Snagged from Teppy in Natter:

I got my hair cut, went to Trader Joe's, went to Staples, and put gas in the car. And then I kind of loafed for the rest of the day. We ordered Thai carry-out for dinner (yes, I know I went to Trader Joe's today and therefore we had food THAT IS NOT THE POINT) and finally watched the last Veronica Mars episode.

And?

Well. I actually spoiled myself because I was so worried that Keith was going to die. I mean, they actually did the whole one-day-until-retirement thing! (Enrico Colantoni 4EVA, man. I love him.)

So I was at least prepared for the brutal end. I mean, I am still 100% Team Leo, even after the entire 4th season, but I didn't want Logan to be blown up (presumably) (I mean, no body = no death) (IJS). I really liked Logan's character development, and losing that sucks.

Did Rob Thomas really need to kill Logan (almost immediately after getting married) to tell the story he needed to tell? I don't know.

He claims that he did, but his explanations will make flames shoot from the side of your face.

I agree with Una on that one.

I think the season was perfectly set up for Logan and Veronica to part ways. He wanted to get married. She didn't. He seemingly passed her in dealing with his issues. She could have actually cheated with Leo, even if it was just a kiss on the doorstep, and he could have Rhett Butlered her.

but I didn't want Logan to be blown up (presumably) (I mean, no body = no death) (IJS)

Rob has been pretty straight-forward on saying Logan is dead. Jason Dohring did interviews and videos confirming it. I think this is the end for him (unless he haunts her dreams like Lilly Kane did in s1).

If they get another season, the plan is to have Veronica be something of a roving PI . Rob wants her to be able to have other relationships (which I can see) and take her outside of Neptune. Tina Majorino (Mac) didn't return for s4, because she liked where the movie left her character better than where this season would have left her. [link]

I don't care so much (some, but not ridiculously) that they killed off Logan, but I think given the show's history, if you want to kill off a Logan, a Keith, a Mac, a Weevil, or a Wallace (maybe even a Dick), that you make the season-long mystery about that. Doing so would have given fans time to come to terms.

The way season 4 played out, Logan was killed as an afterthought, and then we flashed forward to a year later. Veronica didn't have any time to grieve, so neither did the audience.

Rob may not envision new seasons of VM as an ensemble work, but I think he could have done a better transition to a new, more anthology-like format.

I think Veronica and Logan needed to end,but the way this worked felt false for Logan. (And Veronica). I didn't expect the wedding to happen, because it felt so false. He should have left. I think this was a way of saying never, which I get.

I'm annoyed that they made me like Logan for the first time ever just to kill him.

I'm annoyed they made me think Veronica was someone who did not grow as an adult. Logan seemed like a functional human being who had been through trauma, done some messed up things, decided to change, and sought therapy for himself and wanted the same for Veronica. Veronica is broken and doesn't want to let that go. But the wedding stuff made me think the show actually thought she did grow? Especially with his death, because if he was alive, then we could have seen their marriage be terrible! But I think they wanted us to feel she was "fixed" emotionally and Logan's death rebroke her???

I guess, if they wanted her to be broken, which I don't think she needs to be, I wanted to see Logan tell her that although their broken pieces fit together, he couldn't be with her unless she worked on herself, and though he loved her, he needed to leave. But really, I would have been happy to see Veronica self reflect, work on herself, and do detective work all over with her past trauma informing her, but not running her. She doesn't have to be broken. She was so strong as a teenager!

Wow. I didn't know I was that angry! I think Veronica suffered from a milder version of what happened in Gilmore Girls with Rory.

I think Veronica and Logan needed to end, but the way this worked felt false for Logan. (And Veronica). I didn't expect the wedding to happen, because it felt so false. He should have left. I think this was a way of saying never, which I get.

The wedding felt like fan-pandering (of the embarrassing kind) and since it was immediately followed by the explosion, it then turned into Jossian AR-in-the-BR-in-SR "Don't give 'em what they want, give 'em what they need."

I think what I'm getting at is that whether or not Rob actually thinks this, or meant to convey it to the audience, as a longtime fan, all I could smell after that explosion was some weird contempt for the fandom.

I enjoyed the 2014 crowd-funded movie, but even when I watched it for the first time, it felt like wish-fulfillment fan fiction.

It all feels like Rob tried to give fans everything he thought they wanted in the film, then grew resentful (or maybe stung by some of the valid critiques of it), and struck back in the revival. The thing is, he didn't have to make the movie that O-T-T fan service.

I'm annoyed they made me think Veronica was someone who did not grow as an adult. Logan seemed like a functional human being who had been through trauma, done some messed up things, decided to change, and sought therapy for himself and wanted the same for Veronica. Veronica is broken and doesn't want to let that go. But the wedding stuff made me think the show actually thought she did grow? Especially with his death, because if he was alive, then we could have seen their marriage be terrible! But I think they wanted us to feel she was "fixed" emotionally and Logan's death rebroke her???

I got really annoyed by the drug use, and I'm not sure why. Adults willingly partaking in substances isn't something that ruffles my feathers. Maybe because she was dosed with GHB and raped as a kid, seeing her take X with someone she just met at a club felt not like Veronica.

I don't understand why she was so far behind Logan in her growth. I also don't understand why she wasn't a lawyer in San Diego or something, who came back to Neptune to help Keith with a case, while he was having health problems.

It's like Rob doesn't want her to be a PI in Neptune, but he's the one that made the choice to make her one.

If I were King of the Forest, Veronica would always be a PI in Neptune, and it would always be some dirty little town without pity. Keith's connections (like Cliff, Vinnie, whomever at the Sheriff's department) would be eventually replaced by Veronica's connections in this seedy little place.

Wow. I didn't know I was that angry! I think Veronica suffered from a milder version of what happened in Gilmore Girls with Rory.

When I watched s4, I had no desire to re-watch it. That has never happened to me with Veronica Mars. I even fell asleep a couple of times, and when dh offered to rewatch the stuff I missed, I didn't care about it (that's so not me).

At the end, I felt like I had closure, not the kind I wanted (or, arguably, that a showrunner should want me to have). I just didn't want more Veronica Mars anymore. That's the first time I've felt that way in a dozen years.

Now when I think about it, I get a little angry too, so I usually end up not thinking about it.

It's like Rob doesn't want her to be a PI in Neptune, but he's the one that made the choice to make her one.

That's it right there! I did really like the novels after the movie (I think there were two), where she was just a PI in a seedy town. I could have read a hundred of them.

I am unclear what story he wants to tell with her now. But pick one- is she broken and it is a story of healing or is she healed and it is a loner detective Kinsey Mulhone thing. But there was no need to break her because she was clearly not doing well! Was I supposed to think she was doing well? Very mixed messages.