I'm curious how all of you spent this glorious Fourth of July weekend.Me, I spent it doing what I love best: sitting around and watching television. In this case, Mrs. Televisionary and I spent a long, lazy weekend rewatching an old favorite, Veronica Mars Season Two on DVD.
I have to say that the trip back to Neptune was just as fun the umpteenth time as it was the first. Longtime readers of this site know my love of all things Veronica Mars so it was an absolute blast to walk back down the corridors of Neptune High and piece together the mystery of the sophomore season's main mystery, the bus crash. Of course, time fades certain memories (so THAT's what Kendall was doing in Duncan's shower) but you couldn't peel the smiles off of our faces during the 20-odd episodes of Veronica Mars' second season.
In Veronica Mars, creator Rob Thomas and his talented staff had accomplished what few others in American television (save maybe David Lynch and the writers on Twin Peaks) had done. Using high school as a backdrop, they created a fantastic noir world, utilizing the dusty tropes of that forgotten subgenre: plucky private eyes, menacing biker gangs, femme fatales aplenty, and setting it all against the most horrific personal hell any of us ever endure: high school.
Like Buffy before it, Veronica Mars found the perils and pitfalls of adolescence the perfect springboard to explore mysteries both big and small, but the the juiciest were usually the ones that involved our spunky heroine directly: the murder of best friend Lily Kane, the bus crash and the murder of Curly Moran (remember how he washed up ashore with V's name written on his hand?), the Hearst College serial rapist.
As for those that didn't directly involve her (but did allow her to earn some scratch, which she seemed to have spent on gorgeous little ensembles), the cases were often just as labrynthine, even if they were contained to single episodes, and often involved a revolving cast of familiar faces from Neptune High. While the series succeeded at quite a many things, one of its strengths was in the consistency of the student body and the return of former guest stars.
And while the outcome of Veronica Mars' second season is now no longer shocking once you've seen it once through, it's been absolutely fantastic to take a trip down memory lane and relieve those moments that later seem positively shocking: Cassidy and Mac's adorable courtship; Logan's predatory pursuit of Hannah; Meg's secret pregnancy; poor Grace being kept locked in the closet; Duncan's disappearance with his newborn daughter. That these are just the footnotes to a deliriously complex mystery only makes Veronica Mars' sophomore season that much more delicious.
But do yourself a favor and return to Neptune for a spell. You'll thank me afterward.
Comments
Some friends and I just recently discussed reviewing both Veronica Mars and some of my favorite Buffy episodes. You've inspired me to do so - Thanks!
I just lent all my VM DVDs to someone who had never seen them before. She was a bit skeptical, but once they were in hand she flew right through them. I wish I could experience the show from that perspective again.