The third and final season of Veronica Mars, an American drama television series created by Rob Thomas, began airing on The CW Television Network in the United States on October 3, 2006. The season was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Silver Pictures Television, Stu Segall Productions, Inc and Rob Thomas Productions, and Joel Silver, Diane Ruggiero and Thomas served as executive producers. The third season comprises 20 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 22, 2007. The season continues the story of Veronica Mars, now a freshman studying at Hearst College while moonlighting as a private investigator under the wing of her detective father. The first mystery is established when her friend Parker Lee becomes the latest victim of the Hearst serial rapist in a storyline begun in a second-season episode. Feeling guilty for not helping her, Veronica sets herself to catching the rapist. The next mystery, a murder, commences in the same episode that the identity of the rapist is discovered. To increase viewership, the third season format was changed to include two separate mysteries that would be introduced and resolved in a series of non-overlapping story arcs. Three of the regulars in the second season were written out of the series, two new characters were introduced and two others were upgraded from recurring roles. The third season received generally mixed critical reviews compared to previous seasons; at least one reviewer expressed disappointment with the series finale, mainly because it did not provide closure for the storylines and characters.