Logan Echolls
Encyclopedia
Logan Echolls is a fictional character on the UPN
/The CW television series Veronica Mars
, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN
.
He is portrayed by Jason Dohring
.
's voice-over narration in the show's pilot episode, Logan was originally conceived of as the school's main bully and a teenaged nemesis for Veronica Mars. But as the show progressed during the first season, Veronica (and the viewers of the show) would discover that Logan was really just a troubled teen dealing with the murder of his girlfriend as well as living in an abusive home and was actually a good guy when he wanted to show it.
Logan was the on-again, off-again
boyfriend of the deceased Lilly Kane and close friends with Veronica Mars and her then-boyfriend Duncan Kane
. Logan's life is torn apart when Lilly is murdered and Keith Mars
publicly accuses Jake Kane, father of Lilly and Duncan, of the crime. Logan is horrified by the accusation, and when Veronica refuses to renounce her father, Logan quickly moves to blackball Veronica from the popular "09er" crowd. Logan confesses to the guidance counselor that he blames Veronica for Lilly's death because she had told Lilly about him kissing another girl which was the reason they broke up at the time and had Veronica not done that, the two of them would have been together that day.
Logan's hatred for Veronica slowly disappears over time and when they first start dating, they keep it a secret from their classmates, due to Logan's popularity and Veronica's outcast status.
Logan Echolls is the youngest child in the Echolls family. His older half-sister (later retcon
ned as adopted sister) Trina left the family to pursue an acting career, with little success.
While Logan loves his mother Lynn, his relationship with his abusive father Aaron is largely hostile. The abuse is hinted when it seems Logan is incredibly nervous with his father after the leak of his bum fight video. Aaron angrily shoves Logan onto the couch and Logan looks at him with pure terror on his face. Later in that same episode, Aaron is heard beating Logan with a belt after publicly embarrassing him. Some episodes later, Logan's sister Trina sarcastically refers to Logan's claims of other abuses at Aaron's hands, including being burned with cigarettes and having his nose broken. That's when Veronica strongly begins to believe that Logan was in fact abused. Nonetheless, Logan's feelings toward his father are made ambiguous by the inherent parent-child bond, Logan's unusually deep capacity for love and loyalty, and Aaron's own complex character, which includes intermittent (and generally self-serving) attempts to support his children, and some degree of parental protectiveness (as seen, for instance, when he beats up one of Trina's abusive
boyfriends).
Logan receives little comfort from his mother, who has turned to pills to distract herself from her husband's adultery and violence. When Aaron is beating Logan with the belt, she just sits sipping a drink in a nearby room, presumably listening. Logan hides the truth of his home life from his friends at school, where he acts out his frustrations by bullying weaker students and flaunting his status as a member of the wealthy '09er community in front of less affluent students.
Ultimately, the Echolls family self-destructs when one of Aaron's sexual conquests, having seen him having sex with another woman, stabs Aaron at a Christmas
party, leading to the exposure of his chronic infidelity. In reaction, Logan's mother Lynn leaks stories of Aaron's other affairs to further damage his public image and, when Aaron confronts her, vows to divorce
him. When Aaron retaliates by threatening to use all of his resources to destroy Lynn's life if she leaves him, Logan sticks up for his mother and angrily tells Aaron that if he says another word to her, he will kill him. Lynn says she can't deal with this anymore and drives to the Coronado Bridge and jumps off, to her apparent death. (No body is found, as show creator Rob Thomas
wanted to leave the door open to bring the character back). Logan refuses to believe that his mother is dead and thinks that she has only skipped town and gets Veronica to track her down. Logan's hope is lifted when Veronica tells him his mother's credit cards are being used. It turns out that Trina is the one who's been using them and Logan is heartbroken over this. With all hope of his mother being alive gone, Logan starts sobbing and falls to his knees as he cries on Veronica's shoulder while she hugs him.
His wife's apparent suicide
shames Aaron so much that he retires from acting and concentrates on trying to save his disintegrating relationship with his son (although it is implied that this behavior is only an attempt to get money from Logan, to whom Lynn left all of her money). This uncharacteristic attempt at kindness fails, however, when Veronica Mars reveals that Aaron had murdered Logan's girlfriend, Lilly Kane, in an attempt to retrieve tapes that he had made of himself and Lilly having sex.
After trying to kill Veronica in the Season One finale, Aaron goes on trial near the end of Season Two and mounts a successful defense. The defense blames Duncan for his sister's murder, denies the affair between Aaron and Lilly, and accuses Veronica of lying about Aaron's attempt to kill her. Logan himself has bolstered the defense case by having, earlier in Season Two, bought the sex tapes of Aaron and Lilly - which had been stolen and put up for bid by a sheriff's deputy - and erased them to prevent them being posted on the Internet. Despite both Logan's and Veronica's testimony regarding the content of the tapes, their evidence is discredited, and Aaron is found not guilty on all charges.
Once acquitted
, Aaron makes a last-ditch effort to reconcile with his son by forcibly reminding Logan that, as a free man, he now controls the family fortune. (Logan had gained power of attorney
over his father's wealth while Aaron was awaiting trial.) Ominously, Aaron threatens to cut off his wayward son's finances, but never has a chance to carry out his threat. In the Season Two finale, Duncan Kane, furious that his sister's murderer had gotten away with the crime, arranges for Clarence Wiedman (the head of security for Kane Software) to murder Aaron in his hotel room.
In Season Three, it is revealed that Logan had an older half-brother; his father had an illegitimate child from an affair with a flight attendant. Logan discovers his half-brother, Charlie Stone, when he gets help from Veronica to investigate the disappearance of trust money left to him after Aaron's death. Aaron's relationship with Charlie is only through an agreement of payment that was set up through a children’s foundation – which is used as a front to keep Charlie's identity a secret from the public.
Logan eventually agrees to meet with his long-lost half-brother. However, Logan has been tricked by a reporter who knew of the love child and acted as Charlie to get the insider's scoop for a Vanity Fair
article; the story is ultimately dropped when Logan makes a pre-emptory appearance on Larry King Live
and announces the scandal. Logan's real half-brother ignores all of Logan's calls, angered that Logan exposed him to media scrutiny and destroyed what normal life he may have had.
It is suggested that his favorite movie is Easy Rider
, as he has both Hannah Griffith and Veronica watch it with him, and quotes it in his prize-winning essay.
As a flashback reveals, the seeds for the inevitable falling out between the two friends began when Veronica caught Logan kissing a new transfer student (the daughter of a famous rap music producer) and told Lilly about it. When Lilly refuses to speak to Logan, he quickly realizes that Veronica had ratted him out. Later, Logan would confide to his school's guidance counselor that this was the catalyst for him turning on Veronica: he rationalizes that had Lilly not broken up with him, he might have been with her when she was attacked and fought off the attacker, saving her life.
When Lilly is murdered, Logan holds his tongue, but two subsequent events give him an excuse to vent his hatred for Veronica. The first is when police video footage showing Lilly's dead body is stolen from the Sheriff's department and posted all over the Internet. The second is when Veronica's father, then-Sheriff Keith Mars, publicly accuses Jake Kane, Lilly and Duncan's father, of murdering his own daughter. Consumed with anger, Logan gives Veronica an ultimatum: publicly denounce her father, or be declared "dead" by Logan and the teen '09er crowd. Veronica stands by her father, and Logan blacklists her at school and in the community, turning her into a pariah.
His disdain for Veronica comes to a head when Veronica crashes an '09er party. Shortly after Veronica's arrival, Madison Sinclair gives Veronica a drink that had been given to her by her own on-again/off-again boyfriend, Dick Casablancas
. Unknown to Madison, Dick had spiked the drink with GHB
(supplied to him by Logan), in order to ensure that he could have sex with the normally chaste Madison that night. Veronica becomes drugged instead. Logan organizes for his fellow party-goers to take "body shots" off the now helpless (and perhaps unconscious) girl.
When Duncan Kane comes to Veronica's defense and drags her away from Logan's mob of partiers, Logan secretly uses the same drugs on Duncan; drugging his drink in a desperate attempt to get the unusually tense Duncan to relax. In his drugged state, Duncan wanders past the bedroom where a drugged Veronica is lying unconscious; they then have what Duncan at least believed to be consensual sex.
The date-rape drugs ensure that Veronica would only have vague memories of the night, but when morning came Veronica is quite aware that she had been rape
d. Duncan flees in the morning, because he still thinks that Veronica is his half-sister.
At the start of the series, Veronica and Logan are adversaries. Logan mocks Veronica's mother (an alcoholic who abandoned her family), and Veronica arranges for Logan to be suspended by planting drug paraphernalia in his locker. Logan responds by gathering a gang of male '09ers and vandalizing Veronica's car, but is stopped from causing major damage by the arrival of Eli “Weevil” Navarro
, a fellow high school student who Veronica has befriended. While they appear to hate one another, for Logan specifically this metaphorical 'dance' between them is rooted in more than just disdain – he frequently watches her for inordinate amounts of time and it becomes clear he has a crush on her; which is confirmed in a flashback in 'The Wrath of Con'. The seeds of their future relationship are further firmly planted in said episode when they share a meaningful look over Lily's memorial video.
With Lilly dead, Duncan becoming emotionally distant and apathetic towards the '09er social scene, and Veronica persona non-grata, the beginning of Season One shows Logan becoming the de facto leader of the Neptune High '09er community. Surrounding himself with a new inner circle that includes fellow social snobs Madison Sinclair and Dick Casablancas, Logan begins a reign of terror that plays into the ever-present class warfare
among the teens at Neptune High. His grief for his dead girlfriend and the worsening physical abuse he is secretly suffering at the hands of his father leads Logan to misbehave more frequently and extremely, spurring Veronica to christen him, in the Season One opener, Neptune's "obligatory psychotic jackass".
The only common ground that exists by this point is Duncan Kane, who Logan has remained friends with even though Duncan himself refrains from participating in the bulk of the activities of Logan's new clique. Duncan is moody, very depressed
, withdrawn from his fellow peers, and still in love with Veronica. Logan attempts to use Duncan's presence in social situations to reach out to Veronica, in hopes that Veronica might bring his friend back to life. But Veronica refuses, partly out of disdain for what Logan has become and partly out of a desire to stay away from Duncan due to the cold way Duncan ended their relationship before Lilly's death. This only intensifies Logan's hatred of Veronica.
The relationship between Logan and Veronica begins to thaw when Logan volunteers to make a tribute video for the Kane family for their slain daughter, to be played at the dedication of a memorial fountain at Neptune High. Despite his desire to create a tribute for his ex-girlfriend and best friend, Logan is frustrated at the fact that the Kane family only provided him home movies and photos of Lilly to work with. In Logan's eyes, none of the material capture Lilly's true nature, the side of her that her friends, her brother, and her classmates knew and loved. Veronica agrees and she gives him a video tape shot a year before Lilly's death when they were all going to the Homecoming dance. At the end of the video, Logan looks at Veronica and gives her a small smile of thanks.
Logan and Veronica mutual hostility thaws for good after Logan's mother commits suicide. Believing that his mother could still be alive, Logan hires Veronica to investigate the possibility. Veronica agrees, and while the investigation fails to provide the answer Logan is looking for, the time together is enough to cause the two to abandon old grudges. Their relationship further grows when Logan saves Veronica from a young undercover ATF agent, who is seeking to frame a local bully for plotting to blow up Neptune High. After an intense standoff, the two kiss for the first time, initially unsure what their feelings mean.
At this point, Veronica and Logan begin dating, though Veronica insists that they keep their relationship a secret because Logan's clique still hates her, and because she fears how their mutual friend Duncan would react. In the episode "A Trip to the Dentist", however, their relationship goes public when Logan's father make a cheesy attempt to make up for lost time with his son by throwing a surprise "birthday" party. Logan and Veronica walk into his house kissing, only to find his friends (including Duncan) waiting for them. Everyone stares in shock and Dick makes some snide remarks to which Logan openly tells him, and everyone else, that if they have a problem with Veronica being his girlfriend, they are "pretty much dead" to him.
Logan's announcement of his love for Veronica and willingness to stand up for her to his friends helps soften the blow when Veronica learns that Logan indirectly provided the drugs that led to her being raped. While she is initially furious at Logan, her anger lessens when she learns that Madison Sinclair was also responsible (albeit unknowingly). When Veronica confronts Logan, she forgives him for what he did to her, and Logan reveals that he had given Duncan the drugs that led to his having sex with Veronica. However, she readily forgave him again.
Things fall apart for Veronica, however, when she finds hidden video cameras in Logan's pool house, where he had taken Veronica in order to make out. At the time, she does not know that they were Aaron's cameras and that Logan had no knowledge of them. Furthermore, in the Season One episode "Leave It to Beaver", Veronica learns that Logan had Dick and Cassidy Casablancas provide a false alibi
for him for the day that Lilly Kane was murdered.
Despite his brother's demands that the two keep their word to Logan about his alibi, Cassidy eagerly tells Veronica that Logan had left the Casablancas brothers early during a trip to Tijuana
to see Lilly. Logan had learned that Lilly had a new boyfriend (Weevil, though by this point, Lilly had dumped Weevil and moved on to Logan's father Aaron). This disclosure invalidates Logan's alibi and made Veronica fear that Logan had murdered Lilly Kane. As her father clears Abel Koontz (the man convicted of murdering Lilly) of the murder, Veronica convinces Sheriff Lamb to arrest Logan for Lilly's death. Logan is oblivious to the fact that Cassidy had betrayed him, and calls Veronica to come help him. Sheriff Lamb then breaks the news to Logan that Veronica is to blame for his arrest.
After being released on bail
, Logan confronts Veronica and the two have an emotional conversation in which Logan pleads his innocence:
In order to find the note that Logan wrote Lilly, Veronica sneaks into a party being thrown at the Kane estate by dressing up as a waiter. Duncan catches her checking the vents in Lilly's room (a favorite hiding spot of Lilly's) and after a tense confrontation, convinces Duncan to let her retrieve the letter. Instead of a letter, they find a set of video tapes, featuring Lilly having sex with Aaron Echolls. Veronica then starts to piece together that Aaron was the one who murdered Lilly.
Veronica rushes to get the tapes to the authorities, but ends up being attacked and nearly killed by Aaron, who had hidden in the backseat of her car and was planning to kill her to stop her from exposing him. Meanwhile, at the same time, a drunk and despondent Logan heads to the Coronado Bridge to tempt fate and possibly jump. He is prevented from doing anything serious by Weevil and his fellow Pacific Coast Highway bikers. Weevil, much like Logan, is still haunted by his love of Lilly Kane and is consumed with anger at Logan, wanting to inflict vigilante
justice to ensure Logan would pay for "murdering" the woman he loved. Weevil is soon taken out of the fight when Logan takes advantage of a temporary distraction and kicks him in the head, rendering him unconscious. However, the PCHers beat Logan within an inch of his life and leave Weevil's two top underlings, Thumper and Felix, to finish the job.
Season Two opens where Season One left off, after Veronica opens her door and says, "I was hoping it was you." It turns out to be Logan, who is bloodied and bruised. Logan manages to weakly say "Hey, Veronica" before painfully collapsing into her arms. As Veronica tends to his injuries, Logan explains what happened and that Felix was dead. Because Logan had been drinking and was barely conscious from his beating, he has practically no memory of Thumper turning against Felix, killing his fellow biker and planting the murder weapon on Logan to frame him for the crime. The murder is part of a complex scheme by Thumper to curry favor with the Irish crime family known as the Fitzpatricks, who were furious that Felix was dating the daughter of a high ranking Fitzpatricks gang member. Logan would be the scapegoat and Thumper's scheme would soon bear bitter fruit for Logan.
Logan pleads his innocence in Felix's murder, but the police don't believe him and he is quickly arrested for murder. The case goes to a grand jury
, who refuse to indict
due to lack of evidence. The grand jury's decision, combined with the fact that his father had been revealed to be the murderer of Lilly Kane, caused the residents of Neptune to vilify Logan as yet another spoiled white rich kid who got away with murder. Logan responded to his new pariah status by retreating into his old patterns of abusive behavior. With Dick and Cassidy Casablancas at his side, Logan burns down public pool facilities in Neptune so as to punish the poor residents of the town who use the public pool complex.
Veronica tries to stay loyal to her boyfriend, though the strain ensures that the two never consummate their relationship. In the season two premiere episode "Normal Is the Watchword," it is revealed via flashback that Veronica breaks up with Logan after making an emotional plea to him to stop the cycle of violence he was becoming trapped in:
Veronica's father then enters the room and ordered Logan to never come near his daughter again. Further adding to the fire is Veronica's reconciliation with Duncan. Since the spectre of incest
has been removed with the revelation that Veronica is not Jake Kane's illegitimate daughter, the two reconcile, much to Logan's horror. His response is to secretly begin an affair with Kendall Casablancas, Richard Casablancas's young trophy wife and Dick and Cassidy's stepmother. His affair with Kendall is derailed, however, when the murder charges against Logan are refiled after a witness comes forward, though Veronica and Logan quickly discover that the witness is a plastic surgeon who is implicating Logan as a means to pay off a large drug debt to the Fitzpatricks. However, an unexpected ally emerges in the form of Eli "Weevil" Navarro, Felix's best friend; he begins a war against Logan, which culminates in Weevil burning down the Echolls family mansion, a move that forced Logan to move into a nearby hotel as his new home.
Despite his initial belief that Logan murdered Felix, Weevil soon suspects Thumper of the crime. As the two enemies conspire to expose Thumper, Thumper strikes first and uses Weevil's alliance with Logan to usurp control of the PCH biker gang, allowing Thumper to form an alliance between the PCHers and the Fitzpatricks involving the Irish gang's drug trade.
Knowing that the new witness against him is tied to the Fitzpatricks, Logan engages in psychological warfare
against the witness by dating his daughter, Hannah. The mind games climax when Logan reveals to Hannah that her father is a cocaine
addict and then threatens her father with the possibility that he would seduce Hannah if he doesn't recant his testimony. Griffith recants, though Logan develops actual feelings for Hannah and seeks to continue their relationship. When Hannah is caught with Logan again, she is shipped off to a Vermont
boarding school. Later, Logan unknowingly causes Thumper's death after Weevil manipulates events so that Thumper would be betrayed by the Irish crime syndicate and chained in the bathroom of a stadium that Logan (who had won an essay contest) is allowed to ceremonially demolish.
Vindicated of all charges, Logan begins to mend his fences with Veronica, who now is single again. In "Look Who's Stalking", he drunkenly confesses his feelings for Veronica and compares their relationship to an "epic" romance.
Veronica flees from the party in shock. When she returns the next morning, she plans on telling him that she still loves him. As she recounts his words, his eyes show both pain and regret, and he confesses that he had been so drunk, he doesn't remember his speech, shocking Veronica. Further twisting the knife into her heart, Kendall appears at the door behind him, as Logan had responded to Veronica's apparent rejection by contacting Kendall and having a one-night stand with her. Veronica quickly leaves in order to keep Logan from seeing how heartbroken she is. Days later, the two pretend that nothing happened.
Prior to the graduation party, Veronica had realized that not only had Cassidy Casablancas raped her (thus giving her chlamydia), but that he was personally responsible for bus crash that killed 8 of his fellow students in "Normal is the Watchword." While confronting Cassidy on the hotel roof, Veronica is overpowered by him. She is able to send a quick text message Logan to save her. Cassidy then makes Veronica watch as he blows up a plane that she believes Keith is on, and Veronica is devastated. Cassidy then points a gun at Veronica to force her to jump from the roof, but Logan appears just in time. When Cassidy climbs over the railing on the roof, Logan pleads with him not to jump. Cassidy demands that Logan give him a reason not to, but Logan stays quiet, unable to think of anything to say. With a smirk, Cassidy jumps to his death while Logan and Veronica can only watch. Meanwhile, Aaron (staying in the same hotel) is murdered by Kane family employee Clarence Wiedman in retaliation for Lilly's murder. Logan and Veronica go back to her place, where Veronica is still heartbroken about her father. In the morning, Veronica hears someone moving around in the kitchen and she runs out of her room, hoping to see her dad, but finds Logan making her breakfast. Veronica starts to cry in Logan's arms, but they are both surprised and relieved when Keith comes out his bedroom. Keith tells her that he was taken off the plane that Cassidy blew up at the last minute before takeoff.
Now freed of his father, Logan and Veronica reconcile and resume dating during the finale of Season Two. Sometime before Season Three begins, they consummate their relationship. With his father gone, Logan has sought to change his life and become a better person through Veronica's love. As such, Logan enrolls in Hearst University, which has served as a place where Logan has been able to escape the notoriety of his family and his own past legal problems.
As Logan has begun the process of growing up into adulthood, his relationship with Veronica hits the skids when he becomes worried about Veronica's safety and her continual obsession with putting herself in harm's way while trying fight the forces of evil as a detective. Making things even more complicated was his friendship with Mercer Hayes, an older college student who is secretly a serial rapist terrorizing campus. Mercer is arrested for one of the rapes but is released when the rape turns out to be a false report orchestrated by a group of anti-fraternity feminists.
Though she had cleared Mercer, Veronica's continued quest to catch the rapist(s) led to Mercer and his accomplice to attack Veronica after drugging her drink in the school cafeteria. But by sheer luck, Logan saves Veronica as her attacker had just begun shaving her head (Mercer's calling card for his victims). Logan begs for Veronica to stop the investigations, out of fear for her own safety and even hired a bodyguard to secretly protect her, which only angered her more.
Realizing that Veronica would never stop her investigations and that she is starting to resent him for being overprotective, Logan promptly tells Veronica that he wants to end the relationship. Logan nevertheless helps Veronica protect a girl who may have been a target of the rapist by driving over to her home. When he learns that Mercer is the rapist, Logan took his baseball bat and destroyed a police car's windshield in order to be arrested. It turns out this was his plan because he wanted to confront Mercer and avenge Veronica for being a target of his.
Veronica realizes that Logan is a genuinely good person, and shows up at his door. The two passionately embrace, yet again getting back together.
Just as Veronica and Logan begin dating again, she finds out he had slept with Madison Sinclair during their first breakup, and ends the relationship. He tries to get her back by leaving her a heartfelt and emotional voice mail message, but Veronica only listens to the first few seconds before deleting it. Logan continues to stay in his hotel room, until he has to babysit Heather, the younger sister of Dick's newest conquest, and she stays with Logan while Dick and his girlfriend go to Las Vegas
. After a few days of staying with Heather, she finds out about Veronica and Logan's breakup and tries to get them back together. This goes so far as requesting love songs (partnered with an apology coming from Logan) to the local radio station. When Veronica hears the message, she ignores it and turns the radio off. Later on when Veronica is looking to find out who killed Dean Cyrus O'Dell, she finds herself in the elevator with Logan and Heather. Heather starts telling Veronica of Logan's feelings. The elevator ride ends before anything can come of this confession. Logan, although initially angry at Heather, soon forgives her and comes to a quiet revelation. After Heather leaves with her sister, Logan is finally able to leave his hotel room and go back to class.
When Veronica is (incorrectly) arrested for helping someone escape from jail, Logan goes to visit her, stating that they're adults and can be mature despite the way they broke up. He then gets roped into a Valentine's Day
scavenger hunt with Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, her new boyfriend, and Parker Lee
. He and Parker hit it off and Logan is seen by Veronica smiling and eating with an equally happy Parker. In a later episode, it is shown that Logan throws a birthday party for Parker and invites Veronica. In the second to last episode, he attacks Piz, assuming that he posted a video of him and Veronica having sex. An infuriated Veronica tells him she wants nothing to do with him. On the same day, Parker breaks up with him after he doesn't deny still being in love with Veronica.
The last scene shared between Logan and Veronica is left ambiguous, with a meaningful glance exchanged between the two at the end of the series; described as 'primal' in the script. Veronica smiles at Logan after he beats up a man who sexually humiliated her, and he smiles back proudly. Logan leaves with his head held high, finally finding the happiness he's wanted for so long. It was made definite on a commentary that it was always going to be Logan and Veronica.
Season 1
Episode 15: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Episode 22: Adversity is the diamond dust with which heaven polishes its jewels. – Thomas Carlyle
Season 2
Episode 3: To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best. – William Thackeray
Episode 7: Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. – Ben Franklin
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
/The CW television series Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
.
He is portrayed by Jason Dohring
Jason Dohring
Jason William Dohring is an American actor who is best known for his role as Logan Echolls on the 2004 television show Veronica Mars and for his role as Josef Kostan on the 2007 series Moonlight.-Personal life:...
.
Background
Described as Neptune High's "obligatory psychotic jackass" by VeronicaVeronica Mars (character)
Veronica Mars is a fictional character in UPN/The CW the television series, Veronica Mars, which aired on the UPN and CW networks from 2004 to 2007. She is portrayed by Kristen Bell.- Background and details of plot :...
's voice-over narration in the show's pilot episode, Logan was originally conceived of as the school's main bully and a teenaged nemesis for Veronica Mars. But as the show progressed during the first season, Veronica (and the viewers of the show) would discover that Logan was really just a troubled teen dealing with the murder of his girlfriend as well as living in an abusive home and was actually a good guy when he wanted to show it.
Logan was the on-again, off-again
On-again, off-again relationship
An on-again, off-again relationship is a form of casual relationship, usually sexual, between two people. It is where the couple concerned do not see their discontinuous affair as an ongoing or formal relationship...
boyfriend of the deceased Lilly Kane and close friends with Veronica Mars and her then-boyfriend Duncan Kane
Duncan Kane
Duncan Kane is a fictional character on UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN. He was a series regular during seasons one and two. He is portrayed by Teddy Dunn. He is Veronica's ex-boyfriend, and the brother to her dead best friend, Lilly...
. Logan's life is torn apart when Lilly is murdered and Keith Mars
Keith Mars
Keith Mars is a fictional character on UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN. He is portrayed by Enrico Colantoni....
publicly accuses Jake Kane, father of Lilly and Duncan, of the crime. Logan is horrified by the accusation, and when Veronica refuses to renounce her father, Logan quickly moves to blackball Veronica from the popular "09er" crowd. Logan confesses to the guidance counselor that he blames Veronica for Lilly's death because she had told Lilly about him kissing another girl which was the reason they broke up at the time and had Veronica not done that, the two of them would have been together that day.
Logan's hatred for Veronica slowly disappears over time and when they first start dating, they keep it a secret from their classmates, due to Logan's popularity and Veronica's outcast status.
Logan Echolls is the youngest child in the Echolls family. His older half-sister (later retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ned as adopted sister) Trina left the family to pursue an acting career, with little success.
While Logan loves his mother Lynn, his relationship with his abusive father Aaron is largely hostile. The abuse is hinted when it seems Logan is incredibly nervous with his father after the leak of his bum fight video. Aaron angrily shoves Logan onto the couch and Logan looks at him with pure terror on his face. Later in that same episode, Aaron is heard beating Logan with a belt after publicly embarrassing him. Some episodes later, Logan's sister Trina sarcastically refers to Logan's claims of other abuses at Aaron's hands, including being burned with cigarettes and having his nose broken. That's when Veronica strongly begins to believe that Logan was in fact abused. Nonetheless, Logan's feelings toward his father are made ambiguous by the inherent parent-child bond, Logan's unusually deep capacity for love and loyalty, and Aaron's own complex character, which includes intermittent (and generally self-serving) attempts to support his children, and some degree of parental protectiveness (as seen, for instance, when he beats up one of Trina's abusive
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
boyfriends).
Logan receives little comfort from his mother, who has turned to pills to distract herself from her husband's adultery and violence. When Aaron is beating Logan with the belt, she just sits sipping a drink in a nearby room, presumably listening. Logan hides the truth of his home life from his friends at school, where he acts out his frustrations by bullying weaker students and flaunting his status as a member of the wealthy '09er community in front of less affluent students.
Ultimately, the Echolls family self-destructs when one of Aaron's sexual conquests, having seen him having sex with another woman, stabs Aaron at a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
party, leading to the exposure of his chronic infidelity. In reaction, Logan's mother Lynn leaks stories of Aaron's other affairs to further damage his public image and, when Aaron confronts her, vows to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
him. When Aaron retaliates by threatening to use all of his resources to destroy Lynn's life if she leaves him, Logan sticks up for his mother and angrily tells Aaron that if he says another word to her, he will kill him. Lynn says she can't deal with this anymore and drives to the Coronado Bridge and jumps off, to her apparent death. (No body is found, as show creator Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (writer)
Rob Thomas is an American author, producer, and screenwriter, best known as the author of the 1996 novel Rats Saw God and creator of the critically acclaimed television programs Veronica Mars and Party Down.-Education and early career:Thomas graduated from San Marcos High School in 1983 and went...
wanted to leave the door open to bring the character back). Logan refuses to believe that his mother is dead and thinks that she has only skipped town and gets Veronica to track her down. Logan's hope is lifted when Veronica tells him his mother's credit cards are being used. It turns out that Trina is the one who's been using them and Logan is heartbroken over this. With all hope of his mother being alive gone, Logan starts sobbing and falls to his knees as he cries on Veronica's shoulder while she hugs him.
His wife's apparent suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
shames Aaron so much that he retires from acting and concentrates on trying to save his disintegrating relationship with his son (although it is implied that this behavior is only an attempt to get money from Logan, to whom Lynn left all of her money). This uncharacteristic attempt at kindness fails, however, when Veronica Mars reveals that Aaron had murdered Logan's girlfriend, Lilly Kane, in an attempt to retrieve tapes that he had made of himself and Lilly having sex.
After trying to kill Veronica in the Season One finale, Aaron goes on trial near the end of Season Two and mounts a successful defense. The defense blames Duncan for his sister's murder, denies the affair between Aaron and Lilly, and accuses Veronica of lying about Aaron's attempt to kill her. Logan himself has bolstered the defense case by having, earlier in Season Two, bought the sex tapes of Aaron and Lilly - which had been stolen and put up for bid by a sheriff's deputy - and erased them to prevent them being posted on the Internet. Despite both Logan's and Veronica's testimony regarding the content of the tapes, their evidence is discredited, and Aaron is found not guilty on all charges.
Once acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
, Aaron makes a last-ditch effort to reconcile with his son by forcibly reminding Logan that, as a free man, he now controls the family fortune. (Logan had gained power of attorney
Power of attorney
A power of attorney or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs, business, or some other legal matter...
over his father's wealth while Aaron was awaiting trial.) Ominously, Aaron threatens to cut off his wayward son's finances, but never has a chance to carry out his threat. In the Season Two finale, Duncan Kane, furious that his sister's murderer had gotten away with the crime, arranges for Clarence Wiedman (the head of security for Kane Software) to murder Aaron in his hotel room.
In Season Three, it is revealed that Logan had an older half-brother; his father had an illegitimate child from an affair with a flight attendant. Logan discovers his half-brother, Charlie Stone, when he gets help from Veronica to investigate the disappearance of trust money left to him after Aaron's death. Aaron's relationship with Charlie is only through an agreement of payment that was set up through a children’s foundation – which is used as a front to keep Charlie's identity a secret from the public.
Logan eventually agrees to meet with his long-lost half-brother. However, Logan has been tricked by a reporter who knew of the love child and acted as Charlie to get the insider's scoop for a Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
article; the story is ultimately dropped when Logan makes a pre-emptory appearance on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
and announces the scandal. Logan's real half-brother ignores all of Logan's calls, angered that Logan exposed him to media scrutiny and destroyed what normal life he may have had.
It is suggested that his favorite movie is Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, as he has both Hannah Griffith and Veronica watch it with him, and quotes it in his prize-winning essay.
Relationship with Veronica
In various season one flashbacks, it was shown that Logan had been friends with Veronica Mars and that, along with Logan's girlfriend Lilly Kane and her brother Duncan, they were part of a close-knit clique at the center of Neptune High's '09er social scene. The two were portrayed as being close, although even Veronica did not know about Logan's abuse at the hands of his father.As a flashback reveals, the seeds for the inevitable falling out between the two friends began when Veronica caught Logan kissing a new transfer student (the daughter of a famous rap music producer) and told Lilly about it. When Lilly refuses to speak to Logan, he quickly realizes that Veronica had ratted him out. Later, Logan would confide to his school's guidance counselor that this was the catalyst for him turning on Veronica: he rationalizes that had Lilly not broken up with him, he might have been with her when she was attacked and fought off the attacker, saving her life.
When Lilly is murdered, Logan holds his tongue, but two subsequent events give him an excuse to vent his hatred for Veronica. The first is when police video footage showing Lilly's dead body is stolen from the Sheriff's department and posted all over the Internet. The second is when Veronica's father, then-Sheriff Keith Mars, publicly accuses Jake Kane, Lilly and Duncan's father, of murdering his own daughter. Consumed with anger, Logan gives Veronica an ultimatum: publicly denounce her father, or be declared "dead" by Logan and the teen '09er crowd. Veronica stands by her father, and Logan blacklists her at school and in the community, turning her into a pariah.
His disdain for Veronica comes to a head when Veronica crashes an '09er party. Shortly after Veronica's arrival, Madison Sinclair gives Veronica a drink that had been given to her by her own on-again/off-again boyfriend, Dick Casablancas
Dick Casablancas
Richard "Dick" Casablancas, Jr. is a fictional character on the UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN. He is portrayed by Ryan Hansen. He is a series regular from season two forward....
. Unknown to Madison, Dick had spiked the drink with GHB
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid
γ-Hydroxybutyric acid , also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid and sodium oxybate when used for medicinal purposes, is a naturally occurring substance found in the central nervous system, wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts. It is also categorized as an illegal...
(supplied to him by Logan), in order to ensure that he could have sex with the normally chaste Madison that night. Veronica becomes drugged instead. Logan organizes for his fellow party-goers to take "body shots" off the now helpless (and perhaps unconscious) girl.
When Duncan Kane comes to Veronica's defense and drags her away from Logan's mob of partiers, Logan secretly uses the same drugs on Duncan; drugging his drink in a desperate attempt to get the unusually tense Duncan to relax. In his drugged state, Duncan wanders past the bedroom where a drugged Veronica is lying unconscious; they then have what Duncan at least believed to be consensual sex.
The date-rape drugs ensure that Veronica would only have vague memories of the night, but when morning came Veronica is quite aware that she had been rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d. Duncan flees in the morning, because he still thinks that Veronica is his half-sister.
At the start of the series, Veronica and Logan are adversaries. Logan mocks Veronica's mother (an alcoholic who abandoned her family), and Veronica arranges for Logan to be suspended by planting drug paraphernalia in his locker. Logan responds by gathering a gang of male '09ers and vandalizing Veronica's car, but is stopped from causing major damage by the arrival of Eli “Weevil” Navarro
Eli “Weevil” Navarro
Eli "Weevil" Navarro is a fictional character on the UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars, which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN...
, a fellow high school student who Veronica has befriended. While they appear to hate one another, for Logan specifically this metaphorical 'dance' between them is rooted in more than just disdain – he frequently watches her for inordinate amounts of time and it becomes clear he has a crush on her; which is confirmed in a flashback in 'The Wrath of Con'. The seeds of their future relationship are further firmly planted in said episode when they share a meaningful look over Lily's memorial video.
With Lilly dead, Duncan becoming emotionally distant and apathetic towards the '09er social scene, and Veronica persona non-grata, the beginning of Season One shows Logan becoming the de facto leader of the Neptune High '09er community. Surrounding himself with a new inner circle that includes fellow social snobs Madison Sinclair and Dick Casablancas, Logan begins a reign of terror that plays into the ever-present class warfare
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
among the teens at Neptune High. His grief for his dead girlfriend and the worsening physical abuse he is secretly suffering at the hands of his father leads Logan to misbehave more frequently and extremely, spurring Veronica to christen him, in the Season One opener, Neptune's "obligatory psychotic jackass".
The only common ground that exists by this point is Duncan Kane, who Logan has remained friends with even though Duncan himself refrains from participating in the bulk of the activities of Logan's new clique. Duncan is moody, very depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, withdrawn from his fellow peers, and still in love with Veronica. Logan attempts to use Duncan's presence in social situations to reach out to Veronica, in hopes that Veronica might bring his friend back to life. But Veronica refuses, partly out of disdain for what Logan has become and partly out of a desire to stay away from Duncan due to the cold way Duncan ended their relationship before Lilly's death. This only intensifies Logan's hatred of Veronica.
The relationship between Logan and Veronica begins to thaw when Logan volunteers to make a tribute video for the Kane family for their slain daughter, to be played at the dedication of a memorial fountain at Neptune High. Despite his desire to create a tribute for his ex-girlfriend and best friend, Logan is frustrated at the fact that the Kane family only provided him home movies and photos of Lilly to work with. In Logan's eyes, none of the material capture Lilly's true nature, the side of her that her friends, her brother, and her classmates knew and loved. Veronica agrees and she gives him a video tape shot a year before Lilly's death when they were all going to the Homecoming dance. At the end of the video, Logan looks at Veronica and gives her a small smile of thanks.
Logan and Veronica mutual hostility thaws for good after Logan's mother commits suicide. Believing that his mother could still be alive, Logan hires Veronica to investigate the possibility. Veronica agrees, and while the investigation fails to provide the answer Logan is looking for, the time together is enough to cause the two to abandon old grudges. Their relationship further grows when Logan saves Veronica from a young undercover ATF agent, who is seeking to frame a local bully for plotting to blow up Neptune High. After an intense standoff, the two kiss for the first time, initially unsure what their feelings mean.
At this point, Veronica and Logan begin dating, though Veronica insists that they keep their relationship a secret because Logan's clique still hates her, and because she fears how their mutual friend Duncan would react. In the episode "A Trip to the Dentist", however, their relationship goes public when Logan's father make a cheesy attempt to make up for lost time with his son by throwing a surprise "birthday" party. Logan and Veronica walk into his house kissing, only to find his friends (including Duncan) waiting for them. Everyone stares in shock and Dick makes some snide remarks to which Logan openly tells him, and everyone else, that if they have a problem with Veronica being his girlfriend, they are "pretty much dead" to him.
Logan's announcement of his love for Veronica and willingness to stand up for her to his friends helps soften the blow when Veronica learns that Logan indirectly provided the drugs that led to her being raped. While she is initially furious at Logan, her anger lessens when she learns that Madison Sinclair was also responsible (albeit unknowingly). When Veronica confronts Logan, she forgives him for what he did to her, and Logan reveals that he had given Duncan the drugs that led to his having sex with Veronica. However, she readily forgave him again.
Things fall apart for Veronica, however, when she finds hidden video cameras in Logan's pool house, where he had taken Veronica in order to make out. At the time, she does not know that they were Aaron's cameras and that Logan had no knowledge of them. Furthermore, in the Season One episode "Leave It to Beaver", Veronica learns that Logan had Dick and Cassidy Casablancas provide a false alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
for him for the day that Lilly Kane was murdered.
Despite his brother's demands that the two keep their word to Logan about his alibi, Cassidy eagerly tells Veronica that Logan had left the Casablancas brothers early during a trip to Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
to see Lilly. Logan had learned that Lilly had a new boyfriend (Weevil, though by this point, Lilly had dumped Weevil and moved on to Logan's father Aaron). This disclosure invalidates Logan's alibi and made Veronica fear that Logan had murdered Lilly Kane. As her father clears Abel Koontz (the man convicted of murdering Lilly) of the murder, Veronica convinces Sheriff Lamb to arrest Logan for Lilly's death. Logan is oblivious to the fact that Cassidy had betrayed him, and calls Veronica to come help him. Sheriff Lamb then breaks the news to Logan that Veronica is to blame for his arrest.
After being released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, Logan confronts Veronica and the two have an emotional conversation in which Logan pleads his innocence:
- Logan: You know... I... I knew Lilly was seeing someone. It was driving me crazy. When I left for Neptune, I didn't know if I was gonna scream at her for treating me like dirt or beg her to take me back. And I saw her at the car wash.
- Veronica: I didn't see you there.
- Logan: Well, I just parked across the street and watched her. And this feeling came over me, you know, I don’t… I don’t know how to describe it but I just knew it was over. So I sat in my car and I wrote this note to her, explaining it.
- Veronica: Did you give it to her?
- Logan: Yeah, I left it in the car.
- Veronica: With the shot glass.
- Logan: Yeah, with the shot glass. You know, if you read that letter, you'd know I'd never hurt her.
In order to find the note that Logan wrote Lilly, Veronica sneaks into a party being thrown at the Kane estate by dressing up as a waiter. Duncan catches her checking the vents in Lilly's room (a favorite hiding spot of Lilly's) and after a tense confrontation, convinces Duncan to let her retrieve the letter. Instead of a letter, they find a set of video tapes, featuring Lilly having sex with Aaron Echolls. Veronica then starts to piece together that Aaron was the one who murdered Lilly.
Veronica rushes to get the tapes to the authorities, but ends up being attacked and nearly killed by Aaron, who had hidden in the backseat of her car and was planning to kill her to stop her from exposing him. Meanwhile, at the same time, a drunk and despondent Logan heads to the Coronado Bridge to tempt fate and possibly jump. He is prevented from doing anything serious by Weevil and his fellow Pacific Coast Highway bikers. Weevil, much like Logan, is still haunted by his love of Lilly Kane and is consumed with anger at Logan, wanting to inflict vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
justice to ensure Logan would pay for "murdering" the woman he loved. Weevil is soon taken out of the fight when Logan takes advantage of a temporary distraction and kicks him in the head, rendering him unconscious. However, the PCHers beat Logan within an inch of his life and leave Weevil's two top underlings, Thumper and Felix, to finish the job.
Season Two opens where Season One left off, after Veronica opens her door and says, "I was hoping it was you." It turns out to be Logan, who is bloodied and bruised. Logan manages to weakly say "Hey, Veronica" before painfully collapsing into her arms. As Veronica tends to his injuries, Logan explains what happened and that Felix was dead. Because Logan had been drinking and was barely conscious from his beating, he has practically no memory of Thumper turning against Felix, killing his fellow biker and planting the murder weapon on Logan to frame him for the crime. The murder is part of a complex scheme by Thumper to curry favor with the Irish crime family known as the Fitzpatricks, who were furious that Felix was dating the daughter of a high ranking Fitzpatricks gang member. Logan would be the scapegoat and Thumper's scheme would soon bear bitter fruit for Logan.
Logan pleads his innocence in Felix's murder, but the police don't believe him and he is quickly arrested for murder. The case goes to a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
, who refuse to indict
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
due to lack of evidence. The grand jury's decision, combined with the fact that his father had been revealed to be the murderer of Lilly Kane, caused the residents of Neptune to vilify Logan as yet another spoiled white rich kid who got away with murder. Logan responded to his new pariah status by retreating into his old patterns of abusive behavior. With Dick and Cassidy Casablancas at his side, Logan burns down public pool facilities in Neptune so as to punish the poor residents of the town who use the public pool complex.
Veronica tries to stay loyal to her boyfriend, though the strain ensures that the two never consummate their relationship. In the season two premiere episode "Normal Is the Watchword," it is revealed via flashback that Veronica breaks up with Logan after making an emotional plea to him to stop the cycle of violence he was becoming trapped in:
- Logan: Are you breaking up with me?
- Veronica: I can't stay with you. Not with you and your toadies cruising around at night and hatching plans, refusing to let everything get back to normal. Someone's gonna get killed, Logan.
- Logan: Someone already has, did you forget that already? And most of the people in this town think I did it.
- [Logan shifts up to sit on the arm of the couch, becoming increasingly emotional.]
- Logan: Those people you call "toadies" are my friends; they've got my back.
- Veronica: [urgently] It's not about protection, Logan. It's about pride.
- [Logan puts his hand to his forehead as if pained.]
- Veronica: And, the thing that I can't stand is that…I'm pretty sure there's a part of you that's having fun with all of this.
- Logan: Fun? Fun?!
- [He gets up to leave, then spins back around, smashing a lamp.]
- Logan: [angrily] My mom is dead! My girlfriend is dead! My dad is a murderer! And the only person I still care about is dumping me. You think I'm having fun?
Veronica's father then enters the room and ordered Logan to never come near his daughter again. Further adding to the fire is Veronica's reconciliation with Duncan. Since the spectre of incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
has been removed with the revelation that Veronica is not Jake Kane's illegitimate daughter, the two reconcile, much to Logan's horror. His response is to secretly begin an affair with Kendall Casablancas, Richard Casablancas's young trophy wife and Dick and Cassidy's stepmother. His affair with Kendall is derailed, however, when the murder charges against Logan are refiled after a witness comes forward, though Veronica and Logan quickly discover that the witness is a plastic surgeon who is implicating Logan as a means to pay off a large drug debt to the Fitzpatricks. However, an unexpected ally emerges in the form of Eli "Weevil" Navarro, Felix's best friend; he begins a war against Logan, which culminates in Weevil burning down the Echolls family mansion, a move that forced Logan to move into a nearby hotel as his new home.
Despite his initial belief that Logan murdered Felix, Weevil soon suspects Thumper of the crime. As the two enemies conspire to expose Thumper, Thumper strikes first and uses Weevil's alliance with Logan to usurp control of the PCH biker gang, allowing Thumper to form an alliance between the PCHers and the Fitzpatricks involving the Irish gang's drug trade.
Knowing that the new witness against him is tied to the Fitzpatricks, Logan engages in psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
against the witness by dating his daughter, Hannah. The mind games climax when Logan reveals to Hannah that her father is a cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addict and then threatens her father with the possibility that he would seduce Hannah if he doesn't recant his testimony. Griffith recants, though Logan develops actual feelings for Hannah and seeks to continue their relationship. When Hannah is caught with Logan again, she is shipped off to a Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
boarding school. Later, Logan unknowingly causes Thumper's death after Weevil manipulates events so that Thumper would be betrayed by the Irish crime syndicate and chained in the bathroom of a stadium that Logan (who had won an essay contest) is allowed to ceremonially demolish.
Vindicated of all charges, Logan begins to mend his fences with Veronica, who now is single again. In "Look Who's Stalking", he drunkenly confesses his feelings for Veronica and compares their relationship to an "epic" romance.
- Logan: You know, I'm surprised, Veronica. As a keen observer of the human condition, I thought you saw through people better than that. Bimbos? That's not me anymore.
- Veronica: [scoffs] So, what are you like now?
- Logan: You know, tortured. Ever since I had my heart broken.
- Veronica: Hannah really did do a number on you, huh?
- Logan: Come on, you know I'm not talking about Hannah. [Veronica looks at him, astonished.] I thought our story was epic, you know? You and me.
- Veronica: Epic how?
- Logan: Spanning years, and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic! [pause] But summer's almost here, and we won't see each other at all. And then you'll leave town, and then... it's over.
- Veronica: Logan...
- Logan: I'm sorry... about last summer. You know, if I could do it over...
- Veronica: Come on. Ruined lives? Bloodshed? You really think a relationship should be that hard?
- Logan: No one writes songs about the ones that come easy. [tries to kiss her, but she pulls away.]
- Veronica: I have to go. I have... to go.
Veronica flees from the party in shock. When she returns the next morning, she plans on telling him that she still loves him. As she recounts his words, his eyes show both pain and regret, and he confesses that he had been so drunk, he doesn't remember his speech, shocking Veronica. Further twisting the knife into her heart, Kendall appears at the door behind him, as Logan had responded to Veronica's apparent rejection by contacting Kendall and having a one-night stand with her. Veronica quickly leaves in order to keep Logan from seeing how heartbroken she is. Days later, the two pretend that nothing happened.
- Logan: Hello.
- Veronica: First, let me say that I'm sorry for running out last night like I did. I was a bit overwhelmed. I needed to collect my thoughts, think about what you said.
- Logan: Veronica —
- Veronica: Let me just get this out. I don't want to lose you from my life, either. And I'm not saying I'm ready to dive back into anything, but... after graduation, let's make it a point to see each other. See where that takes us. Remember what you said about our relationship being epic? [realizing Logan doesn't remember what he told her] Oh, God.
- Logan: Last night was kind of a blur.
- Kendall: Is that our room service? [comes to the door] No. Just Veronica Mars. What a disappointment. Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Bye, Veronica.
- Logan: Look, whatever I said, I... You should know —
- Veronica: [coldly] Stop. [walks away, crying]
Prior to the graduation party, Veronica had realized that not only had Cassidy Casablancas raped her (thus giving her chlamydia), but that he was personally responsible for bus crash that killed 8 of his fellow students in "Normal is the Watchword." While confronting Cassidy on the hotel roof, Veronica is overpowered by him. She is able to send a quick text message Logan to save her. Cassidy then makes Veronica watch as he blows up a plane that she believes Keith is on, and Veronica is devastated. Cassidy then points a gun at Veronica to force her to jump from the roof, but Logan appears just in time. When Cassidy climbs over the railing on the roof, Logan pleads with him not to jump. Cassidy demands that Logan give him a reason not to, but Logan stays quiet, unable to think of anything to say. With a smirk, Cassidy jumps to his death while Logan and Veronica can only watch. Meanwhile, Aaron (staying in the same hotel) is murdered by Kane family employee Clarence Wiedman in retaliation for Lilly's murder. Logan and Veronica go back to her place, where Veronica is still heartbroken about her father. In the morning, Veronica hears someone moving around in the kitchen and she runs out of her room, hoping to see her dad, but finds Logan making her breakfast. Veronica starts to cry in Logan's arms, but they are both surprised and relieved when Keith comes out his bedroom. Keith tells her that he was taken off the plane that Cassidy blew up at the last minute before takeoff.
Now freed of his father, Logan and Veronica reconcile and resume dating during the finale of Season Two. Sometime before Season Three begins, they consummate their relationship. With his father gone, Logan has sought to change his life and become a better person through Veronica's love. As such, Logan enrolls in Hearst University, which has served as a place where Logan has been able to escape the notoriety of his family and his own past legal problems.
As Logan has begun the process of growing up into adulthood, his relationship with Veronica hits the skids when he becomes worried about Veronica's safety and her continual obsession with putting herself in harm's way while trying fight the forces of evil as a detective. Making things even more complicated was his friendship with Mercer Hayes, an older college student who is secretly a serial rapist terrorizing campus. Mercer is arrested for one of the rapes but is released when the rape turns out to be a false report orchestrated by a group of anti-fraternity feminists.
Though she had cleared Mercer, Veronica's continued quest to catch the rapist(s) led to Mercer and his accomplice to attack Veronica after drugging her drink in the school cafeteria. But by sheer luck, Logan saves Veronica as her attacker had just begun shaving her head (Mercer's calling card for his victims). Logan begs for Veronica to stop the investigations, out of fear for her own safety and even hired a bodyguard to secretly protect her, which only angered her more.
Realizing that Veronica would never stop her investigations and that she is starting to resent him for being overprotective, Logan promptly tells Veronica that he wants to end the relationship. Logan nevertheless helps Veronica protect a girl who may have been a target of the rapist by driving over to her home. When he learns that Mercer is the rapist, Logan took his baseball bat and destroyed a police car's windshield in order to be arrested. It turns out this was his plan because he wanted to confront Mercer and avenge Veronica for being a target of his.
Veronica realizes that Logan is a genuinely good person, and shows up at his door. The two passionately embrace, yet again getting back together.
Just as Veronica and Logan begin dating again, she finds out he had slept with Madison Sinclair during their first breakup, and ends the relationship. He tries to get her back by leaving her a heartfelt and emotional voice mail message, but Veronica only listens to the first few seconds before deleting it. Logan continues to stay in his hotel room, until he has to babysit Heather, the younger sister of Dick's newest conquest, and she stays with Logan while Dick and his girlfriend go to Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. After a few days of staying with Heather, she finds out about Veronica and Logan's breakup and tries to get them back together. This goes so far as requesting love songs (partnered with an apology coming from Logan) to the local radio station. When Veronica hears the message, she ignores it and turns the radio off. Later on when Veronica is looking to find out who killed Dean Cyrus O'Dell, she finds herself in the elevator with Logan and Heather. Heather starts telling Veronica of Logan's feelings. The elevator ride ends before anything can come of this confession. Logan, although initially angry at Heather, soon forgives her and comes to a quiet revelation. After Heather leaves with her sister, Logan is finally able to leave his hotel room and go back to class.
When Veronica is (incorrectly) arrested for helping someone escape from jail, Logan goes to visit her, stating that they're adults and can be mature despite the way they broke up. He then gets roped into a Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
scavenger hunt with Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, her new boyfriend, and Parker Lee
Parker Lee
Parker Lee is a fictional character on UPN/The CW television series Veronica Mars. She is portrayed by Julie Gonzalo.- Background :Parker Lee is Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie's roommate at Hearst College. She is a Capricorn and her hometown is in Denver, Colorado.Parker is immediately welcoming to Mac,...
. He and Parker hit it off and Logan is seen by Veronica smiling and eating with an equally happy Parker. In a later episode, it is shown that Logan throws a birthday party for Parker and invites Veronica. In the second to last episode, he attacks Piz, assuming that he posted a video of him and Veronica having sex. An infuriated Veronica tells him she wants nothing to do with him. On the same day, Parker breaks up with him after he doesn't deny still being in love with Veronica.
The last scene shared between Logan and Veronica is left ambiguous, with a meaningful glance exchanged between the two at the end of the series; described as 'primal' in the script. Veronica smiles at Logan after he beats up a man who sexually humiliated her, and he smiles back proudly. Logan leaves with his head held high, finally finding the happiness he's wanted for so long. It was made definite on a commentary that it was always going to be Logan and Veronica.
Logan's inspirational message of the day
During season one and two, the writers came up with the running gag that Logan's cellphone voicemail greeting consisted of an ever changing list of famous inspirational quotes.Season 1
Episode 15: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
Episode 22: Adversity is the diamond dust with which heaven polishes its jewels. – Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
Season 2
Episode 3: To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best. – William Thackeray
Episode 7: Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. – Ben Franklin
Quotations
- "My daddy took my T-Bird away. And you know what I'm not going to be having? Fun. Fun. Fun." (Beach Boys reference)
- "I don't know. Maybe it's like BrigadoonBrigadoonBrigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
. Come back in a hundred years and it'll be right back in this spot."
- "'Anthropomorphic.' All yours, big guy." (To the principal, when asked if he can "have a word")
- "Annoy, tiny blonde one. Annoy like the wind!"
- (in a sarcastic perky tone as everyone lines up for a fire drill) "Heads up, chests out, big smiles! Ready? (claps) Okay!"
- (while talking on the phone to allow Veronica access to an actor to question him about missing money from Logan's poker game he hosted) "Veronica Mars.....no, Veronica. V as in virgin."
- "Ho, ho, (sees Veronica walk in and looks at her) ho!"
- "Would you look at that? There's a string attached to my pop-tart!"
- "Tu casa es mi casa."
- "Never underestimate the size of my cojones."
- "Maybe we should volunteer for the full body search."
- "My day is complete. Veronica Mars has accused me of evil."
- "Maybe we should do a story on oxycontin use in the administration"
- "Dream on, Jump Street, I'm not leaving you alone with her."
- "FYI: if cuddling was the best part, he didn't do it right."
- "If I donate to the United Latino Pain in the Ass Fund, will you shut the hell up?"
- "Nice car. God, it must've been a huge cereal box."
- "Ah, see, I'm more of a purist. You know, less blood, more emotional distress. I'd rather see him locked in a room, padded, crapping himself in the corner. You know, he's an English teacher, he'd appreciate the poetic justice."
- "If you really want flowers, dying seems to be the way to go. [To his father] Here's your costume. You know, if it's not sad enough, I can order you a veil."
- "You know what Mom would have wanted! She would have wanted you to not sleep with all her friends. She would have wanted you to care as much about her as your career. So okay, Dad, let's be honest. Maybe we both wished we'd been better. But she's only gone because of you."
- "So, what? Couldn't get on Springer this week, so you make up lies about my Mum? I'm sure trailer park rentals are expensive and with the high price of Spam..."
- "But if you're coming home, who will play Dead Hooker #2 on CSICSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
this week?"
- "Come on, everybody, wang chungWang Chung (band)Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
tonight! What? Everybody, wang chung tonight! Wang chung or I'll kick your ass!"
- "Push in on our hero. Natural light frames his handsome, weathered face, as he passed sage advice to his doting daughter. The music swells. [imitating Yoda] "Important your family is, hmm, hmm."
- "[stops his stopwatch] Twelve hours to hit me up for my dead mother's money. Hmmm, I wonder who had that in the pool."
- "I'm sure if you really tried, you could blow smoke up his ass from here. Hey, Trin – if you take your top off before you get on the mechanical bull, you won't fall off."
- "I'm sure I'll thoroughly enjoy them – right up until my esophagus closes up and cuts off my air supply and I shuffle off this mortal coil. Perhaps my last words will be 'Great crab, Papa.' [Aaron looks confused] I'm allergic to shellfish."
- "Get out of my house. You have a problem with Veronica, you leave. Actually, you have a problem with Veronica, you're pretty much dead to me, so just, like, evaporate or something, I dunno."
- "I can't take that I hurt you when all I want to do is protect you."
- "My mom is dead! My girlfriend is dead! My dad is a murderer! And the only person I still care about is dumping me. You think I'm having fun?"
- "Can Dick and Beaver come out and play?"
- "Didn't plug her right the first time, huh?"
- "My underbelly is rock hard. It can go all night."
- "O.K. God, I just can't take the begging. I'll relent, just this once but no cuddling after and I won't call you in the morning."
- "Oh, golly, I don't know. I was thinking about staying home, making a hope quilt for the lonely."
- "[in police lineup] Oh wow, I'm stunned. You like me! You really like me! Well first, I'd just like to say the other, uh, nominees are all such wonderfully gifted criminals. And I wanna thank my agent and my publicist for always shooting me from the left side."
- "I just need a little time to work through how you bashed my girlfriend's skull in."
- "Best thing about two days in jail? Two days worth of EllenThe Ellen DeGeneres ShowThe Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
on the TiVo. That sweet feeling."
- "[explaining the benefits of an ankle monitor] ...And the other sweet thing is that I'm in constant video contact with Martha StewartMartha StewartMartha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
, right?"
- "Oh, have it your way – we'll all live together in one big, wacky sitcom family."
- "Uh, bit of advice: when looking for a sugar daddy, at least pick the richest guy in the hotel suite. [Kendall looks surprised] I'm sorry. Did that hurt your feeling?"
- "It means I'm getting laid. And I owe your village a goat."
- "Wow. So your feelings have grown as your available balance has shrunk. It's like science! One of the problems of sleeping with your stepson's friend – information tends to leak."
- "I've had a very bad year."
- "Oh, yes, where are my manners? Kendall Casablancas, Trina Echolls. Rode Hard, meet Put Away Wet."
- "Uh-oh. Did you catch him waxing his board?"
- "Drugs? Murder? Frame-ups? St. Mary's Church? God, why didn't we think of that sooner?"
- Veronica asks, "What's your poison?" at the slushy stand. Logan replies, "Oh, emotionally unavailable women."
- "I'm confused. You're talking and your clothes are on. I'm starting to think you really came over here to try and sell me real estate."
- "Oh, please. Let the lying cokehead plastic surgeon lecture me on karma."
- "Ask not what Logan can do for you but what you can do for Logan."
- "Let me know when that time comes. Until then, you know me: I'll just be speaking softly and carrying a big stick."
- "You do know I've been cleared of all charges, right? The whole 'dead Felix' business has lost its intrigue for me. Once something stops being important to me, my memory gets a little fuzz – wait. Who are you?"
- "Follow the bouncing ball [signals with his fingers]: not-my-problem"
- "Ow. Oh, it burns!." When placing his left hand on the bible.
- [To Weevil] "If you're asking me to the prom again the answer is still no."
- "That's Honorary Deputy County Commissioner Echolls to you."
- [Veronica asks Logan to dance with her] "Oh, God. When I've dreamed of this moment, I've Had the Time of My Life(I've Had) The Time of My Life" The Time of My Life" is a song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, after having been selected to be the finale song for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, by choreographer Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison...
was always playing. Well, what can you do?"
- "Thoughts of me? Hey, I get it. Sometimes I'm up all night, just thinkin' about myself."
- "Spanning years, and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic! [pause] But summer's almost here, and we won't see each other at all. And then you'll leave town, and then... it's over."
- "I'm not going to see you for a week. That's, like, a month."
- [Veronica asks if he has spoken to Dick] "Yeah, but it was brief – shouted his name, flipped me off: the bonds of friendship."
- "But you know there's no one else. I only want you. You ought to know that by now. [Veronica ducks her head and silently smiles] What, no quip?"
- [about to have dinner with Keith and Veronica] "No calling you Bobcat, no talk of milky thighs."
- "So, it's Christmas, right? The entire family unit is around, which was rare. And I'm, I don't know, nine, and Aaron hands me a gift. But he notices the box has been re-wrapped, you know, so he knows I peeked. I'm nine years old. He's re-gifting me a fruit basket. He starts shouting about how I've ruined Christmas. So, I'm eating the pears and taking my time, taking these dainty bites. The man comes unhinged. Takes these pears and just starts shoving them down my throat one after another. And then...and I'm choking, but he doesn't stop until my mom holds a cheese knife to his throat. To this day, I puke if I smell a pear."
- "You know who I am. And you're constantly expecting me to change. [she looks at him dumbfounded] And even right now as you're thinking, "Crap, he's got a point," you still think you're ultimately right. I love you Veronica. I love you. [after no response] Do you love me?"
- Clif- They have set your court date. A month from today. Logan- Whatever will I wear?
- (to Veronica)Speaking of my bitchin' party, a funny thing happened. That stoner dude Corny offered to bring dessert. Exactly how many losers are now coming to my party?
- Talking to Veronica about Lucky) And I thought the weird thing was the foot bleaching.
- [In response to "You're gonna die"] "Yeah, [smirks] someday."
- [To Deputy Sachs, who has come to tell him that Sheriff Lamb "would like a word"] "If I'm under arrest, then do me the courtesy of making it all official-like."
- Apparently, we're into the cheap stuff.
- Can I mention that my eyes adored you?
- Just core stuff, you know, sociology, freshman comp. Mass com, which is kinda coming in handy. You know, apparently being the offspring of a murderer doesn't get old. I'm getting all these interview requests. Larry King wants me to come on with O.J.'s kids.
- [To Veronica about Veronica and Parker] "Did my fanclub meet today? I thought you guys only met on wednesdays?"
- Tu Casa Es Mi Casa
Appearances
- Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) has appeared in every episode of the show except episodes 1.11 and 1.16