In the twentieth and final episode of the third season, Veronica pursues revenge against those who secretly filmed her and Piz, discovering a massive, decades-old conspiracy in the process. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to finish Veronica Mars.
Trigger Warning: Lots of talk of consent and misogyny.
- I think I’ll always be able to look upon Veronica’s last scene with Nish as one that distills this whole show down to one incredible theme: Veronica makes powerful men hate her, and she loves it.
- I had no idea whether or not this finale would serve as the definitive ending to the show. I didn’t know if this would be an abrupt end or the fitting conclusion. I get now that the season was mostly likely made with the hope that season four would happen, and there’s just so much potential in the story that the show gave us at the very end of its run. Veronica Mars has always been about the divide that exists in nearly every facet of Neptune, and so I love that this ends with a reveal about a horrifying society that’s been passing along privilege and power for decades.
- ALSO LOTS OF CAMEOS.
- !!!!!
- In a lot of ways, though, this also feels like a giant love letter to Veronica’s friends. Wallace, Mac, and Weevil all come through and risk their own safety in order to help Veronica get even with the person who secretly taped her and Piz having sex. In his own way, I think you could also argue that Logan came through for Veronica, though the episode openly addresses how misguided Logan was in attacking the very first person he suspected. Like Veronica says near the end of the episode, his violent attack on Piz is not something she can easily get past. Plus, it’s not like this is the first time that Logan has demonstrated a desire to be protective of Veronica without consulting her first. A great deal of this season has shown us that Logan deals in extremes, which makes sense, given how extreme has life has been.
- Meanwhile, this episode is like a parade of every vile misogynist in Neptune, because HOLY SHIT DUDES ARE GROSS. From Dick to Chip Diller to Dominick Desante to Gory Sorokin, all of these guys (and many more) demonstrate how they feel entitled to Veronica’s body. Gory films her and then passes the footage around so that others can torment her, and seriously, IT FELT LIKE NEPTUNE HIGH ALL OVER AGAIN.
- So I love that this is all about Veronica getting revenge without most of the moral complications that come with it. What these men did to her was wrong, what the Castle does is wrong, and Veronica deserves the closure she pursues. Watching her get revenge against Dominick? I feel exactly 0% guilt. He spread that video of Veronica and then teased her about it and objectified her to her face and HE DESERVES EVERYTHING HE GETS.
- Pro-tip: people who spread nude photos/videos of people who didn’t consent to said photo/video are SCUM OF THE EARTH. So yeah, I don’t feel bad for anyone Veronica goes after here.
- I MEAN HOW COULD YOU HATE THE SCENE WHERE DOMINICK COMES BACK TO HIS DORM AND SHE SINGS “BAD DAY” TO HIM? IT’S SO PERFECT.
- Gory is so awful that I hope he’s in the movie in an extended scene where Veronica repeatedly throws him off of a cliff.
- These are the things I think of when watching television, I swear.
- And then shit gets extremely terrifying. I had a suspicion early on that Wallace’s weird induction to the Castle had something to do with what was going on, but like many of the fantastic mysteries on this show, that’s about where my preparedness stopped. I love that this is a take on both the secret societies in college and stuff like the Freemasons. Wallace is also ridiculously amazing here for a number of reasons. Despite that he was ordered not to tell anyone about the process, he recognizes the possible connection to Veronica’s tape, and he immediately rushes to her house to tell her. Y’all, Wallace chose to ignore his own future that would have invariably given him success and power just so that he could help his best friend.
- And when Veronica backs away from asking Wallace to help her out, he only takes a few seconds to agree to continue the induction process at great risk to his own physical safety.
- Wallace Fennel: best friend now and forever.
- I’m so into the writers bringing Nish back in this context, both to provide exposition on The Castle and to play a much more positive role. I LOVE IT.
- Who was surprised that The Castle had never admitted a single woman? No one in the entire universe. Secret societies like this are, historically speaking, horrifically sexist.
- BUT THAT DID NOT PREPARE ME FOR HOW SCARY WALLACE’S INTERROGATION WAS. I mean, did these people not think how fucked up it was to put a collar on a black man??? (No, of course they didn’t, and I imagine that The Castle is so entirely made up of white men that they’d never consider the horrifying implications of this.)
- And yet, somehow they knew about Wallace’s every secret. Just… holy fuck, it’s so terrible. SO TERRIBLE. They knew about Rashard. They knew about the pen Wallace brought in. How do they know so much? Wallace, you’re a goddamn saint for going through that. Jesus, I’m still so disturbed by the idea of this organization.
- I HAD NO IDEA
- I HAD NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT THIS WOULD BECOME
- BECAUSE I FIGURED WE’D SEE A FEW FAMILIAR FACES FROM CAMPUS WHEN VERONICA SNUCK INTO THAT FANCY MANSION. I ASSUMED WE WOULD GET CONFIRMATION THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THE GUYS WHO SENT OUT VERONICA’S VIDEO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS.
- WHY
- THE
- FUCK
- IS
- THERE
- A
- GIANT
- PAINTING
- OF
- LILLY
- KANE
- NO
- NO YOU ARE KIDDING ME
- what the holy flying fuck it’s JAKE KANE.Â
- HOW DOES THIS SHOW DO THIS TO ME. HOW CAN ONE SHOW SHOCK AND FUCK ME UP SO MANY TIMES IN JUST 64 EPISODES?
- AND THEN IT JUST GETS WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE, AND SUDDENLY, IT’S CLEAR THAT VERONICA IS UP AGAINST FORCES SHE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL. She left a thread behind on the doggy door. She left evidence of her theft. SHE’S ON VIDEO BREAKING IN.
- And Keith can’t stop it. He can’t even get Veronica to tell him the truth, and it’s so frightening to watch. Because on the one hand, Veronica needs to get revenge. She needs to get the information on that hard drive, but by ignoring her father, she digs a deeper hole for him only. That’s what’s so awful about this. In the end, this ends up being negative for Keith, not Veronica.
- OH MY GOD IT’S CLARENCE WIEDMAN.
- no this can’t be good I DON’T LIKE IT.
- Like, I should have known this would negatively affect Keith’s campaign once Jake Kane burst in on that interview, but y’all. IT’S JUST SO SAD.
- And if this wasn’t enough, once Mac and Veronica crack the hard drive’s password, GORY’S VIDEO IS SO MUCH MORE DISTURBING THAN I WAS READY TO HANDLE.
- But that’s how this had to end, didn’t it? This isn’t a definitive end to the show in one sense, but in another, it’s precisely how a good noir might end. Veronica gets her revenge in part by blackmailing the entirety of The Castle, including Jake Kane. But the price she pays? Keith is brought up on charges of evidence tampering. And we know that he erased that DVR to save his daughter. Y’all, Keith loves Veronica so much that he may have just gave up his career in order to save her. Oh my god, this is the best father-daughter relationship in the history of the universe. I can’t deal with it at all.
- So it’s fitting that this episode ends with Veronica voting for her father and then walking out on a rainy day in Neptune. It’s a physical manifestation of the storm that she inadvertently brought with her, and I admit it makes me sad. There’s so much more that could be done with this story, and I could easily see how season four could address the ramifications of this case. Veronica could take on The Castle full time, maybe as a way to make up for what happened to her father. (I mean, seriously, is there any way Keith would win given the charges brought against him?)
- Of course, I’m eager to see where the movie picks up, since I know nothing about it. And I’m keeping it that way! No spoilers, no trailers, and by the time this review goes up, I’ll have seen it at the premiere with the rest of the Marshmallows who supported the Kickstarter for it.
- This has been an incredible journey for me, not just because I loved the show. This show has changed my novel in huge, significant ways, and when I finally finish it, I think you’ll see why. This fandom has been an absolute treat to be in, and it makes me sad that this is coming to an end. I don’t want it to.
- I’m writing this on Tuesday, March 4th, and in a week, I’ll be on my way to Los Angeles for a premiere, a contest, and an event, and it’s all because of Veronica Mars. So yeah, I’m a bit emotional right now.
- But it’s not quite over. Tomorrow, I’ll post my review of the film! Not only that, but there will be a video of me watching a possible treatment for season four. Whenever I finish a longer series on one of my sites, I hold a Q&A party. Because I have such a strict spoiler policy, this is a chance for people to finally share all the interviews, behind-the-scenes, and meta stuff that I’ve missed along the way, as well as ask me questions about the entire experience/show that I couldn’t really address during my review series. So, I’ll ask that you please save this sort of stuff for tomorrow, especially since I will actually be sitting at the computer on Friday reading all the comments.
- Thank you all. This has been spectacular, and I’ll never forget it.
The video for “The B*tch is Back” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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