Why Did ‘Veronica Mars’ Kill [Spoiler]? Shocking Finale Death Explained

“Veronica Mars” certainly went out with a bang. The fourth season premiered on Hulu last week, and fans were shocked when the final bomb in Neptune killed off a beloved character.

[Spoiler alert: a major character death is revealed below.]

After Veronica (Kristen Bell) and Logan (Jason Dohring) got married, Logan went to move the car for street cleaning. As he is about to drive off, Veronica figures out the bomber’s final limerick. She realizes the bomb is in her car, but she’s too late. The car explodes and kills Logan.

Many fans are outraged over the death of Logan, who had been on the show since Season 1 and was made out to be Veronica’s soul mate. Showrunner Rob Thomas, however, says it was necessary for Logan to die if “Veronica Mars” is to continue in Season 5.

“If we kept doing a show that was half teenage soap and half mystery show, the fear is it would start feeling like nostalgia. Going full mystery show gives us our best chance to survive,” Thomas told TVLine.

“I think there’s a reason you don’t see many hard-boiled detective shows where the lead detective has a boyfriend or a girlfriend; it kind of limits your options. It was like we were cutting off a limb to save a life… I love Jason Dohring. And I love the character of Logan. But I feel as though we are going to have a better shot of doing more and more ‘Veronica Mars’ if our heroine does not have a boyfriend or a husband back home.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Thomas added that the Logan-Veronica relationship just wasn’t that essential to the story anymore. He cited a common TV problem of keeping the show interesting after the couple gets together.

“There is something romantic about that solitary P.I. figure out in the world and, also, I think there is a reason that shows tend to end when they get their romantic leads together,” he said. “It’s hard to come up with interesting ways to make the relationship as vital as it was before they were together.”

Bell, meanwhile, told EW that Thomas pitched it to her as avoiding Veronica having a perfect life at home. Bell recalled, “He said, ‘I know this seems crazy or harsh but Veronica is at her best when she’s an underdog and I don’t know that there’s much to root for if she’s now got a perfect relationship. I need to keep her fighting and I need to keep her a little bit uncomfortable in order to have a show. There’s nothing funny or interesting about perfection.'”

Thomas ultimately decided killing Logan would be better than writing the relationship out in a less deadly way. While fans are angry about Logan’s death, the creator believes they would’ve been more irate if the couple made choices that forced a breakup.

“I know that sounds funny, but I feel like the fans would forgive that more than if Logan became such an [expletive] that they broke up, or if Veronica had cheated on Logan with Leo. The latter would have been more likely than having Logan revert to bum fights,” the writer told Rolling Stone.

“Veronica Mars” Seasons 1-4 are available on Hulu.