Veronica Mars season 4: Let’s talk about that shocking ending
Veronica Mars has left fans absolutely reeling after a jaw-dropping season 4 ending.
Warning: Major spoilers for Veronica Mars season 4 below!
Heading into the Hulu revival, there were only three people billed on the main cast: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, and Jason Dohring. Considering the show is called Veronica Mars, it’s pretty safe to assume that the titular character would live to fight crime another day. However, many fans were preparing for the very real possibility that Keith Mars or Logan Echolls would bite the dust due to the warning from Bell and Rob Thomas about a much darker series. Sadly, no amount of preparation could be enough to watch a fan-favorite character die.
Yes, Logan Echolls meets his end in the finale, title “Years, Continents, Bloodshed”. LoVe finally gets their happeny ending only to have it ripped away only minutes after. Naturally, there’s been an outcry of anger on social media, with many fans vowing to never watch another season of the series. While I’m personally gutted and I think the decision has both pros and cons.
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Why it didn’t work
While Rob Thomas promised that season 4 wouldn’t be fanservice, it does seem cruel to give fans exactly what they’ve been asking for before taking it away. LoVe has been a popular love story since season 1, so much in fact that Logan was originally introduced as an antagonist not a romantic interest. Veronica’s and Logan’s relationship is one of the hearts of the show (the other being hers and Keith’s) and it does feel like the writers wanted to toss some more trauma her way.
The eight episode format worked really well for telling a tight-knit mystery but it does cut out a lot of time for character driven moments. Mainly, I don’t feel like we got to spend nearly enough time with Logan or LoVe for the death to have the emotional payoff it deserves. Yes, original fans are the ones who are the most gutted but if you’re a new or casual viewer than Logan’s death feels a bit cliche.
Finally, Logan went through so much character development since the first season. We’ve seen him grow from the impulsive angry bully in season 1 to the hard-working Naval officer in season 4. It would’ve been more satisfying to his death play out as some kind of heroic sacrifice rather than get blown up to further Veronica’s torment.
Why it did work
LoVe fans will undoubtedly disagree with me on this one, but upon further thought Logan’s story arc did feel complete. Veronica, Logan, Dick, Wallace, Mac, Weevil and really just the entire gang are no longer in high school or college. There’s no reason for them to be so involved in each other’s lives anymore or each other’s work. Original fans had complaints that Veronica didn’t spend enough time with Wallace, that Mac was nowhere to be seen, and Weevil’s happy ending was erased. But the fact is these people wouldn’t be in Veronica’s constant orbit now that she has cases outside of school.
With that being sad, Logan’s part in Veronica’s life was going to be reduced to the husband she came home to at the end of the day. There are probably a lot of people who would be more than happy to have that, but it would really rob Logan of his own story to simply become “the love interest”. Unless he became a security detail for every one of Veronica’s cases, it’s clear the show was running out of stories for him. At least this way, he gets to go out after completing his happy ending. If Leo is truly meant to be Veronica’s new love interest (and it’s certainly looking that way), there’s the appeal that he can be involved in most of the show’s mysteries moving forward.
A part of me is upset the show keeps tossing more trauma her way but the finale does do an interesting way of framing this recent tragedy. Veronica doesn’t need more trauma to understand what it means or to prove that she’s a survivor. Instead, Logan’s death pushes her to finally attend therapy as he once did and begin a road to recovery. She’s always kept her demons at bay through crime-solving and revenge but his death makes her realize it’s not something she can keep running from.
Was it the right decision?
The only way to truly know if Logan’s death was the right creative decision is if Veronica Mars gets a season 5. We need to see more of the fallout to see if the writers are able to build off of this tragedy or if the show hits a creative slump.
On a personal level, I would’ve liked to see Logan stick around. But logically, I can understand some of the appeal of resetting the board. The show has a history of killing off characters to make a statement and the one difference is that Veronica doesn’t look for vengeance but instead tries to be better.
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I also think killing off Keith would’ve been worse and a bit cheaper. They already showed his health issues and his death would’ve felt like an easy cop-out for this season.
Nevertheless, the series sacrificed a lot of goodwill built up within the fandom with this move and hopefully Rob Thomas knows what he’s doing. This can’t just be a throwaway death meant to add shock value to the revival. This is the kind of death which needs to continue to have ramifications if the series gets a season 5. Considering he cautioned fans beforehand and Hulu didn’t give a buzzy early renewal to a strong title like this, there’s definitely reason to believe everyone involved was aware the fallout could cost them another eight episodes.
What did you think of the Veronica Mars season 4 finale? Would you watch another season?