So, I tend to pick up DVDs of TV shows that I've heard good things about, when I see them used at Interact (or sometimes new). This started with Firefly, and has continued with several more TV series.
Saturday night while L was feeling badly, I suggested that we pick up one of the shows that we'd not seen (but I'd picked up) and watch it. Veronica Mars was the choice (we also had Heros that neither of us had seen, but I've been meaning to watch it with Lem/M^2), and it was a good one.
I've heard that the first season is the best one, and while I have the feeling that I'll like the others, I can see why: every story is a mystery of some sort, and the entire season is tied together into a single mystery. Each show was excellent and there were a lot of really interesting plots, and as the season progressed there were more and more clues to the overall mystery. I didn't figure it out until the final episode, pretty much at the point where the reveal happened. Wow. Talk about cliffhangers, too. Though the mystery got wrapped up, there were several major plot points that didn't get resolved, which L and I think is horribly evil, and we will have to go find the next season now. :)
In any case, that's the word from here. Great series, L said it's her favorite TV show she's seen, and it's one that she would actually watch again. As for me, I have a hard time ranking things, but I thought it was excellent and would also watch it again. As for other stuff, L's still sick but out of the worst phase, she's probably going to take monday off work and should finish recovering by tuesday. I've got a lot of work still, but not too stressed about it. :)
Favorite character: Tough tough one to pick. Besides Veronica herself, I really like her father, Eli and Logan, and for those who haven't seen the series and start watching it, that may be a bit confusing.
Favorite episode: #10: An Echolls Family Christmas. The poker game whodunit sequence in this one was priceless. Runners-up: #11: Silence of the Lamb. What happens when you dig up dirt on parents? Do you like guitars?, and #22: Leave it to Beaver. Yeah. Well, it wraps up so much stuff in such a surprising way...
Favorite line: either "Who's your daddy?" from Keith Mars (said several times, there's one in particular that made it worth it), or "We used to be friends, long time ago" - Veronica Mars, from the beginning of episode 13. There's a bunch of other good ones, but those stand out. :)
3 comments:
See, I always figured whatever was missing* in my children's upbringing, schooling, etc., they would make up for it and fill in the gaps when they grew up. :) Now, as adults, you can enjoy all the glories of TV ...but without commercials. It's much better this way.
Seriously, though, when I started reading your post, I thought it was cruel and unusual punishment to make a very ill person sit in front of the TV and try to concentrate on a mystery show and all. But then I kept reading and realized that there was some humor in these programs (humor's curative effects are well-documented), and perhaps it was a distraction to L to be watching TV instead of just lying there aching and sleepless (sounds like she liked the shows despite the evil unresolved plot points), and you were doing it together, which is always nice -- so then I thought it was really a good thing -- and very sweet -- that you pulled out the VM dvds...
*apologies for the Bush presence here -- looks like a good site in spite of that :)
Mom really shouldn't worry so much about our TV deprivation. A lot of the shows I like came out when I was in high school or college anyways! As for watching TV or movies when sick, it is usually the only way I can get through being miserable. I usually watch Firefly or Veronica Mars when I'm sick...
I'm so glad you've discovered Veronica Mars in all it's amazing-ness! It is definatly one of my all-time favorite shows, second only to probably Firefly. I own the 1st season on DVD I think and the third on iTunes but I'll have to check when I get home. I just remember going to Borders one time and noticing that a full season was on sale for an amazing $19.99 - $40 off!
I think my favorite characters other than Veronica are the same as yours. The witty scenes between Veronica and her father are probably my favorites. Although I do think Season 1 is my favorite, Season 2 is also really good with a cool overarching mystery. When they all go to college, things just get a little off somehow.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the show!
Lidarose: Yep. I still don't like the majority of TV, and can't stand commercials (except some, for entertainment), but I also find out about shows that are really very good. I think these may be more prevalent now than when I was a kid, but VM at least has covered many issues I think are pretty valuable. As far as L's watching it goes, you're right about the final conclusions: the humor helps, and the concentration in watching it really helps make the pain go away for a while. She did say she really liked watching it with me, at one point I went to the grocery store and she waited for me before starting the next episode for exactly that reason.
Analiarose: I think that the high school -> college transition is REALLY tough for this type of show (based on my very small sample size of 1!). One of the big issues is that (like in real life) it tends to split up the usual gang of people, and thus there's either a huge amount of change, or some other mitigating event that keeps them together (which is hard to pull off without feeling deus ex machina). The latter being like what happened in Buffy, which while it didn't feel too awkward, did change the character of the show greatly between seasons 3 and 4.
Oh, and I'm hoping to get L to write a review of the show. She was really tired last night, but she might be convinceable to write it as a guest post today. :)
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