henry spencer

(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.

(S0E06) Victim's Wife: I never broke two stars.

I realized something just as this week's episode of Psych was about to air. We were looking at a mini (and I mean mini) West Wing reunion with John Amos appearing as Gus' Uncle Burton. For those who don't remember, Amos had a recurring role on The West Wing as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace. His character met an untimely end during Wing's fifth season when his vehicle was caught in an IED explosion. I don't recall if Fitzwallace or Dule Hill's character, Charlie Young, ever spoke to each other while on Wing, but at least they were on the show together.

(S02E04) I'm sensing a trend here. During the first season of Psych Shawn's abilities to solve crimes the police couldn't were nearly flawless. He was full of confidence and swagger and made everyone, including Gus, sure that they knew about it. This season there's isn't so much of that. In fact, over the last three weeks, we've seen Shawn second-guess his abilities and whether they were really good enough or not.

(S02E03) Lassiter: What color is that suit?

Agent Ewing: Black.

Lassiter: Really? Really? It seems blacker than black.

Ewing: It's Washington Black.

Man o' man o' man, did Shawn have to work his arse off tonight! For the second week in a row Mr. Spencer really had to put his skills to the test to show both the Santa Barbara police department and the Federal government what he could do. And, if that wasn't hard enough, he had to compete with another 'psychic' hired by the Treasury Department. In the end he got the culprit, of course, but it was fun to watch him squirm and try to keep up throughout the episode.

(S01E15) Exactly twenty years later . . . give or take ten minutes.

And so, with heavy heart, we come to the conclusion of the first season of Psych. What at first seemed like a quirky little comedy-mystery hybrid (I call it mysterdy) featuring a Tom Cruise lookalike, the guy from The West Wing, and Arnie Becker, has become an amusing show full of snappy banter, decent character development and references to 227. Yes, Psych has come a long way in a very short time and I'll miss it while it's away on vacation. In the meantime, though, let's take a gander at this week's show.

Pretty strong for a final episode, although a bit different. That's because it was co-written by Shawn Spencer himself, James Roday, and directed by one Mr. John Landis (Animal House, Blues Brothers). The tone of the show was a little less humor, a little more tension. As Roday put it in his blog, it was a "thriller" episode of Psych.

(S01E14) You knew that a moment like this would eventually come up . . . a time where a father needed his son's help. I mean, even though Henry Spencer shows reluctance about his son's detective skills (especially since he masks them with a fake psychic power), inside he is extremely proud of how far his son has come. So, when an old friend of Henry's asks for help in finding his son the senior Spencer happens to drop Shawn's name. Ah, parents.

Shawn doesn't disappoint this client. In fact, he goes over the top in solving the mystery. By 'over the top' I mean going severely psychic in the presence of the father and his client. As I've mentioned in previous posts Shawn has been pretty subdued when using his psychic powers. Not this episode, though. He went whole hog just to put his Dad in an awkward position. Ah, children.

Smell that? It has the aroma of burning leaves. It must be me thinking about something again. Here's the skinny: I've noticed over the last few weeks that Shawn likes to tell people that Gus is his hero, that he looks up to his best friend. I think that most of that is just joking since it is usually preceded or followed by a false statement about Gus' skills. However, deep down, I wonder if Shawn really does look up to Gus. Gus is very intelligent (something we have just started to see), has a steady job, and seems to have his head straight on his shoulders. Meanwhile, until he began his detective agency, Shawn flitted around from job to job and girl to girl. Perhaps the younger Spencer wants to have just a bit of what Gus has. Then again, I could be blowing smoke out of my poopie chute.

I'm actually going to start off this week's review with a mention about Gus. I haven't spoken much about him even though this role on the show has expanded quite a bit over the last few episodes. I put him up top this time around because even though he was kinda, sorta missing in a few scenes this week the ones he was in he made some significant impact. One of the things I noticed is that he is starting to pick up on some of the detective skills that Shawn had drilled into him by his father. There were one or two occasions where Gus actually saw evidence first before Shawn. The other noticeable trait Gus is exhibiting is his intelligence. I couldn't really tell how smart he was in the first half of the season because he always seemed to be whining. In the second half the producers have fleshed Gus out a bit more to show his intelligence and use it in the process of an investigation.

(S01E11) Yes, the review is late. I'll apologize to each and every one of you individually. That should take a few years, and by that time you'll probably forget what I was apologizing about.

How do you connect speed dating with naked, fat guys found out in the middle of a field? I'm not too sure, but Psych did it and made it work quite well. Gosh, what a funny episode! I can't remember laughing out loud at this show so much as I did this time around.

The second half of Psych has seen a lot of changes. We've seen Shawn mature quite a bit, we've seen Lassiter mellow out, and we've even seen Henry Spencer going out on a date. This week we saw another change. This was probably one of the first episodes where all of the members of the ensemble cast were utilized. We've seen combinations on Gus and Shawn with one or two of the other players, but this week they all participated. Even Kristen Nelson was back as Interim Police Chief Karen Vick. With some of the attention off of Shawn and Gus, the show took on a different feel. The cast is really jelling together as a cohesive team.

(S01E06) Secretary: There's a Lieutenant Crunch here to see you.

Gus: Lieutenant Crunch?

Shawn: Actually, I've been promoted. It's Captain Crunch now.

At first I thought this wasn't going to be a good episode of Psych. There was a big focus on Detective Lassiter at the beginning of the show and it looked like it was going to be one of those team-ups where Lassiter learns a little from Shawn and Gus, and vice-versa. But, that was not the case at all. Once again, it was pretty much Shawn and Gus the whole way. Not only that, but it was one of the best episodes of the series so far.

(S01E05) Let's not dilly-dally around this week. Let's get to the best scene of the episode. This would be the one where Shawn is "channeling" a recently dead singer/dancer in front of the police chief. Well, to be truthful, he's "channeling" the dead woman via a "psychic connection" with a cat (who was previously owned by another recently dead victim).

Shawn is grooving and gliding along, singing in a husky female voice, trying to prove to the chief of police that four recent suicide victims didn't really kill themselves at all. Rather, they were murdered. It was all very surreal, like a nightmare version of All That Jazz. Bob Fosse would have been proud. It was also very funny, as was the entire episode.

(S01E04) Let me just get this first little item out of the way and we can move on. There was a scene early in this week's show where Shawn Spencer and his friend/business partner Gus are talking outside of their detective agency, which is at the beach. Behind Shawn we see the continuation of the beach and a seemingly large evergreen forest looming just above the water.

I'm pretty sure that there aren't any large evergreen forests near the beach in Santa Barbara, where the show is supposed to take place.You would find that type of stuff in the Pacific Northwest, including Vancouver, British Columbia where, by coincidence, Psych is filmed. I only ask that the producers try to limit the amount of outside shots to avoid breaking the illusion that the show is based in Southern California.

There, I feel better now. So, let's get on with the review.

(S01E01 and E02) Henry Spencer to his son Shawn:  How many hats?

The premise for Psych is clever and unique. Shawn Spencer (James Corday) was trained by his policeman father Henry (Corbin Bernsen) in the art of keen observation. Not only did Sean match his father's skills in this technique, but he may have even exceeded his Dad's abilities.