I'm into the crunch time of my semester so these TV commentaries might run a bit shorter than the near-opuses they've lately been evolving into. Here's some very random points I have about this past episode, which resolved the serial-rape case (Mercer and Mr. R.A. were the culprits), and which was actually quite a good episode. Screw paragraph structure and transition:

-Look! Piz, Weevil, Mac, and Parker are back! (Parker being Mac's roommate -- I finally looked up her name.) Weevil was pretty useless...and Mac...and Piz. But at least we got to see them. I hate to admit it, but Piz grew on me ever since we started seeing his radio show.

-Speaking of Self-Deprecating Emo Boy, my random theory about him being the rapist didn't pan out. Sorry about that, buddy.

-Is the whole start-the-episode-at-the-end trend cool or getting old? I can't decide. They did the same thing with Studio 60 this past week, which may be why I'm jumping to the conclusion that its a "trend".

-Veronica is once again put in mortal danger, but this time a girl comes to her rescue, not Dad (Season 1 finale) or Logan (Season 2 finale). This time it was Parker. Despite not knowing her name for much of the season, I've liked her ever since the bowling episode, in which I realized she was hot. (Probably thanks to having hair again. What, too soon?) And for some reason, I actually liked her sizing up the situation and shouting "RAPE!" repeatedly. The kids in the dorm hall coming out of their rooms and effectively stopping Mercer and R.A. Dude was a nice display of unity.

-At the end, we're supposed to believe Logan gets himself thrown in jail so he can go all postal on the rapists after they attacked Veronica, right? Because that was just plain cool. Logan does something honorable and edgy at the same time -- it's a fine balance, but I hope they keep it up.

-My requisite Veronica/Logan complaint: glad they broke up, because the last thing you want that couple to do is get boring, but why the heck did they position it as though Logan was the bad guy? They've been setting it up the entire season that Veronica is the one who's losing her feelings for him and blowing him off, and now we get a total 180: "hey, I waited for you after class but you didn't show up." "Uhh...yeah...allow me to act very distant and break up with you." Veronica is not exactly the victim here, and their switch in mindsets was sloppy.

-And finally...Dean O'Dell is no more. I saw that one coming...well, like, ten minutes before it happened, anyway. And now we know what the second Season 3 mystery will be: the murder. Personally, I think murders and kidnapping and that sort fits the show's format better than rapes, so I'm looking forward to this one. Not exactly the uber-personal story I was hoping for, but now that we've warmed to the college characters a bit, here's to hoping the show finds a way to utilize the whole gang like it tried to in this episode.