It might just be that the women I know who saw the finale are on LiveJournal, and LiveJournal tends to breed pickiness and discontent.

Really? Cos TWOP - surely the ground zero of joyless reductive sniping at TV - loved the finale.

I thought the finale was a little melodramatic, but that by that point, they'd earned it.

I had no particular investment on who the killer might be, so was pretty happy with the reveal in the finale. I thought it made good sense in terms of characterizations and so forth. I liked "A Trip to the Dentist" (which BLEW ME AWAY) better than the finale for reasons too spoilery to reveal here, but enjoyed the finale on its own merits. It had a lot of emotional high points for my favorite relationship on the show, i.e. the one between Keith and Veronica. In fact, several people have said that the finale was a stealth Keith episode, which struck me as very true.

By the end, Couch Baron was eating directly out of Rob Thomas' palm. Which, great, but he wasn't as critical as many people out there. In fact, he was pretty nice to the show all the way throughout, not that I don't think the show earned it cuz I do.

Mostly, it hinges on whether you like the killer reveal. Some felt it was a bit asspully. I happen to disagree. Others don't like the fact that Veronica doesn't handle the situation with perfection and power, and instead gets in trouble. I happen to think it's one of the best aspects of the episode, and, in fact, the series as a whole. She's a verbal badass but guys? She's 5'4" and seventeen, and as far as we can tell doesn't have much in the way of martial arts training. Simple brute force is her kryptonite.

The only thing I don't like? I think the ending door thing is cheap. Especially since they didn't tell Kristen Bell who it was, so her reaction is completely random - what a waste of an actress who could write a novel with her facial expressions. Should have left it at the bridge - I'm much more concerned about that than the door. In fact, I'm concerned that they're going to pretty much ignore it, which would suck.

Especially since they didn't tell Kristen Bell who it was, so her reaction is completely random

Heh. This reminds me of the end of the S4 X-Files finale, "Gethsemane", in which Scully learns Mulder has "died" (eye-roll), and Gillian Anderson was told no different and proceeded to act her little heart out. Then in the S5 opener, we learn that Scully knew Mulder was alive all along, which made nonsense out of her genuine display of grief.

Whenever people have finished watching "A Trip to the Dentist", I always point them to this phenomenal essay by Mars, which says everything I could have said about why I love this episode so much, and more.

Cos TWOP - surely the ground zero of joyless reductive sniping at TV - loved the finale.

I can't speak for the VMars fora, but in my experience TWOPers tend to get obsessive and critical about these tiny little details that no one on the production staff probably even noticed, but be pretty accepting and even loving toward the big stuff. In contrast, my particular corner of LiveJournal doesn't tend to nitpick as much, but does tend to ruthlessly destruct huge arcs.

YOnlineForumExperienceMV.

I adore the show, but VM fandom is frickin' crazy. Well, at least the highly vocal/visible proportion of the fandom. I kind of had to stop wandering around the fandom at large because I didn't want a repeat of the BtVS experience in which the fandom made me dislike the character I used to love (i.e. Spike).

Others don't like the fact that Veronica doesn't handle the situation with perfection and power, and instead gets in trouble.

I didn't like that she got in her car without looking in the backseat first. It bugged me.

I kind of had to stop wandering around the fandom at large because I didn't want a repeat of the BtVS experience in which the fandom made me dislike the character I used to love (i.e. Spike).

I’m more than a little worried that Logan might become like Spike. I don’t know much about VM fandom, but it seems like he’s already that kind of character – charismatic, tortured soul, etc. – and people seem to REALLY like him or dislike him. I hope the writers ignore all of this, because I like how he’s presented on the show, as someone who can be sweet at times, but who can also be a major waste of space. It’s the kind of complexity you don’t often see on tv and I worry that his massive fandom contingent might sway the writers into making him the focus of the show and making him even more tortured and angst-ridden.

I’m more than a little worried that Logan might become like Spike.

Well, I have hope, since we are not dealing with the big honkin' metaphysical question of good vs. evil and soul vs. no-soul à la Buffyverse. Everyone in Neptune is somewhere on the spectrum of gray, not the least of whom Veronica herself, who does some hugely questionable stuff morally and ethically. And Logan's broken in a way that I find complicated and interesting and not totally beyond hope. We shall see.

He does divide the fandom something fierce, although I haven't met that many Logan-naysayers in that even those who don't like him very much (with or without Veronica) tend to agree that his character arc was well-plotted and acted.