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"Veronica Mars" Season 4 - Pre-Viewing Thoughts and Reflections
So this morning I just finished reading Mr. Kiss and Tell, the second of the two post-film Veronica Mars novels. I enjoyed both more than I hoped (and I already expected to) so I'm especially psyched to be heading into this new season of the show.
I didn't watch Veronica Mars when it was still on the air. I mean, not really. I first discovered the show after catching an airing on the CW on Halloween night 2007, when the episode "President Evil" (season 3, episode 5) aired for the first time, when I was 16 years old. The contemporary college setting mixed with an intelligence I didn't normally associate with teen shows of the time intrigued me, though I only got around to binging the show the following summer - right around when the show got cancelled. I had spent the previous couple of years devouring Nancy Drew books, and I found the show completely and utterly addicting. The following summer it inspired me to binge all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and began my true descent into the teen TV realm of the likes of Gossip Girl, Hidden Palms, and Pretty Little Liars as well as genre fare like Firefly and Dollhouse.
As the years went by and there didn't seem to be any movement on the revival front, I steadily gave up hope. And then one day in 2013 they announced a Kickstarter for the movie. After freaking out, I donated right away, and followed all the behind the scenes updates closely up until the movie's release a year later. While fanservicey, I loved it, and for all intents and purposes it served as the "satisfying" series finale the show had been lacking. At the time, I noted that they were planning on releasing two follow-up novels, but as I had fallen off reading in a big way at that point, I never got around to reading them until this past month.
I give the slight edge to The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, if for no other reason than they managed to get Kristen Bell to record the audiobook. But both novels succeeded in bringing thrills, intrigue, and some minor discomfort that I had come to expect from the series. It had grown up, but not too much, and they both served to address loose ends from the movie and the original show that, while they did tie up plots, mostly served to further the arcs of their main characters. Veronica fully embracing her life as a detective in the film was a key turning point for this franchise, and I'm extremely excited to see where the show goes with it's new lease on life.
With some minor (and one major) exception, I've managed to remain unspoiled for the new season, even though it was released almost two weeks ago. The minor spoilers - Weevil's fractured relationship with Veronica, Veronica and Logan adopting a puppy named Pony, and a new Sheriff named Marcia Langdon - were not insurmountable, and were in fact elements that were introduced and carried over from Mr. Kiss and Tell, and actively informed my experience reading that book. Really, the film and the two novels formed a season worth of story on their own, and even though they take place 4-5 years before the new season, do a really good job laying the groundwork for the state of Neptune and these characters for the next chapters in their story.
The major spoiler - a certain character death - is one I'm annoyed I was spoiled for but not one I have any particular thoughts on one way or another because I don't know any of the context for it aside from the fact it occurs in the finale. I have to say though, I'm going into this with an optimistic and open mind. What little feedback I saw from people whose taste I trust who did watch was positive, and I'm really thrilled they've taken the Star Wars approach to continuing this story (taking risks and not being beholden to fan expectations) rather than ones taken by properties such as Gilmore Girls, where the characters are stagnated in order to mimic what fans liked about them when they were ten years younger. And with chatter of a probable season 5 on the horizon, I can't wait to curl up on my couch this weekend and watch eight new installments of a show I twice thought was gone from my life.
I didn't watch Veronica Mars when it was still on the air. I mean, not really. I first discovered the show after catching an airing on the CW on Halloween night 2007, when the episode "President Evil" (season 3, episode 5) aired for the first time, when I was 16 years old. The contemporary college setting mixed with an intelligence I didn't normally associate with teen shows of the time intrigued me, though I only got around to binging the show the following summer - right around when the show got cancelled. I had spent the previous couple of years devouring Nancy Drew books, and I found the show completely and utterly addicting. The following summer it inspired me to binge all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and began my true descent into the teen TV realm of the likes of Gossip Girl, Hidden Palms, and Pretty Little Liars as well as genre fare like Firefly and Dollhouse.
As the years went by and there didn't seem to be any movement on the revival front, I steadily gave up hope. And then one day in 2013 they announced a Kickstarter for the movie. After freaking out, I donated right away, and followed all the behind the scenes updates closely up until the movie's release a year later. While fanservicey, I loved it, and for all intents and purposes it served as the "satisfying" series finale the show had been lacking. At the time, I noted that they were planning on releasing two follow-up novels, but as I had fallen off reading in a big way at that point, I never got around to reading them until this past month.
I give the slight edge to The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, if for no other reason than they managed to get Kristen Bell to record the audiobook. But both novels succeeded in bringing thrills, intrigue, and some minor discomfort that I had come to expect from the series. It had grown up, but not too much, and they both served to address loose ends from the movie and the original show that, while they did tie up plots, mostly served to further the arcs of their main characters. Veronica fully embracing her life as a detective in the film was a key turning point for this franchise, and I'm extremely excited to see where the show goes with it's new lease on life.
With some minor (and one major) exception, I've managed to remain unspoiled for the new season, even though it was released almost two weeks ago. The minor spoilers - Weevil's fractured relationship with Veronica, Veronica and Logan adopting a puppy named Pony, and a new Sheriff named Marcia Langdon - were not insurmountable, and were in fact elements that were introduced and carried over from Mr. Kiss and Tell, and actively informed my experience reading that book. Really, the film and the two novels formed a season worth of story on their own, and even though they take place 4-5 years before the new season, do a really good job laying the groundwork for the state of Neptune and these characters for the next chapters in their story.
The major spoiler - a certain character death - is one I'm annoyed I was spoiled for but not one I have any particular thoughts on one way or another because I don't know any of the context for it aside from the fact it occurs in the finale. I have to say though, I'm going into this with an optimistic and open mind. What little feedback I saw from people whose taste I trust who did watch was positive, and I'm really thrilled they've taken the Star Wars approach to continuing this story (taking risks and not being beholden to fan expectations) rather than ones taken by properties such as Gilmore Girls, where the characters are stagnated in order to mimic what fans liked about them when they were ten years younger. And with chatter of a probable season 5 on the horizon, I can't wait to curl up on my couch this weekend and watch eight new installments of a show I twice thought was gone from my life.