Psych: If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead?

(S02E07) Look, if I understood what you guys were saying I'd still be a virgin. -- Shawn

Sometime during the run of Psych I expected someone to discover that Shawn Spencer's psychic abilities were a crock of poop. I just didn't expect it to come so soon, and from a bunch of teenage super-geniuses. They were all over him this episode, saying that his powers were simply of hyper-observation rather than the ability to see into another realm. Luckily, Shawn and Gus were able to point those teeniuses (a word coined by Gus, which should be on Wikipedia any day now) in another direction. If not, the show would be over and replaced by another rerun of Law & Order:SVU.

However, that does bring up something that I'll ask about in the poll below. Do you think there should be more episodes where other people start questioning Shawn's abilities? We know Lassiter does already, but I also think that, deep inside, he marvels at Shawn's 'powers'. I mean someone who, maybe on a regular basis, would try to prove that Shawn is a fraud. Granted, that may change the whole feeling of the show, but it would also make Shawn work even harder to prove his worth. Just something to mull over while you read this review.

I liked both storylines in this week's episode? Yes, there were actually two separate storylines that interacted with each other. The first was the mystery that Gus and Shawn were trying to solve at the high school for teeniuses. Gus seemed to be in his element at the school, while Shawn was the fish out of water. That didn't stop him from having fun at the expense of the rest of the school. This was especially true during his lectures where he talked to the students about their paranormalevelence (again, see Wikipedia later for that new word).

The second storyline focused on Jules and her one-year anniversary as Lassiter's partner. Her gift was to handle a case on her own. Of course this was the same case that Shawn and Gus were investigating. To be honest, I found this story a bit more entertaining then what our boys were doing. I enjoyed watching Jules turn from a polite, sweet, junior detective to a power-hungry woman exacting her wrath on her partner.

I really liked Lassiter as well in this story. He tried to be a good teacher with the 638 rules that he tried to pass along to Juliet and his definition of 'lowercase mad' and 'uppercase mad'. Frankly, I felt that those two teenage brats were a bit too harsh on him in the interrogation room; the man was just trying to do his job. By the way, still no information on why Lassiter's arm is in a sling.

Maybe it's me, but I believe this may have been one of the first direct contacts with Gus's parents in the entire series. Yes, they've been mentioned in passing previously, but we've never seen Gus actually interact with them. This week Gus was all over them when he found out that he was accepted to the school where the investigation was taking place. It's just that his parents didn't want him to go. I have never really seen Gus that angry. Annoyed, sure, but not downright pissed off.

One of the best scenes of the night, in my opinion, was the last one. It was a nice father-son moment between Shawn and Henry. They weren't yelling at each other or razzing one another about something. There were just bonding and playing chess on a new set that Shawn bought for Henry. I like to see those moments between the two characters because it shows that they do love each other in a crazy way.

Over to this week's retro references: Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, Doogie Howser, Jake and the Fatman (another detective series referenced for the second week in a row), Nancy Drew, Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne on A Different World), the movie Sliding Doors, Kirk Douglas, and Colecovision, which was the best console-game unit of the 80's.

No Psych next week, as it's time for the U.S. Open. So, enjoy watching all of our American tennis players bow out in the first and second rounds and I'll see you in two weeks.