Marathon #2: Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars is the new love of my life. Not since Sydney Bristow have I found a female character written so well. I tend to think most of the girls on television are annoying/not cool/emotionally psychotic. Veronica certainly has her flaws, but they don't overpower all of the qualities that make her so admirable.

It's impossible to talk about this show without discussing the amazing relationship between Veronica and her dad. Their banter is hilarious and much like the way that Lorelai and Rory talk to each, except slower. (One of my favorite scenes is when Veronica walks in and her dad is sitting on the couch. She says something about how she comes home after a hard day's work to find him eating bonbons and reading Harper's Bazaar. When he fails to offer a witty quip in response, saying he's not in the mood, she says, "Amuse me, dammit! Amuse me now!") Their mutual love and respect is constant and evident by everything that they do. I'm not ashamed to admit- there were tears streaming down my face when Aaron Echolls had her locked in that box and her dad comes to rescue her. Aaron has poured gasoline all over the place, he and Keith fight each other, and Aaron sets the deck on fire. Veronica's screaming and crying, and her dad doesn't even hesitate: he walks through the flames to free her before collapsing. Even in the normal, everyday things like making dinner for each other, they are completely adorable.

I can't even talk about the ending without getting upset. It's one of the great injustices of the world (in the perspective of my t.v.-dominated life, of course) that Veronica Mars got canceled. It certainly hadn't run its course yet, and Rob Thomas/Kristen Bell/everyone else involved deserved so much better than the ending they had to make. I don't know what it would have been like if Season 4 were about Veronica in her first year at the F.B.I. with no more Wallace, Logan, et al, but I do know that I would have been willing to follow that show anywhere.

Favorite episodes include "Donut Run," "Mars, Bars," "My Mother, the Fiend," and "The Wrath of Con."


A great scene from Season 2

Gossip Girl

I watched all 13 episodes of Gossip Girl in less than 2 days. Don't judge me.

Surprising even myself, I had lots of fun with this show. The story lines are a bit one-dimensional. Upper-east side teens drink, party, shop, and have sex all the time. And their parents are crazy messed-up. Okay! We get it! But other than that, I think the writing is pretty clever, and I found myself sympathizing for every character at least part of the time. They're all more complicated than it seems at first--like Transformers! "We're more than meets the eye." Even Chuck. Aside from the fact that he really seemed to care about Blair, I liked his friendship with Nate (pre-Blair, of course). When Nate went to that poker game with jackass-Carter, Chuck totally came to the rescue. Also, the fact that Kristen Bell is the voice of Gossip Girl adds major cool points. I'm not trying to come up with an excuse for watching, I'm just saying...

I think Dan is absolutely wonderful. So is his dad. Serena's pretty cool, too. My favorite episode was the Thanksgiving one, "Blair Waldorf Must Pie," when Eric & Serena/Dan & Jenny find out that their mom/dad used to be in love. The discussion about whether or not they could be related was fantastic.
-"There's no chance we're related, right?"
-"Well, look at Eric's roots."
-"What do you mean? What's wrong with my roots?"
-"They're kinda Rufus-like..."
(Serena enters)
-"What's going on with our parents?"
-"Oh, our dad dated your mom."
-"Yeah, we're not related though."
-"Ignore my roots."


Interesting side-note: I usually try to find more candid photos for these blogs- you know, screen captures or episode promotional pictures. Impossible for Gossip Girl. They're all glamorous cast photos with the kids looking like golden gods (see above picture). The closest I came to a natural shot was this one to the left. I'm pretty sure those leaves aren't even real...







Even their promos look fake!