Is Lynn Echolls Dead?

Status: Closed?

Lynn Echolls nee Lester, the beautiful wife of movie star, Aaron and devoted mother of Logan was the soul of discretion. She ignored her husband's philandering, tolerated her stepdaughter's leeching and loved unconditionally her screwed up, pent up son. Of course, the alcohol and the pills helped with all that. But as long as things were discreet, hidden, secret in Neptune, Lynn's world spun peacefully on its axis.

Until the day the world stopped turning. Until public humiliation could not be avoided. Until a spurned lover of Aaron's stabbed him with an ice pick at her annual Christmas do in front of all the town worthies. Lynn went ballistic that day but, in keeping with her discreet nature, nobody knew. It took the investigative skills of Keith Mars, hired by Aaron to find the source of the terrible true stories about him in the gutter press to discover that. For it was Lynn — wanting to get even, wanting revenge, wanting to hurt him like he hurt her. Their terrible confrontation, in front of their son, sent Lynn scrambling for her pills, her car and the Coronado Bridge.

Nothing seemed so final than the sight of Lynn's car abandoned on the bridge and the video tape of a falling body from it.

Logan didn't want to believe it. Lynn left behind her other most precious thing; the lighter that was her dad's symbol of escape from captivity, etched with the cry of the oppressed: Free at Last. For Logan, it meant his mother escaped the oppression of life with Aaron, not death. Swallowing his pride and his hatred, Logan asked Veronica Mars to help him. And she did. She checked out the less than credible eye witnesses, she used her contacts to find the video, she tracked the credit cards. This last led them both to the Sunset Regent Hotel in LA and to Logan's last hope, a hope shattered by the appearance of stepsister Trina using Lynn's cards.

For the others she left behind, Aaron may have had an epiphany and be truly committed to getting to know his family rather than playing a role. On the other hand, Trina is deeply, deeply...unaffected by Lynn's suicide.

Lynn's suicide? Logan may have had a point. She left the lighter behind and it could have been a message to her son. No body has ever been found. Aaron made home movies of himself with his lovers in her home. If she discovered this, her fear of further humiliation may have sent her scurrying. And if she knew the truth about the death of Lilly Kane, wouldn't she run? Like Logan said, "If she was going to really do the deed, it would be Chardonnay and sleeping pills...she wouldn't risk being found bug-eyed and bloated in some shrimp net."

Mystery Summary as of 1.22 "Leave It to Beaver"

Clues for Is Lynn Echolls Dead?

• 1.03 "Meet John Smith"
• Duncan has a withdrawal-induced dream/hallucination of Lilly who tells him that the story about her death doesn't add up and that the truth will come out. As a result, Duncan goes back on the anti-depressants.
  • Also applies to: Who Killed Lilly Kane?
• 1.06 "Return of the Kane"
• While Aaron Echolls beats his son in what appears to be a well-practiced ritual, Lynn Echolls chooses alcohol over interference. Does this mark her as an uncaring mother or as one who looks to take the easiest route out of her problems?
• 1.10 "An Echolls Family Christmas"
• Lynn recognizes that her husband is a handsome man with whom fans can become obsessed.
• She was "freaked out" by the threatening notes left in her house and turned to Keith Mars for help.
• The note she produced said "Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her" and implies infidelity on Aaron's part.
• Keith discovers that Aaron has cheated on his wife multiple time with multiple women.
• Aaron is stabbed in front of Lynn by a woman who claims that she is his discarded lover.
• 1.12 "Clash of the Tritons"
• Accurate details of Aaron's infidelities are splashed all over the gutter press.
• Aaron tells Keith that Lynn is "really fragile" and that she cannot take much more scandal.
• Keith discovers that Lynn is the source of the newspaper stories, having hired private detectives.
• When Aaron confronts Lynn, in front of Logan, she confirms that her motive was to hurt Aaron as he had hurt her.
• She also confirms that she has always known about his affairs in Neptune.
• Aaron tells Lynn if she tries to divorce him, he will leave her with nothing, "no house, no career, no club memberships, no maid, and no friends."
• Lynn watches her son threaten to kill Aaron if he carries on.
• Lynn snaps and says "I cannot take this anymore" before rushing away.
• Lynn anxiously pops some pills and drives away in her red convertible.
• Lynn's abandoned car is discovered on the Coronado Bridge.
• The police report a possible jumper.
• 1.13 "Lord of the Bling"
• It is reported that Lynn left a suicide note.
• Accepting that Lynn has committed suicide, Aaron is showing grief.
• Logan is not grieving but is angry and tells Aaron that Lynn is only gone because of him.
• Lynn's father was a Korean war veteran who, throughout a period of captivity and escape, kept a lighter which he later inscribed with the words "Free at Last."
• Lynn always carried her father's lighter until the day her car was found on the bridge when she'd left the lighter on her dresser.
• Logan believes the lighter is proof that his mother is not dead. "She just escaped."
• 1.14 "Mars vs. Mars"
• Lynn's body has not been found.
• A witness who reported seeing Lynn jump is proven by Veronica to be a money-seeking fame whore and a fake.
• Lynn's credit cards are missing.
• Logan is convinced that if his mother were to commit suicide, she would do it with Chardonnay and sleeping pills. "She wouldn't risk being found bug-eyed and bloated in some shrimp net."
• Veronica establishes that a second witness, claiming to see Lynn getting into a van with a mysterious stranger, is an obsessed fan who is fantasizing a scene from one of Lynn's movies and is another fake.
• A time-stamped video taken on the bank near the bridge catches something falling from the bridge at the same time as Lynn supposedly jumped.
• One of Lynn's missing credit cards was used after Lynn's supposed suicide.
• 1.15 "Ruskie Business"
• Logan identifies the no-limit platinum card used after her supposed death as Lynn's "weapon of choice." It was the only one in her maiden name - Lynn Lester.
• The credit card is used to hire a red convertible.
• The credit card is used again for a hotel room at the Sunset Regent.
• When Veronica and Logan investigate, they learn that Logan's half-sister, Trina, used Lynn's credit card for the rental car and the hotel room.
• Logan has now given up hope that his mother is still alive.
• Is this mystery now solved?
• 1.19 "Hot Dogs"
• In her will, Lynn left everything to Logan. A few weeks before her car was abandoned on the bridge, she had taken Aaron out. Trina had never been included in her will.
• 1.21 "A Trip to the Dentist"
• Aaron was and is so disconnected from his family that he does not know Logan's birthday or that he is allergic to shellfish.
• In one of the Echolls bedrooms, secret videotaping equipment is trained on the bed.
• 1.22 "Leave It to Beaver"
• The videotaping equipment in the pool house is Aaron's.
• Aaron entertained at least one lover, Lilly Kane, in the pool house.
• The videotaping equipment was not well hidden as both Veronica and Lilly discovered it easily. Was Lynn aware of it?
• Aaron is charged with the murder of Lilly, leaving Logan parentless. If Lynn is not dead, will this bring her back?