The Bitch Is Back (Veronica Mars)

"The Bitch Is Back" is the series finale of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, serving as the twentieth and final episode of the show’s third season and the 64th episode overall. Co-written by series creator Rob Thomas and executive producer Diane Ruggiero and directed by Michael Fields, the episode premiered on The CW on May 22, 2007, directly after the previous episode, “Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down”. The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a college student while moonlighting as a private detective.

In this episode, Veronica investigates who posted a sex tape of her and Piz (Chris Lowell) on the internet. Renouncing Logan (Jason Dohring) because he beat up Piz, Veronica eventually discovers that the perpetrators are a secret society at Hearst known as the Castle, which is attempting to recruit Wallace (Percy Daggs III) headed by Jake Kane (Kyle Secor). Meanwhile, Parker (Julie Gonzalo) breaks up with Logan, and Keith (Enrico Colantoni) faces the upcoming Sheriff’s election.

"The Bitch Is Back" was the final episode before the series' cancellation. In an effort to prevent it from being cancelled, Thomas filmed a twelve-minute pitch for a concept involving Veronica in the FBI Academy which he presented to The CW. However, the series was announced that it would not return for a fourth season in any form at the network's Upfront conference several days before the episode's airing. When writing the episode, Thomas and Ruggiero had to remove seven minutes of material from the original cut, and they wanted to create an ambiguous finale that did not resolve everything neatly.

In its original broadcast, the episode received 2.15 million viewers and mostly positive reviews from television critics. Many praised the return to elements from previous seasons and the conclusions to the story arcs of characters, particularly Keith. Some felt unsatisfied by the episode's ending, but most of them blamed the network for cancelling the show on such an ambiguous note.

Synopsis

Picking up immediately after the previous episode, Logan informs her about the sex tape and hands her a DVD, although Veronica berates him and denies its truth. Veronica views the tape and goes to visit Piz. Liz is badly bruised, and Veronica makes sure that Piz did not upload the tape, which he confirms. After learning that Logan attacked Piz, Parker visits his hotel room and tearfully breaks up with him, claiming that he still loves Veronica. Veronica goes to his hotel room angrily, berates him for beating up Piz, and states that she does not want him in his life. Veronica confronts Dick about where he got the sex tape, and he got it from Chip Diller before forwarding it to his whole address book. She traces it back to someone who will not tell her the name. She gets Weevil to destroy his car, and he gives her a name. Veronica wiretaps the named person.

Veronica learns that there may be a connection to a fraternity, and Wallace informs her that it is the secret society for which he is being recruited, the Castle. They used similar equipment to bug Wallace as what was used to tape Veronica and Piz. Veronica speaks to Nish Sweeney about the Castle, while Wallace starts to go through initiation processes with the group in order to ascertain the members’ identities for Veronica. They make him go into a room and ask him personal questions, shocking him if he answers incorrectly. When they find out that Veronica has sent him, they kick him out, but Wallace has figures out the identity of one of the other recruits. Veronica sneaks into the house of the potential recruit and views a large portrait of Lilly Kane. She hears voices hides behind a curtain, and the two men are both involved in the Castle, and one of them is Jake Kane. Veronica steals Jake Kane’s computers, and Keith investigates the robbery, finding Veronica on surveillance cameras. Veronica asks Mac whether any computer could crack Jake’s password, and she brings her to a supercomputer on campus.

Keith questions Veronica about whether or not she is in trouble, while Jake and a county prosecutor tell Keith that they will get a judge’s order and be back to prosecute Veronica. The supercomputer processes the names of all the Castle members, while Keith hands over the surveillance tape to the county prosecutor. Logan tries to apologize to Veronica, and one of the Castle members comes up and tells Veronica that they videotaped her, leading to Logan beating him up as well. Veronica returns the tape to Jake Kane on the condition that he does not tell her father. Veronica sees that charges have been pressed against Keith nonetheless. She goes into a voting booth and votes for Keith as Sheriff, walking away in pouring rain.

Production

Writing

“The Bitch Is Back” was co-written by series creator Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero and directed by Michael Fields, marking Thomas’s ninth writing credit,^[2] Ruggiero’s seventeenth installment of the series,^[3] and Fields’s eighth episode.^[4] The scene in which Veronica says that she wants Logan out of her life was chosen because the writers thought that it would be a good note to end a season on, although it would not end up as the two characters' final interaction in the series. Thomas expected that several lines of the scene would make for good promotional phrases, while the scene featured heavy interference by Fields.^[5]

Thomas highlighted the scene in which Logan attacks the person who actually posted Veronica's sex tape as showcasing the romantic ambiguity between Logan, Veronica, and Piz. Thomas had counseled Lowell about his facial expression beforehand, and he was pleased with the end result, stating "it breaks my heart."^[5] While finalizing the final script, Thomas and Ruggiero had to take roughly seven minutes off the original edit, including a scene between Veronica and Leo. Later, Thomas thought that removing it made one voiceover line after Keith confronts Veronica about entering Jake Kane's house too sudden.^[5]

Thomas called the scene where Keith makes Veronica dinner despite this episode's events "quintessential Keith" and indicative of his lasting commitment towards his daughter.^[5] Despite knowing that the episode could be the series finale, Thomas did not want it to completely resolve everything, as he wanted to keep viewers guessing and prevent the conclusion from being too bland or typical. He also described the final shot of Veronica walking away from the voting booth in the rain as "a pretty melancholy way to go out."^[5] When writing the episode, Thomas tried to create an episode so ambiguous that it would be difficult for The CW not to renew the show.^[6] The song "It Never Rains in Southern California" by Albert Hammond plays during the final scene.^[1] In promos for the episode, The CW billed the episode as a season finale, despite the fact that the series had already been cancelled.^[7]

FBI pitch

Series creator Rob Thomas created the FBI concept.

Before cancellation, Thomas had come up with the idea for season 4 to take place in the FBI Academy.^[8] Prior to the airing of "Un-American Graffiti", Enrico Colantoni stated that The CW had seen the filmed first ten pages and reacted negatively.^[9] However, Thomas denied this testimony and commented that The CW had not yet seen the FBI pitch and would on May 2, the day after the series' return, a statement that was confirmed to be true by a representative for the network.^[10]

Thomas filmed and pitched a twelve-minute teaser for for the new concept to the CW, which was later released on the third season DVD and the internet.^[11][12] The clip begins in medias res with Veronica talking to a teacher, donning a teenage disguise, and it then flashes back to her first FBI meeting, and we discover that she is investigating the teacher for sexual abuse allegations. She successfully catches the teacher on camera, and back at the FBI, she runs into an old boyfriend named Seth. Veronica goes on a stakeout with a more experienced agent on a case to catch a bomber, but they find nothing. She investigates another lead with another rookie agent, and they find a man who appears to be innocent at first. However, Veronica discovers that he shares several traits with the bomber, and when she goes back into the room, she finds the man with a gun to the other agent’s throat as the clip ends.^[13] Thomas had initially planned for Veronica to be in the FBI at the hypothetical season seven or eight of the series if it were not in danger of being cancelled.^[5] Although he believed that the new concept would appeal to CW executives, he commented, "I'd be thrilled for [Veronica] to come back in any incarnation."^[14]

The pitch was presented to the network on May 2, 2007.^[10] It was reported that Dawn Ostroff, President of the CW at the time, had received the new concept positively,^[15] while a title change for the series might have occurred if it had been renewed for a fourth season.^[16] The CW had also recently cancelled Gilmore Girls, a fact which lead some news outlets to speculate that the series might be renewed in order to fill a schedule hole.^[16][17] However, by this point, several cast members, including Gonzalo and Lowell, had taken other jobs.^[17] Thomas stated, “I don’t think we’re dead; I kind of like our chances.”^[16]

Cancellation

Michael Ausiello initially reported on the series' cancellation.

Veronica Mars was one of roughly five series being considered for cancellation by the network in 2007.^[14] At the CW Upfront conference, where the network announces its lineup for the following television season, critic Michael Ausiello asked Ostroff about the fate of the show, to which she responded that it was possible that Thomas and Bell were going to work together on another show, although that possibility was unlikely. “It could come back in some form, but I don't know what form that would be,” she stated.^[18] Thomas responded to her comments by stating that he had not heard about a potential project involving him and Bell, commenting that the writers for the series had just taken new jobs. "I assume that anything Dawn would be talking about in the realm of a Rob-Kristen project would involve a new from-scratch pilot as they don't have me in a deal, and they'll lose Kristen in a couple of weeks."^[19]

At the conference, Ostroff officially cancelled the series, stating about the FBI pitch that “it’s not going to happen.”^[20] Upon the cancellation of the series, a group of fans calling themselves the "Cloud Watchers" sent more than 10,000 Mars bars to the CW,^[21] hoping that the network would reverse its decision and renew the series.^[22] Several years after cancellation, Thomas expressed interest about creating a feature film based on the show.^[23]

Reception

Ratings

In its original broadcast, “The Bitch Is Back” received 2.15 million viewers, ranking 74th of 85 in the weekly rankings. This was up from the previous episode, “Weevils Wobble But They Don't Go Down”, which aired immediately prior and garnered 1.78 million watchers.^[24] This was a ratings decrease from both the third season premiere, “Welcome Wagon” and the previous season finale, “Not Pictured”, which received 3.36 and 2.42 million viewers, respectively.^[25][26]

Reviews

Enrico Colantoni's performance was frequently singled out for praise.

The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics, with many praising the return to elements from previous seasons and the conclusions to the story arcs of characters, particularly Keith. Some felt unsatisfied by the episodes ending, but most of them blamed the network for cancelling the show on such an ambiguous note. Eric Goldman of IGN graded the episode an 8.3 out of 10, indicating that it was “great”. While he thought that there were a good number of loose ends by the end of the episode, he did not attribute this to the writers because they were not planning for the episode to act as a series finale. He enjoyed the final scene of the love triangle because of the variety of different ways in which it could be interpreted. While he expressed some frustration over Keith’s criminal charges and Sheriff’s election being left ambiguous, he opined that one could still take away important themes from the show because of his actions in the episode. The reviewer also lauded the final scene, writing, "the melancholy feeling of the final scene -- with Veronica walking through the rain, having cast a vote for her dad that is probably meaningless -- felt right for the series.”^[27]

The same publication later ranked it as the eighth best episode of ‘’Veronica Mars’’, stating that it “brings the show full circle” in that it returns Veronica to the position of social outcast. The publication also praised the conclusions to Keith, Logan, and Weevil’s characters and concluded that it was “a winner.”^[28] Alan Sepinwall, on his blog What’s Alan Watching?, praised the episode, stating that it was one of his favorite episodes of the series. He thought that the series’ early noir influences came back in the finale, something which the reviewer enjoyed. In addition, he lauded Bell and Colantoni’s performances, stating that the final scene “is a bleak ending, but strangely appropriate.”^[29]

Television Without Pity graded the episode an “A”.^[30] Rowan Kaiser, writing for The A.V. Club, praised the finale, writing that it worked well as both a series finale and a season finale and that it returned to form as one of the best episodes of the series. "We get significant emotional resolution between Keith and Veronica, whose relationship is the core of the show. We get to see Veronica being a badass, which is when Veronica Mars is at its most entertaining. All the supporting characters get something defining to do. The show engages with its history. And most importantly, it’s a fantastic episode.” He went on to laud the interaction between Veronica and Keith and his eventual sacrifice for his daughter, believing that it showed how the pair were not in fact that different after all. In addition, he felt that the supporting characters, including Wallace, Parker, and Piz, also received appropriate sendoffs. He later ranked the episode as his fifth favorite episode of the series.^[31] Kelly West of Cinema Blend gave a mixed review. She enjoyed the elements that resembled the first season, such as the return of Jake Kane and the portrait of Lilly, but she thought that the finale thought that “The Bitch Is Back” was a good season finale that did not work as a series finale: “How can the show not come back? How can they leave us with Veronica and Logan still apart?”^[32]

Stephanie Zacharek of Salon felt positive and ambiguous towards the episode, stating, "I’m not sure if Tuesday night’s finale is a deeply unsatisfying way to close out a series that’s ending before its time or the only way to end such a series.” However, she did not blame the writers but the network for this ambiguous ending. She also commented on the tone and themes of the episode, commenting that one of the series’ main takeaways was that the rich would always be in charge, as illustrated by Jake Kane. However, she did not view the finale as being resentful: “‘Veronica Mars’ has always been a clear-eyed show, never a bitter one.”<ref name=“Salon">Zacharek, Stephanie (May 23, 2007). "Finale Wrap-Up: ‘Veronica Mars’". Salon. Retrieved February 4, 2016. </ref> Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly felt unsatisfied with the episode’s conclusion, particularly due to the fact that Veronica and Logan did not resume dating. However, he praised the sex tape mystery because it had a personal connection to Veronica and the plot involving the Castle because of its similarity to earlier seasons. He also praised Keith’s actions, stating, “Okay, maybe I’m a sap, but this tugged at my heartstrings a bit and left me relieved there wasn’t a dreaded Veronica-Keith battle at the end.” The reviewer concluded that “the end is fine.”<ref name=“EW">Stransky, Tanner (May 23, 2007). "The End of ‘Veronica Mars’: Unresolved Mysteries". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 4, 2016. </ref> Sydney Bucksbaum of Zap2it felt unsatisfied because of the ambiguous endings to Keith’s arc and Veronica’s love triangle, although she was positive towards it as a stand-alone episode, she found herself hoping that there was another episode to the season. “Watching Veronica walk out into the pouring rain all alone after casting a probably-insignificant vote for her dad was depressing, symbolic (rain in SoCal?), and just downright unsatisfying.”^[33]

Roger Holland of PopMatters praised the episode while stating that the season as a whole was subpar. He wrote that the finale "took us all the way back to the heart of Veronica Mars.” Although he also commented on the lack of closure in "The Bitch Is Back", he still believed that the finale highlighted some of the main themes of the series. "The final scenes of Veronica Mars offered no sense of closure. Rather, we were left with the sense we’d been denied a genuinely thrilling fourth season…”^[34] The TV Addict commended the episode for returning to the mix of elements in the first season, calling both of them “the perfect mix of mystery, excitement, romance and snappy one-liners.” The publication also praised Bell and Colantoni’s performances.^[35] Kath Skerry of Give Me My Remote expressed dissatisfaction with The CW for cancelling the series. But she praised the episode if it had been a season finale: “As for the final two episodes themselves, they would have been magnificent season finales. It was classic Veronica Mars. Drama, comedy, inside jokes […] and callbacks to yesteryear.^[6] On his blog Cultural Learnings, critic Myles McNutt proposed that Colantoni should be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the episode, stating that “This final sacrifice is Colantoni’s strongest character arc all season and is the proper episode selection for the actor.”^[36]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Veronica Mars#The Bitch Is Back

• "The Bitch Is Back" at the Internet Movie Database
• “The Bitch Is Back” at Mars Investigations