Cinerant

And in the lead...

So Veronica Mars pulls ahead with the "Best Show this Season" title so far after it's confident quality smackdown of Lost last night.

Not that Lost was bad, but last night was a weaker episode that puttered around for a long time without going much of anywhere. Apparently, the writers think that everybody loves Hurley, which means that a lot of Hurley doing nothing equates a good episode. Not to completely deride the episode--the ideas were there. They were good. (Just why has nobody tried to use some gps navigation to find these people?) The idea of Hurley seeing a connection between his role in food distribution and his pre-lottery life were good. But his story just didn't move forward enough to give the episode the momentum it needed. Still, there were nice moments--which surprisingly all revolved around a recurring, but not main character--Rose. I find it somehow confounding that we don't see more of her. As much as Jack and Locke are the intellectual battles of the island, Rose is its heart and soul. She is the one that moves based on faith, love, and feeling--unlike any other character there. So, that's why I think meeting her husband was such a powerful moment. We were able to meet the guy lucky enough to be married to her. Forget the Hurley-centered episode. Give us a Rose-centered episode!

So the misstep of Lost just got trounced by a quick-paced and very moving episode of Veronica Mars. While all the episodes of Veronica have been outstanding this season so far, last night' was the strongest. In it, we found out that Veronica's life might be in danger, several people died as a result of her exposing Lilly's murderer, and Wallace's mom might not be who she claimed to be. Additionally, poor little Beaver Casablancas just can't win with his dad. Though he thought he was helping his dad (who obviously doesn't care about Beaver nearly as much as the elder son, Dick), by exposing his new wife's infidelity (with Veronica's ex-boyfriend), he accidentally ended up setting in motion a series of events that brought around his dad's financial downfall. So now, his dad is on the run and Beaver's going to be stuck with his new trophy wife stepmom running the household--that probably will be bankrupt as soon as the SEC gets going.

Emotions were high, taut, and profound. For multiple characters. We continued to learn things about all of them, including Wallace's little crush that clearly does not play well with Veronica. It might sound like a little much, but last night's episode is a model of pacing, plot, and character. Score one for Rob Thomas Productions.

And if you're not watching Veronica. That's what TIVO, VCRs, or multiple TVs are for. And now that ABC has announced you can purchase Lost off of ITunes, there's no excuse not to be watching Veronica Mars. (And remember, most UPN affiliates are re-airing the show during the weekend.)

posted by cinegod @ 11:02 AM