For those of you who haven’t seen it *SPOILERS FROM HERE ON*, season four has Veronica (Kristen Bell) chasing down a serial bomber who seems to be trying to destroy the Spring Break business in Neptune. It turns out that the first bomb was set by property developer ‘Big’ Dick Casablancas, trying to destroy the Spring Break business in order to buy the waterfront properties cheaply, and the subsequent bombs were set by a pizza delivery man, Penn Epner (Patton Oswalt), who fancies himself a detective and is out to find glory after he is initially ridiculed for his public accusation of an incorrect suspect. The season itself had several issues (one of them being some seriously murky motivations behind Epner’s behaviour, like, if he really was that much of a genius, why was he a pizza delivery man?, and that the people ultimately behind the crimes are more or less ‘hidden in plain sight’ all along, which is a disappointing departure from the way the initial seasons cleverly hid the villain until quite late in proceedings). However, the issue for which there is not enough therapy in the world to appease me is the season’s last-minute killing off of reformed bad-boy and Veronica’s long-time boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), right after they finally got married.

Series creator and showrunner, Rob Thomas, justified this decision by saying ‘I know this seems crazy or harsh but Veronica is at her best when she’s an underdog and I don’t know that there’s much to root for if she’s now got a perfect relationship. I need to keep her fighting and I need to keep her a little bit uncomfortable in order to have a show. There’s nothing funny or interesting about perfection.’

Except that’s a deeply flawed understanding of how relationships function, and a deeply messed up thing to push on to people.

It’s fair to acknowledge that once the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ is resolved, TV shows often decline in quality, or at the very least, significantly depart from the original formula which made them into such beloved hits at their beginning. But there are two significant issues with this: First, the assumption that TV shows must remain the same in order to be good. There are some interesting observations that the job of the sitcom episode (in particular) is to return all characters to more or less their original starting points. While that is broadly true, TV shows, like life, need to evolve in order to stay interesting, and as across seasons, audiences grow alongside the characters they watch evolve and mature.

Nevertheless, it was fair for Thomas to note that the characterisation of Veronica is someone who is embittered and cynical about people’s fidelity and inherent goodness  – after all, when we first meet her at the age of sixteen, her best friend has been brutally murdered, she’s been raped, her alcoholic mother has upped and left, and her adored father and moral compass has been socially ostracised for a) doing his job and b) being not super wealthy. It’s a lot. Veronica’s very understandable trust issues are compounded by the moonlighting she does as a P.I where, to she regularly sees people cheating on one another and generally behaving in unpleasant ways. So it’s reasonable to point out that for Veronica, the notion of the ‘happily ever after’ is a deeply uncomfortable one. But to keep her in the same mindset as she was at aged 16 is to deny her the capacity to grow as a character.

It’s fair that there was a desire to avoid repeating the pattern previously established (withdrawn/bitter etc), but – and here is my ultimate point – that could have been avoided.

Some of the most complex and interesting storylines come from couples who get together and have to navigate relationships; compromising to fit together, find a way to make it work. Think about the evolution of Niles and Daphne’s relationship in Frasier (and leave aside some of the aspects to his earlier infatuation with her that seem distinctly distasteful in a post-#metoo world). While much of the humour between them in earlier seasons was because of his unrealised ardour for her, after they became a couple, the hardships they navigated through being a couple, and the deepening richness of their relationship that was both romantic and based in friendship, produced some truly hilarious moments. Similarly, one of my (and our fabulous Chief Nerd, Elise’s) favourite TV shows, Chuck, *SPOILER* has the two leads get together in season 3. The show was no lesser for that fact because as Chuck and Sarah’s relationship deepened, they explored facets of themselves that they hadn’t previously shown – it provided more material for the writers, not less.

One of my favourite articles on the ending of Veronica Mars, season four, pointed out that Logan has the most interesting character development because he works to better himself – he has come a long way from the miscreant teenager who organised ‘bum fights’, and he had the potential to become an even more interesting character. How this interacted with Veronica’s cynicism could have provided significant fodder for more story.

But, giving full credit to Rob Thomas for a moment here, the show is called Veronica Mars, not Logan Echolls. So the decision to axe Logan was made to push Veronica’s character development forward, especially given the shows position as a gender-flipped noir which so often has the embittered, cynical detective dealing with the ongoing pain of a tragically killed love.

But the problem is that I can’t actually see how this is going to do anything but ossify Veronica’s primary characteristics: bitter, a hardnosed and reckless desire to catch the bad guy at any cost. Moreover, in most of the noir detective stories, this love has died before we meet the hard-bitten detective.

Thomas said to The Hollywood Reporter, “Moving forward, we’re going to really build around [the idea that] the case is the thing and less of the soap opera of Veronica’s life.” Except Veronica Mars is all about character. Her interactions with her father, Keith (Enrico Colantoni) and the genuine bond of affection between them evokes some of the show’s most poignant interactions. Her internal struggle when the pursuit of justice comes up against questions of morality is inherent grounded in her character. One of its most interest aspects across the years is that Veronica is often wrong. She falsely accuses people (including Logan himself), she behaves badly, she takes her friends for granted, and she can be reckless to the point where she endangers herself and someone has to come in and rescue her (case in point: wandering into the base of an Irish gang that had a particular grudge against her father). So to strip away the elements to the story that allow for depiction and consideration of those complexities would be to lose much of the show’s point.

There’s also a part of me that feels the way in which Logan was killed feels personal. Logan and Veronica were never initially meant to get together, but in the first episodes, the chemistry between the characters, and Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring was so profound that it was written in. I might be putting on my tin foil hat to say this, but it feels as though Thomas resented the manner in which LoVe became such a pivotal part of the Veronica Mars ‘brand’. What really underpins that for me is that the way the series sent off other characters was considered, and gave them a certain ‘exit’. The way in which Logan was killed off feels almost like an afterthought, made more so by some of the questions that arise from the manner. How did he know that she would be in it when it actually blew up? Moreover, the convenience of him leaving a voicemail for his therapist about why he wanted to marry Veronica (why exactly would he call his therapist to tell him about his epiphany? Who has that kind of relationship with their therapist?), and this woman’s decision to keep it from Veronica for a year seems weirdly contrived. Because it was.

However, to be fair, one could claim that the season mistreated some of its other characters, too. Tina Majorino who plays Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie specifically noted that she did not want to return because she did not want her character to be sidelined. Similarly, the complexity to Eli ‘Weevil’ Navaro’s character was stripped away, as was the depth of his relationship with Veronica. What’s worse is that this could have been a really interesting storyline; why he decided to walk away from the court case which would have seen him awarded with compensation for what happened to him in the movie. While we are told that his wife left him along with his child, prompting him to return to his old gang-running ways, the depth of his grief and the reputable life he lost were never really portrayed. Honestly, I would have preferred that rather than the convoluted storyline that involved Mexican cartel hitmen.

But beyond my argument as a writer as to why Logan’s death was a totally unnecessary element to bring in, it also feels like a real slap in the face to fans. I’ve previously talked about the relationship this show has with its fans. Realistically, season 4…hell, the movie, only existed because of the love and support fans showed the show.

Any narrative material exists to interact with fans. Obviously, there is a fine line that can cross into blatant pandering, and there is also a trend that offers a ‘gritty’ or ‘sad’ end (ie the tragic death of the lover), but it’s a balance.

The Veronica Mars movie was very much fan service – it was, after all, fan funded. Much of the movie’s contents and storyline were determined by what Thomas was seeing from fan comments on social media, noting “I did have an idea of things people wanted to see, characters I wanted to get an appearance in, whether it felt extraneous or not.” He added, “there’s no way in the world we would have had a fan-funded movie and I would have killed Logan,” he added.

In the same interview, he said, “I fear that leaning into the high school soap that the show started out as is a losing proposition, that it will start feeling nostalgic rather than vital. If Kristen [Bell] and I want to make more of these Veronica Mars mysteries, I think it’s going to survive best as a true mystery show with a badass PI at the center of it, and I think that works better if the PI doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Yet for a show whose who schtick was challenging the noir detective genre, it seems the prospect that someone fundamentally gritty and damaged can also have a relationship that the struggle to be healthy was simply a bridge too far.

And at the crux of it, what really frustrates me – as a fan, and as a writer – is that for Thomas, it simply felt too hard to give Logan and Veronica an enduring relationship, and it if wasn’t too difficult, then he perceived it destroyed some fundamental part of the show by making it  emotionally sappy. If that’s the dichotomy in which Thomas thinks, then Veronica Mars is no longer the show which attracted its die-hard following of fans and may as well be a different show with a similar premise.

What did you think of the final episode? Tell us in the comments below!

The post ‘Veronica Mars’ Season 4: Why I’m Still Not Okay With The Final Episode appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

There’s something unquestionably special about a kind of fan relationship to a show that endures for so long, and has seen so much created purely because of that adulation. In an interview conducted with E.T, Bell noted that in every single interview she had done for any other role she has played, she is inevitably asked about Veronica and when she will reprise the role.

So it’s no surprise that the cast members of Veronica Mars ardently claim that they have the best fans in the world. Perhaps that’s why in the middle of the Veronica Mars San Diego Comic Con 2019 panel, Kristen Bell asked Hulu to drop the season a week earlier than originally planned…and they did.

Bell said that the freshly released season is in a more adult world thanks to the way in which series creator, Rob Thomas, evolved the show. Indeed, perhaps that’s what has contributed to the mythology of this show – the fact that the cancellation enabled us to return to the world of the show with characters who had grown up off our screens. It was like we were checking in with them, and delighted with what we had seen.

As for what the actors revealed? Well Actor Francis Capra who plays Eli ‘Weevil’ Navarro claimed that Eli was secretly in love with Veronica, backing up this revelation with the exclamation, “Absolutely Weevil’s in love with this woman! Do you realize how many times this woman has bailed him out of jail?!”

Moreover, in response to a Shag, Marry, Kill, Bell responded, “F**k Leo, Marry Piz, Kill Duncan.” Some interesting choices there, for sure!

Now please excuse me while I go to Stan (the Australian streaming service on which Veronica Mars can be viewed) and while away the rest of my weekend.

Also, happy 39^th birthday, Kristen!! Thanks for sharing your birthday gift with us!

Are you excited for the series to be back? Tell us in the comments below!

The post SDCC 2019: Veronica Mars Is BACK! appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

While we wait for the much-anticipated limited series to make its appearance, here are a few great books that just might help you deal with the small, blond, detective-shaped void that we all have.

If you miss the camaraderie of Veronica and Wallace back at Neptune High, try Brittany Cavallaro’s series, A Study in Charlotte. This charming series (which can be read as stand-alone’s, as well) imagines the great-great-great grandson of Dr. Watson attends a private school in Connecticut with the great-great-great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes.

Charlotte Holmes is treated by her classmates very similarly to how Veronica was treated as the series opened, but bonds with Jaime Watson when he is treated much the same way Wallace was originally.

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will recognise various elements from his famous exploits. In the universe Cavallaro has created, the characters were all real, the adventures really happened, Dr. Watson wrote them all own, and Arthur Conan Doyle was their literary agent.

If you miss the chance to sit and solve a great, old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-style mystery, try Shari Lapena’s An Unwanted Guest.  More of a traditional “who-done-it” than a thriller, this mystery sees several guests at a secluded Inn in the Catskill Mountains. The weather turns nasty, isolating them all further as the electricity goes out and outside communication is cut off. One of the guests turns up dead in what could be an accident. But then a second guest dies.

It is easy to picture an episode where Veronica happens to be one of the guests and is the one to start snooping around to solve the mystery.

If you miss the drama involved in working with family AND trying to solve a mystery, try The Undertaker’s Daughter (also published as The Daughter) by Sara Blaedel. In this novel, Ilka Jensen, a school portrait photographer in Copenhagen who works with her mother, is suddenly summoned to Racine, Wisconsin with news that her father has died and left her his funeral home. As her father had left the family decades earlier, Ilka is desperate to find whatever answers she can about this parent she knows so little about. Hoping to go to Wisconsin, wrap up his affairs, get some answers, and return home, Ilka instead stumbles into a local mystery involving murder.

The parents are switched, but there are definite similarities to Veronica’s search for information and details about her mother and Ilka’s need for answers about her father and his secrets. We also get the interplay of working with family, but seeking independence, and how it feels to be pulled in two different directions with loyalty to two very separate parents.

If you miss Veronica’s costume and wig changes, under cover work, and near-misses, try Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart. The “hero” of this book (and boy is it a stretch to call her that) has almost nothing in common with Veronica, except for the ability to think on their toes. With very different motivations for doing so, they each have the gift of coming up with a story, explanation, or scheme on the spot. They both can keep their cool when things start to go bad, and somehow squeak out safely. This character might be who Veronica would have been in a universe without the amazing fatherly love and guidance of Keith.

If you miss the unpredictable dynamics between Veronica and Logan, try Trouble Is A Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly. It doesn’t happen right away, but as you get into this story, you almost can’t help but feel the Veronica/Logan vibe with the interaction of Zoe and Digby. He is rude and annoying, but brilliant, and maybe attractive. No matter what he gets involved in, or what story he tells her, she doesn’t know why, but Zoe just can’t say no.

If what you are really missing is everything about the series, then you are in luck as Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham have written two Veronica Mars novels that will immerse you right back into Neptune, California. The Thousand Dollar Tan Line (which the new series will “very loosely” be based on, according to Rob Thomas’s own twitter comments) and Mr. Kiss and Tell both give us the town, the characters, and the stories that we have all been missing!

Any other suggestions? Are you excited for the reboot? Tell us in the comments below!

The post 5 Books To Read If You Love ‘Veronica Mars’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

But today I’d like to talk about possibly her most important role. Veronica Mars.

Teen noir drama series Veronica Mars, created by Rob Thomas, first aired from 2004-2006. The first season follows Veronica Mars, a 16-year-old girl in the Californian town of Neptune, whose best friend Lily (played by Amanda Seyfried) has been brutally murdered. Veronica’s father, the local sheriff, accuses Lily’s father, the town’s most wealthy man, of involvement in the murder, and as a result loses his job and is left by his wife. The series tracks Veronica who is an unofficial investigator at her father’s P.I agency, and her investigation into Lily’s murder.

Despite being a teen drama, the show was unflinching in its engagement with darker storylines – such as the date rape of Veronica at an 09er (the wealthy elite) party, or the stratification of the wealthy and the poor within Neptune.

The first season in unquestionably the best. As with many shows whose opening premise is a mystery, if that mystery is solved across the arc of the first season, subsequent seasons often fail to have a ‘big mystery’ which is as compelling as the first. Indeed, the murder of Veronica’s best friend is deeply personal, and as such, gives her a particularly heavy investment in the case which really draws the watcher in. But that doesn’t mean seasons two and three weren’t excellent. They were. And what’s more, they pushed the characters and the scope of what the show explored in new directions.

However, the show failed to perform to the network’s standard, and was cancelled after its third season.

Veronica Mars is part of the illustrious ranks of shows such as Star Trek, Friday Night Lights, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Lucifer, and Firefly, whose fans have simply refused to allow it to be lost to the foolishness of network executives. A Kickstarter campaign launched in March 2013 to secure enough funds to make a Veronica Mars film. Not only was the $2 million goal met in six hours, but in so doing, it absolutely smashed previous Kickstarter records. Cut to 2014, and the Veronica Mars movie was released to much acclaim.

Most recently, to the abject delight of ardent marshmallows (the name for die-hard fans of the show), Hulu announced in 2018 that it will release an eight episode series in the second half of 2019.

This article goes reasonably comprehensively through what is know about the upcoming season. Of particular noteworthiness is Bell’s comment that while there is no specific plan for a subsequent season, nothing is being ruled out.

Indeed, the strength of the movie was that it was able to look at how the intervening years had shaped the various characters and how the themes of class warfare, privilege, justice, and corruption, had developed both in general and for Veronica as she reflected upon them as an adult.

So what exactly is it about the show that has captivated the hearts of so many people (and will capture yours too if you watch it)?

First, Veronica herself is a great character. She’s actually quite flawed in her own way – she often will go into dangerous situations without thinking overly of the scope of threat to which she is exposing herself, at times she can be very mistrustful, and she can use people. But that makes her a complex character with whom we can actually empathise and connect. She’s not perfect, but I definitely want to be like her; resourceful, clever, quick-witted, observant, smart. Indeed, most of the characters fall into this category – complex in a way that makes them credibly flawed. That means we really connect with the entire ensemble.

Moreover, the show had great dialogue. The witty exchanges between the characters are the perfect offering of levity to provide relief from the darker moments of the show. Particular props should go to the Veronica/Logan dynamic and the Veronica/Keith exchanges

One of the things which people really get behind in a TV series is an ongoing love story. And Veronica Mars provides. I don’t want to ruin it too much for people who may not have seen the series, but the chemistry between the Veronica and Logan is pretty incredible, and it’s incredibly compelling to watch.

Additionally, the noir style is a pretty engrossing phenomenon. Mystery is one of the storytelling elements that keeps people hooked, and the hallmarks of the noir medium play on enough nostalgia and human interest to keep people coming back again and again (Jessica Jones is another example of a great noir style series which was wildly popular; ironically enough, one of Krysten Ritter’s earliest roles was in Veronica Mars).

However, it also busted people out of their stereotypes (Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie as a hacker) while also showing those who are constrained by them (Dick Casablancas is an arguable example of this and Weevil oscillates between the two).

Veronica Mars has endured in the hearts of its fans for a reason. The army of supporters who have adored and championed it over the years have been rewarded by the announcement of season 4. Now get watching so that you can be up to date when it comes out!

From the #VeronicaMars table read. This is some indication of who is in episode 1. It doesn’t mean your fave doesn’t come in later. @IMKristenBell @PD3Official @golfstoomuch @jason_dohring @dawnn_lewis @pattonoswalt @ricocolantoni @IzabelaVidovic @ccollinsjr @dstarzyk pic.twitter.com/3dlrVlykqK

— Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) November 14, 2018

You can follow the show on its Twitter or its Instagram account. Australians can currently stream Veronica Mars seasons 1-3 on Stan.

Are you a Marshmallow? Will you be watching the new episodes? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Veronica Mars: A Brief History and Its Loyal Fanbase appeared first on The Nerd Daily.