This article contains spoilers for season four of Veronica Mars. If you haven’t watched the entire season yet, do not read this. Simply save the link and pop back over once you have finished the season. Seriously. Don’t get spoiled.
I have developed a nearly fool-proof method for determining the criminal in any Law and Order episode: The 10-Minute Rule. Whichever seemingly inconsequential character shows up 10 minutes into the episode is the killer/rapist/generally bad guy. It could be the janitor that walks through the scene and says one line. Or it could be the company executive who really does seem slimy. It’s almost always correct except in one other case: The Very Special Big-Name Guest Star. If Robin Williams is in the episode, he did it. Sorry to ruin all your Law and Order weekend binges, but that’s how that show works. All of that was just a precursor to saying that I wasn’t particularly shocked to find out that Patton Oswalt’s creepy true crime fan was the guy behind the bombings (or rather, behind almost all of the bombings – it was nice to see that Big Dick was just as much of a dick as we all thought he was). I was shocked to find out that Veronica Mars didn’t manage to give him a better motive for his actions. It just felt anti-climactic and boring. I wasn’t all that satisfied with the season mystery, but I was, on the whole, satisfied with the season itself. It avoided the perils of fan service that plagued the Kickstarter-funded film, and gave us some interesting character beats over the eight episodes. But the mystery wasn’t the point of the season.
The real point of the season was getting Veronica to realize that she needs to grow-up and let others into her life completely, right? Looking back on the eight episodes from the vantage point of knowing how it all ends, the story of the season wasn’t about catching the bomber. Or whether Neptune should cave to the rich folks at the expense of the normal business owners of the area. It was about Veronica learning to open herself up and trust that those closest to her genuinely do love her and aren’t about to leave her when she needs them the most. A lesson that is beautifully realized through Kristen Bell’s great performance throughout the season. And a lesson that is shattered almost as quickly as it is learned with the shocking death of Logan. Because life isn’t a fairy tale, and sometimes things don’t go the way anyone expects them to.
For my money, killing Logan was one of the show’s better moves, even if the fallout from the event felt incomplete. As I suspect that single moment of season four is the one that will continue to resonate for as long as anyone discusses Veronica Mars moving forward, let’s take some time to unpack it and try to understand why the intention behind the decision to kill Logan wasn’t flawed, but the execution certainly was. I feel like I should preface this by saying that I’m not someone who was particularly invested in the Logan-Veronica relationship. I was never really invested in shipping Veronica with anyone, to tell the truth. So, while I absolutely can understand that fans of that relationship are experiencing a range of emotions around the decision to kill Logan, that’s not what I’ll be diving into here.
So, I don’t find the decision to kill Logan a bad one. It fit with the overall beats of the season. Even after realizing he was the bomber, Veronica never really saw Penn as a threat. He continued to be the nerdy guy who wasn’t as smart as Veronica right up until the end. And by the end of the season, Veronica’s inability to address her own personal issues had spiraled to the breaking point, meaning she wasn’t thinking clearly. A focused Veronica would have figured out Penn’s final surprise earlier. But this Veronica didn’t start dealing with her relationship problems until the last minute, which meant she let something crucial slip through her fingers. Penn would certainly leave a bomb to take out Veronica, one last screw-up to the woman who underestimated him until the end. And lest we forget, this show is a noir – the PI wasn’t going to get the miracle happy ending.
Removing Logan from the game board (and getting Keith back to fighting shape) gets the show to a point where it is no longer defined by the two prongs that have defined the show since day one: the case and Veronica’s love life. It can move beyond that simple structure and grow. A show dealing with a teenager’s romantic escapades juxtaposed against complex cases to solve works a hell of a lot better than a show dealing with the continuing romantic issues of a thirtysomething couple juxtaposed against complex cases to solve. The two best elements of Veronica Mars have always been the noir-styled mysteries and the incredible relationship between Veronica and Keith (the best chemistry on the show was always between Bell and Enrico Colantoni, providing one of the greatest father-daughter relationships ever on television). Losing Logan should be a chance for the show to dive deep into Veronica’s psyche (something it failed to do in season four – where it opted to skim the surface of her emotional baggage and then promptly wave a magic wand in the final two episodes to make Veronica realize she wanted Logan all along), give Bell something meaty to play, and let her grow and move forward.
Here’s where the problem with Logan’s death emerges: There was no time to deal with the fallout. Sure, having a main character trudge through the stages of grief can be a downer and suck all the narrative energy out of a show. I get it. But Veronica Mars is such a character-driven series that it requires this kind of deep dive into a character’s reaction to something as monumental as the death of their spouse. I also come from the “show, don’t tell” school of writing, and boy, did Rob Thomas tell an awful lot in that one year flash forward. It’s great that Veronica took steps to go to therapy and work through her issues (which, of course, she should have been doing from the moment Logan mentioned it in season four, but I digress). It’s great that she took the time to heal herself by “helping” her dad heal physically from his hip replacement. And it’s great that she’s refocused on her work. But all of that happened in a voice over montage in the final ten minutes of the season. We fast-forwarded through the work to build Veronica back to who she used to be. We didn’t get to see anything. We were told what happened. And that cheapens a moment that should have had a major impact on the series.
Ok, yes, if there’s a fifth season, Logan’s death will almost certainly come up, just like Piz and Mac got name dropped this season. And there will be some level of fallout in elements of Veronica’s life. But for fans of the show, some who have shipped this couple for 15 years, this will continue to be the ultimate betrayal because they weren’t given the chance to mourn and move on alongside Veronica. Even for those of us that don’t share that love for the couple, it’s hard to watch a character you’ve spent years with die and then see other characters moving on in a montage a year in the future. It moves the narrative along, but leaves the fans on the side of the road as the show drives off into the sunset. And that oversight will have an impact on any future Veronica Mars seasons that emerge. Which is unfortunate. All the series needed to do was give Logan’s death some room to breathe – an episode or two for fans and characters alike to give the massive plot point its due, before moving on to something new. But, here we are, forced to move on before we’ve had a chance to really understand and process what has happened and without the chance to see the characters we know and love to the same. A real shame.
So, season five. Rob Thomas wants it. I’m sure Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni would be game. It shouldn’t be too hard to scare up some of the show’s supporting characters for another go. There are plenty of new mysteries to solve outside of Neptune (although I wouldn’t be game for a season that abandoned Keith and the Neptune gang completely). The only question remains – would fans come back to this new world sans Logan? While some will hold fast to their tweeted promises to never watch the series again, I suspect there are enough Marshmallows left for another go. If the story warrants it, I’ll certainly be there for round five.
