Psych: Any Given Friday Night At 10PM, 9PM Central
By fred | January 31, 2009
(S03E13) With the Superbowl coming up soon we’re having some kind of a football thematic on different shows lately (especially on NBC-owned networks like USA), but that is not what stands out and will be what’s remembered about this episode. No, what was a lot more important was that we finally got what we’ve been waiting for for quite some time now, a episode like we used to get in past season : one case, Lassiter & O’Hara on it, with the assistance of no other than Shawn & Gus.
For weeks and weeks it seemed writers didn’t want to get back to this usual ways of doing things, aways looking for ways not to really get that same old dynamic back, but they finally did this week, and that made for what can surely be referred to as one of the best episode of the season, no less. It had it all, pop cultures references, plenty of hilarious jokes, interactions with all the characters, and no stupid filler B-plot or anything like it.
No everything felt right in place this time, and it was a real treat. Now sure, the actual case wasn’t much of a mystery and, in fact, was probably the weakest element of the episode. I mean, it was quite easy to figure out who was behind the foot, and why they did it. It almost seemed hard to believe that Shawn and Gus took so long to get to the same conclusion, because as soon as it was mentioned that bad behavior could lead to millions of dollars of contract to vanish, it was pretty obvious what was going on.
Yet it took like another day of new clues for Shawn to finally get it, and he’s usually not that slow. Even less credible was the scene, otherwise great, when Shawn was ready to talk to the police and “blow their minds” only to see a Lassiter who couldn’t be happier to shut him up, because once again on this case, they were ahead of Shawn and his psychic visions.
Again, the scene was fun, loved to see Lassie make fun of him – “No reference to some obscure 80’s film?” – but I find it very hard to believe that a master of perception like Shawn, who notices every little details no one else sees, that he of all people didn’t see there was an ambulance in the back, and right behind Lassiter a dead body lying on the ground with people all around. That was like the thing he couldn’t possibly miss when walking in, especially looking in that direction, and yet he somehow missed it?
But then again, Lassie had fun and we even got to see Shawn get back to him and mock his hair, throwing in one of those obscure reference, and then a fist-bump with Gus as they laughed like little girls. Awesome.
We were back to Shawn & Gus working the same case as the police, and that really allowed to get pretty much everyone involved in a very natural way, which hasn’t always been the case lately. Plus, the relationship between Lassiter & Shawn has been evolving over time, we’ve seen both of them showing clear signs of appreciation and respect for one another, but that doesn’t mean Lassiter changed his minds, and he still loved to be able to rub it in his face whenever police work was winning, which happened a couple of times this week – even though in the end, of course, the big conspiracy/mystery was unraveled by Shawn, of course.
I also liked the way Henry was brought in this time, as not only did it not felt forced, but to see Shawn and his father reunite and have a good time, sharing old memories from the past, was really great and well handled.
And of course we had so many reasons to laughs, naming a few I can think of right now :
- The Psych signal: “it’s like the Bat signal, only way awesomer.” I love the idea that Shawn actually did research and presented a full proposal for this, something at least Jules actually studied seriously. It’s just silly funny.
- “We need you to psychicly tell us who belong to this foot.” Is it me or is that just funny?
- If you’re watching CBS for time to time, you’ve probably seen pineapple in another show starring a “fake psychic.” Now just how awesome was it for Shawn to reference The Mentalist this week, a show that of course his father is fond of!? Loved it.
- Emilio Estevez Estevez. Enough said.
- I always like it when Shawn says something wrong, and gets corrected only to say “I’ve heard it both ways.” This week we had somewhat of a variation on that one:
Gus: It probably comes from some repeated action. Like kicking.
Shawn: Or kicking. It could have been an athlete.
Gus: Like a soccer player.
Shawn: Or a soccer player.
Lassiter: So you think someone planted it in his locker?
Shawn: No, I think someone put it there on purpose.
Lassiter: That’s what I just said.
Shawn: But mine wasn’t an informative question, so it comes from a place of power.
Gus: Are you saying we go undercover?
Shawn: I’m saying we assume alternate identities, so we can get in there and investigate without drawing any extra attention to ourselves.
- Yep, they went undercover… and while Shawn got to be on the team and use it extensively to impress Jules, which was reacting to it, much like one Robin Scherbatsky would have, Gus got to put into practice his “hovering technique.” But there was some clear flirting between Jules & Shawn, though it felt very much like earlier seasons, when it’s mostly just Shawn trying.
- One of the football players was named Dorn, a shout-out to Corbin Bernsen’s character on Major League.
- And we also had, right next to Karate Kid, a picture of… “Chad” Yes, that’s Shawn back from Lights, Camera… Homicidio!
- So there is more than one way to get Shawn silent. One, beat him at his game. Two, put one of his idol in the room.
Shawn: Gus almost fainted when he ran into Ralph Macchio at a Dell Taco.
Gus: For the record, he was not working there.
- Oh right, just how awesome was it that after Shawn asked Gus to repeat what he said said but with a Jamaican accent, he did it!?
- Gus can also be hilarious without saying a word, like when he tried to leave the morgue only chose the wrong door.
Gus: My cellphone was like literally shocking my leg. Must be the batteries or something.
Shawn: I like that story, let’s stick with it.
- Loved the answers Lassiter and Juliet had to “someone who kicked things a lot” :
Lassie: A prison guard?
Juliet: Rockette?
Shawn: A kangaroo?
Juliet: An athlete!
Shawn: Yes, an athlete, perhaps a soccer player?
Juliet: Soccer players were shoes, the toe thing wouldn’t happen unless they were barefoot.
Shawn: Again, let me pitch kangaroo.
- Sure, police work can be great, but it’s not always easy to come up with some good, effective police work…
Jules: Google “missing foot” ? That was your plan ?
Lassiter: Not all of it!
Shawn: How do I look?
Gus: Like an idiot.
Shawn: Sweet!
- And finally, the pineapple was in Lassie’s drink this week I think :
So, what did I forgot? Was this episode one of the best or what?
ha ha I loved the Mentalist reference. great great episode. although Shawn being a badass football player at the end kinda of felt awkward for me