Veronica Mars 3.20: The Bitch is Back

It would be unfair of me to judge ‘The Bitch is Back’ as a series finale, given the circumstances, but there was so much about this episode that could have proven otherwise. Not only did it feel like it could have turned the series around, and gone back to the oh so memorable themes of its first season, but it managed to bring together characters, old and new, that we’d gotten to meet over the years, and tie each of them into the story in separate but believable ways; something that a lot of series finales fail to do. As an old fashion season finale, stories that arose during the season were tied up wonderfully, and the series looked set to head in an ambitious direction in its fourth year.

Veronica Mars 3.19: Weevil's Wobble

OK, so maybe I’ve been a little harsh for the past few reviews. This stand-alone thing actually worked rather well this episode, with that trademark snarkiness coming out in spades. The show’s unjust cancellation means that some of the interesting plots started during the next two episodes don’t see an ending or further exploration, but take ‘Weevil’s Wobble’ out of that context, and it works really well.

Veronica Mars 3.18: I Know What You'll Do Next Summer

At this point Veronica Mars feels a little lost. Veronica is floating and and out of ever standard end of the school year plot that the series can find.

Veronica Mars 3.17: Debasement Taps

This episode brings logic to this new formulaic approach to the series. Bolstered by an effective guest star, ‘Debasement Tapes’ is one of the better stand-alone episodes that closed out Veronica Mars.

Veronica Mars 3.16: Un-American Graffiti

And so the transformation of Veronica Mars into a fully fledged teen drama is complete. Truth be told, it’s not as blatant as I originally thought. Watching ‘Un-American Graffiti’ all these years later the series still had quite a bit of its original charm, but the network meddling really didn’t do it any favours.

Veronica Mars 3.15: Papa's Cabin

Though it segued away from teen clichés, ‘Papa’s Cabin’ was the weakest closer of all the mysteries the show has produced thus far. It was an entertaining episode in and of itself, but it pales in comparison to the highs of, say, ‘Not Pictured’ and more recently, ‘Spit and Eggs’.

Veronica Mars 3.14: Mars, Bars

Veronica jeering at Lamb from behind bars? Yes, please! As left field as this whole development was, there’s still a lot to be said for the writers’ ability to milk a situation like this for all its comedic worth. That’s not to say that this episode is all laughs though, considering where things stand by the time the credits start rolling.

Veronica Mars 3.13: Postgame Mortem

This is the point when the show started to struggle with what it wanted to be; a mystery driven noir, an epic love story and a generic teen romance. We’ve got this arc’s mystery playing out, but it’s hard to really get as taken in by it all as we’ve been by past season investigations. Veronica and Logan’s break-up/make-up stuff is grating, and takes over everything else, and at times brings the show down a little. What’s happening to Veronica Mars?

Veronica Mars 3.12: There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill

This is the first of many “Veronica Does Modern Issues” episodes, but it’s an oddly affecting one, and another for the “truth is shit” books, especially when the we leave the story when Veronica does, with her latest client’s life in ruins.

Veronica Mars 3.11: Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves

The idea of trying so hard to make something work and watching it blow up in your face anyway is the worst. I think that’s why ‘Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves’ got to me a little.

Veronica Mars 3.10: Show Me the Monkey

From here on out it’s just a case of the waiting game; seeing how long it takes before the series starts to suffer at the hands of the Network Meddling Monster. The series retains a lot of its charm, and still stands up remarkably well to many other shows around but it seems like the series is starting to get a little less Bogart and bit more OC. Regardless, there's still a nice message behind ‘Show Me the Monkey’, and Mac’s new position close to center-stage is a welcome change.

Veronica Mars 3.09: Spit and Eggs

Spit and Eggs is more than just a thrill ride. It's an accomplished episode that masterfully ties up the season's opening arc, and convincingly sets up the following one. It's full of great character insight, surprising twists, game-changing acts of love and a killer chase sequence. Toy unicorns; who knew, right?!

Veronica Mars 3.08: Lord of the Pi's

This is one of those episodes that always bored me to tears. Now, I’m not saying that it’s bad on the whole, because thanks to the various moments of Veronica and Keith’s amazing interaction it was saved but when the main story behind the episode is flat and devoid of anything interesting at all it's hard to care about how it all ends.

Veronica Mars 3.07: Of Vice and Men

The one thing running through my mind as I watched this episode was how it was the first time I ever found myself disliking Veronica, even if it was only partially. She spends most of this episode acting like a stubborn Nazi, but in the end her behaviour became necessary and this episode turned into something rather great.

Veronica Mars 3.06: Hi, Infidelity

One of the major themes of the first season was Veronica defending her own name. That idea of proving everyone wrong is one that instantly pulls in an audience, the only people who ever know the whole truth. Hi Infidelity reiterates that theme, but it also raises some interesting questions about the strange immoral things our characters seem to be finding themselves getting involved in, whether it’s finding redemption or giving into temptation.

Veronica Mars 3.05: President Evil

Veronica returns to her snappy come-back-y ways in this one. I guess she’s like that all the time, but there’s such an ease to the way that her character is commanded by Jonathan Moskin & David Mulei that the girl who’s been running around the past few weeks has been tame and easy going in comparison. It’s also the first episode to become totally comfortable with the change in bearings, with the show shifting between on-campus and off comfortably.

Veronica Mars 3.04: Charlie Don't Surf

The Echolls melo-drama was such a trademark during the first two seasons, but the idea of Logan discovering more secrets about his family irked me. Haven’t we been through this already? Shouldn’t Logan be able to move on from his father’s past, the loss of his mother, and his sister’s general flooziness? This episode felt like it grew more on these plots, not that it dredged them up just to find steady dramatic ground.

Veronica Mars 3.03: Wichita Linebacker

This episode is one that’s bailed out by the in-between parts. It’s been one of my biggest worries since this show started, that the fuel would run out on its tactful storytelling and it might turn to standard material to fluff things out. Wichita Linebacker focuses on one of the show’s weakest premises by a mile, and it takes the introduction of a ‘Mars newbie and a Neptune heavyweight to steer the episode away from a one way trip to boring. 

Veronica Mars 3.02: My Big Fat Greek Rush Week

In many ways, My Big Fat Greek Rush Week is a lot more successful in transitioning the show into its new locale than Welcome Wagon. There was a lot more meat to it and there was less time dedicated to standard introductions and passive plots. Maybe season 3 isn’t so bad, after all.

Veronica Mars 3.01: Welcome Wagon

Goodbye Neptune High, hello Hearst College. Like so many other teen series, Veronica Mars faced major difficulty in recapturing the magic of its early years when it made the inevitable move out of High School. It's a time when a lot of the characters have to move on, and others have to change their position in the series entirely. In some ways this show really chickened out, by having all our favourites head off to Hearst together, and not taking a more ambitious route with Veronica actually going to Stanford like she always wanted, but I guess you can’t blame the writers. It was a nice way of keeping most of the dynamics that we had grown accustomed to over the past two years, and it didn’t run the risk of scaring off old viewers entirely.