Kevin Smith on Veronica Mars

[yendi]

This is, hands-down, the best show on television right now, and proof that TV can be far better than cinema. The cast is pretty uniformly excellent, and the dialogue crackles. Excellent characterization – even with the day-players – makes it the most engaging new show I’ve seen since “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, but the heart and soul of the show is the relationship between Father and Daughter, Keith and Veronica Mars.

The fact that Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni (“Those poor people…” from the severely underrated “Galaxy Quest”) weren’t Emmy nominated proves how fucking out of touch and useless the Emmy Awards are to begin with. The tender and witty repartee between these two wonderful actors makes you want to be a better parent. And a big shout-out to Jason Dohring’s Logan Echolls - a masterfully designed and performed nemesis whose twists and turns are always credible.

The show is basically an amalgam of some of the best TV ever produced, with each formula improved upon – chiefly, one clearly sees a “Twin Peaks” influence, with the year-long mystery surrounding the murder of party girl Lilly Kane. But whereas I always felt the brilliant “Twin Peaks” should’ve been a maxi-series, wrapping up the Laura Palmer murder in twelve episodes, “Mars” manages to thread the needle with the Lilly Kane murder so well, it never feels marginalized or played out over 22 episodes. And unlike “Peaks”, when the murderer is revealed and the storyline wrapped up in the final ep, it doesn’t feel like the show’s outlived its relevance; thanks to the crisp writing, the deft fleshing-out of the “Mars” universe and the endearing cast, you’re left wanting Veronica’s story to continue.

If you haven’t seen this show, good God, get your hands on the Season One box set. Sadly, it arrives in stores a few weeks after the start of season two, so if you haven’t seen any of Season One, make sure to TiVo Season Two’s first few eps, but don’t watch them, ‘lest you spoil the amazingly plotted Season One (however, I will say this: I was informed who the killer was before I even started watching “Mars”, and even so, it never took anything away from my enjoyment of the run).

Far from the only comment he's made in his blog about the show, either.

Comments

[tattermuffin.livejournal.com]

Saw your subject line and thought "How can he be on Veronica Mars? He's dead."

... then realized that yet again the wrong Kevin Smith came to mind.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Yes, but Kevin Smith also said that Revenge of the Sith was good.

[yendi]

So he's right 50% of the time.

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

What's the fascination with Kevin Smith these days? The guy hasn't made a good movie in a decade.

[yendi]

I'd say it was more recent than that (both Dogma and Chasing Amy, his two best films, are younger than that), but he's got a huge cult following, so any help he can give to a show like VM is a good thing, imho.