Detective Update

[alixtii]

I just typed "Lupin" instead of "Dupin" in the essay on "The Purloined Letter" I am writing. Fandom has eaten my brain, and it isn't even my fandom!

Anyway, speaking of detectives, I watched the Veronica Mars repeat on last night. I don't know why I'm not feeling the love for this show, but I know one problem is that I'm simply not interested in the characters. A dearth of female characters in last nights ep is part of the problem: in addition to Veronica herself, there was only Charisma Carpenter's character (to whom I'm as apathetic toward as I ever was to Cordelia) and the slumber party girls. But none of these characters, male or female, really encourage me to identify with them.

I don't know if last night's ep was darker than usual, but I also miss some humor. And I don't just mean clever dialogue; Buffy had a sense of the absurd and wasn't afraid to go there, while VM seems to be nitty-gritty realistic. And I find that a real turn-off. I want to watch shows that are larger than life, and Veronica Mars is not a supergenius teenage girl who is going to take over the world. She is not going to learn Sumerian in a summer, and it's not going to be assumed that because she is good at physics she must be a whiz at biology and chemistry too. If I can't have vampires, I want the White House, or at least a Sherlock Holmes. But Veronica? Is not nearly enough Mary Sue-ish for my taste.

But I'll try again, probably, so don't count me out yet.

Comments

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

It's hard to have a good sense of who Veronica is without seeing the first season. I still like the show, but I think the second season is struggling a little.

And if you want V. to be a rock-star detective, there are episodes that cater to that. You're just catching her in.. well.. Buffy in Season 6 isn't an accurate comparison, but Veronica's been through a lot and is trying to rebuild.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

It's a hard show to watch out of order, honestly. And some of the middle eps from this season have been weak.

Characters are a problem for VM because, besides Veronica and Keith, they don't have the same ensemble every week, and some of the ensemble definitely works better than others. I love the way Veronica plays off Wallace and Weevil; Duncan, although I like him as a character, doesn't work with her the same way. And I'm pretty much a Logan agnostic.

Have you seen Mac yet? (Computer whiz girl). I bet you'd like Mac, but she's only a minor recurring.

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it really was the supporting cast which failed to work for me in the S2 eps I saw, whereas in the S1 eps soundingsea sent me the supporting cast is working for me much better. I'm still feeling the lack of strong female supporting characters, though, so I'll really look forward to meeting Mac.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

there really isn't a lot in terms of female cast, honestly, though the most recent episode finally made Jackie more interesting , and had some nice Mac --

one of the issues is that S1 had flashback-Lily, who was a powerful presence, and went away after the murder was solved. nothing in S2 really has the emotional tug that Lily's death did so that's a shift they haven't completely adjusted to.