(S03E04) "You keep a stun gun in the birdhouse? What do you keep in the garden gnome? An M-80?" -- Shawn to his dad, Henry, on his choice of weapon storage.
Ah, now the pieces of the puzzle that are Shawn Spencer are coming together! We've known for years that the younger Spencer has gotten his analytical skills from his father Henry. And, in the first episode of this season, we found out that he gained his recall abilities from his mother. Now we know where he got his sense of adventure and his ability to snow others with his "psychic" abilities.
Meet Jack Spencer -- role model, adventurer, historian...and con artist.
Steven Weber has been in so many dramatic roles lately that it was hard to recall his days as the free-wheeling Brian Hackett on the NBC comedy Wings. Yet, his role as Jack on Psych brought some of Brian Hackett back. At least the free-wheeling portion. Even though Brian had a bit of con artist in him.
At first, I liked Jack as much as Shawn likes him. He's personable, caring, and adventurous. As the episode progressed, this opinion of him changed. He became shifty and greedy and, well, not as great a role model to Shawn as we first thought (which is too bad, because Shawn really looked up to his uncle). You could see that when he first showed up at Henry's house. Even though Shawn is probably edging towards 30 he was definitely showing signs of Young Shawn in his mannerisms and his voice.
I guess you could chalk it up to the stereotypical sibling setup that we have seen on hundreds of television shows previously. The older brother is the one who is mature, serious (sometimes a bit too much), and worldly. The younger brother is rebellious, confrontational and, in many cases, a risk taker. Such was the case with Jack and Henry. Though, in many cases, we tend to side with the younger brother in these situations. This time around, I was personally siding more with Henry than I was with Jack.
Despite my feelings about Jack Spencer, I really enjoyed this episode of Psych and thought it was the strongest of this young season. Some of the comedy and banter that was lost in the first few episodes was back this time around, making it feel like an earlier episode...even though the situation surrounding Shawn and Gus was different than their usual case. There were even a number of comments and situations made by the characters that made me laugh out loud.
One of the reasons that it felt like a normal episode was the fact it was the first episode where all of the principal characters of the show interacted with each other this season. For the first few weeks the members of the Psych Detective Agency and the Santa Barbara Police Department were in separate universes, barely even crossing paths. But, with the book-end (book page?) scenes taking place in the police department interrogation room their meeting was inevitable. I was just a bit sad that there wasn't more interaction between Shawn and Lassie, which makes for some good banter. However, the angry outburst by Jules for Shawn and his pals to confess made up for some of that.
Another reason why this episode felt right was the use of Shawn's much-neglected "psychic" powers. With Uncle Jack unaware that nephew was faking it (even though he said 'You can't snow a snowman'. How ironic.) Shawn was able to use his showmanship to obtain clues to the lost treasure of the pirate Bushard (Bussard?). When you think about it, Shawn would be the perfect person to hunt for the lost treasures of the world due to his photographic memory. Should Psych be canceled one day, they should consider a spinoff featuring the boy as a world adventurer.
Yet another reason why this was a good episode was the editing and, let's face it, the lack of gratuitous product placement. While last week's episode was okay something was missing from it...there were some scenes where the editing was just off. Plus, the placement of the Dunkin Donuts' ad within the show threw off the entire rhythm. You could tell that the producers took some extra care with this week's installment. Possibly due to the scene switches between the present and past events.
A final reason it was a good episode was the further reconciliation between Henry and Shawn. During a phone conference a few weeks ago, star James Roday said that there would be an understanding between the two after Shawn came to the realization that his father wasn't the one who asked for a divorce. You saw some of that here, particularly in the last scene of the episode where they meet at the Red Robin (Oh, there was the gratuitous product placement!). It was a father-to-son chat that didn't feature any animosity, any barbs between them. It was a nice ending to a good episode.
All right, you know what time it is. Since I didn't see one pineapple this week, let's just move into the pop references. At first, it didn't seem like there were going to be that many. But, as the episode progressed they began to come at a furious pace. Mentioned were: sporks, wow wow wubbzy, fedoras, The Rat Pack (in a very amusing back-and-forth), the bands 'Tony! Toni! Tone!' and 'Wet Wet Wet', Puma sneakers, Erasermate, Jack Lord and director John Woo. Movies references this week were Idle Hands, Iron Giant and The Secret of Nimh and The Secret of my Success, which apparently had the same secret.
Next time on Psych -- Shawn and Gus go back to the 70s. And, if this episode isn't full of retro references I'll be shocked.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-09-2008 @ 2:59AM
Seth said...
I think we are just on a different page on what we consider great episodes because I positively thought this was one of the worst episodes of Psych in the history of the show. I've never been so bored out of my mind, no funny jokes, bad setup and just a lot of the greatness from say the high school reunion episode is just completely lost here. So disappointed.
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8-09-2008 @ 3:41AM
chrome said...
The lack of gratuitous product placement? Wow, I thought it was even worse this week. We get Jack wanting to meet Shawn at Red Robin, followed by the last scene (filmed at either a RR or a facsimile) in which Shawn waxes rhapsodic about their milkshakes.
While I'll keep my season pass on the TiVo, I haven't been enjoying this season nearly as much as before. I liked this one more than the previous three, but the episodes have felt too forced, as if the writers are relying too much on what they did before. To me, this show isn't meant to be taken seriously -- it's just well-written FUN on a Friday night... yet it seems to have lost some of the effervescence that made it stand out in the past.
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8-09-2008 @ 5:01AM
bc said...
One thing they continue to not take much care of is having characters drive cars which are available in Canada where the series is shot but not available where the series is set. They can't do much about having the characters run around a temperate rain forest that doesn't exist near Santa Barbara, because that's the outdoors they have to work with. The cars they do have a choice of, and they just don't pay attention to detail.
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8-09-2008 @ 7:23AM
J Ross said...
The Pineapple was on the coffee table in Henry's house in the scene where Shaun was calling him for help and his house was trashed.
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8-09-2008 @ 7:45AM
Karen said...
I liked that this episode had a different rhythm to it, with the SBPD scenes and their flashbacks. And I thought that Steven Weber was outstanding as Jack--exactly the sort of role model a boy like young Shawn would have latched on to: so much fun next to his own rather controlling and humorless father. Which made that final scene all the more touching--Shawn's realization of how much of Jack he has in himself, and why that might not have been such a great direction for his life.
But oh my GOD, that Red Robin commercial was disgusting! And that they shot the best scene of the episode right after the revolting plug for the milkshakes? Nauseating. I will NEVER eat at a Red Robin now. Has anyone considered how much ill-will this kind of product placement generates?
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8-09-2008 @ 3:31PM
newmiyamoto said...
Lack of product placement, what are you talking about?
PUMA - a good 10-15 mentions of the name and even a conversation about how they are not as expensive as other sneakers.
FOOT LOCKER - in the same conversation as the puma price one was the mention of foot locker and their money off vouchers.
RED ROBIN - this one was beyond gratuitous, from the fast talking of Jack describing their menu and Shawn's elaboration of their 'amazing' shakes, it was horrible.
And the episode was sponsored by Arby's.
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8-09-2008 @ 8:39AM
Jessica said...
There was a pineapple drawing on the wall in the cave.
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8-09-2008 @ 8:46AM
Tim said...
"Has anyone considered how much ill-will this kind of product placement generates?"
I have, any product that throws itself into my favourite shows goes straight on the 'Don't Buy' list. There's been no exceptions yet.
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8-09-2008 @ 10:08AM
Dorv said...
I love how its the product that catches the ill will, and not the show.
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8-09-2008 @ 10:19AM
Hank said...
At least the product placements weren't as forced here as they were with the coffee ones from last week.
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8-09-2008 @ 10:57AM
Vince said...
No ill will for either from me. I realize that they have to do something considering that I'm skipping all the regular commercials anyway. It's like TV was in the 50's (not that I was alive back then)...
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8-09-2008 @ 11:40AM
Paul K said...
Can't say I'm too bothered either. Although I am not a big fan of gratuitous product placement, I also realize that these shows are designed to attract advertisers...and I am skipping every commercial with my DVR. If advertisers know I am not watching their commercials, they won't advertise, and my favorite shows will get canceled. I'm willing to put up with a little gratuitous product placement to be able to skip the commercials. Gotta pick your poison.
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8-09-2008 @ 11:46AM
John Heltsley said...
I think he meant to say lack of a _blatant_ product placement. Last week's Dunkin' Donuts was horrendous; this week with Red Robin was much more subtle. I just watched the episode an hour ago, and had already forgotten that it was there. It just wasn't as "in your face" as last week's. In fact, during the episode, I didn't even realize that was the product placement... I hadn't been thinking about one or looking for it, however, so maybe that's why I didn't take special notice.
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8-09-2008 @ 1:33PM
Argus said...
Bushard is actually spelled Bouchard generally.
Great ep in my opinion, I enjoy when formulas are mixed up.
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8-09-2008 @ 5:50PM
John said...
No one mentioned the fact that Shawn and Gus actually are on Facebook? =) (since Shawn mentioned having more friends on facebook than his dad, I was doing a search no more than a minute later...) And he hasn't approved my request yet, nor has Guster. Darnit.
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8-12-2008 @ 1:46AM
zkam said...
Interesting... If you look at Burton Guster's friends, you'll see Shawn listed twice, with 2 different profiles. Also, check Shawn's friends - besides Guster, there's Mohinder Suresh (from Heroes), and a Lavender Gooms - wasn't that one of the silly names that Shawn has used? Also - no Jules?
8-09-2008 @ 10:04PM
amazo said...
don't forget the homeskillet reference. (juno)
i think all of you are way overreacting on the fact that there are product placements. it only cuts into the show if you let it. i don't really care, and i am able to enjoy the show like I always have, and will.
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8-10-2008 @ 12:44AM
phil said...
Part of the fun nature of the show is the product placement, it's not like these characters can't live in the real world and guess what -- there is a red robin around, so why can't shawn and his father eat there?
This show is all about the references.
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8-10-2008 @ 12:00PM
Hair said...
Phil is spot on. I actually prefer it when TV show characters talk about real world places and products as it makes it seem more realistic. I'd rather they eat at a Red Robin than at a Mega Mooby Muffin or something, because at least people can relate to a Red Robin. And what if Spencer actually DOES love the shakes there? Haven't you ever talked highly of some product to your friends?
The way the show has been doing it so far only helps to make these people seem more real. The wrong way to do it, in my opinion, is what Eureka is doing with Degree. That sucks. Psych has the right idea.
8-10-2008 @ 7:14PM
jimmy stamp said...
Product placement doesn't normally bother me, and I agree that it fits in with a show that so heavily references popular culture. That said, Shawn's comment about the milkshake was a bit over the top — especially placed right before one of the most poignant conversations in the show's history. Wasn't it enough that the establishing shot lingered on the Red Robin sign for so long?
Uncle Jack was a great ad to the episode and added some great new character development to Shawn. But what about Gus? will we get more of a look into his life? It'd be nice to see him play a greater role this seaso.
I've been enjoying the slightly changed format, although it was nice to see the guys working together (and being interrogated by!) the SBPD. More of that please! "You smell nice" was a funny touch in Shawn's note to Jules.
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