running plotline: who killed Veronica’s best friend Lilly?) ended with Aaron having killed Lilly after an illicit affair. Season Two (running plotline: who blew up a busload of students, of which Veronica was supposed to be one?) ended with Aaron being acquitted of murder and then being shot by a hired gun. Logan lives in the penthouse of the Neptune Grand.
Wallace – Veronica’s best friend. His mom and her dad dated for a while.
Dick – Rich, shallow, partying smartass who hits on every girl that breathes (except for Veronica, whom he called “Kryptonite for rich people” last season). He’s Logan’s best friend...at least he was before it turned out that Dick’s brother, Cassidy, remote detonated the busload of students then pulled a Greg Louganis off the top of the Neptune Grand (in front of Veronica and Logan) after being found out by Veronica and remote detonating a plane containing the mayor (who molested Cassidy earlier in life) and supposedly containing Veronica’s dad (it turned out he wasn’t on the plane). Tends to mess you up a bit.
Alright, where were we?
8:33 – Wallace’s new roommate is named Piz? Really, Piz? And all his belongings (including the holy grail of guitars that he saved up to buy for two years) have been stolen from his car outside the dorm? I hope Wallace knows a good detective! Preferrably one who’s short, blonde and hot!
8:34 – Okay, the first commercial break contains a sofa full of girls who look 16 discussing the first 15 minutes of the show and talking about how much college changes a person. Um, yeah. Suddenly I’m reminded that my favorite show is a) on the CW, and b) marketed toward 16-year old girls. Not cool. I feel old and creepy. Must hit fast forward sooner next time.
8:36 – Piz was going to let the local police handle things until Veronica showed up. But she’s, like, so hot, so she gets the job. He offers to give her guitar lessons, she says she’ll take $500 instead.
8:38 – Including Gilmore Girls earlier, we’ve had our second pop culture reference of the evening involving Battlestar Gallactica. Guess that’s what happens when you get on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.
8:39 – Okay, two VM episodes take place on a college campus (including a ‘college visit’ episode last season), and three girls have been raped by frat dudes and had their heads shaved. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, that makes sense...I was thinking Veronica solved the mystery of the shaved head/rape last season, but I guess she didn’t. Methinks I’m spotting one of this season’s running plots.
Veronica meets Mac outside an anti-rape rally (or something). A little more background: Mac is a computer nerd whom Veronica befriended in Season One because a) she didn’t have many friends and b) Mac could help her with any investigation involving computers. She was also Cassidy’s girlfriend before that whole “It turns out your boyfriend was a murderer...oh and it so happens that he was the one who drugged and raped Veronica in Season One...oh, and he gave her chlamydia that he got from the mayor” thing. Naturally, she’s not in the healthiest state of mind.
The current anti-rape rally is interrupted by a masked dude in a UK speedo (I bet it’s Dick), humping an inflatable doll and dancing to...Wrecks ‘N’ Effect? Uhh. So much for current pop culture references.
8:41 – The masked dude is Dick. I’m good.
8:43 – Keith Mars is giving a ride to someone who’s apparently tied to Kendall Casablancas, played by Charisma Carpenter, the Jamie Pressley of WB/CW shows (she only plays one character, The Hot B*tch on Teen Shows, but she’s so good at it that it doesn’t matter that she has no range as an actress; plus, she was on Buffy, making one more tie to that show). They’re revealing background plot too fast for me to type it. So I’ll just pretend I know what’s going on. Something tells me I’ll be needing to know a lot about this guy in the future.
Oh, so apparently the dude to whom Keith is giving a ride is a Fitzpatrick, a member of the violent Irish family that runs the seedy Neptune underworld. Why in the world is he giving a Fitzpatrick a ride? This isn’t going to end well.
8:44 – Flash to Logan and Veronica in bed at Logan’s place at 12:15am (on a school night). The phone rings, and Logan answers it before Veronica can tell him she had her phone forwarded to his so she could be at his place without her dad knowing. Not surprisingly, it’s her dad on the line. Awk-ward.
8:45 – Uh oh. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Veronica is going to end up with Piz. But I can’t say anything to The Butterfly, because she’s quite the Logan fan. But this is no time for suspicion because Veronica’s piecing together clues for the Mystery of Piz’ Stolen Goods.
8:47 – And we’re introduced with Mac’s slutty roommate (the computer geek rooms with a future slutty sorority girl...didn’t see THAT coming), who invites Veronica over to watch Top Model with them. Product placement! And they’re off to a rock show so Veronica can do some sleuthing! Hope it’s at The Bronze!
8:48 – The Bronze? God. I just made a Buffy reference all on my own. I hate who I’ve become. I do not respect myself anymore.
8:51 – Line of the night so far: “Breasts...or the holy grail of guitars?”
8:52 – Some kid with a really strange Boston-via-Glasgow accent gives Veronica a clue. Something about a hot girl in a fat suit. Or something. Seriously, typing makes me miss stuff. This is hard work.
8:53 – And Dick comes knocking at Mac’s door, looking for her slutty roommate. Oh, and he tells Mac that his brother never liked her. That darn Dick.
8:58 – Veronica volunteers to start mentoring, again to search for clues. And wouldn’t you know it, the teacher’s assistant leaves the room and she’s able to search through files just like she was hoping to. Amazing how that works.
8:59 – Logan and Veronica are eating at the mall. Yup, bad sign. Logan makes his second appearance on the show, in comparison to Piz’ (Piz’s? Piz’z?) ten or so. He gives her his room key as a gift. Aww. And there’s Dick, hitting on some girl who has a huge boyfriend...beating him up until Logan stun guns him. This happens all the time when I’m in a mall food court.
9:02 – Veronica has the mystery solved! And it’s time to embarrass the perpetrator while catching him! (Meanwhile, apparently “Veronica” is the hardest word in the English language for me to type...every time I’ve attempted it today, I’ve had to backspace after typing “Vernocia”. Which slows me down that much more.)
9:03 – The Butterfly: “Yeah, but I like Logan. And I mean...Piz...that’s just stupid.” Yeah, she’s caught on. We both see bad news in Logan’s future.
9:04 – Yeah, it’s official. This show requires way too much attention to detail for me to be typing during it. That’s right, I’m retiring from live blogging already. I’ll leave that to the pros. And, of course, berlin niebuhr. But just remember—I called the Piz thing way early on.
9:05 – And Veronica makes a “Boom goes the dynamite” reference. I love this show. Meanwhile, Charisma Carpenter makes her first official appearance of the season (aww, yeah) as Keith and New Cast Member Dude show up at her house.
9:07 – Keith’s walking in the dark. Here’s where we officially move into “not going to end well” territory. Yup, there’s the empty gun holster. Keith runs toward the house, but there are the gun shots. Yup, unless Mr. Fitzpatrick is a horrible shot, I’m guessing Charisma Carpenter just made her last appearance on the show. Bummer. Running from the house, Keith trips and hides behind a large rock. For some reason, the gunman doesn’t chase after him. Okay. Well there’s your other running plotline for the season. Amazing how trouble follows the Mars family everywhere.
9:08 – Dick appears at Logan’s door, bloody, drunk, crying, and saying “I messed up bad.”
9:09 – Back to Mac’s dorm room. Veronica’s buzzed, and I’m thinking Mac’s roommate is a goner. Actually, no...she’s just raped and bald. So I didn’t wasn’t 100% right. And...cut to credits. They tried to set that up like you’re supposed to suspect Dick of being the rapist, but unless the writers are off their game this season, I’m thinking he’s not. That would be too easy.
9:11 – My ass is asleep and those 16-year olds are talking about how Lorelai should have told Luke she cheated on him earlier on Gilmore Girls. Like, totally. This is apparently tied to a running American Eagle ad, which is just depressing. I don’t want to deal with this all season.
9:12 – Next week on Veronica Mars: Veronica joins a sorority, and it’s party time! Okay, not quite what I was expecting. Tune in! Because lord knows you won’t be getting any more live blogs from me!
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* As long as “live blog” means “typing it offline, spending sufficient time editing it to make it sound like I’m much more quick-thinking and witty in real-time, and then posting it a day later.