3.06 "Hi, Infidelity"
Aired Nov 07, 2006
Speculation
Welcome to our sixth speculation round in which we discuss Mercer Hayes's sexual preferences, Timothy Foyle's hair, the mysterious charms of Professor Landry and Mindy O'Dell's likely function on the show. Have fun!
VM goes CSI: The Foyle Edition
Inigo:There is no DNA evidence at all, no hair, no semen, which either speaks of someone who knows how to leave no trace or to someone with no hair/no ejaculation. Hm.
grim squeaker: Hm, what?
Inigo:That last one. It is confusing. What other explanation is there for leaving no hair/no semen?
grim squeaker: The explanation for leaving no hair and no semen is protection. Condom, Rubber gloves.
Inigo: A condom won't protect against leaving body hairs or head hair.
grim squeaker: Do we have anyone with a bald head in the cast. Or — dun, dun, DUN — a wig? And if the person was fully clothed, would they leave body hair?
Inigo: But if it's Foyle, why would he do Veronica "a favour"? And yes, if there was full penetration, I would think that the chances of leaving genital hair were high. This is from years of CSI.
grim squeaker: Well, fortunately we know that VM isn't all that firm where their forensics are concerned. Or maybe the rapist just really likes to shave. As for Tim, I'm not sure we are meant to think the character is wearing a wig, although it would surely explain why it's a little obvious. But I can see him trying to play cat-and-mouse with Veronica. He might be fascinated by her intellect.
Inigo: Yes, that's true.
grim squeaker: So, Moe or Tim?
Inigo: Moe.
grim squeaker: I'm starting to lean towards Tim.
Inigo: For good reason.
Meet our first arrestee: Mercer Hayes!
Inigo: How did Mercer know Parker's name?
grim squeaker: He reads the campus newspaper? Dick told him about her?
Inigo: If Dick told him about her, how would he recognise that this was the girl Dick told him about?
grim squeaker: He pointed her out to him. "Look, that blonde chick, that's Parker. I'm going to nail her."
Inigo: Maybe. Or there was a picture of Parker holding up her bald picture.
grim squeaker: That's what I meant by he is reading the campus newspaper.
Inigo: I thought it was interesting though, that he knew her name without anyone having said it.
grim squeaker: Among us, if that really was a hint that he is the rapist, it is pretty... dumb.
Inigo: I don't think he is, but I still think it's interesting as to how he could so quickly and assuredly identify her.
grim squeaker: I agree, it is strange. I think it is meant to make us scratch our heads. But... really... I think they are dropping anvils on him like it's a new sport. He is skeevy, he corrupts Logan, he has GHB in his cashbox, he imitates stutterers, he dresses up as Alex De Large, he uses cologne used by rapists — and how on earth does Parker, who was completely out of it, know that it was used by her rapist?
My cologne stinks? So, all this play I've been getting is from pure sex appeal?
grim squeaker: Actually, I couldn't help but think at that moment that it probably wasn't Mercer's cologne, but Piz's.
Inigo: Would Piz be wearing cologne then, but not for bowling when he wanted to impress Veronica?
grim squeaker: True dat.
Inigo: Smell is supposedly the strongest reminder of events. I'm sure I learned that from Rupert Giles.
grim squeaker:Where was the cologne mentioned previously?
Inigo: Weevil's in 305. Drakker.
grim squeaker: I suspect Weevil and Mercer won't use the same cologne, though.
grim squeaker: Parker said the cologne reminded her of the night she was raped, not of the rape. And that Mercer gave off a creepy vibe. Secondly, there was the Weevil-cologne thing one episode before. That makes me think that Parker either smelled the cologne somewhere else, probably when she was already out of it, or that someone else used it. Smelled the cologne somewhere else could likely be at the party, if she was roofied there.
Inigo: Yes. On that I would agree. We have Veronica mis-identifying Weevil based on his cologne the week before. At the sorority party, there were guys and there were Pi Sig pledges, any of whom could have worn that cologne. Also, Mercer could have been one of the guys. He's a sociable kind of fellow.
grim squeaker: That seems like an adequate description. It could also be an easy explanation for why he knew her name.
Inigo: Yes. She's a party animal, makes a splash at a party, as we saw at the club.
grim squeaker: Yes.
Inigo: I bet most of the guys at the sorority party knew Veronica's name at the end of it, too.
grim squeaker: True. Going back to the cologne for a second: if Weevil was set up, does that mean Mercer was set up, too, or is that more or less a lucky coincidence?
Inigo: I think all the cologne told us, and should have told Veronica, is that it cannot identify an individual. I think that Weevil using the same cologne as one of the two robbers was mere coincidence. I think Parker smelling it means that Parker and Mercer were at some point in the same place on the night of her rape but not that he was the rapist.
grim squeaker: Makes sense.
Club Flush: Gee, do you think Mercer likes poker?
grim squeaker:The radio show Veronica hears in the first episode, when she gets into the room while Parker is raped, is that live?
Inigo: We don't know. It is Club Flush.
grim squeaker: Yes. So if it is live, Mercer has an alibi for two of the rapes. If it isn't... doesn't have to mean anything. Or everything. When Piz finished his show's run, there was another guy in the next room, doing stuff with headphones. If that's common, Mercer wouldn't have been alone in the box the night Parker was raped. So if he was there, he's definitely clear. And if he wasn't, it's damn easy to find out.
Inigo: Agreed. Which is also the reason why Logan's alibi has to be for Nancy's rape, not Parker's.
grim squeaker: Yes. Logan specified it was the rape that happened during the summer, which means it was before the current term started, wasn't it?
Inigo: In fact, it's a little surprising that Veronica didn't remember that Club Flush was on the radio when she walked in to get the tickets. Yes, that's what I'm taking "the rape in the summer" to mean.
grim squeaker: Exactly. That surprised me too, but then again, I don't think she heard Piz mentioning the name of the show. She only knows that Mercer does a show for house music.
Inigo: We've had all these little clues. You can't rely on you sense of smell, you can't rely on time, maybe going through the other episodes...you can't rely on what you hear (if Club Flush was pre-recorded). Hang on.
grim squeaker: No, no, you can't rely on what you hear because the buzzing isn't part of the music.
Inigo: "You're listening to Club Flush on KRFF, Hearst College Radio." I went back to see if there was a time check. There wasn't, or at least not one I picked up when I did the transcript. If there was a time check, it's less likely to be pre-recorded.
grim squeaker: But does that matter if Veronica doesn't know that Club Flush is Mercer's show? She is the only one who knows it was on during Parker's rape, so she is the only one who could even give Mercer that alibi. Uhm. And the rapist knows. And the rapist knows that Veronica knows, because he must have heard her.
Life lessons learned on Veronica Mars: Taping yourself will lead to your doom
Inigo: Veronica knows Mercer is the club and house DJ and that's the music Club Flush plays. Also, the name is clearly Mercer, given it's connection to poker. Lamb knows the time of the rape. It's not too much to piece together. I think Veronica might clear Mercer next week, but she may not realise that the show could have been taped.
grim squeaker: Which would make her insanely stupid. But wouldn't that be proof that he is the rapist?
On a meta level I mean.
Inigo: No. It just means that something that may initially give him an alibi, doesn't. It doesn't make him the rapist, just a suspect. On the Mercer=rapist side, there's also the idea that Mercer liked raping Parker while listening to himself. Somebody turned the radio on and Parker wouldn't have been sufficiently with it to do so.
grim squeaker: Yes, but the radio could also have been turned on to tone out the razor.
Inigo: Of course, the rapist may have turned on the radio simply to drown out any suspicious noises. Snap!
grim squeaker: Hee. And what I mean was: If Mercer is first a suspect and then cleared, and then his alibi turns out to be false because of a recording, that would totally make him the culprit in most mysteries.
Inigo: Yes, that's true.
So...Mercer didn't do it. Or... he did. Or... what?!
grim squeaker: Which is why I think he will be cleared because he fesses up about the alibi Logan is giving him. Or Logan fesses up. Or Veronica clues in on Club Flush, and when she's too moronic to check if it was pre-taped, it makes him the culprit. If she clues in and checks if it was pre-taped, it must be a clue, most likely about the time being off.
I must say, structurally speaking, Mercer is a good suspect. I'm cracking down on motive, though, and judging from his general, uhm, conspicuously assholish behavior and his not exactly pristinely clean room, I can't really see him as a carefully planning, obsessively clean, head-shaving rapist.
It's time for the obligatory "Let's blame the fratboys" entry
Inigo: I still cannot get a handle on the head-shaving.
grim squeaker: That's my problem, too. It's so twisted.
Inigo: I just can't logically tie it in with any motive that makes sense. If there was head-shaving at Kinny's experiment...hang on. Want to check the transcript...
Inigo: "Sleep deprivation is okay. Any other kind of physical abuse is not okay." I think head-shaving would be physical abuse, don't you?
grim squeaker: Yes. So, no head shaving. Takes us back to the Pi Sigs.
Inigo: Where did the Pi Sigs get it from? When did they start doing that? They were doing it to their brothers, not pledges.
grim squeaker: Yes. No idea.
Inigo: The head-shaving works with framing the Pi Sigs.
grim squeaker: Which gets us back to humiliated pledges...dang. We are moving in circles. Wait, no. Humiliated brothers, not pledges.
Inigo: Yes, humiliated brothers, not pledges. But if the aim is to frame the Pi Sigs, probably not a brother anymore.
It's all Dr. Kinny's fault
grim squeaker: True. Tim.
Inigo: Or Moe. I think R.A.'s would be seniors.
grim squeaker: But Moe doesn't seem like someone who would have been in a frat, and if he took the experiment last year, he's a Sophomore now.
Inigo: Tim has proved himself to be a master manipulator. But what gets me is why he would expose himself to Veronica.
grim squeaker: Thrill. Because she is not bright enough to catch him. She's just a woman. No one is as clever as he is, not even Landry. It's fun! It's the same drive that would cause Mercer to dress up as Alex and try to chat up Parker if he were the rapist. Cockiness. Thinking that he was so clever that no one could catch him.
Inigo: Hm. Maybe. And the fact Moe did the experiment the year before doesn't necessarily make him a sophomore. Kinny may well have run the experiment multiple times with multiple classes.
grim squeaker: It's like this Hitchcock movie. The Rope? Where these two students kill their classmate to see if their professor can catch them? And you're right about Kinny and the experiment, of course.
Inigo: Yes. And a single track camera throughout.
grim squeaker: Is Mercer a Freshman or a Sophomore?
Inigo: We don't know.
grim squeaker: Mason is a sophomore, though, right? The coach made a point of saying how unusual it was that Wallace was in the team as a freshman.
Inigo: Yes, that was certainly my impression. Interesting that Mason has buddied up so quickly with a freshman who is his main team rival. Puts his distracting Wallace, sending him to Max, etc. in a different light.
grim squeaker: Yeah, but that's not what I'm getting at. I found it interesting that Rafe and Horshack were mentioned again, and that Horshack was caught cheating for Rafe. And that the experiment was brought up again. In short, I think misskiwi was right. We have two guys: one who drugs the girls, one who rapes and shaves them. Moe is the rapist, the question is, who is the other.
grim squeaker: It must be someone who was in the experiment last year, together with Moe.
Inigo: Or a guy and a girl. Wells. The alibi.
grim squeaker: Yes. Most of the girls we know are sophomores, aren't they? Miss Wells seems not prominent enough, but we'll see. Could be her.
Inigo: It would be someone who would be at the parties.
grim squeaker: One of the sorority sisters? They seem to be so...twistless.
Inigo: If the two sets are unrelated...no, not formulated yet. Could be Marjorie, of course, what with your unerring ability to fall for the Big Bads.
grim squeaker: Yeah, but I don't want to knit her sweaters, I've come to see that as the real warning sign. If I think they are hot, they'll only turn out to be crooks. And she might be the new Meg.
Inigo: Still, the focus on bringing down the Pi Sigs as an independent agenda points more to someone at Lilith House. No DNA certainly points to no rape, too.
grim squeaker: Maybe it's Fern. Or Nish.
Inigo: I don't know. I wish I could make sense of the hair.
No spec is complete without a Scream analogy
grim squeaker: I can't make sense of the hair, either, other than that it is probably meant to humiliate the victims, to bring them down. Something that speaks against Mercer, btw, because I think he likes to humiliate people who already are losers, not people who are too uppity.
Inigo: But Mercer does it openly, to their faces.
grim squeaker: That contradicts what I'm saying how?
Inigo: He doesn't need to do it surruptitously, in the dark. He humiliates openly.
grim squeaker: Yes, that's why I propose that the MO speaks against him as a culprit.
Inigo: Sorry, yes, of course. Misread. Yes, I agree. I wonder if Mercer was the Rafe in Kinny's experiment.
grim squeaker: Might be, although in my idea of how the rapes happen, the "Rafe" character is actually the rapist, and "Horshack" the helper.
Inigo: That's not what I meant. Mercer is innocent of the rapes, however his treatment of one of the prisoners, e.g. Moe, is what sent Moe over the edge and, as Horshack works to impress his tormentor, Moe is somehow thinking he's impressing Mercer with the rapes. If Moe has a helper, it's a girl.
grim squeaker: But Horshack is not working to impress Rafe, he simply helps him because he thinks they are buddies.
Inigo: That's not how I'd categorise that relationship, but okay.
grim squeaker: That's how it seemed to me, from what Horshack said in his last scene. He thought Rafe was cool, and that he just liked to win, but was a good pal otherwise.
Inigo: Yes, but they weren't pals, they couldn't be. That was Horshack's way of processing what happened to him. That's what I thought at the time, anyway.
grim squeaker: No, they definitely were meant to be friends, that was the bizarre thing. They knew each other before the experiment.
Inigo: Yes, they did, but...as I say, I wouldn't categorise it as friends, whatever Horshack said.
grim squeaker: No, me neither, if only because you don't treat a friend like that. But Rafe was clearly a shithead. But I think in the terminology of the show, these two are buddies, and Rafe overstepped boundaries not only laid out between human beings, but especially between friends when he did what he did. I think that was meant to be the punchline of that storyline.
Inigo: Then I missed it. I thought it was sicker than that, showing how maltreatment can make someone a dependent on the abuser.
grim squeaker: Yes, I think that happened there, too, but I really think they started out as "good buddies" — and then the evil sociology experiment turned them into soulless victims of society! Ahem. Sorry. My current theory is that if there are really two rapists, only one of them will have been prominent, and the other one will be a minor character. So something like Moe and Max, or whatever.
Inigo: Yes, that's certainly possible.
Very deep thoughts about Mercer Hayes' sex life, Part I
Attention: The following parts of our spec were written at a particularly early hour. You will notice it.
grim squeaker: Let's assume for the sake of the argument that Mercer isn't all that...straight.
Inigo: Maybe he and Logan are lovers.
grim squeaker: Hee. Wouldn't that be nice, Logan's bisexuality finally being canon. No, how about Mercer and Chip?
Inigo:] Ooh, yes. Or Mercer and Dick! That was what Dick was talking about!
grim squeaker: I'm actually serious...although that would be funny, too.
Inigo: So am I...
grim squeaker: It certainly would be a nice resolution to Dick's "I did a horrible thing" or whatever he said. But let's stay with the possibility of Chip and Mercer for a second...it simply would explain Chip's freakout about Charleston knocking on the door, and his alleged tryst with Mindy — because, honestly, I can't see her going for Chip if she can bag someone like Landry. I mean the president of Pi Sig — gay? Quel scandal! (I'm enjoying this far too much.)
Inigo: I go for a pee and you go mad.
grim squeaker: Totally not! I'm just, erm, juggling the possibilities. I mean, think about it!
Inigo: I just don't get any gaydar with Chip.
grim squeaker: No, but that's the beauty of it! He is so "OMG straight!", he almost has to be gay! And I could see him being very scandalized about that, to the point where he is afraid of being ostracized by the fraternity.
So... what's Logan hiding?
grim squeaker: Of course I have no idea what this has to do with Logan's bizarro alibi he can't talk about.
Inigo: Logan says:"'Cause I was with him the night of the rape this summer."
grim squeaker: Romantic.
Inigo: Curious. That's, what, Nancy's rape? How would Logan know Mercer before college started?
grim squeaker: So, they were together and Logan doesn't want to say what they did. Hm. So it can't be Mexico, can it? Because then Logan would just say, he was with me in Mexico, case closed. Yes, that was Nancy's rape. And why shouldn't he have known him? Maybe Mercer is from Neptune. So, where were they? Any ideas?
Inigo: No. I can't imagine what it's going to be. I think the point is that Logan is asking Veronica to trust him and she won't, but I still can't see what he'd have done...unless it had something to do with Trina or his mother.
grim squeaker: I wonder if it is something he has done, or if he's really just trying to protect Mercer. My tawdry affair with Chip idea obviously plays into that, because it's not only that Logan won't tell the alibi, apparently Mercer won't, either, so it's either something illegal they did, or it's something that he really cannot say. I'm not entirely sure this is really about something Logan did at all.
Inigo: If not, then he's given his word and won't break it.
grim squeaker: Precisely. Because he is a good guy. But I can't see him giving Mercer an alibi if there was a reason to suspect him - provided they weren't together that night. So I guess, if he says Mercer is innocent, he has a reason to believe that despite Mercer being his buddy.
Inigo: Agreed.
grim squeaker: Let's try another angle: If it is something Logan did, does Mercer know what it is, or did Logan just use him as some kind of "alibi" himself?
Inigo: I see nothing to suppose that Logan isn't telling the truth. He was with Mercer for one of the rapes and he will expect Veronica to a) trust his word and b) not pry. She won't of course, so we are setting up one of the reasons for the break-up. What Logan is not considering is that Mercer could be involved but the "rapist" isn't just one person.
grim squeaker: That's true of course. That still doesn't answer why Mercer himself apparently doesn't use Logan as his alibi.
Inigo: We don't know that he hasn't or won't, do we? He's just been arrested. He may well have told Lamb he was with Logan but Lamb dismissed it.
grim squeaker: I don't think Lamb would dismiss that without at least asking Logan. Besides, if I were Mercer, intrepid accomplice of the Hearst rapist, I would try to get really good alibis for each of the rapes that occurred.
Inigo: But how do we know Lamb hasn't? Sorry, I feel I've missed something.
grim squeaker: Because Mercer is still in jail. If Lamb had asked Logan, he would have provided Mercer with an alibi, and he would have been free to walk.
grim squeaker: And since Logan knew Mercer had been arrested, his first reaction would have been to go to Lamb if his alibi was all that secure, wouldn't it?
Inigo: Perhaps. It's not computing for me at the minute.
grim squeaker: Well, there is certainly something "off" about the whole thing. But what do you think about the idea that if Mercer was the second rapist, or just the helper, accomplice, whatever, he would have cared for an alibi for each of the rapes? I mean, he would have been the one to drug them, wouldn't he?
Inigo: He has GHB, but we already know that's really easy to obtain.
grim squeaker: Yep. Besides — and I know that makes me sound really naive — we don't know if it is really Mercer's GHB.
Inigo: I think I'm going to scramble some eggs. Maybe that will clear my brain. Or have a hamburger.
Very deep thoughts about Mercer Hayes' sex life, Part II
grim squeaker: Oh, dude, thank god! Everything alright?
Inigo: Hello! A two hour nap turned into a five hour one — sorry!
grim squeaker: Ah, good. That's funny, I fell asleep earlier, too. Can I accost you with one last theory about Mercer's alibi?
Inigo: Please accost me!
grim squeaker: Okay. As you know, I happen to think that the whole brouhaha about Logan not telling Veronica what the alibi is is a misdirection; on the one hand, it makes for a good cliffhanger, on the other it makes it seem as if the alibi concerns some shit he and Mercer pulled. With me so far?
Inigo: Yes.
grim squeaker: What follows is, if that's not the case, it means the alibi does not concern something they did together. So why does he want to keep it from Veronica? The answer seems simple: he wants to protect someone's secret. Since it doesn't seem as if Mercer used the alibi to help himself it seems likely that the secret is Mercer's.
Inigo: Yes. That's what I meant about him having made a promise.
grim squeaker: So, Mercer has a secret and Logan knows it. It doesn't have anything to do with Logan, thus Logan, very likely, is lying when he says that Mercer and he were together that night. Yet he is completely sure that Mercer is innocent. He is completely convinced. How can that be, if he wasn't with him?
Inigo: Because he knows where he was.
grim squeaker: Well, the easiest possibility would be if Mercer wasn't straight, because if you're gay, and not messed up like Beaver, you very likely won't run around raping women, right? Exactly. So, why doesn't Mercer just (Bad pun alert) "come out?" Well, let's just say he has a relationship that shouldn't be public. Let's just say it's a professor.
grim squeaker: And here comes my spectacular idea who it is: Wallace's engineering prof.
Inigo: I could buy this — although Winkler and Mindy were exchanging glances in O'Dell's office. Could be O'Dell of course, thus the reason why Mindy needs to shop for her satisfaction.
grim squeaker: Yes, or Winkler isn't out and that's why he flirts with a woman who is easily the biggest tramp on campus.
Inigo: Yes. Or the basketball coach, because he's a really decent guy.
grim squeaker: Hm. I'm going with stereotyping here. I mean, Winkler looks like some kind of catalog model. And I really was wondering why they brought him back, you know. I mean, it's not like it was exactly necessary for Wallace's storyline.
Inigo: It also explains the line about "back when you were allowed to do that sort of thing" i.e. the reason why the secret must be kept.
grim squeaker: Exactly.
Inigo: Like it. It's very persuasive.
grim squeaker: I mean, Winkler would be very likely kicked out if this became public. And it would be such wonderful characterization for Logan.
Inigo: I wonder why Logan chose to alibi "the rape in the summer"? And how he knew Mercer before the start of College.
grim squeaker: Dude, I have no idea, but he might have met them together. And it's completely possible that they were friends before.
Inigo: I tend to think Logan was in the same place as Mercer on the night of the "summer rape."
grim squeaker: Yes, I can totally buy that. Like I said, I simply think the secret about the alibi is not something Logan has done wrong. Because at the moment we as viewers think Logan and Mercer together means trouble, and we suspect that Logan may have been cheating on Veronica, so having the secret actually be something rather harmless is a nice surprise.
Inigo: Yeah, I thought the moment I heard it that Logan was protecting someone else, not cheating on V.
grim squeaker: Yes, but one of the reasons I thought that was that with the cheating theme going on in the episode, the viewers were almost bound to be steered into thinking Logan did something wrong and that it had to be girls. That, or drugs.
Inigo: Yeah, I can see the structure. So he was somewhere Mercer and his lover were at that night? Something to do with gambling.
grim squeaker: Yep.
Inigo: That's the common feature between them. We've had no clues about any of the teaching staff being into gambling.
grim squeaker: Yes, but I also had the feeling that they were friends, from the few interactions we saw between them.
Inigo: I suppose Winkler saying that taking Wallace was a gamble is the nearest thing.
grim squeaker: Maybe foreshadowing isn't that important in this instant. Although, come to think of it, I take it as foreshadowing that Winkler looks like a soap opera actor, so I shouldn't be one to judge.
Inigo: I think you may have cracked Mercer.
grim squeaker: *is hyper*
Not quite...
Some time later...
grim squeaker:*cries*
Inigo:What is it?
grim squeaker: I have been checking something. Remember this call-in conference Rob and Tina did at the end of September?
Inigo: Yes.
grim squeaker: Well, Rob said something like, there would be some key characters who he considered gay, but they wouldn't exactly spell it out and there wouldn't be a gay storyline. Do you think that effectively kills my theory?
Inigo: On the face of it, yes, although he might have been saying that to avoid giving stuff away.
grim squeaker: Yes, I thought so, too. Here is the quote: "There are some new key characters whose sexuality we don't make a point to define, but I believe they are gay. As of yet we have yet to write a ‘gay' storyline for the season."
Inigo: Ah, as of yet...
grim squeaker: As of yet was basically between ep 8 and 9.
Inigo: Yes, but that's not to say they couldn't tweak things.
grim squeaker: Of course it depends what he means with storyline. Is Seth from "M.A.D" already a storyline, or does he mean something on the lines of "Versatile Toppings"?
Inigo: I don't know.
grim squeaker: Damn, I really liked that theory! *sniff*
Inigo: I do too and it fits nicely. Let's see where we are after 307.
grim squeaker: Sigh.Two more days...
Enter misskiwi!
misskiwi: Hey, how's tricks?
grim squeaker: Fine. I seem to be unable to rise Inigo.
misskiwi: She's been idle for over an hour according to Trillian, so she's probably just away from the computer right now.
grim squeaker: Hmmm. ...Did the new ep give you new ideas?
misskiwi: Despite the fact that I have trouble believing he'd have the opportunity, I'm getting suspicious of Landry.
grim squeaker: That's great! That means we are all settling on a different suspect!
misskiwi: I'm not sure he's a viable suspect, but there were a few things that just seemed to fall in the right place for that kind of resolution. I'll get into it once we find Inigo.
grim squeaker:I wonder if she fell asleep. Damn. I want to spec now. Sigh.
misskiwi: Me too, but I also want lots of input and arguing. ;)
So, about Logan and Mercer, and that alibi...
grim squeaker: Hey, I could tell you my theory about Mercer's alibi being a tawdry affair with Chip, that isn't going to happen on the show anyway.
misskiwi: But that would imply it was some sort of kinky three-way between Mercer, Chip, and Logan. Since Logan was with Mercer. Poor Weevil!
grim squeaker: Poor Weevil indeed. Boy goes to college, and strangers get all the loving. No, it would just mean that Logan knew where Mercer was. He didn't necessarily have to
misskiwi: Hee. But Logan said he was with Mercer.
grim squeaker: I know that Logan said he was with Mercer, but I'm reasonably sure he either lied about that part, or wasn't with him the whole time.
misskiwi: What makes you say that?
grim squeaker: Logan said that he couldn't tell Veronica why he knew Mercer was innocent. That either means that the two of them have some secret he doesn't want to reveal, but that wouldn't necessarily make sense to me. I mean, what can't he tell to Veronica? That they were with girls? Possible, but wouldn't Mercer use that alibi anyway, with the police I mean? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care about Veronica's sentiments. Ergo, it must be Mercer's secret Logan isn't allowed to spill.
misskiwi: Well, first of all, keep in mind that they were trying to make the line extra-dramatic for a cliffhanger.
grim squeaker: I'm keeping that in mind.
misskiwi: If I had to guess, I would say that whatever they were up to involved something illegal, Mexico, hookers, or a combination of the above. Not something he can't tell Veronica, just something bad enough that she'll disapprove and that gave them the cliffhanger dun dun DUN moment they needed.
grim squeaker: But then, why not just say "We were in Mexico?"
misskiwi: See point number one. "I was with Mercer in Mexico, surfing with cheerleaders." "Oh, well I guess he's innocent, then. My bad!" It just doesn't have the same punch.
grim squeaker: No, what I mean is, why doesn't Mercer use that alibi with the police? Why does Logan go to Veronica, and not to Lamb?
misskiwi: Oh, I see your point. Um...because Lamb is a dick?
grim squeaker: But still. They get timestamps at the border, don't they? It would be ridiculously easy to prove if they both were in Mexico without involving Veronica at all. And without telling anyone they were smuggling drugs or meeting hookers.
misskiwi: Well, they weren't necessarily in Mexico, I'm just using that as an example.
grim squeaker: Yes, okay. But it does seem kind of fishy, doesn't it? Beyond "eek, Logan is cheating on Veronica with Hookers."
misskiwi: But I do see what you're saying...but if you think about it, if Mercer has something illegal as his alibi, he might be less likely to admit it to Lamb. Although, really, you'd think whatever he is up to would be the lesser of two evils when compared to being charged with multiple counts of rape.
grim squeaker: Yeah, that's what I thought. So as long as he wasn't smuggling drugs big style from Southern America, there's got to be something else.
misskiwi: I think at least some of the fishiness is probably just a by-product of them wanting to set up a dramatic cliffhanger.
grim squeaker: Probably. Would you totally rule out Mercer as a suspect, or is that just a general feeling because he's a suspect now?
misskiwi: Yeah, he's a red herring. Besides, I'm pretty sure that his alibi with Logan is actually valid.
Hey, remember Club Flush?
grim squeaker: I have two reasons why I haven't completely struck Mercer off my list yet: The Club Flush thing, and the fact that he knew Parker's name. The latter could be chance of course, but the former could be important.
misskiwi: What about The Club Flush?
grim squeaker: Club Flush was the show that was playing when Parker was raped. So that would either be the perfect alibi if it was live, or make Mercer effectively the culprit on a meta level if it was taped.
misskiwi: Ohhhhh. Good catch, I missed that.
grim squeaker: That's why I haven't kicked Mercer off the list yet. Maybe they'll pull a Larry on us: at first, it looks like he's the culprit, then he'll be exonerated, and then he'll turn out to be the culprit after all.
misskiwi: My gut instinct is to say that the show was taped for a couple reasons. If it was live, he wouldn't have been arrested.
grim squeaker: The question is, does anybody know the show was running while Parker was raped besides Veronica and the rapist?
misskiwi: Probably not, but hopefully Veronica remembers. But if it was live, there's no reason for the drama with Logan being Mercer's alibi, so I suspect that the fact that he ran a taped show that night will throw more suspicion on him before he's cleared. I've got to give props to the writers for that setup — that's actually pretty awesome.
grim squeaker: That would make sense on a structural level. There is another problem though: Veronica doesn't know that Mercer's show is called Club Flush, but that should be easy to find out. I'm still hung up on the idea that something about the time around the rape isn't quite right, but if Mercer's show was taped, he definitely wouldn't be able to give insight on that point. Oh well.
misskiwi: My thing is just that if it was live, he's obviously innocent, so why bother having Logan be his alibi for the rape of (presumably) Nancy? There's no point. If it was taped, he's extra suspicious, which is good from a plot standpoint.
grim squeaker: No, that's true. Unless the whole alibi thing is just there to sow discomfort between Logan and Veronica.
misskiwi: Yeah, but I don't think they would bother to go there if Mercer had an independently solid alibi. I think Logan actually is Mercer's alibi, they were just up to something that wasn't kosher.
Is it just hot in here, or is that Professor Landry?
misskiwi: I just can't get over this weird vibe that it's Landry. On some visceral level it seems to fit, even if all the pieces don't quite add up.
There were a few things that came up this episode that made me suspect him a bit.
grim squeaker: Hm. Do tell.
misskiwi: First off, the way they showed him being a sleazeball reeks of the way they showed Aaron was violent back in season one — subtle, yet enough to produce on "Oh, of COURSE!" moment later. Secondly, the fact that he's a criminologist and there is no forensic evidence in any of the rape cases. That also supports the theory that the rapist is actually a woman, but I still find that connection interesting.
grim squeaker: Hm. Being a philanderer doesn't seem to be quite the same as being a rapist, though.
misskiwi: No, it doesn't, but it could be setting up something more dastardly.
grim squeaker: I agree, that points definitely in that direction. (No evidence- criminologist.)
misskiwi: Oh, I forgot — the other thing that makes me think it could be Landry is sort of a meta reason: it would require Veronica to take down someone who's shaping up to be a mentor and would probably hurt her chances of moving up in the department. That seems like a very noir solution.
grim squeaker: Yeah, that wouldn't make her very popular, agreed. But hey, maybe Landry will get murdered and become the second mystery? That would solve the mentor problem.
Timothy Foyle, amateur detecting TA, or evil genius mastermind?
grim squeaker: The criminology link makes Tim suspicious, too, of course.
misskiwi: Yes, it does. Did you ever see that episode of CSI where there was a rapist who shaved his entire body so as not to leave any evidence?
grim squeaker: No, didn't see that one.
misskiwi: Well, I guess I just explained it, so it doesn't matter. I thought of that when Tim mentioned the lack of evidence. And we know the actor is wearing a wig, so maybe Tim is too.
grim squeaker: Yeah, I was thinking about that, too, especially since they could have easily asked James Jordan to just dye his hair or something.
misskiwi: That being said, I did think that his interest in what Veronica saw that he might have missed was genuine, and not something you would expect from the actual rapist. The big problem with Landry, too, is that he would have had to blend in at frat parties in order to drug the girls, which just strikes me as too much of a stretch.
grim squeaker: It could also mean of course that he is simply fascinated by Veronica's intellect. Maybe he sees her as a worthy adversary. Tim I mean.
misskiwi: Yeah. Maybe, but I didn't really get that vibe. He really seemed hopeful that she would give him another clue.
Roofies? I don't remember, I was high.
grim squeaker: I found it interesting that only two of the girls were drugged, not all of them.
misskiwi: Oh, I don't think only two of the girls were drugged — it was that only two of them had been drugged with GHB. Presumably, something else was used on the other two.
grim squeaker: Ahh. That makes sense, of course. That tells us... what? Exactly? That the rapist is not particular in his use of roofies?
misskiwi: Or that the rapist doesn't have a solid source of roofies. Maybe he testifies in criminal cases and can occasionally get his hands on all sorts of nasty drugs that he then uses to rape college girls?
grim squeaker: Hee. I'm not sure you can really get drugs as easy as that if you are a professional witness.
misskiwi: Maybe not. I'm reaching, I know.
grim squeaker: We are all reaching. See Chip-Mercer theory. Ahem.
Grim is sure hung up on Mercer's sex life...
grim squeaker: Like I said, I'm not totally convinced Logan is really Mercer's alibi (that horse is almost decomposing by now, is it?), I think he is his substitute alibi, because I think Mercer had a thing with Mindy O'Dell, to finally close this thought.
misskiwi: At this point, who hasn't had a thing with Mindy O'Dell?
grim squeaker: I know. But do you think she would admit to an affair just to get some kid out of jail?
misskiwi: Oh, I get you — you think Logan is covering for Mercer sleeping with Mindy. No, I think Logan actually was with Mercer, but that's not saying that Mercer wasn't sleeping with Mindy that night as well. Like maybe Logan left when Mindy showed up...but then Logan wouldn't know for sure that Mercer was innocent.
grim squeaker: Yes. Just an idea. Like you said, who hasn't at this point, and as Veronica said: "Mindy is the answer to everything."
misskiwi: When did she say that?
grim squeaker: When she goes to investigate Rory Finch. She knocks at the door, saying "Behind this door is the answer to everything." Cue to Mindy opening the door.
How Mindy really fits into this
misskiwi: Oh, so she didn't literally say that, you're just making stuff up to suit your theories. ;) Like me with Landry.
grim squeaker: Well, she doesn't directly say it, but really, that's not why I came up with the theory, it's simply because I was thinking what might be Mercer's alibi.
grim squeaker: And I figured the show wouldn't go the Chip route, so I settled for Mindy. :9
misskiwi: I think she's Chip's alibi. Maybe she's everybody's alibi. Maybe she's the rapist! She's some kind of crazed sexoholic.
grim squeaker: Yes! We solved it!
misskiwi: Go us!
grim squeaker: And she rapes and shaves the girls because she sees them as competition! See, this is what happens when Inigo doesn't show up.
misskiwi: Parker certainly fits the "competition" criteria. Don't know if that explains Stacy. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the biggest slut of all? ...WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NOT ME?! PARKER LEE, YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"
grim squeaker: Heeheehee. Ahem. Hey, maybe it's the Dean. He's mad that his wife is catting around and since he can't punish her directly, he goes for girls who behave like her in his eyes...
misskiwi: Ew.
grim squeaker: Sorry to traumatize you.
But let's talk some more about Professor Landry!
misskiwi: Same problem as Landry, though, because I think people would notice the dean at a Pi Sig party. Moreso, because the dean's not hot. Hey, yeah, remember that girl's comment in the season premiere?
grim squeaker: Well, yes. And yes. And ew.
misskiwi: Yet another clue that it was Landry? Hmm?
grim squeaker: Hm. Probably. But I think he could simply go for affairs rather than rape.
misskiwi: Or a little from column A, a little from column B...
grim squeaker: That should fulfill anyone's need for control.
101 reasons why Moe the RA did it: He's got a plan
grim squeaker: Hm. We need to say something about Moe, we did that in every session so far.
misskiwi: Um...Moe did it!
grim squeaker: He probably uses the same cologne as Mercer.
misskiwi: He's secretly a Cylon so he doesn't leave any forensic evidence. Mystery solved!
grim squeaker: Oh no, don't me tell there are more of him around.
misskiwi: *shudder* Although multiple copies would come in handy as an RA.
Nish: Don't make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.
grim squeaker: Okay. So what's with Nish and her threatening Veronica and the dean? What's she up to?
misskiwi: She's a bitch?
grim squeaker: Well, yes, but apart from that? Will she do something to them? Is she the rapist? Will she blow up the fraternity houses? What on earth is her deal?
misskiwi: I'm not entirely clear on why she got in trouble — was it because Veronica went to her with the story and she refused to print it, or because she knew the rape was faked when she printed the article implicating the Pi Sigs?
grim squeaker: I'm not totally clear on that either, but I suspect that the dean thinks it's the latter but couldn't prove it, so he busted her for the former.
misskiwi: I'm leaning towards the former, but after what happened in "My Big Fat Greek Rush Week," why would Veronica go to her first and not the dean — and if she went to the dean first, how would Nish have had an opportunity to print the story?
grim squeaker: I think these things are independent from each other. Veronica probably wrote an article about the picture and Nish refused to print that.
misskiwi: Maybe. But I still think she would have gone to the dean before trying to get an article in the paper.
grim squeaker: I mean, effectively that would mean Nish practices censorship.
misskiwi: Particularly considering how she dislikes Nish.
grim squeaker: Hm. I think writing an article might be more her style. Maybe she didn't suspect that Nish would be this partial.
So... tell me again why Claire faked her rape...
misskiwi: Whatever. And I'm a bit surprised we didn't get a bit more of an explanation on Claire — I guess she really was dumb enough to think faking a rape was a good idea.
grim squeaker: Yeah, don't let me get started on that one. What was it about? Getting money from the college? Bwuh?
misskiwi: Money? I assumed it was just to fuel the fire against the Pi Sigs.
grim squeaker: Yes, but wasn't she in O'Dell's office threatening to sue? Or was that just about not being expelled?
misskiwi: I think she brought her lawyer for self-defense. But it makes her look bad since it implies she knows she did something wrong.
grim squeaker: Hm. That makes much more sense, actually. Jeez, what a dumb girl.
misskiwi: Yep.
Nish - the culprit?
grim squeaker: I'm wondering if the solution is something like it was Nish, who is actually trying to take down the Greek system, because she was raped and head-shaved by a fratboy. She couldn't get justice and that is why she developed this elaborate plan of the serial rapist to reveal the fraternities as a pitful of snakes. She can't avenge herself on her rapist, so she avenges herself on the culprit.
misskiwi: Hm. Interesting theory. Falls in with the lack of forensic evidence.
grim squeaker: Well, I hope they don't go there, honestly.
misskiwi: Me too. I think making the rapist a woman takes away from what the victims went through.
grim squeaker: On the "plus" side, we would finally have a female culprit.
misskiwi: Heh. Good point.
grim squeaker: Yes, I agree with you. On taking away from what the victims went through. But. That's why it's noir I presume. Victims always make the meanest abusers. Was true for Aaron and Beaver as well.
misskiwi: One thing I was wondering — is there just no hair and semen, but evidence of rape, or nothing at all? Because the former implies a careful male rapist, the latter implies a lack of actual rape.
grim squeaker: I thought there was no hair and semen, no DNA at all, that's what Tim said.
misskiwi: Yeah, I just wonder whether that means it's a guy being extremely careful, or the girls were not raped at all. I assume and hope the former.
grim squeaker: (Seriously, I don't think they'll go with "It wasn't rape! Wait it was!" again.)
misskiwi: Well, in the case of the first "It wasn't rape!" it...still kind of was, really. Here it would literally be a case of the girls not being raped.
grim squeaker: Yes, it was, I was being a little overly glib. And I agree, I'd rather have it be a real rapist. (God, that makes me sound somewhat sadistic, doesn't it?)
misskiwi: No, I get it, and I agree.
grim squeaker: Because the implications otherwise would be a little odd.
misskiwi: I don't think it's sadistic — if there's no rapist to be punished, there's no sense of justice.
grim squeaker: Yeah, and really, I think it throws a rather bizarre light on the show. Like — look, four women, and they don't notice if they haven't been raped! That's just crappy writing.
misskiwi: Yeah.
grim squeaker: Never mind that it would make the police look more stupid than even the Neptune Sheriff Department deserves.
misskiwi: Hells yeah.
And that's it, finally
grim squeaker: Anything else to add?
misskiwi: Landry did it!
grim squeaker: Hee. Tim did it And in absentia for Inigo: Moe did it!
misskiwi: Now hopefully at least one of us won't look stupid by the time 309 is over.