Erich: So, I was wrong. I went out on a limb and pegged the Dean’s hoodlum stepson as his murderer. How was I supposed to know it was someone more obvious––yet strangely without motivation? At the beginning of the episode, I told my wife (who correctly predicted “whodunnit”) how disappointed I’d be if Tim ended up as the killer. I have to hand it to the writers. Even though I spent the whole episode thinking it might be Tim, when it came time for Veronica’s Scooby-Doo-like unravelling of his nefarious plot, I was surprised at how many obvious clues I missed.

Tim’s ego prevented him from realizing that his dissection of “how Landry did it” could lead Veronica to uncover the truth. Age-old crime story convention or not, it worked beautifully. His lecture on the mistakes criminals make when forced to improvise led me back to his break-in at Mars Investigations––he probably meant to find and destroy the bug he feared would implicate him, but when Veronica caught him he had to cover his tracks by planting evidence to keep her busy. There was the cell phone recordings that ended up providing his motivation, the “faked-stripper-alibi-wild-goose-chase” that didn’t fit the time frame, and the offhand comment he made to Veronica about “doing his dry cleaning” that connected him to the bloody clothes. Final report on Tim: good at keeping Veronica busy, bad at picking T.A.s.

It’s been a season of change for Veronica Mars. Not only did the writers have to deal with her going to college and introducing new characters, they decided to break the show into smaller mystery arcs. Whether that was a creative decision, or protection against possible cancellation, it changed the structure of the show. The previous 22-episode mystery arcs gave them plenty of time to familiarize us with the killers, while providing enough disinformation to keep us from guessing the truth. With much shorter arcs, they ran the risk of either making the killer someone we weren’t that invested in (Mercer), or someone more obvious (Tim). Perhaps that’s why they’re abandoning the “big” mystery for the final five episodes. I understand why they’re doing it, and maybe it will make for more compelling individual stories. I just hope that if the show returns next year they have the confidence to either return to the season-long mystery or focus on single shot stories. College is hectic enough for our poor heroine.

Dave: Decent, though predictable, wrap-up to the arc. Tim’s guilt wasn’t a stunner, though the writers pulled out all the stops to try and convince us he wasn’t complicit. I’m still not sure how all the pieces fit and why Tim thought Veronica wouldn’t find the bug in her phone, but whatever. The show was entertaining.

Still, the lack of supporting character screen-time continues to bug me. Logan and his new potential flame got some scenes, but Wallace was once again fed a few lines and then promptly showed the door. Bummer.

Taking account of where we are with the show, it occurs to me that this season is far inferior to the two seasons that preceded it. I too liked the full-season arcs for the reasons Erich pointed out and, frankly, the series premise worked best in the rat-race that was high school. The college setting, while necessary, has yet to replicate the wham-bam awesomeness of Season 1 and 2.

But it still stands that a below-average episode of Veronica Mars outshines most anything else out there.

4:00 - 5:00 p.m. 

Erich: For an episode that ended with a bang, there sure was a lot of whimpering. Look, Morris, I’m sorry you’re having such a hard day, but we need to move out of “junior-high-health-class-drug-use-prevention-video” mode…now! (Still, having Bart Simpson for your ex-sponsor is pretty cool.) I’m afraid if this goes on too much longer they’ll have to bring in Scott Baio (which would only be worthwhile if he were playing Bob Loblaw).

I was psyched to see the return of Charles Logan, and Jack’s reaction to the news of Logan’s plea bargain and subsequent house arrest underscored how much he must have missed Google news while in Chinese torture prison. Sporting the required “just so you know time has passed since last season” beard, we’re left to wonder whether Logan is really a changed man.

I hope Assad survived the bomb blast, though I doubt it. I guess I hope Palmer survived, too, if only to keep SOP Daniels out of office. Wayne has started showing some gumption as of late. Although I still wouldn’t want him as my president, he’s graduated to “someone I’d let squeegee my windshield” from “someone I’d let squeegee my windshield…with adequate supervision.”

You know, I’ve heard of “dirty bombs,” but I never knew there were “leaky bombs.” Despite his evilness, I feel I owe the OfficeMax Bomber some thanks. I’m definitely keeping my yellow and red hi-liters in separate drawers from now on!

Dave: This episode was hampered by another case of Where’sJackitis. Way too much Degrassi Junior High melodrama between Chloe and Morris, though it was cool–and plenty unnerving–to watch him get wrenched off of the toilet.

President Palmer II: Cruise Control appeared to have a much harder time dealing with President Logan’s two-hour field trip than with the nuke that just smited 12,000 Americans in L.A. Now with him comatose thanks to the Dayquil Bomb, it opens the door for the sinister VP to storm in and make all kinds of rash decisions. Excellent.

The Jack and Logan stuff was great. Logan really is the man, an awesome character who can pull off the difficult flannel look well. Is he really on a path to redemption? Did his reconnection with his Christian faith take? Will he junk his wrist locater and run off to start a missionary church in the Amazon Basin? So many questions!

Next week promises some more flagrant disregard for international law as Jack runs amok in the Russian consulate. Someone didn’t learn his lesson from his 18-month stay in Chinese Torture Camp.

Dave: Okay, now the flashbacks don’t even have any closure. I think Erich had some astute observations last week about the nature of the show and letting go of the hopes for coherent, linear plot, but, you know, I like my storytelling to make sense once in a while–even for a sideways show like this.

I knew the writers were setting themselves up last week, when voice-over guy promised the resolution to three major mysteries. At about 5 of 10 last night, I was glancing at my watch and asking my wife how they were going to squeeze all three revelations into five minutes. So we know what Jack’s tattoos say, but, cryptically (of course), he says “You don’t what they mean.” Gotcha. What else was resolved? You got me. I welcome clarification but for now, I’ll just consider voice-over guy a teasing jackass and leave it at that.

And it’s not just the plotting and unanswered questions that irk me about this season. I like Jack. I like Kate. I like Sawyer. But they have been way too over-exposed this season. Add to that the influx of new characters from The Others’ corral, and there is precious little screentime for our old favorites. Locke, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Hurley–their character neglect is criminal. And I’ve decided I really don’t give two coconuts about Juliet and the legal system of The Others.

The show will win me back with a) more episodes focused on the original characters we’ve come to love, b) a semblance of continuity and c) more follow-through on the prior week’s promos.

Erich: I dunno, Dave, maybe it’s just my new Lost resolution talking, but I really enjoyed this episode. “Well-rounded” seems the best description, though that’s kind of like saying someone has a “good personality”––it sounds kind of “blah.” And this wasn’t a “blah” episode, unless you took last week’s ABC promo to heart (never a good idea). Only one “mystery” was solved––if you really want to call “what Jack’s tattoo says” a mystery. Rather than shedding new light on Jack’s character (we already know he’s a reluctant leader), I think “he walks amongst us, but he is not one of us” will be important now that Jack is facing The Others alone.

This episode we got a peek into the “sin and punishment” aspect of The Others’ society. Coupled with references to the mysterious Jacob, their “eye for an eye” sense of justice strongly suggests Old Testament ideas. Lost is full of religious symbolism, and so far this idea of retributive justice seems the best way to understand The Others’ actions. Talk of “good ones” and lists makes sense if you look at things from their perspective: the Losties are murderers, cons, junkies, and thugs. Taking the children and other “innocents” away from those “sinners” on the beach was an act of compassion. That’s why taking Jack, Kate and Sawyer was such a big deal. They weren’t on the original list––on Jacob’s list. While we’re not really sure why they took Kate and Sawyer, we found out they needed Jack because Ethan, their doctor, had been killed.

To take the Old Testament idea a step further, Jack is all the more puzzling to The Others because he represents a compassion and self-sacrifice they aren’t used to. Tom couldn’t believe Jack would sacrifice himself to let Kate and Sawyer go, probably at least in part because he saw them as a couple of murderers, not only worthless but deserving of death. I know the phrase “Christ figure” is tossed around a lot, but Jack’s really starting to fit the role: an outsider who represents compassion for sinners and challenges the misuse of Law? I mean c’mon, his last name is Shepard!

I want to end with a few predictions: 1) now that the producers have confirmed (in the official Lost podcast) that Desmond really did go back in time last week, we’ll find out at least part of the research being done on the island was aimed at time travel to change the outcome of human history; 2) the man in the eye-patch is not Jacob–he used to be an Other, until he committed some crime for which he was punished (”eye for an eye”) and kicked out; now he is the leader of a group of outcast Others; 3) “Jacob” is, in fact….the smoke monster! From the Ecko incident, we know it judges those it deems sinful and unrepentant. Who (or what) else could really look into people’s hearts and create “lists” of good and bad people?

If I were in charge of marketing the upcoming Spider-man 3 movie, I’d use the tagline: “Web 3.0″

Dave: Great episode, and a total shocker ending. RIP, Sheriff, you will be missed. Keith as Sheriff is pretty wacky, and will change the face of the show I think. My only complaint: it all happened so quickly. Though his screen time was slight this season, Lamb was a fantastic character, and hugely important in prior seasons. His departure struck me as too abbreviated. Still, it’s a nice shock to the Mars mythos.

The wrap-up to the mini-arc was ho-hum and I have no clue how the Dean’s murder mystery will conclude, though the preview points to the professor being a slippery perp. It’s cool that he’s a criminology expert and all, but he seems too obvious to be the trigger-man. My guess–Weevil’s boss. I just don’t trust janitors.

On the Tiger Beat side of things, Logan and Parker seem to have hit it off, which I’m pretty cool with. Maybe that will teach Veronica about being so over-sensitive. I mean, come on, who here hasn’t had the love of your life engage in empty sex with your mortal enemy?

Erich: My wife totally called Sheriff Lamb’s death. I thought the junkie ex-husband (what’s his name? Brian Boitano?) was going to be the one to die, preferably before he could tell us what happened to the Dean––perhaps lured by Mindy O’Dell into a situation where he’d get shot by the cops. It’s sad to see a featured player like Lamb killed off, but the Keith Mars Sheriff-to-P.I.-to-Sheriff angle should be interesting. Is this the end of Mars Investigation? Should the series survive this season, I hope we’ll see future Veronica take over the family business.

Like Dave, I was underwhelmed by the mini-arc conclusion. It…made…sense, I guess, but it didn’t quite have the pop I expected. Maybe the “sacrifice for your family” theme will play a part in the Dean O’Dell conclusion. Speaking of which, I’m confused. I thought this arc was supposed to be seven episodes long, but last night was five and in two weeks we all get to watch the premiere of “Who Wants to Get Leered At?” or whatever that Pussycat Doll show is called. Did they shorten this story so they could make the next (and last) arc of the season longer? I wasn’t prepared for this mystery to come to a close so soon. I don’t even know who I suspect. Well, that’s not true. I do have an idea. If you want to read it, highlight the following text: I think it was the Dean’s moody teenage stepson. I’m guessing the kid stole some of the Dean’s Xanex at some point and used it during the murder, and then his junkie father typed the fake suicide note to protect his son. Keep in mind, I have no idea why he did it. Maybe his stepdad dinged a cymbal from drumset he was shlepping around.

We all know it’s not Professor Landry, anyway…unless it is, just to mess with us. Oh, and what should we call Logan and Parker? Larker? Pagan?

3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Dave: Great final scene. Hopefully this reintroduction of Logan will energize the character arcs this season, which, to this point, have been disappointing. E.G.:

Morris: This guy is getting more and more pathetic as the day wears on. I predict a valiant moment of self-sacrifice that will make up for his past cowardice. Or he’ll get wasted and become intimate with a CTU computer socket.

Marilyn: Way to @#$% up Milo’s escape plan. Because of you, he almost got his moustache blown off. And we can’t have that.

President Palmer 2 and the Temple of Doom: His whole thing this hour was prettying up Assad for his big TV appearance. Thank you Mr. Couric.

I’ll give Tom a pass this week as he came up big in the clutch, though I saw it coming (yes, I am indeed awesome). And as is usually the case, Jack’s continues to be the most compelling storyline. He shot some dirty Company flunkies and even had an emotional heart-to-heat with Papa Bauer.

I greatly anticipate Logan’s re-entry into the show, because, love him or hate him, he was a great character. Heck, I’m for reinstalling him in office at this point. Plus, I dig the Grizzly Adams look.

Erich: This episode didn’t have quite the explod-o-coaster excitement of last week’s two-fer, but it did keep the momentum up through the jaw-dropping ending Dave so rightly applauded. I didn’t predict the Lennox double-double-cross, but I was glad to see him come to his senses. Too bad all it got him was knocked-out and tied up in the nation’s most secure boiler room. High treason aside, this assassination-plan subplot has just a whiff of junior high angst; I think I read somewhere they cut a scene where Reed passed Lennox a note asking if he liked Palmer, instructing him to check “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.” Either way, it seems we’ll know the fate of the Editor-in-Chief Commander-in-Chief before too long.

Considering the episode took place between three and four o’clock, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by its “afterschool special” moments: “Hey, Morris! Boozers are losers! If everyone else armed nuclear bombs for terrorists, would you do it too?” I understand even He-men have feelings, but seeing Jack airing his daddy issues, kneeling and ready to die, made me a little uncomfortable. I guess his dad felt a little squeamish too, since he opted to split rather than hug it out. Talk about rejection.

I’m glad they’re bringing Logan back from 24 purgatory (where there are no razors!). I’ve got a feeling he’s gonna want to trade the Gredenko info for another chance with Martha; who knows, maybe Jack can teach him some sweet pick-up moves and the season will end with the Logans going to the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance…until Aaron Pierce shows up, that is. Forget Russian terrorists, I want to see that!

Dave: Wow that was a big flashback. Or flashfoward. Or flash-present. Either way, it was BIG. I like Desmond and all, but after all this time spent with his back-story, I didn’t come away with a whole lot of new information. I still don’t know how he ended up naked in the jungle after the hatch exploded. I know how I’ve ended up naked in a jungle after an explosion, but that doesn’t hep me navigate the increasingly convoluted plot.

Besides Desmond, there was precious little grist from the other castaways. Claire puking sea water was okay and Hurley had some decent lines and Charlie got some solid screen time, including the big reveal at the end which means…well, I’ve got no clue.

Come to think of it, I really have no clue about anything going on in the show right now. Next week, we’re promised the answer to three of Lost’s biggest mysteries. Riiiiighht.

Erich: I’ve decided I need to change my expectations for Lost. Watching the first forty-plus minutes of last night’s episode was great; I loved the way the writers took the “flashback” convention and turned it on its head, with possibilities of time travel and alternate realities; I dug all the trippy easter eggs, like Charlie “Hieronymous” Pace, the delivery guy with a package “for 815″ (or should I say “4 8 15…”), and the Hanso and Apollo logos in the background of the soccer (sorry, football) match. The problem was, nothing that happened answered my questions: what happened after the hatch flash? why did Desmond end up naked in the jungle? why can he suddenly see the future? All I got at the end was that Desmond had a vivid dream where he learned a lesson about destiny, and that he can see into the future because the “flashes” of his past have continued on as “flashes” of the future…for some reason. Great, another mystery.

While trying to come to terms with my frustration, I finally understood why people (myself included) have complained that Lost can be “slow” and confusing: we expect concrete answers to the show’s mysteries. We want real, tangible, logical “cause-and-effect” explanations about why so many strange things happen on the island. We want our theories––of purgatory, or secret scientific research staving off the end of the world, or whatever––to be validated. We want to know the survivors were brought to the island for a reason. We want proof. But that’s not what Lost is about. The island is a place where the rational meets the mystical. Where science abuts the supernatural. At its heart, Lost is about characters finding and losing faith. It’s about mysteries.

That’s why I’m afraid we may never get all the answers. By series end, we’ll probably get rational explanations for most of what happened, but I think they’ll hold some things back…because giving us everything in a nice package goes against the mind-faith struggle at the heart of Lost.

Part of me hopes I’m wrong––that someday everything will make sense, and fit neatly in a Wikipedia entry. The rest of me knows I can’t watch each week with those expectations. So, starting next week, I’m going to try to just enjoy the characters and the mysteries, and not expect too many answers. Sorry ABC promo department. It’s just better that way.