Veronica Mars: How is the second season?
 

I just got done watching the first season on DVD, and I really enjoyed it. Now with the new CW network I'll be able to watch the third season, as this show was shown really early in the morning on my WB network.

I don't want to read any threads about the second season to avoid spoilers, but I'm planning on picking up the DVD's in August.

Does the second season have the same quality as the first? Or did the "UPN forced changes" (didn't read the thread but saw the title) affect the show?

I really like it but sometimes I feel like I need to have a flow chart and a set of Cliff's Notes to follow everything that it is going on. There are so many different plots and characters, it is the show that I watch that requires the most attention. Far more than Lost even.

It might be easier to follow once it is on DVD. Sometimes they re-introduce a character you haven't seen in months and expect you to remember everything about their backstory. I find I have to pay a lot of attention to the "Previously on" segments. I usually come here and read the threads and people talk about characters names that I am not sure who they mean and I have to figure out via context.

That said I still need to finish the last 3 episodes of the season.

The second season mystery isn't as brilliant as the first, but it is still outstanding TV.

I agree with what has already been said. I think the second season was very good, just not as brilliant as the first. As Jadzia said, there is a lot more going on in the second season and it concerns a lot more people. I had some complaints about how it was flowing, mainly that it didn't always seem to focus too much on the main mystery, but then I rewatched all the second season eps to catch up a friend who had just gotten into the show. I thought it flowed much better in that way. All of a sudden, I thought the season was much tighter than I had originally thought, but then again, when you have to wait so long in between episodes it definitely affects the viewing experience. So, I would still highly recommend the second season.

And Jadzia, catch up for God's sake!

This is my feeling about the 2nd season as well...

I thought the second season was uneven. It was still good, but I thought season 1 was much better.

I enjoyed the hell out of it just as I did the first season. A show like this is perfect for watching on DVD rather than on TV. It just flows much better that way.

I even seem to have enjoyed the second season more because everything/one was already established for the most part, and the writers where in a groove the whole year (and not trying to find footing like all first season shows), and I just was really entertained.

I remember I wasn't going to watch this show, but the online reviews made me interested, but I had missed the pilot so I was going to watch the DVDs, but then MTV aired like the first couple episodes, and it was awesome...

Not that great.

The second season is extremely spotty. There is a lack of emotional depth so that half the time I didn't care what was happening. The new characters are poorly written and there are way too many unnecessary characters. They are so unmemorable that half the time I didn't know who the hell they were. Story threads come and go for no reason. There was a run of very good five or six episodes, but the last two episodes of the season were awful. The courtoom scenes in the penultimate episode were laughable. It was cringe inducing. The finale was completely overwrought and exposition heavy. It felt like the writers just pulled stories out of a hat and crammed them into the finale. The reveal of the killer was a disaster. The finale was a real letdown.

The second season had its share of struggles. I pretty much think the first season is perfect, but I could give you a laundry list of complaints I had about the finale... so don't even get me started on some of the early episodes and the odd decisions that were made concerning some of the characters.

That said, at the end of the day, it is still better than most of the stuff on TV, and I still love Bell as Veronica Mars, so you bet I will be picking season 2 up on DVD and tuning in for season 3.

The whole season was great. You'll find people bitching about everything from both sides of the coin: the killer was/wasn't plausible, the killer did/didn't come out of left field, the story was too tight/not tight enough. It's a great watch, still better than nearly everything else on television.

Not as good as the first season but enjoyable. It will probably be better if you see it on DVD without all the breaks. Kristin Bell is amazing as always.

i thought it was great.. different from the first season, but still really good. better than almost all otehr shows on tv still.

there was a lot more stuff going on in season 2 though.

also the season 1 mystery was more personal for veronica so that made it a lot better imo

Just as good as the first season. Anyone who had trouble following the plot, remembering chaacters and keeping the story straight just wasn't paying close enough attention. My wife and I had no problems following the story and it had the same number of ups and downs as the first season (which people are remembering with rose-colored glasses methinks)

An excellent follow-up season to an outstanding freshman effort. Enjoy the DVDs!!

Like others have said, this show seems to work much better on DVD than broadcast TV.

Much like Lost, I find that I enjoy it a lot more in a few sittings rather than with large gaps between episodes. With both of these shows, I'm actually debating if I should watch Season 3 live, or just hold out for DVD. I'll enjoy it more if I wait, but I know I won't be able to do that... ;)

Not completely true. Season 2 isn't bad, but the resolution to its main mystery was pretty disappointing and a bit of a cop-out. (Season 1, on the other hand, had great and satisfying resolutions to its main mysteries.)

I finished season 2 last night. It was good, but season 1 was better. The bus crash started off strong, but fizzled out towards the end.

Still a good show though. Bring on season 3!

i'm about 1/2-way through the second season and its definitly worth buying.

I mostly agree with everyone else. Although better than most shows on television, I have a feeling that Rob Thomas spent years working out the first season storyline and then had to come up with the second quickly.

There's some weird stuff with Wallace disappearing for a few episodes (I assume the actor had another obligations.) The writing of his girlfriend is all over the place, sometimes she is sweet and lovable, other times, dispicable. I guess the stuff with Charisma Carpenter was just a set up for next season, but it would have been nice to see some sort of conclusion to her storyline.

I'm broke, so I won't be buying the new DVD set, but I'll be watching the third season for sure.

The second season ALMOST caused me to drop the series all together. The strength of the relationship between Veronica and her dad is lacking. Luckily the strengths of each charater was able to pull it through the season. The sub-plots were all over the place and almost un-followable.

I think fans of Season 1 will enjoy Season 2, but it really wasn't very good TV (IMO). Hopefully Season 3 will present us with a more cohesive experience.

I don't think much time was spent on the plotting or the characters. If Thomas did spend a lot of time planning out season 2, he should be let go as exec producer. Storylines that went nowhere. Characters that changed personalities according to the dictates of the script; characters who had no personality and were difficult to remember. A major mystery that had no emotional impact unlike season 1's mystery. There was way too much reliance upon the idiot plot--Veronica not asking Meg about the bus crash being the prime example of this. Another problem I had is that Veronica was just so damn unlikeable for most of the season. When the show is called Veronica Mars, and she's not even in your top three characters from the show, something is wrong. The resolution to the bus crash was laughably bad--how many of exposition did Bell have to regurgitate? Continuity was not adhered to; characters came and went because of budgetary concerns. Season 2 was a huge disappointment.

I think thats what caused a lot of the issues with the season. That's why Wallace was gone for 5 episodes, and probably why they set up the story line with his father (which really went no where).

Didn't UPN also force the show to add his girlfriend to the show?

I get the feeling that UPN got involved and changed some things.

Yup, UPN wanted Veronica to have a female friend on the show. This next season Mac will be a regular, so we'll have more of a likeable friend.

The problems with the "friend" was the casting and writing. Which I doubt UPN has anything to do with. The writing was unbelievably horrible for that character.

We can blame UPN, but it all comes down to the writing.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I enjoyed the second season as much as the first. To the people saying the resolution of the mystery was a "cop-out": can you explain that? Just because it wasn't who you thought it was doesn't mean it was a cop-out.

I just burned through the second season on DVD and have to disagree with most of the complaints. The mystery was engaging and I thought the villain was more plausible than the first season (or at least had more clues dropped throughout the season). The mood swings and personality shifts of some characters reminded me all too much of high school, so they seemed very believable to me and not a result of poor writing.

This is one of the best parent/child relationships on TV, not sure what complaints you could have about that.

My only real complaint with the season was the concessions that had to be made for budgetary reasons.

Thank you! somebody who finally agrees with what I've been trying to say. Personally I found this season to be even better than the first one because the actors knew what to do with their characters, the writers knew how to write for the actors as well as the characters, and the season-long arc had any more motives/clues/wrong-turns than the first season. Also, I was SHOCKED by the reveal at the end of the season, where in season 1 I had been expecting since episode 8... Not to Mention the Plane Scene - There where 5 people in my room giving running commentary through the entire episode until that scene, when most people where too shocked to saw anything or too busy crying...

Can't wait for season three!

Of course it is ... that is why I mentioned it. I think the relationship between Veronica and her dad is lacking in the SECOND season compared to the FIRST.

He is barely part of her life in the second season. It is as if they are in two different story arcs. Keith Mars also has a smaller impact on the storyline from episode to episode.

I have always thought they need to get Veronica out of school, licensed and have her work for her dad. I think it would be a much better show.

The Veronice/Keith relationship will suffer more when she's at college i think. I can't imagine her spending much time w/ him since she's at school...i know they'll be in the same city, but still....w/ college comes new friends, etc.

The 3rd season should be interesting. I'm liking that they're doing 3 mystery arcs, instead of just 1 season-wide arc.

I finished watching the 2nd season (for the first time) on DVD on Sunday. I loved it overall. A couple complaints here and there, but it's still one of the best shows on TV. Unfortunately i had the culprit spoiled for me for season 2 a few months ago.

In my opinion, Season 2 is a textbook example of what happens when writers lose all control, with too many plotlines and characters, and just end having to pull something out of their ass to attempt to close everything.

I hope the writers of Lost don't make this mistake. Might be too late.

Having recently finished watching both the first and second seasons on DVD, I'm inclined to agree with you, too. I still probably like the first season better, and I did have some issues with the way some plot points were handled during season two, but overall I enjoyed them both immensely. I've become a completely hooked fan.

Now, my opinion might be a bit different had I watched the actual airings, as opposed to the DVD - but I plan on definitely tuning in to those veiwings of the show from now on. Then maybe I'll see if I think differently of it.

My wife & I both found the show to be very addictive, and it was nice to be able to watch more than one epsiode in a row, so I think it'll be a bit rougher being confined to week to week viewing. For now, regardless, I'll just be jonesing for my VM fix for the next month.

Is Veronica attending Hurst or Stanford in season 3?

From what I have read, even Kristen Bell had hard time following the plotline in season 2 but I gather there will be a few different mysteries in season 3 and they will each conclude in four or five episodes.

The worst part about last season was Wallace's girlfriend. It seemed like she hated Veronica and then partway through the season she shifted gears and wanted to be her friend. Overall she just felt unnecessary.

I still really enjoyed Season Two, but I'm glad to hear the main story arc won't be as convoluted as the last. The long breaks between episodes made it hard to remember all the plot points even with the "Previously on..." mini-recaps.

I was the who said the resolution was a "cop-out" but I guess I was just being too "nice" - better and more accurate descriptions of the resolution would be "idiotic", "stupid", "absurd", "ridiculous".

Yeah, it was a surprise, but "surprise" does not automatically equal "good" and this resolution was one of the most disappointing of any show of the last TV season.

Doesn't really need a spoiler, I guess, but:

Yeah, but you're not answering why. What about the resolution/identity of the villain didn't you like? It all made sense, and I could see that it was planned out pretty well.

In a way it almost seem the of the first season finale foreshadowed season 2's killer,