I Thought Our Story Was Epic, Season Four

Series Stats:

Dead Humans - 45
Backup Sightings - 18
Pony Sightings - 8
Veronica Breaks In - 27
Veronica Tases Someone - 7
Mac Hacks - 11
Who's Your Daddy? - 4
Wallace Does Veronica a Favor - 15
Weevil Does Veronica a Favor - 5
Leo Does Veronica a Favor - 3
Mac Does Veronica a Favor - 4
Cliff Does Veronica a Favor - 1
Logan Does Veronica a Favor - 1
Veronica Wants a Pony - 3
Logan Punches Someone - 10
Dick's Single Entendres - 26
Shenanigans Called - 21
VERONICA WAS RIGHT - 11
VERONICA WAS WRONG - 14

Season Four Stats (including comparison to previous season):

Dead Humans: 15 (+8)
(Dead Ducks: several)
Backup Sightings: 0 (-4, RIP)
Pony Sightings: 8 (+8)
Veronica Breaks In: 2 (-7)
(Matty Breaks In: 2)
Veronica Tases Someone: 1 (-1)
Mac Hacks: 0 (-3)
Who's Your Daddy?: 0 (=)
Wallace Does Veronica a Favor: 0 (-1)
Weevil Does Veronica a Favor: 0 (-2)
Leo Does Veronica a Favor: 0 (=)
Mac Does Veronica a Favor: 0 (=)
Cliff Does Veronica a Favor: 0 (=)
Logan Does Veronica a Favor: 1 (+1)
Veronica Wants a Pony: 0, cuz she HAS ONE NOW (=)
Logan Punches Someone: 1 (-2)
Dick's Single Entendres: 0 (-9)
(Veronica's Single Entendres: 1)
(Bryce's Single Entendres: 1)
Shenanigans Called: 0 (-6)
VERONICA WAS RIGHT: 4 (+2)
VERONICA WAS WRONG: 1 (-4)

Additional Season Four Stats:

New Recurring Characters: 33 total (Alonzo Lozano, Nicole Malloy, Dodie Mendoza, Daniel Maloof, Police Chief Marcia Langdon, Penn Epner, Matty Ross, Amalia Maloof, Alex Maloof, Simon, Loyd, Mayor Mark Dobbins, Craig, Andy, Bob Sargent, Shae Fennel, Noah Fennel, Clyde Pickett, Tayler Carr, Tyler Carr, Perry Walsh (Mole Man), Don, Juan Diego, Carol, Claudia, Angie, Tim Davids (Reporter), Herc, Manager Kelly (at Cho's Pizza), Chattanooga Charlie, Booker Woods, Councilwoman Teresa Visinare, Blake Long)
Already/Past Famous Person: 6 total (Patton Oswalt, Alanna Ubach, J.K. Simmons, Josh Duhamel, Sarah Hyland, Mary McDonnell)
Generally Known TV Face: 12 total (Eliza Coupe, Mark L. Young, Rudy Martinez, Francois Chau, Brad Morris, Clifton Collins Jr., Lauren Stamile, Clark Duke, Tyler Alvarez, Dannah Phirman, Mather Zickel, Rachel Andersen)
Logan's Inspirational Message: 3 total (“Einstein said you cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for death. No, wait. That was war.”; "The life of the creative man is led, directed, and controlled by boredom." - Susan Sontag;  “Is it weird to want to marry someone because you respect her? Because you want to be like her? Because you want children who will inherit her qualities? I want to marry Veronica cuz she's the toughest human being I've ever met. Blows that would destroy most people, she always picks herself back up.” - Logan Echolls, on Jane's voicemail)

Zelda's Thoughts:

You know, I'm mixed on this. Overall, I think it was a good season of television, and mostly succeeded in keeping all of the plot threads running, even if some of them ended up barely mattering, like the Maloofs, or seemed like Breaking Bad Lite (Alonzo and Dodie's adventures). I thought the way they positioned Penn as this gnat who won't leave, so we might not realize he's inserting himself everywhere precisely because he's the covert Big Bad, worked fairly well. I loved J.K. Simmons as the red herring Big Bad who ends up on top after everything shakes out. I loved his presence, his quiet confidence, and his dynamic with both Marses. I loved my Marses, and I loved how they reaffirmed how important they are to each other. The blasts from the past, like Clemmons and Jake Kane, Tim Foyle and Mercer, and especially our darling Leo, were all welcome sights (though in the case of Tim and Mercer, it was more nice to see the performers again than nice to spend any time longer than necessary with those awful people). And god, I loved Nicole Malloy. I hate that Veronica torpedoed their friendship, but I respect Nicole for not just brushing over it.

But -- and this is a bit strange to say -- though I felt like the returning characters themselves remained in character while also displaying personal growth (or specifically noted lack thereof, and again coughRORYGILMOREcough) -- the show itself didn't feel quite in character. It didn't feel like Veronica Mars. It was an interesting and engaging season long mystery, but the flavor of the earlier seasons was absent. It was mostly just this big epic case, with a bit of Hu at the start to remind us that the show used to be about these small cases, running alongside the Marses working on their own season-long case.

Also killing Logan was stupid and dumb and stupid, even if he was barely more than a sexy lamp this season.

Do we know if they're planning a fifth season?

Daniel's Thoughts:

Ditto.

Ok, I'll say a bit.

It's interesting to see a network show continue to cable/streaming, shedding the constraints it once had. It's like riding a bicycle without your parents' supervision for the first time.  Some will run straight into traffic (coughTWINPEAKScough) and others, like Veronica Mars, will just skirt the edge of town, maybe stopping off at the seven-eleven for a quick Slurpee.  It was actually interesting to see the writers subvert that expectation by having Veronica & Keith have a contest to see who can go longest without saying 'fuck'.  And sure a few curse words, naked butts & HOLY FUCK SAW-LEVEL GORE is gonna be slipped in there because that's life.

Also killing Logan was stupid and dumb and stupid.  Sometimes characters get to be happy.