Psych

[LSN80]

"I'm about to put in some work", said Gus. And this episode did exactly that, from beginning to end. This is what happens when you get a well-written episode that ties up evey loose end, brings plenty of laughs, and ties in a nice mystery to boot. In my humble opinion, this was easily the best episode of the season,

In looking at Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat, I want to touch on the cliffhanger that ended the show. I have to admit, I was utterly blown away by this. At the same time, they had dropped several clues throughout the episode as to what was coming, but there was no way to fully put it together. Between Shawn calling Gus time after time(presumably for advice) to Shawn's obsession to getting back his Nintendo DS(to hilarious ends, at that. Poor kid!), the clues were certainly there. I just couldn't put my finger as to why Shawn was more upset about the Nintendo DS more then anything, until Gus opened it at the end, revealing the engagement ring. Ive been pining all season for them to bring more focus to the Shawn-Juliet relationship, and we got exactly that. I was more expecting Juliet to end things with Shawn because of his immaturity, and we got exactly the opposite. Well done.

The story here was pretty nice as well. Jason Priestly and Jennifer Finnagen were so likeable as the thieving couple who duped Shawn and Juliet just to rob them, and seemed like the perfect patsies for the murder of the wine magnate. That turned out to be a red herring as well, as the first person they robbed in the opening scene turned out to be the killer. But what ensued was hilarious- Gus, Henry, and Lassiter arrive on the scene after their guy's weekend has mixed results. The boys go clubbing, wagering on who could be the first to pick up a woman. Henry, the oldest, is of course the first to nab a looker, but as she turns out to be somewhat psychotic, they flee to the resort to help investigate the murder, and for Henry to escape his clingy, off-the-wall new girl. They then discover that the man who was robbed was trying to buy the wine refinery himself, and he killed his competition in a struggle. It wasn't a great mystery, but the execution of it and the twists were what made this work.

So where does Psych go from here? Shawn and Juliet's discussion of not being ready for marriage will certainly put a damper on Shawn's spirits, especially with the trouble he went through to not only hide the ring, but to get it back. It will be interesting to see how much of this serves as a backstory for the rest of the season when it resumes in February.

But it wouldn't be a Psych review without mentioning the laughs. The chance meeting at the grocery store between Gus, Lassiter, and Henry was great- All by myself was awesome playing in the background. Gus was lost without his best friend, Lassiter lost with his partner, Juliet, and Henry, he was just there. Seeing the three go clubbing together was a treat, as all three men played wonderfully off the other. Shawn was hilarious in his love/hate relationship with the thieving couple, and how quickly he went from hating to loving them, all through food of course. Shawn's mentioning of the Nintendo(about 15 times) was funny in the moment, as it seemed he was being his immature self. I'm sure I'm leaving things out, such as the hot air balloon ride where Shawn and Jules were tasting cheese while tracking the killer at the same time. Kudos to Henry as well, his monologue on his generation mastering respect for a woman only to dump her via text was great. Some great laughs, and awesome interaction between the five central characters on the show, which is the backbone of what makes this show work.

So we're left with a great cliffhanger for when they resume the season in February, with the Shawn/Juliet relationship being thrust to the forefront. We're promised some great guest stars when the show resumes, none better then William Shatner returning as Juliet's dad. This show was the perfect way to end the fall season, and left me with great expectations for the next. A 9.4/10

 

[Davi323]

I totally didn't see that ending...I remember thinking, Buster is getting robbed by Brandon Walsh? What the hell????

I think their decision about marriage is only valid until Juliet realizes Shawn was going to propose. As soon as she finds that out, it's completely wide open again. It's like a guy who is dead fast against having kids, and then finds out his wife is pregnant.

five minutes ago: I hate kids!
(Wife tells him she is pregnant)
now: I love kids!

Kinda like that. Even without that scene at the end with the DS, I think Juliet doesn't really mind the immaturity as much as she appears to. She was more than willing to toss food over the side of the hot air balloon to watch it splatter like the grape just like Shawn. She needs Shawn to let out the little kid in her sometimes too. When you are partners with Lassie, you need someone like Shawn to stop you from turning into him.

Also, regarding the DS, I think my girlfriend has partial psychic ability. She has an uncanny knack for noticing the small details that end up being important at the end...as soon as Shawn ripped the DS from that kid and opened up the battery case, she said "HE HID A RING THERE!" She figures out those things in Psych, NCIS, Law and Order, all of them. I hate her.

 

[JWGunslinger]

My apologies for the delay LSN, as I told you in the PM ive been super busy but I still feel bad. In response to your question I most definitely think that we've been dealing with a lack of Vick and Henry that I do not like, Henry is one of my favorite characters and I think he is being terribly under utilized. I like Cheif Vick as well and even though I can't even remember the last time we saw her let alone had her in a substantial role for an episode, I don't think having her around less is too bad considering we usually just see her for a small amount of time each episode.

Psych's fall finale was excellent, and like LSN said it was easily the best one of the season. Aside from the lack of Cheif Vick this one had it all, we got alot of fun new situations with the character pairings of Shawn + Jules and Henry + Lassy + Gus. I enjoyed Shawn & Juliet together in this episode and while their romantic weekend get away felt a little formal and akward like a bad first date, I did like that we got an oppertunity to see them on their own together for most of an episode. I love both of them and I love them together but they're very akward together and I really hope when they go to the next level we see that change.
I have to say my favorite part of the episode was Shawn's dad, Lassiter and Gus hanging out and having a guy's weekend together, it was frickin hilarious! We got some serious focus on Henry and Carlton right when we needed it and the three of them delivered big time with lots of laughs, I love the comedic chemistry between Corbin Bernsen and Timothy Omundson. The grocery store and BBQ scenes were great but the best was the club with Lassie attempting to have game along with Gus which ended with both of them getting shut down while Henry scored a number before either of them. To top it all off I loved Jason Preistly as the guest star, I thought he and his onscreen wife were very fun characters and although they didnt end up having as big of roles as I expected I still enjoyed them alot.

So overall I thought it was an excellent way to end this portion of the season, I cant wait til they come back and Shawn hopefully makes use of that DS and does what we all want him to with it.

 

[LSN80]

Boy have I dropped the ball on keeping this thread relevant. We're just a day away from episode 12, but I definitely wanted to touch on this episode of Psych, as it was an important one.

For starters, the notion of Shawn wanting to propose to Jules continue to be hinted at. In seeing the previews for the show, I didn't see how William Shatner would factor into Psych's take on The Shining. And well, he didn't! But he did play an important role in his brief appearance at the end of the show, and that was in simply showing up at the Psych office at the very end of the episode for a brief, yet very important, cameo. Shatner, as Jules' dad, "came as soon as he could", which is comical in itself, as its been two episodes and several months in real time since Shawn took Jules on their retreat, intending to propose. Shawn had called Shatner with intention to ask his blessing. Well, Shatner finally showed up, again mostly playing it straight. He simply asked Shawn if he had ever lied to his daughter, and left without granting Shawn his official permission to marry Jules. Does this mean Shawn will need to let Jules in on the fact that he's not truly psychic before the two truly take things to the next level? They teased the reveal back in the season opener, and went with it here again, in a more subtle way.

However, the main focus of Heeeeree's Lassie is, shockingly, Lassiter. From the moment he enters the condo of an apparent suicide, he immediately begins scoping out the place, callously ignoring the body hanging from the ceiling. It's a testament to the range of Timothy Olmundson, who's usually the straight man to Shawn and Gus' antics. But instead of questioning the building manager Lloyd(Lou Gossett Jr.) over what may have caused the man to kill himself, Lassiter questions him about the size and price of the place. Olmundson has really shined this year moreso then any other, and this episode was no different.

Lassiter buys the place, and immediately, strange occurances begin to happen. So who does Lassiter turn to for help in his investigation of the odd occurences? Shawn and Gus, of course, because "weirdness is their specialty." They soon discover that the two previous tenants of the condo had also killed themselves, and the designer of the building had killed his wife and then himself in an apparent murder/suicide.

There are plenty of red herrings in the episode as to what's going on, but it's actually Shawn who's the most reasonable here, as he expects that there's someone behind the "haunting" of Lassiter's condo all along. The typically skeptical Gus and the even more straight-man Henry both suspect the place is haunted, while Shawn works on tracking down actual suspects. Some of the red herrings include the neighbors across the hall, where the wife is pregnant with their second child, a nod to Rosemary's Baby. Another red herring is the building manager himself, who turns out to be a kleptomaniac as Shawn and Gus search his personal condo, finding personal items from each of the tenants there.

And while this was a good episode that brought plenty of laughs and a decent mystery(nothing special), the scene stealer was Lassiter doing his best Nicholson from the Shining. As Shawn searches for the building manager, a whacked out Lassiter whose been drugged chases after Gus throughout the building with a medieval sword, talking creepily to him as he pursues him. Olmundson was a riot here, as was Dule Hill, as he more took offense to Lassiter boasting of having a girlfriend while he did not then the fact that Lassiter was trying to kill him. After a long pursuit, Shawn finally tackles Lassiter in the laundry room. He reveals that the killer is Lloyd, the building manager, only to turn around and see Lloyd's body in the dryer. Whoops!

The only suspect left is Lassiter's overly friendly and inquisitive neighbor, played masterfully by Sara Rue. Rue's character had been left at the altar twice, and had a severe mental break as a result. She had fallen in love with the previous two tenants of Lassiter's condo, but upon being spurned by two more men, she pumped "poppers" into their condo, causing them to turn delusional and kill themselves. She did the same to Lassiter after finding out when he first moves in that he's a cop, in a hilarious exchange. Realizing he'll uncover the truth, she drugs him as well through the ventilation system. Gus and Shawn uncover this, and upon questioning Rue, she runs for it. The pursuit is hilarious, as the woman is able to easily outrun both Shawn and Gus, who lose breath quite easily. Rue's character had been complaining about having the building manager(Gossett Jr.) replace the awning outside the building the entire episode, and as the chase heads to the roof, Rue lunges at Shawn and Gus, only to fall off the roof. In a moment that truly makes you suspend disbelief, she falls directly onto the awning that Lou had replaced earlier in the day. "Thank God Lou changed the awning" Shawn says, before he and Gus call it a day and bump fists.

I enjoyed this episode. Timothy Olmundson(Lassie) was given a chance to shine outside of his normal rigid character, and he succeeded masterfully. He stole every scene he was in, from the initial questioning of Lou about the building to his chase of Gus with the midieval sword. They managed to keep Shawn's desire to propose relevant, although he and Jules as a couple felt like major background players in the episode, with Jules hardly appearing. It was obvious Lassiter was being drugged, and the culprit was easy to figure within the first fifteen minutes, but it was a fun ride along the way. They've took the focus off of Shawn using his "psychic" ability in this episode, which was a disapointment, as that's the premise of the show. But it was fun getting to see Lassiter featured in a more prominent role, with Shawn and Gus as supporting characters. The Shatner appearance at the end was a nice touch, and meaningful despite its brevity. Considering all of this, it wasn't one of my favorite Psych episodes, but it was a change of pace from the norm that I enjoyed. 8.5/10. B.

Oh, and Miz will be on Psych tomorrow!