TVSquad

Holy crap, things just clicked into place for me!

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I knew Moe had to be involved from the very beginning, simply because of his creepy ritual of offering a cup of tea to every girl who walks onto his floor. Also, as the only guy who works for the safe ride car service on campus, he sticks out as someone who's trying to find inebriated girls to dose with his "tea." Once he mentioned he was in the prisoner/soldier experiment it seemed pretty locked-in that he was part of the rapes, if not the main offender.

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I think nixing the season-long arc was the best move the show could have made. Last year, they over-extended themselves, and I thought the resolution of the story was less than satisfying. Ongoing mysteries can only take you so far, after all. It's what drew such a big crowd to "Lost" in the early going, for instance, but it's also what's driving them and most potential new viewers away.

There's a big difference between chopping the season into arbitrary self-contained parts -- as in, "Here endeth the campus story. We shall never speak of this again." -- and choosing to tie up certain threads before they threaten to overtake and undermine the show.

Lily's murder hung over the first season, but it was never *about* that, and I think the biggest weakness of the second season was when it became *about* the bus crash -- and less about Veronica and those around her. I think this, so far, has been the show's best season.

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Wasn't it mentioned a few episodes back that Horshack committed suicide? Mmmm research time...

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Charles, I'm probably wrong on this, but as I remember it - Horschack was caught cheating on a test and that it was his jailer who was helping him. That turned the Stockholm Syndrome relationship on its head and which I think helped keep us from guessing the Mercer/Moe relationship too early.

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Toby -
Actually, Horshack and Rider Strong (his "jailer" in the prisoner/soldier experiment) were kicked out for cheating because Horshack was doing two tests, one for him, one for Rider. They had the same abuser/abused relationship as Mercer/Moe.

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I understand why rob thomas and some fans want to get rid of the season long arcs, but they add an element of danger and suspense that the show would otherwise lack. The mysteries of the week are good, but watching a detective find out who cheated on a test doesn't compare to murder or a serial rapist on loose.

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I've got another article idea for you. How about you explain how you discovered that Locke on Lost is bald.

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So do you really think the show would be better if the campus rape storyline -- which began last year, remember -- continued until a big reveal in the season finale? Because, honestly, I don't think the show can sustain that kind of thing, and I think it distracts from the more interesting character development that goes on in each hour. I agree the show loses something if it's just the Mystery of the Week -- just "Veronica Mars: Girl Detective" -- but that's not what's going this season, at least from where I'm watching. The serial rapist was on the loose during those smaller day-to-day mysteries, like who cheated on a test or who was cheating on their husband, and I doubt that finding out who the rapist was will offer a neat and tidy resolution.

And hey, now we have a murderer on the loose for the second part of the season! That's dangerous, isn't it?

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I think the mini-arcs is the best way to go. I feel like the season-long mystery is difficult to sustain, but if there isn't an overriding arc of some kind, all we have is the Mystery of the Week, and those can get repetitive and boring, especially when Veronica has no particular emotional investment in them.

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SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! This season we discover that Locke really *isn't* bald! I know. Blows your mind, huh?

If you're trying to say that Keith's observations were obvious, then I don't agree. While I think you can enjoy the episode and arc without making those connections -- I missed them the first time through -- I also think Keith makes some interesting points.

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Season-long arcs are not a bad thing. They have never been a bad thing until Lost came along and did a horrible job with them. Lost's season-long arcs are really just long-cons where everybody gets screwed in the end.

But comparing Veronica Mars and Lost is apples to oranges. Think apples to apples and compare Veronica with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Let's recall that amidst Buffy's week-to-week slayage there was always a long story arc: the Master, Angel, the Mayor, Adam, Glory, etc. All of these season-long stories gave the gang a sense of mystery, direction and purpose. Killing random vampires (or in Veronica's case, solving random crimes/mysteries) is only going to be interesting for about 2 episodes. If executed well and in the right format, long-arcs are what keeps an audience coming back for more season after season.

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I think it'd be better if the arcs weren't planned at all. They happen, but they overlap and end at different times. I personally love the long mysteries of Veronica Mars and still find it amazing how everything from the beginning to the end all piece together and even include some past season stuff as well. Keep the arcs, but if you like, make them sparatic.
TOODLES

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I just started watching this season and immediately ran out and bought the last two. Personally I love the show but think that this season has had trouble because the big mystery wasnt directly connected to Veronica. Lillys death and the bus crash were immediately very personal to Veronica.

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