Wow. Re: Veronica Mars Finale

Consider this the online equivalent of a standing ovation.

Wow.

Or better yet: Holy crap.

Now THAT is how you do a season finale.

For the last hour, I have been staring at my TV alternating between holding my breath, biting my nails, and feeling shivers down my spine. Damn, that was good TV. No, scratch that, that was damn good storytelling - that was damn good ART. That, along with last week's episode of Veronica Mars, were two of the best, most satisfying, most exciting, most unpredictable episodes of television I've ever seen. So first of all, to a.) anyone who prejudged this show and thinks it's some stupid teen soap or something, and to b.) anyone who hasn't watched it yet for whatever reason, I say: GET WITH THE PROGRAM - THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE beST SHOW ON TV RIGHT NOW. When the Season 1 DVD is released in a few months, I implore you, go out, buy it, rent it whatever, but just watch it if you need to catch up so you're primed and ready for Season 2. Because by some miracle this fairly low rated show got renewed, and there is NO WAY that people should be skipping it in favor of the utter CRAP that is pulling in the ratings right now. On a quick aside, it is truly disturbing to see that next week, in the now-sacred timeslot of Veronica Mars, will be a reality show about Britney Spears and her white trash husband - a sad state of affairs indeed. But anyway, I don't want to dwell on that travesty. I want to talk about tonight's season finale, which was , to use one of my favorite words, freakin' awesome!

But first ... some obligatory Spoiler Space.




SPOILERS AHEAD!





So the slightly sadistic faded movie star, Aaron Echols, is Lilly Kane's killer! He was having a scandalous, secret affair with her - his own son's girlfriend (!) and murdered her in a fit of rage when she playfully threatened to reveal the videotapes (!) he had secretly been making of their escapades. I have to say, this was revealed so well. Honestly, I didn't really suspect him, but the clues were revealed JUST RIGHT so that in the moments before it became clear who killed Lilly, I guessed exactly what happened, because just as it did for Veronica, things began to make perfect sense to us the viewers as well. This dark, exciting, season-concluding episode did a FANTASTIC job of addressing all the major mysteries and subplots while still throwing plenty of twists and turns in as well. In the first few minutes alone, we were made to think that the mentally unstable Duncan Kane killed his sister. But no, later we find that his parents only thought he did, and therefore tried to cover his tracks and avert suspicion. Then we were led to believe, as was Veronica, that Lilly's off-kilter ex-boyfriend, Logan Echols was the jealous murderer. But when the final reveal came, it was dramatic, heartbreaking, and yet totally surprising.

And yet, despite all the mysteries it was the CHARACTER MOMENTS that really shone. I don't think I've seen a more powerful scene in a long while then the entire sequence where Aaron Echols traps Veronica, as her father rushes to her rescue. The action in this scene was realistic, gritty, and scary - someone was going to get hurt, bad - and Keith Mars' (now shown to be Veronica's actual father!) desperation to save his daughter was truly palpable. Seriously, wow. All of the relationships on the show really came to a head here. Veronica's love and appreciation for her dad, her loyal friendship to Wallace, her rocky romance with Logan and eventual betrayel, Weevil's rivalry and suspicion of Logan, the tension between Veronica and her deadbeat mom, Aaron Echols predatory, violent nature, Duncan's uncertainty and his bond with Veronica. This is epic, complex, multidimensional stuff. No wonder this show gets low ratings.

Now even with something this good there's bound to be a few complaints. A few little things that bothered me:

- No opening theme song! What? The kickass theme by the Dandy Warhols is so key to this show and is crucial in setting the tone. Well, I guess I can accept it if it allowed for a few extra minutes of program time.

- Wait, what the ...? What happened to Logan? He looked like he was about to plunge himself off a bridge, or maybe get pounded into street meat by Weevil's gang. What happened? So that's one mystery for next (thank God) season ...

- But then, another cliffhanger? I would have rather seen just closure, but okay, I'll bite, who opened Veronica's door at the end? Gotta be Logan, Duncan, or the choice I'm gonna go with, Wallace, who reamined her one true, normal friend throughout the season.

- The one scene I thought was kind of awkward was the opening where the Kanes tell Duncan what "really" happened - that he murdered his own sister (which of course was false). The scenes just felt a bit off and the reactions unrealistic. Oh well, still ...

Amazing, amazing episode. Incredible show. This season finale really showed this to be a series with a lot of complex themes, not just a one-note mystery. But oh what a mystery it was. Thank you to all of the creators involved. Thank you to the amazing cast. Job well done.

My grade: A+

Well, what ELSE is goin' on?

More ticket-office fun at NBC. Since they're low on personnel, I went at it mostly alone today, and I tell ya it's enough to drive a man insane. At least 5 legit psychos called the office today. One woman hung up on me because I was being "rude" (when in actuality I was very polite, but told her that I didn't know how the bus system in Burbank worked) and kept saying I was ignoring her for some reason ... Then this crazy dude with a psycho-killer voice kept saying how we should have "nice women" on the show like, get this, Pamela Anderson and Tori Amos. Okay ... And then a guy who yelled at me for not knowing fluent Spanish (sorry!), a girl who absolutely could not find our office despite talking on a cell phone RIGHT OUTSIDE OF IT, and oh so many more ... CRAZINESS I say! Literally!

Oh yeah - last night's 24 -- good stuff, kind of a filler, laid-back ep (for 24) but still darn good nonetheless, highlighted by some hilarious lines from Chloe ("So Jack, it's going to be very awkward for you to talk to Audrey now, seeing as how you just destroyed her life by being responsible for the death of her husband and all." = Bwahahahaha). Jack finally gets his hands on Marwan -- nice, very intense. And hey, there's no better cliffhanger than a nuclear missle getting launched somewhere in the heart of Middle America. Yeah, I think I'll be tuning in next week, you know, just to see how that little plot point turns out. OVerall though this episode dragged a bit in a few places and did seem overly drawn out, not REALLY picking up steam until the final 15 minutes or so ... (yep, despite all that other stuff goin' on). My grade: B+

Well, my PACERS got owned by the Pistons yesterday, and their chances aren't looking good. More on this as it develops - but GO PACERS and win game 2 tommorow!

Alright, tommorow it's more adventures in the Ticket Office. As usual I just do my job as all the drama unfolds around me. Yep, in the page program every day is basically one handheld camera away from being an episode of The Real World, so you can bet that there'll be lots of mail to open, more than a few phone calls likely originating from a padded cell somewhere, and a healthy dose of drama that should best be saved for yo' mama, if you know what I mean. And I think you do.