Psych: The Old And The Restless
By fred | January 19, 2008
(S02E12) Another episode of Psych was on, and after last week’s highly disappointing episode, I was really hoping for something better. And by better, I only mean something that would be as good, and as funny, as the show used to be earlier on this season, before its hiatus. There were some really funny episodes back then, and I have gotten used to that level of fun & entertainment from this show.
Which is why last week was such a disappointment, because not only was it not very good, but more importantly it wasn’t fun, or funny. This week, and after the usual flashback scene which I didn’t especially enjoyed, but truth be told that’s something I usually don’t enjoy that much in every episode, things seemed to start off the right way.
Right on we found Shawn and Gus, investigating a case, and right on it was funny. Oh yeah, things seemed to be back to normal and, so, I was relieved. And after being barely seen last week, it wasn’t long this time for us to see Shawn’s dad getting involved in the case.
I really liked this, and when it started out I was really hoping for what, for a moment, it looked like what was shaping up : I wanted to see one case, with both side trying to solve it before the other. I didn’t not want Henry to get involved in the case and work with Shawn and Gus, no, I wanted to see them guys “fight” each others, I wanted to get the “psych” talent of Shawn and the expertise and knowledge of Gus facing the cop’s background and logic of Henry on the same case.
In the past I have said that, for one episode, I think it might be fun to get such a configuration where characters would be fighting to solve the case first. But not Shawn & Gus vs the cops, as we usually get, if only because that’s something we’ve seen before, and we always know who’s winning in the end. But Shawn versus Gus might be interesting, and could possibly create for some funny situations between the two of them.
I had never really thought of a case where they would be facing Henry, because he’s usually not one to get involved that much into one of his son’s case, but I was actually getting excited about this idea, and I wished it had happened. And maybe it will, someday, but today wasn’t it. Today, Shawn and Gus were only manipulating “their grandpa” to finally get where they wanted to be.
Of course, very early on you could tell what was happening, and I find it hard to believe he himself wouldn’t have figured it out as they were dressing him up, I mean he’s supposed to be a cop, right ? Anyways, it was all fun, still.
Unlike last week, the case was actually not a bad one, and more importantly its resolution was pretty fun. Who didn’t like Shawn and Gus parading in front of the security guard, because they had, what ? That’s right : visitor badges ! “Do something, I dare you!” Now that was fun, no doubt, and while the whole bit in the hospital was both not very new and quite predictable, it still was fun. Oh yes, I found it funny. “Talk to me like I’m 10. (..) Talk to me like I’m 5.”
That whole medical bit also included some references to medical hit-drama House, like that shot were all four characters are looking down at the patient, which was like one of the most known House (season one) promo pictures. And having Shawn to state some random facts and go “Sorry, I thought we were offering useless pieces of information” was obviously a reference to the greatest doctor on TV as well, who did the same sort of thing, although here it was neither as brilliant or funny as the original.
I have to admit that I didn’t find the plot with Henry enjoying his time and being the leader of the old gang that good, although their “inside joke” about the Asian friend, who wasn’t Asian, and how Shawn and Gus didn’t get it, made me smile yeah. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as they seem to have.
One thing that did not change, though, compared to the last couple of episodes is that while our friends were on a case on their own, O’Hara and Lassiter got stuck into stupid and boring filler which I really don’t care about. Just like in the past, there was absolutely nothing good there, it was filled with boring clichés, you knew everything that was going to happen long before it actually did, what a bummer. If I did not enjoy this episode as much as I did the first ones of the season, that’s the reason.
Sure, a couple of jokes actually worked. Like what Juliet’s hair smells like, or the fact that she is “above all things, not hot!” But the fact that of course they had to baby sitter him, that whole discussion in the car, or even the fake threat from a prisoner, enjoying his time behind bars, who can’t lie to the kid, all of that was lame, predictable, and boring. Very much so. And don’t even mention that horrible, horrible last scene, which I’d rather just completely forget.
As far as the “noticing moments” go, I still think there’s (way) too much of them, as some point I felt really insulted when they felt the need to go back and show us, again, the tattoo on the guy’s picture in his room, but at least we don’t get the whole explanation of what happened or how they found it out twice, as we used to. Hopefully, this will stick even when the cops will be back working the same cases as our psychics detectives. Speaking of which, please, have the cops back on the same case, because I can’t stand those stupid boring fillers no more.
Still, overall, I good episode with really fun (and funny) moments, surely not the best of the season so far but that doesn’t mean I didn’t liked it, cause I did.
