Fare thee well, Veronica...

Last night was the season (now presumed to be series) finale of Veronica Mars. Although it didn't make it into the fall schedule announced by the CW last week, there was still hope that it might get picked up as a midseason replacement, despite the fact that Kristen Bell had agreed to do voiceovers (since we know she's so good at those!) for the CW's new fall show, Gossip Girl. Word was that CW had until June 15th to make a decision on VM, but even before the last two episodes aired last night, the end seemed pretty well nigh. Even though Dawn Ostroff is saying "it could come back in some form," when no one's talked to Rob Thomas about it, it doesn't really inspire hope.

So, last night we said goodbye to Veronica - and I have to admit, the two-part season finale may have been the best two episodes of VM ever. Definitely in the top ten. It felt absolutely jam-packed with twisty mysteries and great emotional scenes, plus some unexpected cameo appearances. It seemed appropriate that the first hour's mystery centered on Weevil (he *is* still on this show!), and that the final episode was all about Veronica. The mysteries are definitely more compelling when it's V herself or someone close to her that's involved.

I admit, I was very worried for poor Weevil - as much as I love him, I kinda thought he did it. For being dumb enough to use the names of famous people on their fake IDs, those rich kids sure did a pretty good job framing him. (I also need to note the hilarity of not one, but TWO vampire references in the first hour. V was absolutely adorable when the forgers asked her to become one of them, and she replied, "Is this the part where you turn me into a vampire?"Hee.)

And then, the second mystery of the evening... I have to say, as soon as Dick showed Logan the video, my first thought was that the camera had been planted by the guy stalking Wallace. Which... it kinda turned out to be... but there was enough surprise in what exactly was going on there that I didn't mind the minor predictability. I mean, holy hell, who ever expected Jake Kane to turn up as the guy running the secret society?? I was completely shocked to see him (also, his beard scared me) so good on the show for not only keeping that a secret (or maybe there were spoilers, I didn't read them) and for not forecasting that earlier in the episode. When Veronica saw that picture of Lilly, I was *seriously* creeped out. I thought someone must have known she was coming, but why they'd put up a portrait of her dead best friend, I totally couldn't guess, other than just to freak her out.

Unlike Logan, I never thought the camera was planted by Piz, and hello to the irrationality there, boy. Seriously, Logan is a loose cannon, and as much as I love the LoVe, I don't blame Veronica one bit for cutting him out of her life. For a minute, when he showed up at the Mars Investigations office, I honestly thought he'd killed Piz. It kinda made sense - I knew Chris Lowell wasn't coming back, whether the show got picked up again or not, and the last time we saw Logan show up at V's door covered in blood, he'd (possibly) killed a PCHer. Must say, quite relieved that wasn't the case. I almost felt bad for Parker (almost), but who didn't know that break-up was coming eventually? She had to be blind to not realize he wasn't over Veronica. I was pretty surprised that the season didn't end with Logan and Veronica together - since Rob Thomas seems to have a tendency to do that, regardless of what's happened the entire preceding season - and especially if it was the end of the show, I figured he'd give the LoVe fans something to hold on to. While it saddens me that now they'll never be together, the conflict definitely made for a more interesting episode.

Speaking of more interesting, how about Dick?? I have been waiting all season for a Dick Casablancas breakdown, and we finally got in the last three or four episodes. At the beginning of the season, he had this on-the-edge attitude about him, and I kept expecting him to just lose it over all the crap that happened in season 2. But then he sort of mellowed and went back to being regular dumb (but always hilarious) Dick. So, I was really glad to see it all finally come out (the poor boy must have been bottling that up something fierce) and it makes sense that his father coming back was the catalyst. Ryan Hansen knocked it out of the park in his scenes with big Dick and with Logan - and even with Veronica and Mac (how funny - and random - was it when he tried to kiss Mac??). I always knew he had it in him, and it makes me wish we'd seen more serious/emotional Dick all along.

And finally... Keith. What a tragic ending there. It was just so heartbreaking to see him realizing he couldn't trust Veronica, and yet still committing a crime and sacrificing the election to keep her out of trouble. *sigh* If only they had been able to communicate better - Veronica could have said, "Hey, I'm handling this, no need to tamper with evidence" and saved him from all that. I can understand her not wanting to talk about a sex tape of her going around school, but still... And then, poor V realizing that she cost him the election, and then going to vote...

When I think about it, the ending was really unsatisfying, with all the things they left unresolved - it didn't feel wrapped up at all. It felt unsettling, as though in almost every situation, you KNOW that things are going to be worse than they were before, the complete opposite of the gift-wrapped-with-a-bow finale we got from Gilmore Girls last week. I guess that's the difference when you know it's the end. But Rob Thomas must have suspected it might be the end, and could've planned accordingly. On the other hand, the two episodes were so good, I almost don't care that it wasn't wrapped up. At least VM went out with a hell of a bang.

Veronica, I will miss you. Good luck in the FBI (assuming you can still pass the background check, what with all the times you've been arrested and the crimes your father's committed to protect you, and the unsavory ex-convict company you keep).

Nutter for Mayor

So, is anyone else as excited as I am that Michael Nutter won the Democratic primary for mayor of Philadelphia? (Probably not.) I've always liked him (well, since last November), but I never really expected him to win the nomination. But frontrunner status and campaign finance laws worked against Chaka Fattah, and gave Nutter an opening. As I said, I like him - and not just because he bought me beer. The reason he was buying me beer is because he was smart enough to spend time with politically active young people - which not a lot of politicians care about. Also, he's a reformer (which is why sticking to the campaign finance laws helped him instead of hurting, like Fattah), and Philly could use a non-corrupt politican.

By far, the best quotes from yesterday came from the Knox campaign:
Tom Knox: (on Nutter's victory) "Thank God it's not Bob Brady."
Linda Knox: (about her husband) "I'm going to bite him if he runs again."

Also, hilariously, the Knox campaign office got robbed on Election Day. Advising a campaign staffer how to handle money afterwards, Knox said, "Put most of the money in the trunk and cover it up and just put a little bit up front with you in case we get hit again."

In other political news, this is just hysterical.

Last night was the series finale of Gilmore Girls... I haven't been a fan as of late, but the nostalgia beckoned at the end there. I have to say, I was really happy with the episode. It didn't try any huge gestures *cough* wedding *cough* but was a good send-off of both Rory and the show, and the throwback to the pilot was a nice touch. Oh, and check out this interview with Scott Patterson.

My fingers are still crossed that Veronica Mars will be renewed, but I've heard so many rumors, I don't know what to think anymore. It was announced that Jericho wasn't renewed, and I find myself surprisingly disappointed. I kinda stopped watching it, but it's on demand, so I've been catching up lately, and the episodes did get marginally better at the end there. Well, mostly it was just Jake and Hawkins being awesome and everyone else being stupid (as always), but I'm mildly pissed they ended it on a cliffhanger. The last scene was... well, it was basically the end of Angel. You know, fighting against insurmountable odds, one of the main characters dies, and we fade to black as the rest of our heroes charge into battle incredibly outnumbered. TV shows should just stop ending on cliffhangers if there's a chance they might not come back... grrr.

Slow news day

Well, not "news" so much as "work." It's been surprisingly quiet in work this week... maybe because the House is having hearings out in Erie (why??) and the Senate had so much fun making our lives miserable last week that they decided they needed a break.

Anyway, I've been hard pressed to stave off boredom this week - and today is probably the worst, because Teresa and Charlene are both out, which means I don't have anyone to talk to! :( I shoulda taken Friday off, too...

I haven't blogged in almost two weeks - I'm such a slacker. But I have lots of things to talk about today!

Is anyone still watching Gilmore Girls? I gave up sometime around when Luke's mysterious child popped up, just in time to screw things up with Lorelai. But since we heard that this is officially the end, I kinda wanted to tune back in, just to see how things turned out. So, I watched last week when Rory turned down Logan's marriage proposal and graduated from Yale. I've honestly given up caring whether Luke and Lorelai get back together... but it'd be nice if they were at least friends. (Of course, from the way he ate her face in the previews for the series finale, I suspect it may be more than that.) I also read this interview with Lauren Graham - and now I'm really curious what ASP's final four words were gonna be! Damn, that's gonna bug me.

The good news is, the cancellation of Gilmore Girls means that Veronica Mars has a better shot of returning. Since the CW sucks, basically, as a network, and can't do anything besides reality shows and wrestling, losing GG and 7th Heaven means there's a vacuum in their hour-long drama department. We may still get FBI-Veronica, with none of the rest of the cast back, but it's better than nothing, right? Random side note - how much do I love Piz? As much as I want Logan and Veronica together, I find Piz absolutely adorable, and I cringe at the idea of Veronica breaking his heart. Parker, on the other hand, can go away. Far, far away... like Logan's 12-year-old girlfriend from season 2. And... hey, remember when Weevil used to be on this show?

This may be better than the actual series of 24: bringing back all the deceased characters (aka all the people we liked) as ghosts haunting Jack! I'd so watch that. I was actually really surprised they killed off Milo, but I read somewhere that he wants to do a cop show pilot and asked to be written off. (I also read that they knew he wasn't going to survive the season, so maybe he's just saying he asked for it... I don't know.) I'm finding it really hard to care about 24 lately... which is a shame, because it's always been one of my favorite shows. Kiefer is contracted for 2 more years, I think, so it's certainly not going anywhere - and they keep talking about how they're going to "revamp" the show. Well, maybe they meant adding vampires, because this year's "revamp" was actually more like the previous seasons recycled. And Jack did bite that guy...

In other 24 news, Wednesday was Jack Bauer Appreciation Day! I'm sorry I missed it. I would've yelled "Dammit!" a lot in celebration.

Remember Drive, that Nathan Fillion/Tim Minear show that was on for 8 days? Well, even though it was canceled, I decided to watch the 4 episodes anyway - and naturally, got all attached and now I wanna know how it ends! Well, that probably won't happen, because Fox sucks. Seriously, they don't even give shows a chance - they showed the first three episodes in two days, and I guess maybe didn't think that ratings for the fourth episode might be down because people who didn't get to watch three episodes might have trouble catching up. I didn't get to watch them until after it was canceled - and I was determined to like the show! Anyway, they are showing the remaining two episodes - on the 4th of July! Proving once again that they hate people who like their shows. But I loved this comment from Whedonesque: " I think it would be cool to show the final episodes out of order." Sadly, that's such a Fox thing to do. (Firefly, anyone?)

Apparently, the Geico cavemen pilot sucks. I can't really say I'm surprised... Personally, I'd rather see a show about that gecko with the hot British accent.

I watched Traveler last night, which was pretty good. It's about two guys, just graduated from college, who are on the run from the FBI when a third friend of theirs supposedly commits a terrorist attack (blowing up a museum in NYC) and they get blamed for it. Whitney at Pop Candy describes it as an "Abercrombie version of 24." Hee. They're re-airing the pilot (see that, Fox? ABC understands...) on May 30th, after which the season will air over the summer. I think that's actually a good idea - get people watching the pilot early, give them some time to generate buzz, and then hopefully, have a bigger audience when it airs again. If Drive had done that, instead of airing a bunch of episodes all at once and not allowing it to build on word of mouth, it might have stuck around longer (well, the four weeks it woulda taken to show those same episodes, I guess...).