I’m looking for another show to watch on streaming. In the past I’ve read people praising Veronica Mars. I’ve caught the pilot which was nice, laid out a few long-term mysteries to keep you hooked, and it was interesting to see Elias as the dad (watched Person of Interest just before this). The next episode seems to follow the format of mystery of the week.
Do you think it is worthwhile to continue watching? For reference, I recently did a rewatch of Buffy and Angel, watched Psych and Person of Interest. It seems I do like mystery of the week shows with good writing, humor, and character development. I don’t mind the teen/school setting or the 2000s atmosphere. I just tried Supernatural but found it a bit low on the writing/humor scale so got stuck at s1e6.
Edited to add: I particularly wonder whether the overarching mystery (who killed her friend, what is the matter with her mother) gets resolved in a satisfactory manner, and whether the episodes don’t become too trite or boring.
I’d say at least the first season is top-tier television. And the first episodes are some of the weaker.
Who killed her friend is resolved quite well at the end of the season, and the repercussions of that revelation is felt in season 2 and 3. About her mother, I remember she reappears briefly at some point but am vague about the how and why, so I don’t know, I must not have felt it was a satisfying conclusion.
Mild spoilers
The relationship between Veronica and one of the other characters becomes the main thread through all three seasons. And perhaps because the showrunners didn’t predict this, or because this fit the charcters personality, this relationship became a somewhat predictable, never ending cycle:
(1) they are on unfriendly terms - catty remarks, sparks fly, bit cringe but fun
(2) they start to work together on a shared issue - oooh, this is good stuff
(3) they are very good friends - yeah it’s cute. For a while. But a bit boring. To spice things up the writers have to introduce something that brings us back to (1)
Yeah, if you liked the pilot you should like the show. I know many Buffy fans did. I did have the same issues Chelonaut did above. But it was more a recurring minor annoyance rather than a show-killer (the chemistry always seemed forced to me and the plot beats around it felt sorta like they was imported from a lesser TV show). I will say my interest faded a bit in season 3 due to some format changes. But it’s pretty solid TV and earned its reputation fairly.
Veronica Mars was one of my joyful discoveries of covid isolation. I agree with the comments above. There was a lot of love for it, hence the crowd-funded film and subsequent fourth season.
I found with watching old TV series that it was better to pace myself rather than binge. They were designed to be episodic and parcelled out in weekly doses, and that seemed to help me in enjoying them. For one thing, it gives you lots of time to speculate on the cliff-hanger or latest plot mystery, so the reveal is usually more engaging.
I watched the first two seasons when it first aired and I found it quite entertaining. Good writing and the lead actor/character was really fun. Stopped watching “appointment” TV when my kid arrived during the second season.
Season One, at least, is well worth watching, with a “mystery of the week” each episode and a season-long mystery arc that gets wrapped up by the end of the season.
It took me three tries to get past the first 10 minutes but then something clicked and I was hooked. Like many shows it lost its luster in the later iterations but it’s an enjoyable ride for the most part. I guess it’s worth mentioning that fans like me chipped in over $5 million to get a movie made.
Probably the biggest difference between Buffy and Veronica Mars is that Veronica Mars is not a fighter. There are places in the story where Buffy would have solved the problem by kicking everyone’s ass, but that just isn’t how things work on Veronica Mars. If you prefer problems to be solved with violence, then show isn’t for you.
Also, Kristen Bell has a better singing voice than a Sarah Michelle Geller, but that really only comes up once in Buffy, and I don’t think at all on Veronica Mars.
I rather liked this myself. Kristen Bell is tiny (5’1") and the show pretty explicitly acknowledges that if you take away her stun-gun and large dog she’s not particularly formidable. She has to bluff and think her way out of tight situations in a more reasonably realistic way.
I’m watching Veronica Mars, Buffy and Angel for the first time. Personally, my order of preference is Buffy, Veronica then Angel. And I will watch Veronica again.
In Season 2 (maybe beyond, I’m in the middle of season 2) Charisma Carpenter from Buffy/Angel is a recurring character.
I’d say there is far too much criticism of it in here, it’s an excellent show which I’d rewatch at a shot. Seasons vary, as things do as you move from Schools to college but it’s superb and very much on my recommendation. Smart and funny. What more do you want?
I’d also say Supernatural was very good and missed a lot if stopped that at S01E06, like many shows, it takes a while to go in the direction that works, it has standalone episodes of high quality all the way through to Season 6, but I’d stop after that.
Yeah, I am thinking about it as well just to see if it holds up for me - I haven’t watched it since it was broadcast. I suspect it will. But I just started Alice in Borderland and it is holding my attention a couple episodes in, so have to plow through or get bored with that first .
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