yeah that rat is a big old question mark. hopefully it gets "explained" next episode.
shocked jamie got the chop too. he was a good character and i really liked how he made the decision to change his habits and clean up his apartment (to show off for lily i'd guess) and then as he closes the door the shelf falls over. great expression of the deterministic themes of the show that no matter what we do we can't change things.
i also got the sense that lyndon isn't going to go quietly, and clearly stewart saw that possibility and did his best to warn lyndon.
btw, speaking of eye candy on the show check the actress playing lyndon for the biggest of all WTF moments the show can provide: