Veronica Mars

should i watch s3 everyone says its bad right?

It's a little worse than S2, but not terrible. (IIRC)

yah but S2 itself is a massive dropoff from the greatness that is S1

hated season three with a passion

was probably fine

except for change in theme song and piz and everything shit about it

season 3 is totally funny and entertaining, but the story lines and politics are pretty dumb. if you're watching for the zings (like me) you will be fine. if you're watching for the noir atmosphere and intelligent mysteries, you will hate it.

fucking piz

It would have been 100% better if Rob Thomas had been able to cast Michael Cera as the creepy rapist like he had planned. I feel like Cera would work better as a creeper rather than a corny indie fuck.

I like Piz! And I thought the third season was actually an improvement on the second, despite defanging Logan and killing off the best character too early in the season. The finale is heartbreaking (and made even worse for me as I thought I still had another DVD’s worth of episodes left in the box).

My wife and I started watching season one last week, and I'm having trouble sticking with it. Part of the problem I think is that unlike lots of other shows we've been watching start to finish, this one doesn't lend itself well to nightly viewing. It seems designed for once a week watching. Also, it's got this annoying too cool for school but still for kids (but not) vibe, like some Nickelodeon production with extra hormones. Also also, I hate almost everyone in the first five eps, V. Mars excepted. Knowing little of the show beyond its reputation, if I haven't been convinced five eps in, is it still worth waiting it out? At least they've already dropped the horrid Troy love interest.

only u can answer that question

i mean you're basically saying "i hate this show, should i keep watching it?"

kind of a classic ilx query tbh

Part of the problem I think is that unlike lots of other shows we've been watching start to finish, this one doesn't lend itself well to nightly viewing. It seems designed for once a week watching.

I might agree with this, but I wonder why you think so?

Also it's funny to me that so many of us are watching this show right now (thanks to Netflix, I presume).

Jaymc, I suspect it's because so much of the show is told in voiceover and flashback, like one long "previously on 'Veronica Mars.'

i mean you're basically saying "i hate this show, should i keep watching it?"

I don't think asking if I should stick with it is dumb at all. I don't know how many people I've suggested stick with "Buffy," because those first few episodes are kind of rocky and ridiculous, but then it gets pretty good pretty quickly after that. Or "Deadwood," which is great but begins sort of short of where it soon gets (starting around the episode with Kristen Bell, ironically). Season two of "Mad Men" is much better than the first. "The Shield" starts strong but then keeps getting better and better. So asking whether "Veronica Mars" gets better is perfectly reasonable, I'd say. Vs. most shows, which are so formulaic they're basically the same show again and again. Like "ER" or "Cheers" or whatever. Or even "Seinfeld." Or "The OC." If you don't like 'em at first, you likely won't like them later. Right now I'm on the fence about "Veronica Mars" because the formula rubs the wrong way, but I suspect it may get better. Or maybe it doesn't!

Also also, I hate almost everyone in the first five eps, V. Mars excepted.

Felt this way at first, but the best thing about it is being surprised by how many you end up liking A LOT by the end of the season.

but that's just me though.

no, i totally agree with you there

Nickelodeon production with extra hormone
we just started watching this on netflix on demand, and i've actually kind of appreciated this vibe. pleasingly artificial? Like, it's not even going for any real semblance of believability -- everything is sorta stylized in a way that maybe more shows should be.

The show could do away with the washed-out/weirdly lit look of all the flashback scenes, though.

it could do away with amanda seyfried (seriously, am i the only person that hates her?)

this is the only thing i've seen Seyfried in, but yeah, she is horrible here.

(might not be her fault, tho, i don't know)

she looks like A) an alien B) gemma ward C) my cousin Natale

always thought it was weird that amanda seyfried and the actress who plays mac in v. mars were also both in big love

My gf was very proud of herself for identifying the girl who plays Mac as
http://image.xyface.com/image/a/movie-andre/andre-140119.jpg

(The one on the left.)

omg, i knew she was familiar from something. did not think it was that.

does she have bell's palsy in that photo?

it's been so long since i watched s.1 of this that i nearly forgot seyfried was on this show. that said, y'all crazy, i luv her

Has there ever been a fish out of water show with a super rich person forced to live with poor people? Because there have been a lot of the opposite. One of the things I liked best about "Buffy" was that pretty much everyone was firmly middle class.

Also also, I hate almost everyone in the first five eps, V. Mars excepted.

iirc the sixth episode is when they start giving Logan a bit more depth.

I agree about the enjoyably artificial feel, though they did do some things realistically that other network high school shows don't, especially drug use. Like, Logan does drugs off and on, but it's never LOGAN HAS A DRUG PROBLEM, he just gets high and plays Halo with Dick a lot.

josh it's not quite like buffy, but i feel like if you're 5 eps in and hate everyone and aren't liking it, u should cut yr losses

(ie, it might ramp up a bit, but not as steeply as buffy)

Has there ever been a fish out of water show with a super rich person forced to live with poor people?

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/simplelife_Main-Profile_hea.jpg

that's actually how we canoe in canada

nice.

x-post Since Veronica can hold her own, I figured the only reason the supporting cast was composed almost entirely of rich assholes was to set the stage for their potential redemption. BTW, had a great theory as to what's going on (being totally blind to future plot turns), but deep down I'm (preemptively) bummed that there's no way the show will go where I wished it went. Eh, it's light. I'll give it a few more eps.

i feel like if you're 5 eps in and hate everyone and aren't liking it, u should cut yr losses

Agreed. VM never ramped up in terms of quality the way Buffy did. I think if you don't like it after the first 5 episodes you're probably never going to like it.

it's funny that I like this show but hate logan tons and duncan and piz and wallace sometimes and mac sometimes and the rest. I like veronica and keith

tbh most tv show characters, even on tv shows I love, are pretty hateable

mr rogers for example

Has there ever been a fish out of water show with a super rich person forced to live with poor people?

Green Acres

I think it's the actors I hate rather than the characters which are just a bit rubbish

i like wallace most of the time. and i like weevil.

I like the mushmouthed deputy, the defense lawyer, and Ken Marino as the rival p.i. (though I can't remember how much he's in season 1).

I like just about all of the characters on this show? I think it must take a lot for me to hate a character.

yeah they are all quite good

xpost

Oh, I like all the teenagers too but pretty much all the adult secondary characters are great iirc and that's a real strength of the show compared to other "teen dramas." OTOH, I'll spend time watching people on TV who I would actively avoid irl (which is kind of no duh, but I mean I still can't believe I enjoy a show about football players in Texas) and maybe other people aren't like that.

I'd say watch past the first 5. That Troy subplot seems like an out and out fuckup by the writers' compared to the rest of the season which is really well-balanced between the overarching plot and the individual eps.

the Troy thing sets up the show's cynical tone so well!

A lot of the 09ers seem kind of cardboard, tbh. Logan and Duncan seem to be getting a bit more interesting (I've watched 12 episodes), but a lot of the secondary characters are just anonymous chiseled dudes.