Detective Work: We're Grillin' Rob Thomas About Veronica's Fate

Hey there, tubers! As promised yesterday, here's more from Mr. Rob Thomas, the Veronica Mars mastermind, about the prospects for our favorite girl detective, her fab dad and all the rest of the Neptunians we know and love.

If you haven't yet seen it, be sure to check out my latest Vine show (in the box at the bottom of this article), in which Rob lets us know that the show has not yet been canceled, despite all the rumors.

Veronica returns to the CW tonight, and the next two weeks of ratings are critical. So make sure you watch—and strong-arm your friends into doing so, too. (This is no time for niceties!)

Welcome, Rob Thomas! So glad you could be here.
Glad to do it! 

Okay, first things first, what are you hoping to do with season four of Veronica Mars?
I'd like to take Veronica right back to where we left her at the end of season three. We're pleased with the way season three ends. We really made an effort to set up great season-four storylines, and we did not give the network an easy way out in terms of ending season three with a bow—with a "there it is." 

I smell a cliffhanger.
Yeah, we left the Mars family in some predicaments. We're hopeful that we get to come back and play those out. 

What can you tell us about the episodes coming up? There are five left, correct?
Correct. Paul Rudd is in the second, and he plays sort of a decrepit, aging rock star who was in a hot band 10 years ago and now has trotted out to tour college campuses just to earn enough money to survive. Piz is the person assigned to guide him through his trip to Hearst College.

What else?
We also have an episode about a guy who writes a book about his experience of being a child soldier in Uganda, and I wrote the episode largely because Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas) has been very involved in this Invisible Children cause. He first gave me information about it, and then Kristen Bell became very involved in it, yet it turns out to be almost exactly like the Oprah Book Club book about this child soldier. Then in the finale, we have the election for sheriff coming up, and Veronica and Keith, they both struggle at the end of the year. There's a bit of a return to the social status they had in season one, by the end of the year, that I think we get to in a really interesting way. 

Now, we have some fan questions, if you don't mind tackling them. Ivan Jukica wants to know: Is it true that you are planning this as Logan's last—meaning if there were a season four that Jason Dohring would not be back?
I'd like everyone to be back. Certain people we have in one-year deals, which I think is sort of widely known, because you've seen them cast in other shows. So, there are actors if you pay attention to, you know we aren't necessarily going to get back or get back in lesser parts, but I love Jason Dohring. My first choice would be to have him back for every episode next year. 

Is he under contract for next year?
Oh, yes. Oh, yes, he is. 

Interesting...
And the finale is named "The Bitch Is Back." We've taken some criticism for making Veronica too mean this year. People have found her mean at times. I am sort of a fan of her prickliness, and so "The Bitch Is Back" is our comment on "Oh, you thought she was mean? Here is what Veronica looks like when she is mean." 

Sara Pryor: Are Piz and Veronica actually going to get together? Because that would be soooo adorable.
I don't know how much I want to spoil on that, but they certainly have a journey and I can safely say that yeah, they develop a romantic relationship in these last five episodes.

Jennifer Humphrey: If the CW does not pick up Veronica Mars for another season, would you pitch the new format to a different network?
That sort of thing rarely happens...I don't think it's likely. I think it could have been a possibility going in another direction—say we were on ABC and only had 5 million fans, and we were the exact CW demo target. Possibly it could have worked in reverse, but I don't think there is much hope going the opposite direction. 

But it seems like you would seriously consider a movie?
I still have story left to tell, and I'm thinking about a movie. We've got 3 million devoted fans, that's a $30 million movie if we just get our fans, and we can shoot a Veronica Mars movie for $15 million. So, yeah, I'll pitch that. 

I'm sure if you started an online campaign you could get $15 million, no problem. I think I would personally pitch in and all the fans would pitch in. You can hold me to that.
Yeah, fan-financed movie—that would be an original one!

Anything you want to say to the fans before we head out?
We're still alive, we're still kicking. Certainly, the decision about Veronica Mars will be made in the next two or three weeks, so if you have a desire to send postcards or fly banners above CW headquarters, now is the time.