Marshmallows, it looks like Veronica's story is done... for now.
Six months after Veronica Mars killed off one of its beloved characters, Hulu's top boss is defending the controversial decision.
Craig Erwich, Hulu's Senior Vice President of Originals, addressed the shocking ending in the season four finale, which featured the surprising death of Veronica's longtime love, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring).
"That ending was [creator] Rob Thomas' decision. He has been the creator and longtime steward of that franchise," Erwich said Friday during Hulu's winter Television Critics Association press tour executive session. "I support the decision that he made. For me, we talk about the volume of conversation and the other thing you're looking for is the intensity of conversation, and the intensity of that reaction is not just a testament of how many people like the show."
The creative risk, which Thomas confessed was a huge "gamble" and fellow executive producer Diane Ruggiero-Wright admitted there was debate over the ending, divided viewers last summer. An online petition was even started asking Thomas and the writers to undo Logan's death soon after the episodes dropped. Thomas later said that the "raw, general response to the episodes has been great... Hopefully, it upset all the fans because Logan's death should mean something."
"We were thrilled with the entire Veronica Mars experience we brought to our viewers," Erwich said Friday. "I think for fans of the show, the opportunity to check back in with Veronica Mars and see where she is with her life was really exciting and it generated a lot of social conversation. That collection, that journey with Veronica Mars -- in terms of television episodes, in terms of her life -- exists on Hulu now and will exist for a long time."
Erwich confirmed that Veronica Mars, at this point in time, won't be picked up for a fifth season, even though Thomas shared that he had an Agatha Christie-like idea to move Veronica's story forward. "There's still a lot of Veronica Mars for people to check out... and right now we think that's a really satisfying narrative experience for them."
Last July, Thomas gave ET a glimpse into what a hypothetical season five of Veronica Mars would look like post-Logan's death.
"I do think that this next version of Veronica is going to lean very hard into being a mystery. My fear about continuing to do the show as its constructed, is that it relies on nostalgia. That it would start feeling like a show of diminishing returns if it was still Veronica hanging out with her high school buddies from season to season," he said. "The idea that I'm noodling with for a potential fifth season, if we are so lucky -- I am knocking on wood -- have been these Agatha Christie sort of Murder in the Country Manor drawing room mysteries, even though I would update that concept a bit."
All four seasons of Veronica Mars are now streaming on Hulu.
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