...and downstairs, Parker comes out of her room with a concerned expression on her face. Wow, I didn't know those things worked quite that specifically. It's Demian's birthday soon -- does anyone know where I could get him one that works on Jensen Ackles?

Mercer limps into his room and grabs the GHB. His return is blocked by Parker, however, who has figured out exactly what is going on and starts screaming bloody...well, rape. As about a billion people pointed out, it's widely accepted that it's more effective to cry fire in this situation. However, that's irrelevant in this case, as the hallway is soon filled with boys from the floor. It is a little irritating that the hallways earlier were so conveniently empty, but I'm not inclined to dwell on it. The finish line is in sight. Mercer and Moe look suspicious enough that everyone in the hallway knows something's wrong, although I will give Mercer points for his explanation of his injuries: "Pet cougar." He's a pretty cool customer for someone who's probably developing gangrene as we speak. Some guy in the hallway deduces that Moe's got someone in his room, which is Mercer's cue to bail, and Moe's to follow him like a lost puppy. And while it's true that he got stuck being brainwashed by a psychopath, at least he's not having to trail around after Rider Strong. When they've gone, Parker enters Moe's room and discovers Veronica.

You know, a lot of people had serious problems with the rape arc. The writers have taken an awful lot of heat for it -- "irresponsible" and "offensive" are words I've seen thrown around a lot. (Some people simply found it boring, but that's another story.) But while there were specific plot points that might have been done better, overall I have to say I don't agree with those assessments. Yes, the university's lack of response to the rapes was appalling. But the level of rape awareness on college campuses in general is similarly appalling, and I don't know that it would have been responsible to depict your typical patriarchal university as appropriately sensitive to rape when so few of them actually are. As for the portrayal of the frat guys, I think, if anything, real partier-type frat boys are generally worse than anything we saw. And the Liliths -- well, I can't blame them for being angry and desperate. As for faking rapes -- I agree that that's a tough sell, but I think it's at least more believable that they did it in an effort to get revenge for their friend rather than as a matter of general ideology. I liked that they had a specific reason to hate these specific frat guys. But even with the Liliths lacking nuance, as many posters pointed out, Parker getting to the point here where she saved Veronica was the true feminist journey, and I'd add that I think the show did the plotline a service by mentioning Take Back The Night so prominently here. I understand that a rape plotline against the backdrop of an unsympathetic, harsh noir world must necessarily lose some people, but I think this last handful of episodes was exceptionally well-crafted. This is all said with the admission that I know nothing about the experience of being raped, and I wish no one else did either. But I don't see the intention behind this arc as anything meant to trivialize or disrespect.