Question: I've just read the news about how Rob Thomas wants to make Veronica Mars into a boring, lousy, "safe" stand-alone show. No arc episodes anymore, only emotional drama will connect the episodes. Tell me this ain't true.— Peter

Ausiello: It's true — the stand-alone part, not the "boring, lousy, safe" part — and here's Rob Thomas' reasoning: "Our fear is that the big mysteries are keeping casual TV viewers away, and it's very difficult to engage Veronica in a multi-episode mystery without making it extremely personal. Season 1 was built around the mystery. Veronica's best friend was dead. Every series regular was intertwined with the mystery. Without replacing the cast with each mystery and/or killing Wallace, I'm not sure we can devise enough personal connection to a case to keep the momentum we had in Season 1." I'm of the opinion that a self-contained Veronica is better than no Veronica.

Oh my word, Rob. It's season three. If you get a season 4, kill Lianne. It's her mother. Deadbeat or not, you don't get much more personal. If you get a season 5, bring back Duncan and kill him (quickly). He's her first love. If you get a season 6, kill Mac or Wallace, her only true friends. If you get a season 7, kill Keith. Tim's e-mail address is in his profile, honey.

I've always thought that killing off Wallace would be a good final season mystery. However, I wouldn't want every season to revolve around a murder. I'm gonna miss the long story arcs.

Someone could frame Wallace for a horrible, horrible crime that even Veronica has to admit he could have done, and she works to clear him. There are lots of ways to make it very personal to Veronica, (including not having the crime happen in or before the first episode of a season, and therefore allowing time for a red shirt or actual villain to become important to her).

I would have liked to see a little bad/big bad formula, or little/medium/big bad formula, this season.

If you get a season 4, kill Lianne. It's her mother. Deadbeat or not, you don't get much more personal.

I'd love a Lianne-kidnapping.

Was reading that Thomas cribbed the line-up-the-suspects-before-the-murder structure from that recent no-budget Steven Soderbergh movie 'Bubble'. I guess cribbing the structure from any old episode of 'Murder, She Wrote' wouldn't have the same cachet.

Was Bubble actually fiction? I thought that was a documentary.

What possible reason would anyone have to kidnap Leanne?

Was Bubble actually fiction? I thought that was a documentary.

It was fiction. Though, looking at IMDB, it had a budget of $1.6 million, so I was wrong to call it no-budget.

What possible reason would anyone have to kidnap Leanne?

Pay me $25,000 an episode and I'll tell you.

What possible reason would anyone have to kidnap Leanne?

Reason? We don't need no stinkin' badgesreason!!

I can imagine something to do with a Kane secret, one of Keith's cases, or even something we don't know about her yet.

Season 3 of VM is available on itunes.