(S03E17) Y'know, these mini-mysteries (minsteries?) are growing on me. It's quite possible that not having to worry about a longer and larger storyline gives the writers more time to concentrate on some of the other aspects that make (or made) this show great. Hell, even the relationships are done pretty well -- from me, that's saying something.

(S03E09) This episode was just way too fast for a partial-season ender. While we got answers for the bulk of the episode, there are definitely some questions left hanging around unanswered. But I'll get into those later.

My first thought when Veronica was running away in the opening scene was that it was unlikely that her pursuer was a girl. I just couldn't see her fleeing away from one of the feminiazis, no matter how menacing she was nor the fact that I, for one, would run away from that she-bitch in a dark dorm hallway. Yiieee.

In an odd bit of network news, The CW nixed a lesbian kiss planned between Veronica Mars guest-star Patty Hearst and actress Keri Pratt. Hearst, playing a trustee to the fictional Hearst College on Tuesday night's Mars episode, didn't get to lock lips with her lady love due to an intervention on the part of the suits. Reporting to the New York Daily News, Hearst said, "I meet Keri and I'm like, 'Hello.' We didn't know until we were on the set we couldn't actually kiss. We were all set for that."

This is just weird. Didn't The CW get the memo that lesbians kissing in primetime are hot? It's gay men kissing that are supposed to get the patriarchy all nervous. I guess when they figured out that it was the 52 year-old, Symbionese Liberation Army kidnap victim Hearst getting down Sappho-style and not uber-hot Kristin Bell they freaked. It just doesn't have the same sweeps promo potential as "Veronica macks on Mac."

(S03E08) We've known about this episode for quite some time now -- the Patty Hearst episode. Thankfully she didn't really have a whole lot of air time, because she's not an actress and, well, it showed. I mean, she wasn't horrible, just not great.

Speaking of Patty Hearst (I mean, Selma Rose), there was one mini-mystery I didn't much care for other than two details from it:

(S03E06) Dean O'Dell backing up Veronica -- who would've thought? Did I miss something or does Veronica still somehow have a job with a different school paper, one that's not the Free Press? Did she somehow get out of working in the library, or is there some other on-campus paper I'm forgetting? Not the Lampoon, is it?

I have to admit that after last week's episode, some commenters had a good theory that Wallace didn't cheat and had instead written something like "so-and-so is selling answers to this test." Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. Though I was surprised to see some leniency coming his way with the cheating. Isn't that, like, expulsion material? Not to mention he stays on the basketball team?

The most famous kidnapping victim ever will appear on, and then disappear from, Veronica Mars. Heiress Patty Hearst will play the granddaughter of the founder of Hearst College (the fictional university on the show). Patty's character, a member of the Board of Trustees, will mysteriously disappear the night before a big vote regarding the university's future. The episode airs during ratings, November 21. Hearst has made a number of guest appearances on shows such as Frasier, Boston Common, and Son of the Beach.

Eh. I like Veronica Mars, but if they're really scrambling for ratings, I don't think the power of Patty Hearst is going to help them much. I'm more excited about Ed Begley, Jr.

Alright, I stand corrected -- there now may be hope for me to find the dean of Hearst College more than mildly interesting. Fellow Mars fanatic Michael Ausiello of TV Guide has landed some juicy details about who's taken the role, now that Michael McKean has had to turn it down -- none other than fellow improv-erific Ed Begley Jr.. Begley's appeared in A Mighty Wind, just as McKean has, though you've no doubt known him for his roles in Arrested Development, St. Elsewhere, and too many more to mention. OK, I feel better now.

[Thanks Karen M. O'Shea for the tip!]

Sometimes there are news stories and (*gasp*) even spoilers that, once I've read them, I wish I hadn't. Case in point, Rob Thomas revealed to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that within the span of 12 hours, Michael McKean had accepted and then passed on the role of the dean of Hearst College, the backdrop school for most of the next season of Veronica Mars. I agree with Thomas -- that truly is the most depressing casting news in the world. How the heck am I going to like the person filling those shoes now?

Why, Michael? Why?

(S02E21) Can you feel it? That tension in the air like we felt last season, right before the final episode? Everything's coming together, and still we doubt our assumptions. Do we really know who's behind the bus crash? Were we really right in our guesses about Woody and his pervy ways?

While I'm clearly excited to know how everything goes down next week, this is also when I'm sad to realize that everything's about to end, and we'll have another summer to wait through to see what happens next.