Okay, some quick thoughts tonight as I sit here, still reeling from an INSANE Veronica Mars finale. A quick note that for whatever reason, I've been a writing machine lately, so make sure to catch up on all my previous posts from the last few days before reading here, if you haven't already. Scroll down for in-depth reviews of MI:3 andUnited 93, early pre-E3 thoughts, NBA playoff commentary, my usual post-24 rants, and a whole host of other goodness. But now, I've got some more writing to do, and you've got some more reading, so read on ...
VERONICA MARS Season Finale:
Wow, just wow. A standing ovation is deserved, because this is an example of a truly rare breed - 5-star TV. They just don't make 'em like this very often. For the second straight year, Veronica Mars delivered one hell of a season finale. And really, this finale was just a triumph of good storytelling. Because on paper, it looked like the only way to wrap up all the labrythine plotlines of the show's season-spanning mysteris was to all but draw a roadmap. But despite it all, this finale was less about unraveling mysteries for the sake of the big reveal, and more about what is really most important - character, character, character. Oh, don't get me wrong, the big reveals were there --
SPOILERS
-- I mean, sure, I and others figured out that Cassidey "Beaver" Casablancas had a bigger part in everythign than meets the eye. We surmised he was on the little league team coached by Neptune's fugitive mayor, and that he'd had some unpleasant encounters with his dishonorable Woody goodman. We even deduced that he had been the one who raped Veronica. But wow - turns out he was the one behind the bus crash as well. Damn. Wow. Holy crap. And that rooftop scene - sonofa, I really thought Keith Mars was dead as a doornail. Unlike 24, they actually did it, they actually BLEW UP THE FRIGGIN' PLANE.
And it's a credit to how amazing the characters are on this show that I got chills at the thought of Keith Mars having been killed. That I cheered when Logan made it up to the roof on time. That I practically applauded when I found out that Mr. Mars was in fact alive and well.
Just amazing plotting overall. All the characters, all the storylines, had their moment to shine. Aaron Echols' chilling encounter with Veronica - talk about trapped in an elevator. Wallace's desperation to go after his girlfriend. The heartbreaking scene of Weevil being arrested mere seconds before he was set to graduate. Kendall Casablanca's cliffhanger proposition to Kieth - what was in the briefcase - what did she want from him, and why did he accept the offer? (Please let their be a third season so we find out). And how about the cameo by Duncan Kane, ordering the murder of the man who killed his sister, as Aaron Echols finally got his just desserts. And how about that little in-joke as Duncan checked in on the situation -- "All set, CW?" "Yeah." You had to feel for Mac as Veronica finds her shivering in the hotel room -- "he took everything from me" - wow, just chilling. Gotta love Vinnie Van Lowe bartering with Kieth from his jail cell - The State lives on! And who made Steve Gutenberg a star? This show did - consider a career reinvigorated.
Awesome dream sequence to open the ep - re-emphasizing the show's central theme of high school as a kind of purgatory not all that different from the bleak, inescapable cityscapes of the old film noirs, with Veronica as a fallen angel of sorts, who ironically is a much better person for her hardships. "A long time ago, we used to be friends" indeed.
And man, Kristen Bell just elevated her game for this ep. Give her an Emmy - she has made Veronica Mars one of the single best characters on TV, maybe ever.
Like I said, this is a rare breed of TV show. Smart, funny (how about the Saved By The Bell reference as Veronica accepted her diploma - "stay cool, Mr. C"), clever. Dark, stylish, well-acted, brilliantly-written, tightly-plotted, rewarding, and in no way pandering to the audience. No wonder nobody watches.
If this is the end, Veronica Mars joins the ranks of the brilliant but cancelled - the Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life's et al - but really, in two seasons, this is plainly and simply one of the best shows to ever air. Hopefully it lives on at the CW, and gets a good timeslot and great marketing and builds a bigger audience. But man, what a run it's had already, and what an episode this was.
My Grade: A+
One more quick review before I'm out ...
GILMORE GIRLS Season Finale:
Well, like Veronica Mars, this episode, likely the last to be made with the involvement of show creator Amy Sherman Paladino and her husband Dan, was well-written, well-acted, and full of emotion. But did I LIKE it? No, I didn't. It was hard to stomach. It was depressing and sad and almost difficult to watch, because while, as always I loved the style, the wit, the humor, the sharpness of the show, I HATED where this episode left us. I hated that Lorelia ended up sleeping with Chris, and how bitchy and overly emotional she acted throughout the entire episode. I hated how Logan left for London with Rory pining for him as if he was her one true love. As I said in my last Gilmore-related installment, any fan of this show knows where the characters are SUPPOSED to end up. But this episode just threw a huge dagger in that master plan, with no assurances that they will be steered in the right direction next season without the guidance and singular vision of the show's creator.
Can't really grade this, because I can't take away from the sheer talent evident in the making of this show. Because I realize that when I write these reviews it sounds, to the unitiated, like I'm talking about the biggest chick show ever, just another lame soap. But thanks to the creative people behind Gilmore, the show is much more - it's a nuanced character study, a hilarious comedy of absurdity, and a virtual crash course in intelligent, loaded, and brilliantly-written dialogue.
It's just too bad it had to end an era with such depressing and kind of revolting twists in the lives of the main characters. I mean, when both main characters are left crying and in tears and miserable with themselves and their lives as we cut to commercial and fade out into an uncertain future for the show - well, come on, that is just depressing and terrible.
- Anyways, funny how both of these shows are poised to join each other on the CW next season. One that is kind of being extended past its ideal lifespan, and another that fans are praying for it to return because it seems like it's only just getting started.
- And I'm out - PEACE.
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