Season wrap-ups Part 2

Veronica Mars: Don't want to give away too much as Mira has yet to watch this season, but this is a tough one for me to sum up. The first season was one of the most brilliant things I've watched on TV in awhile but I think this season they became a little too ambitious. Still better than most of what's on TV but this year's mystery suffered by being too complicated and by being wrapped up too quickly. There's still stuff that I don't understand, and I'm waiting for the DVD to come out so I can re-evalute everything. But tons of good stuff this season. Lots more Mac. Tons of wonderful Keith-Veronica moments. Weevil and Logan working together. Dick = comic genius. Duncan leaving. Logan and Veronica dancing. Veronica's graduation dream. Aaron Echolls finally getting his. "I thought our story was epic." !!!! Next season is reportedly going to be structured a bit differently, with three sections/mysteries to the season, which I think will help viewers keep up better.

Alias: A fittingly uneven end to an uneven series. I loved Alias when it first premiered: it was different and fun and it had a great premise with the whole double agent thing. And while I agree that something did have to happen with SD-6 in order to move the story along, I feel like things really did start to go downhill when SD-6 was destroyed, and then the Rambaldi nonsense just took over and the rest is history. I mean, there was definitely a lot of good stuff, especially in the first two seasons. All the intrigue with Irina in second season was excellent and the development of the Jack/Sydney relationship is still a highlight. Lots of great supporting players with Marshall and Dixon and Nadia and Anna Espinosa and Sark and even Rachel and Tom this final season.

But there were just too many horrible things. The 3 year time jump and Vaughn's terrible wife (most hated character ever). The Francinator. The stupid big red ball and the zombies. The Allliance. Prophet 5. And Sloane. Ugh Sloane. The number of times he flip-flopped between being evil and being evil but claiming to be good makes my head hurt. And over time, Sydney just became less sympathetic. She started out as this tough ass-kicking chick who also has a big secret and a lot of parental issues and angst, but great supportive friends and co-workers. But when some of those elements went away, she became cold and robotic, maybe with good reason, but it just didn't help the show very much.

That said, the finale had its moments. Liked the flashbacks. Liked that Sark escaped, because that's just what he does. Liked that Syd and Vaughn ended up happy together. Liked that Carrie made an appearance and that Marshall ends up having 4 kids. Liked that Sloane ended up buried alive for eternity. LOVED that Jack put him there as his last act. Was disappointed that Irina was involved and pretty much evil after all, and that Tom died in the subway just as I was starting to hope he and Rachel could be the next Syd and Vaughn. But let's just leave it at that. I'm glad it went out when it did because any more would have just been adding salt to the wound...

24: Maybe I didn't quite pay enough attention this season but I'm still pretty confused about what was going on and what everyone's motivations were. I'm really fuzzy on what Logan's plan really was and who Dr. Romano's little group was supposed to be and what they wanted and what Bierko wanted and what Christopher Henderson wanted...it was all just a bit too much. But unlike Alias and Lost, the plot intricacies don't hold the show back from being just completely kick-ass. Jack Bauer is definitely going to go down as one of the most distinctive TV characters of all time, especially as he gets more and more ruthless as the seasons go by. Glad to see Audrey back to soften him up though as she's definitely my favorite among Jack's many doomed loves. Chloe was also even more awesome this season, loved all the snark and the tasering and (sob) Edgar. (And what was up with her ex-husband??) Bill Buchanan, best CTU boss EVER! Also glad that Karen Hayes wised up and saw what was going on. And I loved the ending because come on, we were all waiting for the Chinese to resurface.

But ultimately this season was all about President Logan, and man, what a twist. The weak and incompetent man we hated from last season is suddenly the archvillain, but through it all he somehow still manages to be weak and incompetent. And gotta love Martha Logan, and her little smirk to her husband at the end of the season. Completely awesome that the one person with the power to bring down the President started off the season completely loopy. Was also glad to see that Aaron Pierce and Mike Novick weren't fooled either (and that they didn't die).

It's funny, 24 is definitely an action show first and foremost, but no matter how crazy and ridiculous things get, I still love it. Lots of my co-workers and other people I know have recently gotten into the show, which is awesome. I'm proud to say I've watched it from the beginning though!