'Veronica Mars': The fourth season lives! (On the Internet, anyway)
Oct 31, 2007, 09:58 AM | by Jennifer Armstrong
Categories: 'Heroes', Television
Brace yourselves, Veronica Mars fans. The late, great show's much-discussed season 4 mini-pilot -- which finds our heroine kicking off her career with the FBI -- has made its way to the Internet. Getting a glimpse at the season that might have been (but, alas, never will be) prompted a long, nostalgic email chat with my fellow EW staffer (and Mars addict) Tanner Stransky. Check the pilot out for yourself (part 1 below, and part 2, after the jump), then join our discussion in the comments section below.
From: Jennifer
To: Tanner
Re: Veronica Mars season 4 mini-pilot
So I just caught the Veronica Mars fourth-season mini-pilot. I looooved seeing our girl doing anything, especially after sitting through another dismal Heroes last week just to get glimpses of Kristen Bell. And here she is, being all genuinely awesome and genuinely witty, instead of a Heroes-ed up imitation of such! "There's lesbians to fend off and hazing rituals to be endured ... I'm on a schedule." Oh, man, there's nobody I love this much on the fall schedule.
From: Tanner
To: Jennifer
My thoughts exactly: Is there any current freshman series with this much wit and such a likable main character? I also felt like this short presentation towed the line nicely between rebooting the old series and introducing new aspects of the character. She’s obviously got some baggage with her faux-Logan lover who pops up at the FBI, too. One of my main questions, though: Where’s Keith Mars? I’d be happy if he popped up at the FBI, too.
From: Jennifer
To: Tanner
OMG, Keith Mars!!! We need him around, for sure. I mean, we need him in the pretend pilot that isn't happening. But a girl can still dream, right? (Heck, CBS is the CW's big-sister network, and they could use some youth on the sched, right?) What I loved about this, too, was that it was a little--just a little--like having Alias back. Even better, Alias sans Rambaldi. And what would make it even more Alias-like? Having the spy daddy around, too. And I gotta admit, I would be aching for a Logan return. Veronica is even better with him as her foil, no doubt about it. I do hope they would get into solving more complex and--dare I say it?--multi-episode, maybe even whole-season-long, mysteries. Or am I just setting our imaginary show up to have all the ratings power of classic Veronica Mars and Alias...which is to say, the ability to virtually make viewers evaporate into thin air?
From: Tanner
To: Jennifer
No, I’m totally with you on this one, Jennifer! Whole-season-long or,
at the least, multi-episode arcs would be, or more accurately, would've
been, been essential, although you’re right, too, about it scaring off
viewers. Why, why, why must these things be mutually exclusive? I did
have a quandary as I was watching this: Could I totally get into this
series if it was mostly procedural with occasional personal-type
storylines (a la Women’s Murder Club)? If—gasp!—there were no extended
arcs? I'm thinking maybe, only because I’m such a fan of Veronica, the
young gumshoe. One of my main beefs with procedurals it that they
aren’t sexy and don’t have younger characters I care about. Maybe this
non-existent show is the answer to my great beef with procedural
dramas! Okay, but really, back to the gumshoe thing: I also loved that
Veronica was still a bad-ass, yet she wasn’t the top dog anymore. Like,
she had some stiff competition in this first episode. Before, in
Neptune, there was no one that could really take her down, but from
this short pilot, I saw more than a few hard-asses (her partner, that
bitchy co-worker) who’d have no trouble giving Veronica a run for her
money. Of course, Veronica would ultimately have to win, but I wouldn’t
mind seeing her struggle a bit.
From: Jennifer
To: Tanner
Totally agree with you on the procedural front. I've never loved
watching people I don't really relate to solve heinous crimes that I
know will be wrapped up soon enough anyway. But add a little Grey's
Anatomy to the genre, and I might be into it. Lord knows we have enough
"quirky" crimesolvers in the new crop (Life, Moonlight), but the beauty
of Veronica is that her quirk and sass come from an organic place. I
think the reason all of us Marsites will stick with her through
anything--even awkward serial-rapist plot arcs--is because she's what
you call a genuine character. No TV show or movie can be great without
a totally unique, engaging person at its core, and V is exactly that
thanks to creator Rob Thomas and the genius work of Kristen Bell. If
there's any reason why Heroes is failing this season, it's because
we're not getting enough of that kind of flesh and blood in there, and
even having Kristen on for a guest bit can't disguise that.
From: Tanner
To: Jennifer
Okay, you just made me really nostalgic there. And I can’t even talk
about Heroes—even good actors can’t save that show from the fast path
to destruction it’s on. Ultimately, I suppose Veronica Mars is a show
that probably should have died, right? Sigh. Maybe that’s true. But
truthfully, this little blip of a clip showing us where Veronica would
be four years from now is enough to satiate me for a while. And you
never know: There’s always another pilot development season on the
horizon. Rob Thomas, you game to show us where you were really going
with this?
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