How did you all recognize Hart? I didn't have a clue. I know tiggy said she just watched the episode in question, but she wasn't the only one to recognize him.

honestly? i would have recognized him anyway. these are the things my brain remembers while the important things dribble out of my ears.

Narrator's theory makes sense. i really don't want it to be Beav though.

Would the pharmacist be able to tell what the antibiotic is for?

Meara:

The e-mail that said "kill incorporation or else" and had the recording - that wasn't from Lucky, right? Seemes like it had to be from Beaver.

I think it must be. It must have been sent off after the bus crash. Even if Beaver did engineer the bus crash to keep the story from getting out, deep inside, there must be a lot of rage for Woody--I think he'd have wanted to get back at Woody (after safely erasing himself out of the recording to prevent the back-trail, of course) for all the hell Woody put him through, plus he stood to benefit in a major way financially if the incorporation fell through.

How did you all recognize Hart? I didn't have a clue.

Obsessive rewatching of S1. I think I marathoned S1 at least three times before the summer was over in various pimping efforts.

Why would Beaver put a bomb in the gift basket? Why not just leave it on the bus when he got off?

You're right. I'm still thinking of Woody--> bomb--> gift basket --> Peter chain, which doesn't have to apply if it's Beaver.

I think Veronica/Keith are going to take the recording to Mac to see if she can do some computer-thingy to recover the edited-out portion. I think she does and realizes that it’s Beaver.

This seems extremely likely. Just watching Mac weeping in the preview made my inside hurt. Come to think of it, most of my goodwill toward Beaver this season comes from the fact that he had the good taste to recognize the awesomeness that is Mac.

I get that emotionally he wouldn't want to be outed, and the reasons why, but don't most people who aren't born-to-it criminals think smaller?

Yeah, it's quite a bit of a leap from that to mass-murder, innit? I keep wondering... couldn't Beaver have persuaded Peter and Marco to let him stay in the dark when they outed Woody? Perhaps he did and they did'n't listen to him--and said something to put him over the edge, called him a coward, etc. Even if Cass was responsible for the bus crash, I can't quite think of him as a sociopath. I think he was cornered, irrational, and deeply damaged.

There's all kinds of stuff that happened during the trial that could allow for a retrial if the State appeals.

I don't know much about law, but even if there are new evidences, can Aaron be retried for a crime from which he's been already acquitted? I thought that was a no-no.

I really doubt this. Anyone in the medical provider chain (doctor, nurse, lab technician) or a hacker could have leaked to the defense that Veronica had an STS.

Or her pharmacist...

Most antibiotics have more than one use, though. The pharmacist could know what all those uses are, but extrapolating an STD without any kind of proof would be pushing it.

Also, Narrator makes an excellent point about Veronica just happening to have an appointment with the doctor -- if she didn't show, or never made one, then the false STD thing doesn't work.

I guess I'm wondering if the STD was simply there for shock value -- a way to further humiliate Veronica, who has had to suffer through so much already (Lily's death, her mom's disappearance, her dad's ousting from the position of sheriff, the date rape). If so, it's kind of ... stupid.

Would the pharmacist be able to tell what the antibiotic is for?

Possibly. The CDC recommends one of two specific antibiotics for treatment, although they could be used for other things. Depends on how embarrassed VM seemed when she picked up the prescription.

The courtroom stuff really didn't work for me: it was too obviously a mustache-twirly event, so obviously that the jurors should have seen through it.

Also, HELLO to the judge having no business allowing the chlamydia line of questioning. Does chlamydia actually affect memory or the ability to tell the truth? No? Hmmm, then how can it be considered relevant?

(For another, it's been a year since the crimes in question.)

(For a third, considering Veronica isn't just a witness but a victim of the aggravated assault, prying into her sex history is kind of -- hello? If the prosecutor's case is built on Aaron Echolls Is A Great Big Creepy Joey Buttafuoco, then it makes sense to portray Veronica as potentially a victim of attempted sexual assault. In which case, the prosecutor should have been thumping a fist on the table at the very idea of putting the victim on trial. What is this, 1985?)

I like Narrator's prediction for the reveal of Beaver's blackmail. I don't think he's behind the bus crash.

If the prosecutor's case is built on Aaron Echolls Is A Great Big Creepy Joey Buttafuoco, then it makes sense to portray Veronica as potentially a victim of attempted sexual assault. In which case, the prosecutor should have been thumping a fist on the table at the very idea of putting the victim on trial.

I once saw Twelve Angry Men described as the story of the worst defense lawyer ever. This was the story of the worst prosecutor ever (not surprising in a town where Lamb is sheriff). Still, I'm not even sure Jack McCoy could've won this one, mostly because without the tapes to establish motive, the case hinged on the word of two vigilantes (essentially) against a celebrity.

the case hinged on the word of two vigilantes (essentially) against a celebrity.

Hmm, celebrity beats vigilante, eh? I'll have to plug that result into the table.

After briefly flirting with the theory that 'twas Aaron Echolls wot dun the bus crash, on the grounds that it would be an unexpected twist for him to be the villain for two seasons in a row, I am back on the Beav train.

(Although I would place an each-way bet on Little Dick as a backup).

I suspect that "Amber is a bitch" on Beav's car is significant, as is his offhand comment about what he did to "Sally", back in "Ain't no magic mountain..." I think those names are related to the abuse stuff - nicknames or pet names that the kids were given.

If that's true, then it implies that Little Dick already knows about the abuse (hence my each-way bet), since he would know exactly what Beav meant when he mentioned "Sally".

However, I'm probably wrong because I can't think of a way to figure Kendall and the Fitzpatricks into the equation. They have to be in there somewhere.

I once saw Twelve Angry Men described as the story of the worst defense lawyer ever. This was the story of the worst prosecutor ever (not surprising in a town where Lamb is sheriff). Still, I'm not even sure Jack McCoy could've won this one, mostly because without the tapes to establish motive, the case hinged on the word of two vigilantes (essentially) against a celebrity.

I quite agree, and as a journalist, I've seen so many lawyers and judges pull stunts that are so jaw-droppingly out of order that I don't flinge at things like that on TV (I direct your attention to the Hadel rape case in Southern California, where they had the three defendents ON VIDEO and it still took a retrial to convict, because their daddies were immensely wealthy.)