3.15 "Papa's Cabin"

Aired Feb 27, 2007

Speculation

Inigo: So...what did you have in mind for this last-ever spec?
grim squeaker: Hmm...we could talk about whether it works or not, as a solution.
Inigo: Sadly, we will have to jettison any idea that the writers understand that dates and times are immutable. They call everything that happened as happening on December 10th, despite the fact that things occur before and after midnight. They have phone calls at 1:32 am to someone who isn't in a position to receive the call until after 1:51.
grim squeaker: Playing fast and loose with their facts, huh?
Inigo: Very much so. It tarnishes what I thought was a solid mystery.
grim squeaker: No, no, it is a solid mystery, it's just not a Whodunit like we first thought. It's noir. It's probably the first real noir mystery they've done, complete with unhappy endings for everyone involved and the revelation that even though justice has been served, things can never be what they once were. Innocence lost and all that. Mindy lost her life and Hank lost his career because they suspected the other of betraying them, and that was their undoing. Had Tim gotten away, this would have been perfect, but even now, it is great, because he is not powerful enough to get away. Instead, he caught himself up in his own arrogance, his own cleverness. He was almost there! He almost made it! But as we've seen before: Fate's a bitch, and everyone loses. Even Veronica. (In this case, a professor, a possible friend, and a lover.) So, on that level, I have great admiration for this mystery. As a puzzle fiend, I found it a little predictable. In that vein, I loved the dialogue between Keith and Mindy about dead lovers/husbands and her having to reflect on that phenomenon.
Inigo: Yes, it was almost an "out of the drama" moment. Reactions seem to be mixed from the "It was so obvious" to "Tim's motivation makes no sense."
grim squeaker: Tim's motivation absolutely makes sense. He put all his love and admiration to this man, and he ditched him. Repeatedly, I might add. I think the job "recommendation" was just the final straw, the thing that tipped Tim over. I think he has been seething for a while.
Inigo: The complaint is this: it made no sense for Tim to set up the dean's murder as a suicide as he would not achieve his aim — bringing down Landry — by having it pass as a suicide.
grim squeaker: But it was actually a method to put suspicion on Landry, because of Veronica's paper. It's not Tim's fault that Lamb was too dim to dig a little deeper.
Inigo: Exactly. Coupled with Landry's bloody clothes, which would be found at some point, this was his means of ensuring that Landry was brought under suspicion. In the meantime, he could enjoy knowing that the axe would fall at any moment. It gave him, in his mind, power over Landry.
grim squeaker: I agree. I do not see the problem here.
Inigo: Nor me, but a few of our colleagues do. The date/time screw ups are annoying though. There are so many.
grim squeaker: I think TPTB are just not very good at keeping up with time stamp. Which... to be honest, I ignored those totally, I just went after my gut feeling, and that said it had to be either Tim or one of Mindy's lovers.
Inigo: It was always going to be Tim or Mindy or Landry. I don't think that makes it obvious. Unless you get a handle on the motivation and the methods, picking the "killer" is a matter of luck, and knowledge of drama structure (Landry and Mindy are down and there's still ten minutes to go). That doesn't amount to "obvious."
grim squeaker: I think people are disappointed that there wasn't more puzzle work involved. It's less satisfying.
Inigo: Perhaps. Anyway, I think we did pretty well working most of it out. I don't think we could have done without the material being there in the first place.
grim squeaker: On the one hand, yes. On the other... it's James Jordan, dude. And very often, the first impression does count on VM. Aaron's first appearance made him come across as a image-obsessed violent asshat. Beaver's first appearance made him come across as a douchebag. Mercer's first appearance made him look like a sadistic jerk. Tim's first appearance...
Inigo: An arrogant shite who doted on his professor.
grim squeaker: Precisely.
Inigo: So...this is it. The end.
grim squeaker: Well, at least we solved the last one.
Inigo: Been nice speccing with you, little mouse de mort.
grim squeaker: And nice speccing with you, oh Great Daddy Avenger.

Final note: The show is not ending, but the season-long or arc-long mysteries are being replaced by stand-alone mysteries of the week. The mystery spec pages grew out of grim and I chatting each week about the big mysteries. With the death of those, so marks the death of this feature. To those that hung with us, thanks for the company.