TVSquad

(S02E11) " I like my wine like I like my men -- white & hairy" -- Mira's mother, Phylis Gaffney, to Shawn Spencer

After a few months break (with a holiday special in-between) Psych returned to the USA Network schedule this week with a slew of new episodes that were completed long before the Writers' Strike began. This is good news because 1) it's one more scripted show in an ocean of reality programming and 2) it gives them a full episode load to air on NBC starting in March. I've always felt that this comedy has been overlooked because of the day and time it airs, and I hope that its showing on network television will give more people an opportunity to see just how good it is.

Gallery: Psych: There's Something About Mira

This week we saw a continuation of character development on the show with the introduction of Gus' ex-wife. At first I thought this was going to be a whole thing where Gus didn't even realize that he was formerly married. Turns out, he has a bit of a wild side (fueled by Goldschlager, apparently) and actually did tie the knot. I enjoyed the comparison of young Gus' feelings about marriage as opposed to the quickie nuptials he and Mira had back in the 1990's.

Hurricane Mira, played by Kerry Washington, definitely lived up to her name. In fact, I'd have to say that she was more of a hurricane in the present than when she and Gus met 10 years prior. The things she did and her issues sticking with one person or interest made Shawn look boring. And, I think the reason that Gus was under her spell was that she was the total personality opposite of him. I don't think anyone has said that Burton Guster was exciting.

Gus and Mira were definitely the main focus of this week's show. Because of that, Shawn took a back seat to all of the happenings. Of course, Shawn is not used to that position, so he took it upon himself to see what was going on with Mira's missing fiancee. What I like about Shawn is that he doesn't give up. I don't think I have seen a part of any episode where he lifts his hands in frustration and just throws in the towel. He is definitely one persistent young man.

That's why he was able to determine that Jaan was into more than just Mira. I think his best scenes (besides trying to get Gus out of Mira's line of sight) were his solo meetings with Mira and her mother. The scene in the wine cellar made me laugh because I don't normally see Telma Hopkins in the role of man-eater. The line she gave to Shawn was probably one of the funnier of the night (right up their with the line in Gus' eulogy that read Gus is survived by his best friend Shawn and his twelve cats.). Plus, Shawn look very uncomfortable when Mrs. Gaffney was coming onto him, and that's not a place we normally find the young Mr. Spencer.

I found his meeting with Mira interesting because, probably for the first time, he was being more of a detective than a psychic. Perhaps that's because they were both kindred spirits -- flitting around life trying to decide what to do-- and he felt that his fake psychic abilities would be found out. When he asked Mira why the pictures were doctored, rather than performing some psychic mumbo-jumbo about the photos, I was a bit shocked.

The mystery itself was definitely different. I don't think there has been an episode yet where the primary murder has occurred so late into the show. I actually enjoyed that because it's nice to switch up the plot once in awhile. I didn't even realize that it was the private investigator until the very end.

The other story in this week's episode, which eventually tied into Jaan's murder, was the competition between Carlton and Jules. Detective O'Hara has really toughened up in the last season and can definitely go toe-to-toe with Detective Lassiter. I think their best scene together was the timed interrogation of Lassiter's informant, It was probably the fastest good cop-bad cop I have seen in a long time.

Not too many retro-pop references this week. Other than Gus' flattop hair style in the flashback, the only other on-screen references were of Caddyshack, Short Circuit and Ghostbusters. If you don't remember where Ghostbusters was referenced it was at the end of the episode when Shawn told Mira that Gus and he had a new case about a ghost in a ballroom. There was one other retro-pop reference, but you had to watch the opening credits to find out. This week's episode was directed by former Growing Pains actress Joanna Kearns.

Next week -- Gus and Shawn team up with Henry Spencer to investigate a murder. Finally!