Last week the CW Network bid goodbye to two very special ladies as they correctly sent the Gilmore Girls into the sunset. This week however, The CW is making a mistake that I hope haunts them as much as it will me…the cancellation of Veronica Mars. Tonight the final 2 episodes will air of a TV show that deserved so much more exposure then it received. Of course being on the sixth, and then fifth network is a major obstacle for any show to overcome but despite that, V Mars still cultivated both a critical and cult following.
I must admit I was a late comer to the show. When it premiered I didn’t give it a second thought. Another teen drama on UPN? I think I’ll pass. Still every time I surfed the web or read year end best of issues I kept hearing things like best new show or most surprising and I must say my interest was piqued. However it wasn’t until two members of my dream mancrush poker table emerged praising the show that I really perked up. Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon both not only endorsed the struggling series but they also made appearances on it. That was the final straw and so I grabbed the first season off of Netflix. What I discovered was a show that like Whedon’s Buffy perfectly captured the linguistics of teens. These kids talked like I talked and still talk, and not like some sugary sweet show like One Tree Hill. Also I was immediately drawn in by the culture war aspect that dominated the first season and really every one since. Of course I was also sucked in to the overall mythology of the show and the season long mystery of who killed Lilly Kane. I immediately started to TiVo season 2 even though it was half way done and by the end of last summer I was completely in love with one Veronica Mars. Like any love affair though there was turbulence. Last Spring as I was becoming a complete Mars-head right down to my Mars Investigations Crime Solving Kit, the newly formed CW wavered about bringing back V and her crew. How could this great show be cut down especially when the new network needed to keep viewers…especially loyal cult like viewers? Thankfully the show was renewed but not without some network interference. Afraid that the show’s trend of using a season long mystery would keep new viewers away the network ordered creator Rob Thomas (no not the guy from Matchbox 20) to focus instead on more stand alone fair. As a newly loyal fan I was a bit worried about this third season but Thomas has outwitted the network by continuing to use multiple season long story arcs while still giving each episode its own unique case. The result has been very successful and while I don’t think he could ever top season 1, season 3 certainly has brought the characters closer to the audience.
So now we sit here only hours away from Veronica’s final case. I’m guessing Thomas was smart enough to know this could be coming and wrote a finale that will send Veronica out strong and not dangling from a cliff somewhere never to be heard from again. There are rumblings that Thomas pitched season 4 as a completely different show to the CW in a last ditch effort to save it. Picture this: Veronica Mars: FBI Cadet. The idea had merit and since we’ve already seen her grow so much over 3 years it wouldn’t be a stretch to jump forward another 3 years and I’m sure the talented Kristin Bell would have no problem pulling it off as an actor. Sadly even this effort seems to have failed, and so tonight we can all pull our Neptune letter jackets out of the closet, light a candle for Lilly Cane, and say goodbye to a show that is being cancelled far before its time.
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