Those 13 episodes NBC ordered are apparently all they ordered–they won’t start till February, and there’s no way to sock a regular-length season into a semester. I don’t like the foreboding Jennifer Godwin’s use of the word “largesse” gives me, either: It sounds too much like Chuck is on seriously borrowed time.

Hopeful prediction: The show picks up viewers and returns to a solid full-season footing.

Dour prediction: The show stays the same, picks up no viewers, and is cancelled after the 13-run.

Dire prediction: The show peters out in confusion, loses more viewers, is cancelled even before the end of the 13-run, and I buy Season Two on DVD and pretend that Half-Season Three never happened. Veronica Mars may have been uneven, but at least it got three solid seasons and wrapped itself to a dignified conclusion.