Word on the street is Rob Thomas broke this season up into three big mysteries, rather than one intricate 22-episode mindbender. If my calculations are correct, we are now more than halfway through mystery #1, the Hearst College rapes. And as usual, I have no friggin’ clue how they’re going to wrap it up.

I do know, however, that this week’s episode filled me with hope. Hope that this season will live up to its high expectations, hope that Logan and Veronica might reprise their second season roles as adorable/annoying star-crossed lovers, and hope that the show is going back to its roots. I wasn’t going to say anything, but somewhere between Veronica dressing up like a sorority girl and helping out star quarterbacks, I got worried that the VMars I know and love died with Beaver. This week felt like the good old days with Veronica visiting Weevil in jail, talking about Lilly and bantering with Lamb in the sheriff’s office. Keith is trying to make it back into main plot-dom and even Cliff got to do his shtick in this episode. Brings tears to my eyes. I just need a little more angst and a tad more noir-feel (you know, some trysts at the Camelot, some old-school detective talk) and I’ll be satisfied.

After bringing Weevil to class as her criminal psych project (He’s an audio and a visual aid!) Veronica meets Logan at the secret on-campus casino for a Halloween party (are they dressed as Shaggy and Velma, or Veronica from Archie and Emo boy? Can’t tell.), but before he shows, the casino is held up by two gun-toting guys in Nixon and Carter masks. Carter, with his horrible Pacino accent, steals the necklace Veronica got from Lilly and by the time the cops get there Veronica already has it figured out.

But, alas, it is only 9:15 and we all know the true criminal can’t be caught for at least another half hour. Come on Veronica, it can’t be Weevil. He’s a “gangster” at heart, but even he’s not heartless enough to steal that necklace and not stupid enough to order a pizza with one of the stolen credit cards. Another trick I’ve learned from watching entirely too much VMars: if something happens that seems irrelevant and unnecessary, chances are that is actually the key to solving the mystery.

Case in point: Throughout the episode, students and Lamb keep making condescending remarks about the Hearst College “rent-a-cop” police department. The perps turn out to be two Hearst officers who stole the president masks and fake guns from the drama department, robbed the casino and framed the fresh out of jail janitor Weevil. It’s all in the details. I’ve got it all figured out. (Except, not really at all.)

Piz and Mac are still M.I.A. but Wallace is back and he’s being very un-Wallace-like, ditching his studyfest to canoodle with older college girls (seriously, they looked like they were at least 26) and paying for answers to the chemical engineering midterm. And since Wallace can’t seem to get away with anything, ever, he gets caught. Can’t wait to see how Veronica gets him out of this. That is, if she can pry herself away from her boy troubles to help out an old pal. Honestly, I’m excited for the impending doom of a Logan/Veronica split. They’re way cuter when there’s tension.

Now for my speculations. I am not qualified to make any speculations as I’ve rarely ever guessed the outcome of a VMars mystery until it is blatantly obvious, but I’m making them anyway. 1. Kendall lives. She’s like the Sirius Black of VMars; we didn’t actually see her die, so we must assume she’s not dead. And, according to imdb.com, Charisma Carpenter has nothing else going on. 2. Claire was not raped. She obviously is not familiar with the reputation of the Mars family or she would not have lied to Veronica. Of course Veronica would find out the boy with her at the ATM was her boyfriend. A little too coincidental that right after the intense boy-hating crowd hears about the “blonde in the middle” comment she turns up with no hair.

Feel free to comment and let me know how off base I am. I’ll be here, replaying the scene where Lamb does the robot over and over in my head.