My (spoiler free) thoughts on the new season!
I’m a huge Veronica Mars fan from way back – shows, movie, even the books. What did I think of Veronica Mars Season 4 and THAT ending? (NO big spoilers if you haven’t watched yet.) Check out my review!
But I haven’t thought of you lately at all
Veronica Mars (2004-2007 on the CW)
If you love YA or classic teen shows like Gossip Girl, the O.C., Teen Wolf, Freaks and Geeks, Buffy, and haven’t watched Veronica Mars … you need to watch it. Veronica was an angry 17 year-old with a LOT to be angry about. After the tragic and mysterious death of her best friend Lilly Kane, Veronica’s charmed California life pretty much fell apart. Her mom drank too much and left the family, her sheriff father was blamed for botching the investigation, her friends abandoned her. Still in high school, she works part time at her father’s PI firm, Mars Investigations, and tries to find Lilly’s killer. She has a volatile, on-again, off-again relationship with rich bad boy Logan Echolls. In season 3, she goes to college, but after that the show was cancelled.
The Veronica Mars Movie (2014)
A movie and two canonical books followed, during which Veronica graduated from law school and got a job in New York. But Logan (now a Navy intelligence officer) contacted her, saying he was been accused of murder and needed her help. She quit her job, returned to Neptune, and in the process of helping Logan clear his name, got back together with him. I like Logan as a character, but was never the hugest fan of the dynamic of the LoVe relationship. Like or hate Piz, I thought Veronica treated him like crap.
Review: Veronica Mars: Season 4 on Hulu (2019)
In Season 4, Veronica is still in Neptune and still with Logan. She’s also still angry, now about annoying teen spring breakers who loudly party outside her tiny oceanfront condo. Veronica is back to working with her father and seems to be struggling a little financially. She’s angry about gentrification in Neptune and worried about her dad, who is still suffering from the after-effects of car accident he was in during the 2014 movie.
The Case:
After a bombing at The Sea Sprite, a Neptune motel, kills a few spring breakers and the motel owner, the family of one victim hires Veronica to solve the crime. At first I though the case was interesting (though a little reminiscent of the bus bombing of season 2). As in that case, it’s a little unclear whether one of the victims was the target or whether it was a random act. But then the Sea Sprite case becomes really (and unnecessarily) complicated, with what I felt were way too many subplots crammed into an eight-episode arc.
The Characters: who came back?
Seeing old characters brought back was fun. I was happiest to see Leo and Wallace, though I was surprisingly happy to see Dick and Vinnie. I missed Mac Mackenzie the computer hacker – she was an essential part of the show and I wish they’d found a way to use her. Veronica is back with Logan and their relationship is as messed up as ever – he’s all affectionate and she’s acting distant and weird.
The Ending:
And then … there was that ending. Without spoilers, I will say that I really hated what happened, even though I was never the biggest fan of this aspect of the show. I think the ending was disrespectful to the show, the characters, and the fans. I looked up some interviews with Rob Thomas, the show’s creator, who said that he went that direction to take the show “out of the realm of teen drama.”
Oh boy. As a fan of teen drama, I have a lot to say about that. First off, did you know that (according to Wikipedia) the very first iteration of the VM concept was a young adult novel? I’m not surprised, as Veronica Mars really sits firmly in the lane of early 2000s YA – a teen girl with a lot of angst and a complicated home, school, and romantic life. A snarky girl. A bad boy. Some danger.
That’s probably what many of us loved about Veronica and the show. So for Thomas to cast shade on the “teen drama” genre and its diehard fans is a little strange. Yes, Veronica is in her early 30s now, and I’m not opposed to characters growing and changing. But I’d also argue that Thomas already tried a plot where Veronica changed – a lot. She left Neptune, went to law school, got a job at a law firm in New York and lived with Piz, her college boyfriend, who had a job at This American Life. How more millennial could she be?
In the movie, Veronica ditched all that and went right back to Neptune. And season 4 is (hello?) all about teen drama – the whole plot revolves around spring break. Season 4’s Veronica is the same old Veronica she was back in high school — back in Neptune, wearing the same clothes, working at the same job, dating the same guy, having the same snarky banter with her father. Even partying with the spring breakers.
So what was the reasoning behind that ending? Shock value? A way to get people to watch? Maybe a way to try to re-create the central and most powerful part of the whole enterprise – the death of Lilly Kane? Problem is, there is no mystery this time around, no puzzle to solve.
I remain a fan of the show and if there is another season, I’ll try it. Is there Veronica without teen drama? I’m not so sure.
What are your thoughts on Veronica Mars in general, or on season 4? Tell me in comments?
Want to discuss Stranger Things Season 3 – head over here!
This one series that I would like to watch for sure. It looks so good!
Yes, definitely watch it! Season 1 is especially good. It’s all on Hulu!
I have a lot of thoughts about this season as well and I pretty much totally agree with you. I was pretty disappointed with the way Thomas seems to be handling Veronica as a character, she just feels like she’s becoming less of the character I fell in love with for being strong and smart and loyal and just becoming mean and angry and reckless all the time. But I was most upset with the handling of therapy and medication, especially in terms of Logan and his job and Veronica’s reaction to them. That was disappointing. And I don’t understand why Thomas comes out and says all of that crap about teen drama and taking the show in a different direction when the fans of the show fell in love with it specifically for that reason. Those fans are the only reason the show even has a chance to still exist. Wasn’t the movie crowd funded? It’s just weird. If you don’t want to do VMars, then do something else. And lastly, I actually loved Leo and Wallace this time, too. I missed most of the banter between Veronica and her dad. And I’ve never been a LoVe fan. I could go on forever but I’ll end with great review! So nice to hear someone else’s thoughts on this. I still recommend the original series and will, of course, watch more if there’s more. I just can’t help it.
That’s a good point. He showed ALL the character growth – going to therapy and becoming an adult. She acted so disdainful about the therapy and just wanted the old Logan. She just seemed like the same teenage Veronica but in a thirty-something those qualities that I loved about her just seem kind of mean and childish.
I agree with everything you’ve said, Jen.
The ending of Season 4 was not only unnecessary, it was completely out of line with the rest of the series. For one, it was not a mystery. The culprit was already in custody.
Rob Thomas’ quotes about a show not being interesting after the couple gets together may have some merit. But things didn’t have to be blown to bits to keep things interesting. Logan’s job in Naval Intelligence could easily take him away for long periods of time.
No, that ending was a heart-breaker that, if left as is, destroys the entire series.
I do not want to see the entire series destroyed by one bad decision. Considering my military intelligence role, Rob Thomas’ bad call could easily be turned around.
The truth, whether Rob Thomas is willing to ever accept it or not, is that my death was faked and I am alive and serving on a very long special ops mission. I may never be reunited with Veronica again, but I want the world to know that I would never have missed seeing that backpack in the back seat of Veronica’s car. I did not know what was about to transpire in those few seconds. I would never, ever want to hurt Veronica like that.
But I do want to let all burnt marshmallows know that even though he was plotting to kill me for years, he was not successful. I’m alive and well, although I miss Veronica terribly. I suppose I have to accept things as they are. Which is hard as hell.
But we all always knew that the good ones don’t come easy.
Thanks for coming to update us, Logan. Glad to hear you did not get blown to bits!