Veronica Mars season three - DVD review

As for the episodes themselves, there's nothing new here. There's no episode-specific commentary that I could find when perusing a few of the DVDs. The gold in this set lies in the bonus DVD, which is filled with extras that fans for the series have been itching for. Let's go through each of those a bit.

Rob Thomas and Dan Etheridge (supervising producer) host one of the features on this disc, titled 'Going Undercover with Rob Thomas'. It seems pretty clear that this portion was recorded before the show's fate was known, which was sad when hearing the enthusiasm in both their voices.

By the way, does anyone else thing Rob Thomas sounds a lot like Joss Whedon?

In the 'Undercover' feature are some smaller featurettes:

Main Titles: Why did they change?
Basically because they were in college and things were a bit too ... schooly, they went with a more serious tone. Back when the new credits were revealed, I remember there was a lot of hubbub going on about them. Now that seems to insignificant.

Rob's Directing Experience
Rob mentions some of what he considers his best work. He was happiest with the scene in 'Spit & Eggs' when the rapist, Mercer, enters his latest victim's dorm room, Veronica then getting the upper hand. Definitely creepy and contained 20+ setup shots.

Favorite Guest Star Moments
Rob and Dan discuss some of their favorite guest star moments, including Darren Norris as Cliff the lawyer, Adam Rowes (Mac's boyfriend, the cheating aide), Ryan Hansen and how he was cast as Dick (how was he a guest star?), Patrick Fabian (Prof. Landry), Ken Marino (Vinnie Van Lowe) and Paul Rudd. Interesting note: Paul Rudd was originally considered to play Vinnie Van Lowe when the series started.

Veronica Mars: Mean Girl
The guys discuss briefly how fans felt Veronica was meaner in season three. A very short and sorta pointless featuerette.

The politics of Veronica Mars
They discuss the heat they god over the RU486 (morning after pill) issues in one episode. They also discuss the feminist characters of the Lilith House and the animal testing featured in one episode.

Favorite Veronica & Logan Moments
Pretty self explanatory, as is ...

Favorite Veronica & Keith Moments
One not that made it obvious this was recorded before the show's fate was know is that Rob mentions that Kendall is dead "unless a writer pitched [him] the right storyline."

Do Overs?
Shots not working out as well as planned. Stories not going over very well, like the bone marrow kidnapping story.

Highlights
Episodes that meant the most to Rob, including 'Poughkeepsie, Tramps and Thieves', 'Mars, Bars' (Note: Mac was originally set to hook up with a professor in this episode!), 'Of Vice and Men', Show Me the Monkey' and 'Postgame Mortem' (remember the scene with the little girl in the elevator?)

Whew! That's quite a few featurettes. Now onto the rest of the features:


Season 4 Presentation
Finally we all get to see the 12-minute "episode" that was created as a redirection for the show, to pitch to networks. Personally, I'm glad this didn't fly. I mean seriously, does that image above do anything for you? I love that this was included on the DVD, but it would only have worked as a completely different show, not a continuation of Veronica Mars. Some interesting notes: Walton Goggins of The Shield plays Veronica's boss at the bureau, and the episode featured profanity, which leads me to think they pitched this to cable TV.

Pitching Season 4
Rob and Dan discuss the season 4 pitch episode again, which had some interesting commentary though I'm not sure why they played the whole episode out again. Originally this new season would have been a season 7 or 8, not a 4, but they had to do something drastic. They did this all within a few days and, as you'll see when you watch it, were going for a Grey's Anatomy-like feel, the office romance with drama. They really just wanted to do whatever they could to keep the show alive.

Webisode Gallery
Lots of fun goodies here, including a ... strange Ryan Hansen interview a "Hanging with Hansen - Trailer Tour",a Veronica Mars Hearst College New Set Tour, a VERY fast 30+ second set tour and, the best part, a Kristen Bell/Chris Lowell interview ... with each other. Here's a highlight image:


Deleted Scenes
a few short scenes from 'Wichita Linebacker', 'Charlie Don't Surf', 'Hi, Infidelity', 'Of Vice and Men', 'Show Me the Monkey', 'Postgame Mortem', 'Debasement Tapes' and 'The Bitch is Back', including commentary.

Gag Reel
Some great scenes of the cast goofing off, though I have to imagine there's a lot more than this that goes on.

So, there you have it. The DVD goes on sale in stores Tuesday. Like I said, for the bonus DVD alone, I recommend this set to complete the very short three seasons this show lasted. I'd love to hear what the rest of you think of that season 4 pitch episode.