“A Long Time Ago… We Used to Be Friends”
What the cuss? No seriously, what the cuss did I just watch? I was so amped to revisit one of my favorite female sleuths, but the final episode completely ruined the revival for me.
ALERT: Spoilers ahead!!! I mean it. If you don’t want to know what happens during the 4th season of the show, read no further until after watching the new season for yourself. You can stream the show right now on Hulu or wait for the new season to be released on DVD... Either way, you have been warned.
Was it really necessary to kill Logan? Was it necessary for Veronica to endure yet another tragic death in her life? Was it necessary for the season’s villain to successfully pull off one final bombing? What were the writers thinking?
I find myself asking this last question a lot lately. I appreciate that writing can be hard, and that sometimes the story or characters can get away from you, or go in directions you never fully intended. But what was the point of this 4th season? I realize life can be messy; if three seasons, plus one movie, of Veronica Mars have shown us anything about the fictional town of Neptune – it is that life is unfair.
What is most unfair about this revival is how good it truly is. From the very first notes of the remix of “We Used to Be Friends,” as sung by Chrissie Hynde – covering the song by The Dandy Warhols, right up to the last 15 minutes of the eighth and final episode, I was hooked. I sat down and binge-watched all eight episodes the day after Hulu released the 4th season a week ahead of schedule. At times I chuckled at the witty dialogue and was impressed with how well the cast slipped right back into their old characters. Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni, as Veronica and Keith Mars respectively, gave wonderful performances reprising their roles as the lovable father-daughter duo.
Plus, many fan favorite supporting characters made cameo-style reappearances, showing how everyone had moved on from high school, college, or jobs in the sheriff’s office. However, none of their stories end as tragically as that of Logan Echolls (portrayed by Jason Dohring). The 4th season turns Logan into a film-noir-esque stock character, as he is all at once a rehabilitated bad boy, Naval intelligence officer, and Veronica’s love interest, turned quasi-femme fatale. But how, you might ask, can a male character be considered a ‘femme fatale?’ Let’s look at Logan’s story arc a little closer and how Veronica Mars playfully dispels gender stereotypes by flipping or reversing the roles traditionally found in noir/neo-noir works.
When Logan first makes a reappearance in the Hulu revival, he is ogled and objectified by a group of female beachgoers and Veronica sarcastically propositions him, making him little more than arm candy or a potential trophy wife. This very moment foreshadows Logan’s demise in the final episode, as he becomes an expendable noir stock character, a male girl-next-door meets femme fatale, a highly sexualized and seductive character that follows our protagonist Veronica into increasingly dangerous situations. As Veronica’s love interest, Logan is doomed to the fate of many noir female characters (both the good and the bad), as the protagonist, usually a detective, like Veronica, is denied personal happiness in exchange for uncovering the truth.
In this sense, I can appreciate what the writers were trying to achieve with this season. However, Logan’s death is completely illogical when you stop and think about what the writers are asking viewers to accept. There is no way the final backpack/bomb would have been left in Veronica’s car. The police and FBI would have searched the crime scene at the school ceremony when Keith Mars was holding Penn Epner (Patton Oswalt) under a ‘citizen’s arrest,’ which, at that point, would have included Veronica’s car as the last place Penn had been before being taken into custody. All of Penn’s ‘belongings’ and Veronica’s car might even have been entered into ‘evidence’ and held in a police station until further investigation has been completed. The quality of the writing really lets down the show and fans with the end of the eighth episode… What were the writers thinking?
As all great noirs and neo-noirs must end, hopefully this will be the final chapter for Veronica. While watching Veronica drive off into a Logan-less and uncertain future, this Marshmallow can’t help but channel Chinatown (1974) by wishing I could condole Veronica and say: “Forget it Veronica, it’s Neptune…”
Fellow Marshmallows: what did you think of the 4th season? Did you see Logan’s death coming? Are you secretly hoping that Logan isn’t dead? Do you think Veronica Mars should be renewed for additional seasons? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Copyright © 2019 Sarah Crane
