‘Veronica Mars’: ‘Electric’ Logan and Veronica Scenes Made Jason Dohring a Main Character
Veronica Mars was one of many TV show reboots to make waves in recent years. Unlike some of the other ill-fated attempts at bringing back a phenomenon whose time had come and gone, the noir crime drama’s much-delayed fourth season still managed to captivate the series’ considerable fan base.
One of the main reasons the reboot pulled viewers back in — and the reason its finale was so shocking — was the chemistry between on-screen lovebirds Veronica and Logan. The romance that started in high school was still going strong when they reappeared years later, but it wasn’t written into the original script.
Jason Dohring played Logan on ‘Veronica Mars’
The original Veronica Mars series premiered in 2004 on UPN, a network in its final years. It would run until 2007, finishing up on UPN’s successor (and teen drama playland) The CW. The series revolves around the life of protagonist Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), a teenage private eye who ends up investigating mysteries about the dark side of her own life as well as her best friend’s murder.
Early in the show, Veronica is shown to be a black sheep of her posh high school with glimpses of a life formerly spent in a more comfortable social position. The series sets up a briefly rekindled romance between Veronica and former flame Duncan, but by the end of Season 1, Jason Dohring’s character Logan was the clear fan favorite.
On-screen chemistry changed the original ‘Veronica Mars’ script
As Vox reports, the show’s writers had picked up on the clear chemistry between the characters and had started subtly setting the stage. This wasn’t an easy sell, necessarily. Back when Logan was still intended to be a peripheral character, he is shown as rather one-dimensional. He’s a cruel, spoiled bully who is determined to make Veronica’s life miserable.
But the connection between the two was undeniable. “It was not something we had to be told; it was something we saw in dailies [unedited daily footage], it was something we saw in cuts. Those scenes were electric, and we wanted more of that,” creator Rob Thomas explained.
The creators took their time to build up the suspense and slowly morph Logan into a character that fans could get behind, and fans responded with enthusiasm. By the time the pair share their first kiss late in Season 1, many fans were shipping LoVe (for Logan and Veronica) with gusto.
Logan met a controversial end in ‘Veronica Mars’ reboot
It wasn’t a smooth path to love for the two emotionally damaged characters, and their ups and downs played out over the show’s next two seasons, a fan-backed movie reboot, and — finally — in the revived Season 4.
It was something of a surprise when Logan and Veronica reunited in the show’s most recent reboot, and it was nice to finally see their tumultuous love settle into something more stable and supportive. In fact, a major plot point is whether or not the pair will finally make it official and walk down the aisle. The story of a reformed bad boy and a girl who has learned to manager her trauma felt like a light at the end of the tunnel of an often bleak series.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, then, when fans were denied that happily ever after. In a controversial movie, the final episode features Logan dying from a car bomb meant for Veronica. As CBR reports, killing off this fan-favorite character and ending a long-lasting love may have been an effort to add renewed energy and bite to the series, but it didn’t work: “Rob Thomas’ decision to write out a fan-favorite character in order to reinvigorate Veronica Mars seemed to have the opposite effect. Fans of Logan and the Logan/Veronica romance were outraged, and the series didn’t get another season to pay off the new creative direction that the showrunner promised.”
At this point, it looks like the series was served its fatal blow — just like Logan.
