My current Veronica Mars theory.

[yendi]

(First, this is pretty much all about Lily. I've got nothing on Veronica's rape.)

Okay, let's take it for granted that Weevil is a red herring (and Mrs. Peacock was a man, of course).

Last week, the "B" plotline had Aaron Echols valiantly defending his daughter and beating the crap out of her abusive boyfriend. Finally, a touch of humanity, right?

Or maybe just something that establishes the violence that he's capable of (and let's not forget that we know he beats Logan).

Motive? Not known yet, but there are a few obvious ones that might surface, from an affair with Lilly gone wrong (not out of the question for either of them) to misplaced protectiveness of his son, to misplaced protectiveness of his reputation (blackmail, etc).

As for why the Kanes covered it up, I'm currently operating on the assumption that Duncan did have a seizure a few minutes before his parents got home, and they assumed that he was the killer (which also opens the door for any other non-family member).

This is all hunch-work, of course, but it's a theory I like as it allows for the massive cover-up by the Kanes, allows all three of the core teen suspects (Duncan, Logan, Weevil) to remain out of jail (assuming none of them is the rapist), and allows for all sorts of implications for next season (the Kanes dealing with a family friend being responsible, Logan/Veronica/Duncan dealing with the fallout, etc).

Of course, only Logan is truly out as a suspect (assuming this isn't premeditated, and that he didn't hire someone to kill Lily, which seems unlikely). I'd be disappointed if it were someone out of the blue (like Mac), but any Kane or Echols family member, as well as Weevil, Kane's flunky, Koontz, and probably a few others are fair game.

I love this show. I think shadesong and I spend more time speculating about it than we do about Lost, even.

Comments

[unfolded73.livejournal.com]

I agree wholeheartedly with your Aaron Echols theory; I already suspected him before, but I became convinced after the bad-boyfriend-beatdown. Not only does further establish his violent tendencies and make us (the viewers) like him better, it makes Logan like him better, which will heighten the angst when Aaron is discovered as the murderer. It may even lead Logan to spurn Veronica, which will lengthen the UST between them.

[tablesaw]

The thing about this show is that it rewards speculation. When you speculate on Lost, it doesn't matter if you come up with a logical, realistic interpretation or if you think that the polar bear is a wizard shapeshifter (that's not his real shape; he shifted it), you still get the same blank response of, "I dunno maybe." With Veronica Mars, when you speculate, different speculations seem more likely or less likely than others.

My problem with your theory is that Aaron seems to unleash his rage in his own home. It'd be a bit out of character to do it at the Kane's. Also, consider the very measured way that Aaron uses violence, the calmness with which he beat the boyfriend or Logan. He's not provoked into violence easily or quickly. There would have to have been something seriously disturbing that arose very fast to draw him out to murder his friends' daughter in their home.

If Logan's alibi is truly as airtight as Veronica said, then there's no way it's him. Veronica may like to arrange for things to happen while she's safely away, but Logan is always very personal about his violence. (That goes for his father too, it seems.) But you can't tell me that the words "airtight alibi" aren't begging for a surprise twist. I still don't think it was him (I don't think either he or his father has a history of violence against women, but I could easily be forgetting something), but I'm still expecting that twist.

I'm ruling out the Kane's as suspects because dead!Lily told Veronica that they weren't murderers. As TWOP pointed out, when the victim on a mystery TV show tells the hero who the murderer is or isn't, they don't lie. I know that's cheesy, but the evidence is drifting away from them anyway.

Finally, have we heard that Lily was ever seeing older men? Because that would definitely open up the field.

[yendi]

The thing about this show is that it rewards speculation.

Very true.

I'm not sure they'll do the Logan twist, as last episode would have been the right time to do it, and it looks like Weevil got to be the late-running suspect instead. Given that Logan's alibi involved financial trails and witnesses, it would be tricky for it to fall apart (especially since they haven't focused on it enough).

True, we haven't seen Aaron's rage elsewhere, but if he thinks Lily is hurting his son, who knows what lengths he'll go to? We know that she played the field -- maybe (hypocritically), Aaron just confronted her about cheating on Logan.

As far as older lovers go, no evidence one way or the other.

As far as Dead!Lily goes, I'd like to see Rob deliberately have her lie (or err, since she's just an expression of Veronica's unconscious (and Duncan's, that one time)), just to fuck with that theory.

[yendi]

Oh, and I'm not suggesting that Aaron necessarily acted with intent to murder. Just that things might have gotten out of hand.