Is That Beloved Veronica Mars Character Really Gone? Here’s Your Only Shred Of Hope

There is an air of doom hanging above Veronica Mars season 4. The unhinged bomber running around Neptune certainly adds to the general atmosphere of danger, but that’s not the only source of dread fueling the Hulu drama. Veronica Mars’ eight new episodes repeatedly suggest someone may die by the end of finale “Years, Continents, Bloodshed.” Veronica’s dad Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) tearfully panics about putting his daughter, titular heroine Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), in the line of fire. Veronica’s boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) has a risky job. Muggers are speeding around Neptune holding people at knifepoint.

Then you arrive at “Bloodshed” to learn the Veronica Mars revival wasn't bluffing. There is a beloved victim hiding in the series' cast: Logan, husband to Veronica at the time of his death. Fans are going to have an impossible time accepting the episode marks Logan’s end, especially after his wildly endearing season. So, what if they don’t have to? What if there’s a tiny shred of possibility Logan is still alive?

Let’s look at the evidence.

At face value, it seems very obvious Logan dies in a fiery explosion in the last few minutes of “Years, Continents, Bloodshed.” After Veronica figures out pizza boy Penn Epner (Patton Oswalt) is the copycat Neptune Bomber and sends him to jail, she and Logan head to City Hall to get married. Their wedding is short and sweet, and then the newlyweds are set to head off to Sedona, AZ for their honeymoon. As Veronica packs, Logan goes to move his wife’s car (Neptune’s street cleaning schedule is a running plot point of season 4). Then, the car explodes.

The explosion comes down to the more confusing parts of Penn’s second-to-last bombing limerick, which goes, “Their flesh we will squeegee at midday 'round Fiji, plus the heroes around whom we’re doting.” Penn slipped a bag into Veronica’s car during the finale rush to find Don McNotten (Clark Duke), the red herring bomber. Penn calls Veronica a “hero” when he’s put into police custody for the final time. The bag in Veronica's car goes off at 5 p.m. Pacific Time, when it is precisely noon on the island of Fiji (the existence of Neptune’s Fiji's Sandwich Shop is another red herring). It’s likely Penn timed the explosion to Neptune’s street cleaning schedule and expected “hero” Veronica would be moving her car at that time.

Logan was just the well-meaning collateral damage in Penn’s scheme to eliminate Veronica.

However, Veronica Mars gives viewers one ray of hope for Logan's off-screen survival. A death is only truly real in a TV murder mystery when we see a body, or, at minimum, some hard evidence of a corpse, like dental remains or a charred watch. Since Logan was allegedly in the middle of an explosion, a single remaining tooth would work best for the narrative — in stories like these, some random molar always manages to survive a blaze. Yet, the Hulu show gives us no such tangible proof of Logan’s death.

Instead, the show offers us little information about Logan’s experience during the explosion, seemingly on purpose. We see Logan open Veronica’s car door right before the bomb goes off, but we never glimpse him inside of it. Then, we witness the very edges of the explosion from Veronica’s second floor bedroom. Her high-up windows don’t look directly out onto the street, so we have no idea where Logan actually was during the blast.Even Veronica, who is blown away from the windows during the explosion, has no clue.

In the last act of the finale, we jump forward a year later. There is no explanation of how police confirmed Logan died. We’re supposed to assume the explosion erased all of Logan’s remains, but Veronica Mars season 4 is direct rebuttal against assumptions around crimes. This is a show about only believing the facts, not what someone or something claims is the truth.

If Logan didn’t die in the explosion, the obvious question is: Where is he, then? The flash-forward proves Veronica has spent the last 365 days mourning her husband’s death and dedicated her life to traveling the country solving new mysteries. If Logan is alive, wouldn’t he have come back to Veronica? Well, as every soap in the history of television has proven, amnesia is a great way to create tension in dramas. It’s possible Logan was thrown in the blast, knocked out, and woke up far from the scene of the crime without his memories. It would be very Jane the Virgin, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

Alternatively, Veronica Mars puts a lot of effort into telling viewers Logan disappears for long periods of a time, without notice or explanation, for his shadowy naval job. This big plot line never really affects the story past giving Veronica the option to contemplate sleeping with ex Leo D'Amato (New Girl’s Max Greenfield) while Logan is away. Considering how much time Veronica spends nodding at Logan’s mysterious job, those results are fairly anticlimactic. That is unless, Logan's career C-plot can explain his “death.”

If Logan did survive the explosion somehow, he would be a huge asset to the U.S. government. A highly trained naval officer who is already used to disappearing for weeks on end and is now believed to be dead by his loved ones? The mission possibilities write themselves. Amnesia, the U.S. government, or both keeping Logan and Veronica apart? Nothing could be more Them.