It’s about damn time someone on Psych painted the detectives and psychic consultants into the kind of corner Anthony Michael Hall’s character forces them into at the end of this rather abrupt season finale. Shawn and Gus’ cushy place at the police department should be challenged to see how they work with Jules and Lassiter to prove their worth. Judging by Psych’s past, this will last for all of one episode a year from now, but as far as a place to cut out for the summer, it’s stronger than endangering a supporting character like Henry and leaving him sprawled on a beach with a gunshot wound when his survival was a foregone conclusion. As with many major events this season, the “restructuring” at the SBPD could all go out the window the moment the musical shows up next winter. However, as presented tonight, Shawn, Gus, and Lassie have their work cut out if they’re going to be back in the position they want to be in when next season rolls around.
But just because I think it’s a good direction for the show to choose for a cliffhanger, that doesn’t mean I agree with Trout’s reasoning. His criticism, that the team’s over 100 successful homicide investigations—an annoying success rate, but I’ll leave that alone for now—only shows just how widespread murders have become in Santa Barbara. He thinks the SBPD hasn’t effectively deterred crime. But if a fictional, grey-skied Vancouver version of Santa Barbara has such a high murder rate, and solving 100 homicides isn’t bringing crime down, there are obviously some larger institutional problems contributing to the issue. Trout is simply a curmudgeon looking to hand out pink slips.
Following a high-profile car crash between the blueberry and Lassiter’s police car in pursuit of a suspect on a motorcycle jumping into a road running race, the usual team tells the story of the case entirely in flashback. Shawn and Gus start with a man who enters the Psych office asking for help tracking down whoever gave him a lethal dose of a pest-control poison. As they investigate, wives, clients, and bank employees lead a trail to other dead bodies. But as Shawn and Lassiter narrate the events to Trout, their bungling of the investigation becomes clear. Anthony Michael Hall’s character strives for efficiency, following protocol, and saving taxpayer money (that issue never really seems to be a problem on Psych, presumably because of their area).
My problem with this finale is that the big developments of the season—Henry’s recovery from a gunshot, Juliet realizing Shawn’s secret, Gus keeping a girlfriend for more than an episode—all get swept under the rug as if they had no affect on the show at large. Henry’s quite the ladies man in his retirement, Shawn and Juliet have no discernible hurdles to resuming their relationship as though no huge breaches of trust ever occurred, and Gus is back to hoping the next girl that comes along will be better. Lassiter tied the knot rather quickly—and his recap of the misadventures of that weekend is one of the funniest moments of the episode delivered at the worst time for all involved—but that’s the only permanent change.