Is [Spoiler] Really Dead on Veronica Mars?

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Veronica Mars Season 4. Read at your own risk!]

Is Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) really dead? That's the question most of the internet is asking right now after binge-watching the fourth season of Veronica Mars.

In the final act of the season finale, almost immediately after Logan and Veronica (Kristen Bell) swapped wedding vows during an intimate courthouse ceremony, Logan went outside to move Veronica's car for street cleaning (yes, street cleaning), and Veronica realized a moment too late that Penn Epner's (Patton Oswalt) final bomb was in her car. Cue explosion. A flash-forward to a year later reveals that Veronica finally visited Logan's therapist (Mary McDonnell) as he'd asked her to do all season, and that Veronica has decided to leave Neptune to take on cases around the country -- but she doesn't know when she'll be back.

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Now, the flash-forward feels pretty ominous. It seems pretty definitive that Logan is, in fact, dead. But because we're still not ready or even remotely willing to accept the possibility that we might now live in a world without Logan Echolls, we've come up with a few theories to explain how he could still be alive.

1. He was set up by the military and is now on a top secret mission. A lot was made of Logan's military career this season without us seeing what it actually entails. His last mission before the bombing was very short and also left some bruises -- but was it truly over? If Logan's work was as dangerous and top secret as we've been led to believe, it's entirely possible the military used the bombing to kidnap Logan and put him deep undercover somewhere. He obviously couldn't tell Veronica for fear of her safety and he'll re-emerge when the mission is truly done.

2. He's on a top secret mission and Veronica knows. If Logan is alive but Veronica truly believes he's dead, that'd be almost too cruel to forgive him for (and that's saying a lot since we've all somehow moved passed the bum fights from Season 1). But perhaps Veronica's grief isn't over the loss of Logan's life, but the loss of Logan from her life. Hear us out: Logan's military career has always been shrouded in secrecy; maybe Veronica knows he's on some sort of secret mission but agreed to help cover it up for him, mirroring Season 2's "Donut Run," in which she pretended to have no idea how her then-boyfriend Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn) fled the country with his infant daughter.

3. He's in a coma and Veronica doesn't think he'll ever wake up. During the flash-forward, no one pointedly states that Logan is dead, nor do we ever see a funeral for him. So maybe Logan is incapacitated but still alive somehow; perhaps he's in a coma and there's an extremely low chance he'll ever come out of it. That could explain why we see no direct evidence of Logan's death, as well as why Veronica would want to leave Neptune behind, since it's the place she built her life with Logan and she knows he'd hate for her to put her future on hold just to wait by his bedside when he'll likely never return to her.

4. He's off with Lynn Echolls (and yes, Lynn Echolls also faked her death). We know Logan was near Veronica's car and we know a bomb went off, but we never saw a body. And as any TV fan knows, until you see a body, you should never assume there actually is one. Of course, Veronica Mars subverted that exact trope when Logan's mother Lynn Echolls (Lisa Rinna) died after jumping off the Coronado bridge... allegedly. While Logan being revealed to be alive in a potential fifth season could come off as exploitative or even corny, one way to add an unexpected twist to it would be to have his survival come with the added revelation that Lynn Echolls has also been alive this whole time. Maybe she's the one who taught him how to fake his death in a car-related incident for reasons unknown. Maybe we're just making up insane theories because we want Jason Dohring and Lisa Rinna back. Or maybe we're geniuses. Only time will tell.

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5. Someone faked his death and erased his memory. Look, this kind of stuff totally happens. Just ask Michael Cordero (Brett Dier) on Jane the Virgin! Maybe Logan made an enemy of someone and they used the bombing to fake his death and then erased his memory so he has no recollection of who he is or where he's from. This would mean he also has no idea he is married to Veronica, so he also doesn't know he's supposed to find her. Maybe he will show up four years from now and go by the name of Jason.

6. He's actually dead and we're all in denial. This isn't what anyone wants to hear, but given that Logan was apparently in the car at the time the bomb detonated, his chances of survival are slim. Veronica's tears in the therapist's office seemed legitimate, suggesting that she believes he's dead -- and Veronica Mars, sleuth extraordinaire, wouldn't be sitting in a therapist's office if she believed there was even a chance that Logan could still be out there. Creator Rob Thomas promised a darker revival, and it's looking like he delivered. But it's fine to stay in denial a while longer if you have to.

Regardless, we'll be getting to the bottom of this controversial ending on Monday morning when we chat with Rob Thomas and Jason Dohring, so check back then to see what they have to say.

Veronica Marsis available to stream on Hulu.