Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigations into Veronica Mars [Paperback]

In my adult life, I can count on one hand the amount of books I have read. In fact I could have lost a couple in shop class and still be able to count them. (Before you write me off as having an aversion to reading, I do subscribe to two magazines, Newsweek and Rolling Stone.) And those few I read took me literally years to finish. But when I got a copy of Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigation into Veronica Mars, I went threw all 212 pages within a week.

The book is a collection of eighteen essays, most seemingly written between the second and third seasons, dissecting every aspect of the show and no matter why it is you watch the show, whether it be for the noir, the girl power, or the Veronica/Logan relationship, there is an essay for you. Well unless you are like me and watch the show for the latest Dickisms as only survivor still left in Neptune only gets fleeting mentions. And oddly a whole essay is devoted to the cars of Veronica Mars and what they tell you about the show and the characters that drive them, but no one devolves fully into Ronnie's love life instead the writers side with Logan or Duncan with Troy and Deputy Leo left as footnotes.

The book starts of with an introduction from the show's creator, Rob Thomas, which even at seven pages makes the book worth the price of admission as he recounts his professional life between moving out to Los Angeles up to the point of Veronica Mars getting picked up. Most interesting of this part was the pilot he wrote for Fox in-between Cupid and Veronica Mars, but of course since Fox is allergic to quality programming, they passed.

Thomas then also gives an introduction to each essay sometime discounting the essay in its entirety like the one about the cars (Full disclosure: I'm not a car guy) and seemed a little uneasy that someone devoted a whole essay about the campy side of the show (When something on Veronica Mars feels, campy, it means we have failed). The title of the review came from what Thomas said when the network asked what the show was about, but as anyone who has watched the show, it is much more as seen in the essays complied for the book. It would take too long to review each individual but here were the most interesting to me.

Chris McCubbin devoted his essay, The Duck and the Detective, on why Veronica Mars plays better in Red States than Blue. This piece stuck me as a resident of a Red State and life long Republican (well up until my brethren elected the most inept president ever, twice). My television schedule has never been influenced by my political beliefs, I even loved the unapologetically liberal Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, yet it still fascinated me especially after when a few liberals were up in arms because of the abortion pill episode. McCubbin liked to bring up the South Park republicans, but the big difference between South Park and Veronica Mars is that that Matt Stone has said, "I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive deleted) hate liberals" while Thomas readily admits, "he is "part of the Hollywood Loberal Media Elite."

The other essay that caught my eye was the one from John Ramos, Couch Baron of Television Without Pity, I Cannot Tell a Lie. And if You Believe That... Ramos dissects the level of lies, from the white lies that help her solve a case to the big fat ones that have major consequences like when she played her father while helping Duncan get out of the country with his baby in tow. Add to that The New Normal by Kristen Kiddler where she looks into Vee's vigilantism and it interesting to see people complain in season three that Ronnie has gotten so mean. The first season was all about making people pay, the person who killed Lily, the person who raped her and anyone who was an accomplice, even if inadvertent will be in her crosshairs. She still to this day harbors deep hatred for Madison Sinclair for handing her the drink that led to her rape.

Even though there is plenty of great essays for every type of Veronica Mars fan, there will be certainly a few that will not be as good as others depending on what brings you to the show. For me I could do without the essays on the cars as well as the one devoted to the "epic" love. But this is definitely a must read for anyone who has watched the show.

A bit too intellectual at times, but generally a good read about the philosophical implications of various scenes and episodes from Veronica Mars. Focuses largely on the first season, which is great if you enjoyed it. A bit heavy for a summer read, but if you are into philosophy or want to read some deep thinkers' opinions, definitely a worthwhile read. And there is enough "lightweight" content to make it a good read for all.

Ordinarily when I read an anthology that attempts to make an analysis of a TV series or film, I find at least a couple articles I cannot agree with. However, in Neptune Noir, despite there being different approaches by the authors I found them all superlative. It may also be that my wife and I are suffering from withdrawal pains of there being no Veronica Mars after this Summer's reruns of season three.

I will not comment on individual articles except to say that each author covered verious aspects of this great show, using examples from the scripts of the first two seasons. Even more interesting was the introduction and commentaries by Rob Thomas. As a retired high school teacher myself I had no problems understanding what he was doing.

I have to say that my wife and I are late blooming fans. In fact we met Kristen Bell at a convention, getting her autograph, before we had seen the series. We picked up the first couple episodes of season one at a video store and that was enough to get us to order the first two seasons. Never have we gone through a collection so quickly as we just couldn't ration them out. We now await our order for season three.

I understand there are movements to revive the show or to at least have a movie. TV Guide even rumored that Veronica Mars could show up on 24 as an FBI agent. That wouldn't work as Jack Bauer couldn't keep up with her. Also, Kristen Bell is a superb actress, as witness the Lifetime film Gracie's Choice. By now she probably has had countless offers.

I do hope that we have not heard the last of Rob Thomas and that his genius will again give us something special.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 15 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars