My point is a rather simple one, acutally. But let me expand on more than a bit.
Rich has a reputation for being a very good writer. Deserved, IMO. But the problem is, he isn't a perfect writer (not that such a thing exists, naturally). IMO he can and has had clunkers in writing. Either in concept or in execution. Now for the people who think that there are flaws in Rich's work, they might disagree on just what exactly did and did not work. Fair enough. I'm not about to sit back and say objectively what did or didn't work. I might make subjective comments, but that's an entierly different thing.
However the one thing that makes me grit my teeth just a tad is when I see someone say something to the effect of (paraphrasing) this:
A) I don't like what just happened in OotS
B) Rich is a good writer
C) A Good Writer Wouldn't do "X"
D) Since Rich is a Good Writer, he can't possibly really have done "X"
E) Therefore something else is going on here.
It is brilliantly summed up in the phrase "Rich is a better writer than that".
I've heard it time and time and time again. I think I first heard it when the party was split (I'm sure it was used before, but I really wasn't active on the forums until the Azure City storyline). I KNOW I heard it during the Four Words business. And I know I have heard it on and off again since.
And almost always it is indeed "that". The party really did stay split for over 150 strips. V really did get CaTUAP. Elan really did regress a bit mentally when he met back up with his father.
If all of this was not much more than the rest of the party not really paying attention to things and Haley messing with V, will I think it is a botched execution of a joke/plotline? Yep. But the thing is, it's something I make an allowance for. I think Rich has botched things before. And he might again. The difference between Rich and the vast majority of the writers out there is his hit/botch rate is stellar. IMO, at least.
To put it another way: He's only human.
Or, to put it yet another way: Meh, they can't all be winners.
tl;dr: The phrase "Rich is a better writer than that" should probably not be used when the phrase "You know, that really didn't work for me" would be better suited.