Veronica Mars Season 4 Review: Back and Better than Ever (For the Most Part)

This review contains major spoilers for Veronica Mars Season 4. If you have not watched the entire season, exit this review immediately.

Veronica Mars Season 4 is everything we love about this show. There’s an intriguing case, great character storylines and moments, Veronica (and Logan!) being badass, amazing Keith and Veronica scenes, and Veronica sassing it up with the best of them.

Season 4 manages to take everything we loved about Veronica Mars and age it to fit, tonally, with the main character being in her 30s. Season 4 is a much more mature show than Seasons 1 through 3, and it should be.

Veronica’s all grown up now, and Season 4 reflects that. Veronica is out partying, adding a new level of filth to her banter (i.e. the scene on the beach between Logan and Veronica on Veronica Mars Season 4 Episode 1), and solving much more serious and dangerous cases. It’s realistic, and it’s absolutely fantastic.

Veronica Mars also excels at balancing the seriousness of the bombings with some fun, light scenes. It’s a five star knockout of a season, up until the tail end of Veronica Mars Season 4 Episode 8, “Years, Continents, Bloodshed.”

By the way, can we talk about how rude of an episode title that is?

Do not make me remember the glory of Logan’s speech to Veronica on Veronica Mars Season 2 Episode 19, “Nevermind the Buttocks,” in this context! This is a whole new level of pain, and I’m not here for it.

Logan: I thought our story was epic, you know, you and me.

Veronica: Epic how?

Logan: Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic.

Honestly, after this season, I don’t want any more Veronica Mars. Let’s call it quits after this because my heart cannot take any more. Everyone was happy. Things were good, and then it all went to hell. Do you want more?

Let’s rip the bandaid off and rant talk about that ending.

LoVe and the Death of Logan Echolls

Are. You. Cussing. Kidding. Me?!

The anger is still going strong, weeks after I initially screened the finale. It’s hard not to still be upset about this. Logan is killed off when everything was going well, and there really isn’t a valid reason for his death. 

Logan’s heavily featured in Season 4, as he should be. He is a central part of the Veronica Mars story. It is so heartbreaking and infuriating that he’s gone.

This isn’t a death befitting the new and more emotionally stable Logan Echolls. Now, this is not to say that he should die, but his death should have definitely been years from now, when he’s old and gray, or at least he should’ve died in some big, heroic moment.

The only “heroic” aspect of his death is that he saves Veronica from getting a ticket. 

Out of all the characters, Logan has grown the most since the series began. The former bad boy with a short fuse has turned into an emotionally healthy human being.

Veronica: I don’t know, maybe just to know there’s some classic Logan coursing through those veins?
Logan: What was I supposed to do when you said no, Veronica? Bang a Tri-Delt? What would have been enough? Beat someone to death? Gotten wasted? Guess what? I am angry, all the time, and all work I’m doing with Jane is aimed at one thing: keeping my anger from destroying me. You say you want Bruce Banner, but you really want the green guy.

Season 4 shows us that Logan is the person Veronica should look to as someone who has his life together. Veronica is stuck in the past, clinging to who Logan was.

It’s hard to watch her try to force Logan into being the person he was, and for the most part, she doesn’t seem to recognize that there’s anything wrong with asking for him to get violent or jealous again or for enjoying the sex when he does slip back into old patterns and punch out a cabinet.

Veronica and Logan essentially swap roles — Logan is now the reasonable one, trying to get Veronica on a healthier path. This swap allows us to see a different version of Logan and Veronica, both as people and as a couple.

Logan’s death comes at the end of a stellar Logan and Veronica season. There’s so much happiness that’s now tainted by the decision to kill him off.

Season 4 really focuses on them, their domesticity, their relationship, and their love for each other.

Initial marriage proposal aside, Veronica and Logan are very much in sync. The domestic scenes prove this, as does their reunion on the beach. Logan and Veronica are happy.

Their wedding scene is definitely every LoVe shipper’s dream. It’s beautiful and emotional. They both finally get the happy ending they deserve, until it is ripped away from them when that last bomb goes off.

What purpose does Logan’s death serve? None. It’s done simply for shock value.

All it does it get Veronica out of Neptune, which is something that could have easily happened anyway. The documentary could still allow her to take cases all over. Logan would be fine with it. They could even move out of Neptune due to the rising rent cost.

Veronica could have been coaxed to talking to Jane, Logan’s therapist, another way. She could have been happily married with the love of her life and that could have been the next chapter in her story.

However, that’s not what happens, and the flash-forward confirms that Logan is dead.

There’s this glimmer of hope that maybe he’s in a coma or something when the voiceover starts and we pick up one year later. It’s easy to believe that Veronica is telling all of this to Logan, but that’s not what happens.

We’re given hope, and then it’s cruelly ripped away from us. It would have been best to cut out the flash-forward all together because at least then we could’ve all been living in a happy theory bubble where Logan’s still alive.

To add to the list of negatives regarding Logan’s death, it also sets back all of Veronica’s growth that she undergoes in Season 4.

Veronica spends the majority of the season trying to figure out where she wants to be in life. As Rob Thomas mentioned at ATX Television Festival, Veronica’s at a crossroads this season.

Season 4 is partially focused on watching Veronica go on this journey and figure out what she wants. She finally decides what she wants is to be married to Logan.

She makes all this progress, and then, at the end of Season 4, she’s alone, most likely more closed off than she was before Season 4 began.

So, what is the point in watching Veronica realize what she wants out of life if it was just going to be taken away from her by an off-screen death?

Killing Logan makes it feel like all the time we spent watching Veronica grow as a person was for nothing.

Honestly, it would have been preferable if Logan and Veronica broke up. Maybe Veronica did cheat on him with Leo, or maybe Logan’s run-in with Parker scared him into calling off the wedding. 

Anything would have been better than killing off a beloved character just for the shock factor. And the thing is, there’s already plenty of moments done for shock factor in Season 4.

Yes, they are false or temporary shock value, but when it looks like Veronica is cheating on Logan with Leo or when that “sorry” text comes in, you are yelling at your screen. There’s no shortage in shock in Season 4.

Therefore, you don’t really need the shock of Logan’s death. It is shocking though, killing a beloved character who just married the love of his life and has grown up to be an amazing human being.

It’s so shocking that I imagine a lot of fans, myself included, will be talking about how angry they are about it for a while.

A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

Okay, let’s focus on happier things, shall we?

One place Veronica Mars Season 4 excels is at how it handles the appearances and storylines of the people in Veronica’s life. Whether it’s a quick trip to Chino Prison or a longer stay like Leo’s FBI visit or Weevil’s scenes, Veronica Mars makes everyone’s appearances fit.

Nothing feels forced or like it’s done for nostalgia’s sake. Everyone has a purpose, and it all works.

One of the highlights of the season is that we see Veronica and company just hanging out and having fun. We rarely get to see this side of Veronica.

Logan: My mission, if I should choose to accept it, from the official king of Spring Break.
Veronica: “911 can you bring me pants? P.S. this is Dick.” Why does Dick need pants?
Logan: Why does he need to tell me this is Dick? I assume any text that starts with “bring me pants” is from Dick.

Watching her let loose in Comrade Quacks is a great respite from the intensity of the bombing case, and it’s fun to see everyone in party mode. Dick really dresses for the occasion. Also, I’m going to need some gifs of drunken Leo because he is a gift.

We’re so used to seeing Veronica mainly interact with her boyfriend and friends in the context of a case. There usually weren’t a ton of fun teen moments in Seasons 1 through 3.

It’s realistic to see them getting wasted or having a dinner party. It’s also completely delightful.

Let’s focus in on some friends, starting with Mr. Wallace Fennel.

The one thing that is missing from Season 4 is Wallace getting roped into more of Veronica’s schemes. It’s classic Veronica Mars, and it’s sad that it’s missing from this season.

Sure, he steps in and attends a Murderhead meeting, which is pretty amazing, but that’s basically the extent of his involvement in the case. 

With Logan being called away, it would have been really easy to get Wallace involved in more aspects of the case. Things that Veronica does with Leo, like stakeout Mars Investigations, could have easily been done with Wallace instead. 

Wallace and Veronica’s friendship isn’t showcased enough. He’s mainly in his own world, living a happy adult life. And while we are very happy for him and his adorable family, we are left wanting more. He still has to have time to help out Veronica, right?

However, Veronica and Wallace are still big parts of each other’s lives, which I suppose will have to do.

Now is a good time to confess that I’ve always been a bit of a Weevil and Veronica shipper. These two have a soft spot in my heart, and it is fantastic to see them have some moments during Season 4.

Well, it’s more like Weevil’s crush gets a bit of the spotlight. If Weevil’s sister still refers to Veronica as Weevil’s crush, then you know his feelings are still going strong. Sadly, I don’t really get a feeling his crush is returned.

It’s a bit painful that the two of them aren’t on friendly terms and that Weevil has gone back to his criminal ways. But on the small bright side, if Weevil was still living the good, straight and narrow life, it would have been difficult to fit him into this season.

Regardless of what’s going on between them, Weevil will always step in if Veronica is in danger. He will put away his anger and his pain in order to help her, whether it is reminding his guys that she can take them all or riding in on motorcycles to save the day.

The sad part is that while Weevil is always there for Veronica, it’s doubtful that she would be there in the same way for him. Do you agree?

Now, let’s talk about Leo.

He and Veronica have always had chemistry. There’s no doubt about it. They’ve got the banter down.

Leo: I never thought I’d say this, but I kind of miss Sheriff Lamb.
Veronica: Yeah he was dumb and easy to manipulate, I’ll give him that.
Leo: Yeah, and a good lay too. What? You know those deputy jobs were very hard to come by.
Veronica: Off that, I think I’m going to head out.
Leo: What, because I sold my body to advance to my career? Veronica, I was young.

Nothing has changed since they last saw each other. The sparks are still flying, which is worrisome considering Veronica and Logan are very much in love.

Aside from their drunken night at Comrade Quacks and the very hot sex dream, all of Veronica’s interactions with Leo are friendly, not flirtatious, and that makes it easy to enjoy Veronica and Leo spending time together without worrying that this will somehow cause the destruction of Logan and Veronica’s relationship.

There’s something about Leo and Veronica that just brings a smile to your face.

And, his presence in Neptune makes sense. As soon as the “threat” of the FBI swooping in on the bomb case is mentioned, it’s pretty clear that Leo is going to be one of the FBI agents who shows up, and all that’s left to do is count down until he shows up with a box of pizza in his hands.

One Hell of a Case

For the most part, the case is nicely done.

The case is worked from multiple different angles, which is exciting and not something that happened during the case of the weeks in Seasons 1 through 3. It’s interesting to hear everyone’s different theories and see how everyone approaches the same case.

Sitting in on Murderhead meetings is fun, and while it would have been easy to have them be a joke, that’s not what happens. They contribute valuable intelligence and detective work.

Keith and Veronica get laughed out of the police station (and formerly the sheriff’s station) often. To the cops, Mars Investigations is a joke. It wouldn’t have felt right to see Keith and Veronica turn around and treat the Murderheads the same way they’ve been treated when they present the police with credible leads.

Sure, Keith and Veronica tread lightly with the Murderheads and their ideas, but they know when a good theory is in front of them, and they run with it.

We also get to meet Matty Ross through the case, and she ends up being a younger version of Veronica.

Matty allows Veronica to see herself in a different way. Veronica gets to experience a bit of what Keith had to deal with when she was sleuthing in high school.

It’s fun watching Veronica chase Matty around and having her as a trainee, of sorts. It’s the Mars Investigation Mentor Program. Upon graduation, you receive your own taser and get your picture taken with Pony.

There are some rough patches when it comes to the case, though. The beginning of Season 4 spends too much time focusing on all these random people who don’t quite make sense to us yet, and therefore, it’s hard to stay interested in their scenes.

There’s no point to hanging out with the bombing victims before the bomb goes off. It’s not like we grow to care about them during the course of Veronica Mars Season 4 Episode 1, “Spring Break Forever.”

They are annoying and not anyone we care to focus on, and their scenes should have been cut. Don’t even get me started on the pointlessness of Big Dick’s prison flashbacks.

Then, there’s the cartel side of things. The only upside to Alonzo and Dodie’s presence in Neptune is that this is how Weevil gets thrown into the mix. Other than that, their scenes cause some confusion as to what exactly is going on.

The cartel connection also adds a whole new level of violence to the case, which is troubling. There’s really no need for multiple beheadings. It’s more shock factor that’s disturbing more than anything else, and it doesn’t fit in well with the rest of the events of the case.

What are your thoughts on the case?

Stray Thoughts

• What does it say that I really thought Dick was a heroin junkie for a bit (you know, up until his throat is slit)?
• Keith’s storyline is a great emotional thread throughout the season, and Enrico Colantoni delivers some heartbreaking performances.
• I love Veronica’s (fleeting) friendship with Nicole. Veronica needs some more female friends.
• Also, why can’t Clyde and Keith be friends? I love them, despite Clyde’s sketchy criminal dealings.

What did you think of Veronica Mars Season 4? Do you want another season? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Veronica Mars Season 4 is now on Hulu.

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