When Veronica Mars introduced Logan in its pilot episode, Veronica labeled him the “obligatory psychotic jackass” of Neptune High—and she was justified in doing so. Logan, the underachieving son of the A-list actor Aaron Echolls (Harry Hamlin), had an entourage to do his bidding, a different girlfriend every other week, and an arsenal of snarky one-liners. Yet just like Veronica, he’d been traumatized by the death of Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried), his girlfriend and Veronica’s best friend. And as the series progressed, it peeled back Logan’s layers to explore the roots of his hostility, revealing an abusive father and a tormented family life.

Logan was a sharply written character and an excellent scene partner for Veronica, who shared his bitter worldview. The two began a romantic relationship (fans nicknamed it “LoVe”) near the end of the first season; from then on, Logan became the series’ very own ship-worthy antihero, following in the footsteps of Dawson’s Creek’s Pacey Witter and paving the way for Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass. Logan’s evolution wasn’t exactly a redemption arc—Season 2 found him beginning a self-destructive affair with a married woman, and Season 3 painted him as an overprotective boyfriend with an impulsive, violent streak. Still, his mistakes made him interesting, and his story helped underline the show’s ethos: that no person is his reputation, however damaged it may be.

Fast-forward a few years to the beginning of this latest season: The adult Logan is now a buffer-than-ever Naval Intelligence officer who’s developed a new sense of discipline. He has learned to embrace his flaws, works hard to keep himself in line, and acts as an effective foil for Veronica. While she’s regressed in some ways, he’s matured. While she falls back on old habits, he accepts his transformation. In other words, Logan has the potential to become an even more intriguing figure. And yet the showrunner Rob Thomas seems uncertain about how to make the most of the character, choosing instead to render him practically inert. The Logan of Season 4 doesn’t display many of his old rough edges; he deals with frustrations in offscreen therapy sessions or by simply walking away. He delivers his usual quippy remarks from the sidelines. It’s as if he’s the season’s official bystander: Without a full arc of his own, he’s a passive player in other characters’ stories, often appearing in their scenes by mere chance.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Logan gets killed off; now that he finally has his life together, his arc of self-improvement seems to have run its course. Thomas told TVLine that he got rid of Logan to take Veronica’s story out of the realm of teen drama, since romance “limits your options” in a hard-boiled detective show. But while ending Logan’s story may have made sense, his death is a plot twist that takes the lazy way out of examining him as an adult.