'Veronica Mars' Season 4 Ending Explained: Did That Really Happen to Logan?

Hulu unexpectedly dropped all eight episodes of Veronica Mars Season 4 during San Diego Comic-Con, a week ahead of its scheduled July 26 release, and the finale left a gaping hole in the hearts of Veronica Mars fans everywhere. The Season 4 finale intentionally left a lot of open-ended plot threads, however, and the death of a major character may have hinted at the direction a potential Season 5 could go.

Spoilers for Veronica Mars Season 4 ahead.

Logan Echolls started Veronica Mars Season 1 as the man everyone loved to hate. He was mean, he had anger issues, and he was a rich bully intent on making other people’s lives as miserable as his own. Fast forward years later and he’s an upstanding Navy intelligence officer who’s going to therapy for his unresolved issues. By the end of Season 4, he and Veronica get married. Now that’s what you call growth.

That happy ending turns into disaster with Logan’s untimely death in the final 10 minutes of the season, when he loses his life in an explosion from a bomb planted by a terrorist. But since we didn’t see a body, it could very well mean Logan’s still alive, right?

Series creator Rob Thomas crushed any and all hopes of Logan having survived, confirming the character’s death in an interview with E Online. In fact, Thomas had spoken with Jason Dohring about killing off his character long before the season started filming. Still, there’s always a possibility that Logan might appear in flashbacks, so there’s that.

With Logan gone, Veronica will have to find a way to move on with her life. The finale doesn’t allow much in the way of grieving since we don’t pick back up with Veronica until a year after Logan’s death.

Veronica isn’t shown dealing with the loss of her husband (except for the fact that she’s in therapy now). She eventually leaves town to take on another mystery, leaving Mars Investigations in the capable hands of her father Keith and newly appointed assistant (private investigator in training), Matty Ross.

So, what does that mean for the series moving forward?

Season 4 may have ended tragically, but the door was left wide open for a host of new storylines in Season 5.

Veronica is still working as a private investigator, so a fifth season, if it happens, could follow her to a new town with new characters and mysteries for her to solve. The fact that the series skips to a year ahead means we could drop right back into that moment of Veronica driving away and toward a new mystery. In fact, Season 5 could even be split between her new life and the life she left behind. Anything is possible.

However, while we all love Kristen Bell as Veronica, it does seem more likely that Matty — whom Veronica mentored throughout Season 4 and who has also lived through a traumatic experience — might be the new investigator that Neptune didn’t know it needed.

Thomas has teased that Veronica Mars could go on for many seasons, but someone has to be around to uncover the mysteries of Neptune while our titular hero recovers from Logan’s death. Just because Veronica won’t be around in Neptune anymore, that doesn’t mean she won’t still see the show’s many familiar faces ever again.

Regardless of whatever happens, Logan’s death will surely continue to impact Veronica even if Season 5 heads in a whole new direction.

Veronica Mars Season 4 is currently streaming on Hulu.