I was seriously just about to post that I was past my weird mood and assure everyone that I am not so emo all the time — usually I am all about the shallow, fun superficialness (superficiality?) — when I decided to click over to Ausiello’s live blogging from the Upfronts.
And that’s when my Meredith Grey-caliber broken heart cracked a bit more.
See, all along I’ve been glass-half-empty, sure, but secretly I was clinging to the news like Dawn Ostroff wanting to talk more about VM:FBI, or Rob turning down the show-runner’s gig at Viva Laughlin, or the cancellation of Gilmore Girl freeing up some more money. I was sure that, when it all came down to it, The CW did not really want to be known as a network full of slutty, vapid reality shows. And, you know, One Tree Hill. (Which she decided was worth bringing back — and fast-forwarding it four years into the future. Great. )
But nope. Veronica’s dead. And I couldn’t be more upset. Although Ausiello’s news that Kristen was at the Upfronts with the Gossip Girls cast and the show does, in fact, look pretty good, was a bit encouraging.
Still, I…can’t not say anything about the show that blew Buffy the Vampire Slayer out of the water as my favorite show. I can’t not say anything about Rob Thomas, a masterful genius of word play, angst, and substance. I can’t not say anything about an ensemble cast that rivaled…well, anything that’s ever been on the air. And I especially can’t not say anything about Kristen.
Yes, I know, it’s a television show. And even though I love TV, I’ve never been as affected by a cancellation before. Not Arrested Development, not Wonderfalls, not Firefly, not Joan of Arcadia. I’ve been sad, sure. I’ve probably even had voodoo dolls made of various FOX executives and jabbed them repeatedly and violently with the biggest needles I could find.
But seriously?
The news that Veronica is dead is just devastating.
I know I’ve said a lot of this before, but c’mon. I’m grieving here. Let me have my moment(s).
I almost missed out on this gem of a brilliant show because after Buffy ended, nobody could’ve paid me to tune into UPN again. (And I still can’t believe that a Joss Whedon product ended up on that…”network.”) Luckily a guy I used to work with at the newspaper convinced me to give Veronica Mars a shot. He swore it was nothing like the usual UPN fare, and since I had nothing better to do that night, I figured why not? (Plus he promised to pay me $20 if I hated it.)
From Veronica’s snarky yet succinct ”life’s a bitch until you die” summation of Pope’s “An Essay on Man,” I was hooked. I hadn’t heard dialogue that, well, frakking perfect, since Buffy, Angel, and Firefly departed this world for the Brilliant Yet Canceled after-life.
The show worked on so many levels. On the surface, there was the snark and the typical high school angst. Strip that away, and you’re left with the detective/private eye angle that defines Veronica as a bit more than your average high school junior. Dig a little deeper, and you find a girl who’s been betrayed and abandoned by everyone she’s ever loved, and that snarky, bitchy exterior is the world’s greatest coping mechanism.
The first season was pitch-perfect. The second stumbled just a little bit, but I would’ve still called it better than most of what was up against it, especially that heart-rending, Emmy-worthy performance by Kristen Bell in the finale.
I have loved this third — and final — season as well, especially these stand-alone episodes that had so many people worried. I was never concerned — I’ve had faith in Rob Thomas and his fantastic staff of writers from Day One, and there has yet to be any doubt that his ensemble cast, from Kristen and Enrico Colantoni and Jason Dohring all the way down to Tina Majorino and Chris Lowell and Ryan Hansen could deliver what was thrown their way.
I have no doubt that everyone will go onto bigger and better – well, at least bigger, though I’m intensely skeptical about the better part — but I’m so going to miss this show that has been appointment television for me every single week for the past three years.
If there is anyone in my neighborhood or anyone who stumbles across this little blog who has not watched Veronica Mars, you absolutely must get the DVDs. The first two seasons are available on Amazon or through Netflix, and Season 3 will be out in August or September, I imagine.
Trust me. You will be as amazed as I have been.
Finally, a word about Kristen, because I can’t not say it. Okay, so this show has never been a ratings blockbuster. That’s true, and it’s true of most extremely smart, extremely well-written shows (which doesn’t give me much faith in the average TV viewer). But Veronica Mars would not have garnered the enormous amount of critical acclaim; it wouldn’t have caused usually caustic TV critics and magazine columnists to foam at the mouth with praise; and it sure wouldn’t have lasted for three seasons had it not been for Kristen Bell.
Words are usually kind of my thing, but well, I seriously can’t come up with anything to describe her other than the extremely cliched “awesome” in every way.
I know she’ll be in demand for a long time, but I’m not sure if there will ever be another Veronica.
But hey. I’m willing to give Gossip Girl a shot. She kills at the voiceover.
