Many were introduced to Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars, the mystery drama that aired from 2004 to 2007. But the actress wasn’t done with playing the title crime solver, as she and several of her co-stars returned for the theatrical film continuation released in 2014, followed by the Hulu subscription-exclusive Season 4 in 2019. Unfortunately, Veronica Mars Season 5 never ended up happening, and when I asked Enrico Colantoni, who played Veronica’s father Keith, about this, he shared a great answer with me about what creator Rob Thomas had wanted to take this saga next.
In addition to talking about his guest appearance on Suits LA and why he considers Galaxy Quest to be a “badge of honor,” Colantoni opened up about Veronica Mars when I asked him if he was content with where the show ended or if he would have liked to return for Season 5. He answered:
I'm such a fan of Rob Thomas’, and I know what he wanted to do. I would like to see him fulfill that vision. He always wanted to go back to Veronica being on her own and being the outlier and not being attached to anything. So we were hoping that after that one season on Hulu, we would have explored what that looked like, but I'm afraid that killing off a very beloved character might have shot ourselves in the foot. I would love to go back and see where his mind really wanted to end and come to fruition for him, but I don't think he got that.
Even though it’s been half a decade since Veronica Mars Season 4 hit Hulu, I’ll be courteous and put a SPOILER WARNING to be safe.
Logan Echolls is the character Enrico Colantoni is referring to, whom Jason Dohring played as a main cast member across the entirety of the show and the movie. Colantoni and Kristen Bell were the only other actors who shared that distinction, but by the time Veronica Mars Season 4 was over, Logan was no more. Immediately after he and Veronica were married and getting ready to leave for their honeymoon, Logan was blown up by a car bomb left by Patton Oswalt’s Penn Epner, who was the copycat Neptune Bomber.
It was a bold move for Rob Thomas to kill off Logan, but as Colantoni informed me, it was all part of the creative vision he intended to explore in a fifth season. Season 4 ended with Veronica leaving Neptune to solve cases while driving across the United States. That premise reminds me of of the Natasha Lyonne-led series Poker Face (which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription), and it would have been interesting to how see the series would have delving into this format.
Alas, as Enrico Colantoni mused, Thomas choosing to kill Logan might have gone a bit too far and turned Hulu off from greenlighting Season 5. Granted, considering that Veronica Mars was revived twice following its initial cancellation, maybe there will come a time when Hulu decides to give it another shot or it finds a new home on a different platform. For now, Colantoni is keeping busy starring in English Teacher, which airs on FX and can also be streamed on Hulu.
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