Psych - Episode 4.04 - The Devil is in the Details ...and in the Upstairs Bedroom - Recap

This week on Psych, Mini Shawn and Gus are been kept back after Sunday school. Father Peter Westley (Ray Wise) calls Henry to discuss Shawn’s scepticism. We see mini Gus for the first time this season, and he does well to convey “Oh nice one, Shawn” with just one look.
Despite trying to tell Shawn off - even Henry hesitates at the “wouldn’t the lions eat the zebras?” question.

The scene changes to the present. It is night and a young woman is running scared across a paved square. We see the name St Atallus College Divinity School lit up. Maybe a reference to St Attalus and the Dragon – from a 1980’s comic called ‘Tales of the Unanticipated’ - but I’m not sure. He wasn’t a real Saint, Attalus I was a Greek ruler of Pergamon (in an area of what is modern day Turkey). Attallus II was his son and heir, finally, Attalus III was the latter’s nephew. Attalus III had a cult spring up to him when he was in power maybe this is what the reference is to?

The woman is followed by a friend into the building and then up out onto a balcony. To the horror of her friend, the woman throws herself off, down onto the square below. Then, as her friend draws near to her to see if she is dead, the woman’s eyes flash wide open, then remain still as the girl dies.

Next, we see the school grounds by day. In real life, the location is the University of British Columbia Campus. It has some terrific examples of modernist architecture and this episode has used the Ladner Clock Tower in a number of stills.

This time, unlike the usual set up, Gus has persuaded Shawn to attend the crime scene, and Shawn is not happy about it. Gus was called by their old Sunday school teacher Father Westley. Shawn claims that in addition to being psychic detectives, they also do commercial jingles, “Boom, boom, boom...muff-ins”...this is the start of a great running joke throughout the episode.

In this scene the relationship between Father Westley and Shawn is reinforced, Shawn clowns around and remains sceptic, whilst Father Westley side-steps his antics with ease.

Lassie and Jules are also at the crime scene. Before Father Westley can continue, Lassie has taken him off to one side for further questioning. The Duo eavesdrop. We establish that the victim, Agatha was a model student, until about three weeks ago, when she became emotionally unstable. Shawn checks that she didn’t play GTA - a comment which is a set-up for a series of scenes with Henry later on.

Lassiter takes Jules aside to explain that Agatha was murdered, Shawn butts in to tell him he is wrong, and that he senses it was a suicide. Greatly antagonised, Lassie immediately shouts that Shawn can tell his senses to “Kiss my sweet...!” but, cowed by a couple of passing nuns, Lassie changes what he was going to say to a slightly questioning “...love biscuits?”. As everyone is considering Lassie’s ‘love biscuits’, Gus points out that it is questionable whether he made the phrase any less offensive.

As Father Westley theorises that Agatha was possessed, the incidental music hints at a Tubular Bells refrain.

Woohooo! Theme tune- but only the short version this week....boooo.

Gus makes Shawn take the case. Gus’s prime suspect? The Devil. Shawn mocks Gus, listing what they can do if, when they capture him, the devil starts acting all "devilly" (play a tune on the fiddle first, then strike a wager for his co-operation). He presents a sketch - the devil wears flares!

Gus demands that Shawn takes this seriously and claims Lead Investigator on this job. They interview Father Westley about why he thinks Agatha was possessed (Westley takes a pill with water, but no mention is made of it).

Gus does some internet research and we find out the backgrounds of this week’s characters. Shawn continues to make a joke of the situation “Boom, boom, boom...this thing!” (It’s a hole punch Shawn). Gus has found out the Father Westley is one of the top exorcists in the country, undertaking a number of high profile cases in the seventies.

Gus has also accessed Agatha’s social network “page” – i.e. it’s a Facebook-type page, which looks very similar to Facebook, but is in Psych green rather than blue, (presumably they are not allowed to use the real thing) – Psychbook! Agatha’s status updates show she was fine until three weeks ago, then the comments became more negative. Gus thinks this is the point of possession, Shawn thinks it is more likely related to boyfriend troubles. Psychbook shows that Agatha was dating someone called Cameron. Shawn forcibly takes back the Lead Detective badge (through the medium of mime).

The Duo visit Cameron, to find Lassie and Jules are already there. However, Cameron has no motive and has an alibi. On their return from Cameron's room, they find out that agatha's friend, Lucy Ryan was with her when she died.

Passing themselves off as grief counsellors, Shawn, and “Shawn” visit Lucy. Mrs Ryan sees the boys in, and as they talk, Shawn comes up with one of my favourite lines:

Mrs Ryan: “Do you think she has PTSD?”
Shawn: “I’m afraid this is far more serious than mere menstrual issues”.

They enter Lucy’s bedroom, where she is performing demonic crabstands! After checking with Mrs Ryan that she isn’t a Yogi, or an Olympic gymnast, Shawn and Gus re-enter the room. They watch Lucy’s behaviour become even more disturbed. Gus has worked out that Agatha’s demon made its way into Lucy when she died, as happened in The Exorcist. Gus defends his theory and calls out Shawn’s use of Pretty in Pink to solve a crime. When Lucy starts spouting German (she has only learnt French), it seems the evidence is weighing in on the side of possession.

Gus takes the Lead Detective badge back, which leads to a punching fight between them. So Shawn walks out. He seeks the advice of Henry, who, in a small side story, has commandeered Shawn’s Xbox in return that Shawn paints the house. Henry persuades Shawn to go back to Gus, so at sundown Shawn returns to the Ryan House to find that Gus has already called in help.

Tubular Bells starts playing and Father Westley arrives, long coat, hat on, bag in hand, at the gates he pauses, the fog swirls low, and he makes his way towards the house. Psych replicates the iconic image from The Exorcist. Classic.



Westley puts his vestments on for the service. He jokes a little, but when Shawn makes a joke back Westley immediately shushes him, which I thought indicated the authority Westley still had over Shawn, and it also made me question further whether Westley was one of the good guys or not. Everyone is nervous. They enter Lucy’s room and the exorcism begins.

Fitting in time to flirt a little and a mention of Simon Baker (hahaa) Shawn leaves, but not before Lucy demonstrates again that she knows things that she couldn’t possibly know – about Shawn and Mr Reno (and a tack and blood poisoning).

Father Bard helps to hold Lucy down and Shawn and Gus wait outside while Westley finishes up. Apparently, Lucy is back to normal, the exorcism has worked.
Shawn does not believe this, and without Gus, he goes to the SB Police Station to talk to Jules. They have the toxicology results now, and Jules explains that though the tests were negative, you have to test for something specific in order to get a result. Shawn spars with Lassie whilst he is there, and it takes Jules’ intervention, followed by a great eye-roll to shut them up.

Shawn returns to the office and consults Gus’s “Index of medicine”. He hides it from Gus when he comes into the room and their split seems to have deepened.
Instead of talking to Gus, Shawn goes to visit his Dad. Henry has been playing Grand Theft Auto on the Xbox - all night long. Red-eyed, Henry advises Shawn that if he thinks Gus is wrong, he should tell Gus in the most respectful way possible.
Of course, Shawn does the opposite. The finger guns come out and Shawn is in Gus’s face with the fact that he is wrong. Agatha tested positive for L-dopa, a medicine used by those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It produces hallucinations as side effects for those without the condition.

Shawn explains the inexplicable: the German was a quote from Run Lola Run, Lucy’s favourite film. Their friend Stumpy posted a message on Shawn’s Psychbook page about the tack and Mr Reno incident. I loved the (deliberately awful) British accent here, and I desperately want the Psych team to do an episode in the UK.

Unfortunately, L-dopa is the medicine that Westley was taking earlier and as Gus and Shawn chat, Father Westley is being arrested.

Gus is convinced that Father Westley is innocent and visits him in his cell. Westley cannot tell Gus whom he suspects, as it is from information received whilst in the confessional. But he hints that Proverbs 11:6 may provide the answer. Gus takes his information to Shawn, who has gone to see Henry.

The place is a tip since Henry has been engrossed in GTA and the roles have been reversed, with Shawn being the more responsible one in the face of his Dad’s addiction. Shawn tries to steal the Xbox back.

The gang get Lassie and Jules and re-visit Cameron. Lucy is also there in a state of undress. Cameron claims they are just friends. Shawn and Gus point out that this is not possible between men and women and that “When Harry met Sally” taught us this. Shawn mentions that the film also taught us that women fake their orgasms, and they all turn to Juliet, including Lassiter, who acknowledges this with a nod.

Shawn explains that Lucy wanted Cameron and Agatha to break up, that she secretly drugged Agatha, in the hope that Cameron would dump her for acting crazy. Unfortunately, Lucy gave her too much and Agatha killed herself. In fear of being found out, Lucy overheard Father Westley mentioning “possession” at the crime scene, and pretended to be ill, to avoid getting caught. Shawn and Gus make up and are back together as a team again.

The end scene now, and Shawn enters the confessional with Father Westley, and we get confessions from Shawn about lying all the time as it’s the nature of the job- then also stealing- Shawn admits to stealing Gus’s food from his office draw and blaming it on the cleaning lady, Onelia. Amusingly, Gus overhears this. Shawn curses, but then offers a commercial jingle to the church- “Boom boom boom...wafers” Father Westley remains unimpressed. Shawn tries again, “Boom boom boom...Ho-leeee..Ghost”. Job done.
Corbin Bernsen takes the Psych-out spotlight this week...
Oh and P.S.

Mental Recap Life and Limb

The first episode of the two-part Finale (aired 15\08\09).
Last week Becky returned, in fact we met the whole family and saw Jack prepare to fight to keep his sister in town with him. On this episode, in slightly grainy Telecolombia Technicolor:

For the first time in weeks we see the Chloe\Arturo pairing on a job- a man – Brian Jennings, has had his fingers chopped off. He does not want them sewn on again from fear of the operation. The boss comes into the ward, angry and he accuses Brian of doing it on purpose to get compensation. Brian turns out to be a small distraction this week, the focus being on Becky and Jack.

On arriving at work this week, Jack immediately goes to see Becky- who seems in great form. They joke and share a sibling hug; he gives her a nail file and a sense of normality returns between them as she does her nails. When Jack talks to her about the facility he has lined up for her, Becky immediately gets anxious. Her ‘friend’ appears, in the corner of the hospital room. They are both scared and the threat of ‘them’ having found her returns. The scene becomes emotionally tense as Becky goes through an episode of screaming, paranoia and delusion. Jack sees her through it, but a consequence, and a tell tale sign of the difficulties he faces as her carer, is that he is stabbed in the arm with the nail file.

Nora calls Jack into her office, Veronica is already there. Nora informs Jack that she is assigning Veronica to Becky’s case. Veronica stresses that if she takes the case Jack as to step back, to which Jack seemingly agrees, but he is clearly not happy with the situation and walks from the office. Veronica recognises that she is stuck in a difficult situation.

Chloe and Arturo consult Carl Belle about their patient, about how to establish whether Brian has done it accidentally or not. They plan to go to his workplace and house (a la House)...to search for clues.

Next, Veronica introduces herself to Becky - who is feeling a little guilty. Jack watches the scene through the two-way mirror. Veronica establishes a rapport, and asks Becky about the auditory hallucinations, and Becky's friend is now in the room with them.

Meanwhile Drs. Chloe and Arturo visit Brian’s place of work. The machinery seems simple, with a clear danger zone, where not to put your hands.

Jack and his Mum (Margo) walk the hospital corridors. She lists the pros and cons of Becky moving to the Florida facility near them. The issue of why Jack does not like James becomes clearer- he put Becky in an institution when she first became ill. When Jack tells his mother he wants to look after Becky, she tells him clearly that it is not his choice to make.

Back to Brian, who is looking at himself with a relief, quickly hidden when the Doctors enter. He convinces Carl that cutting his fingers off was not about getting the money from his boss and Carl decides to discharge him. Jack, his mind elsewhere, signs the release papers, no questions asked.

In the next scene, Veronica suggests to Jack a potential treatment for Becky- an implant that will automatically dose her. Jack objects to this, as he feels Becky should take the medication under her own control. Veronica pushes him on it, and then tells him how it is going between herself and Becky, but Jack withdraws abrubtly saying, “She’s your patient”.

Veronica mentions to Nora that he is not letting go. Veronica feels that Becky is more stressed with Jack around, and his presence may be impeding Becky’s recovery. Nora catches Jack in the corridor and orders him to go home, saying he is taking on too much. They argue, but Jack becomes distracted by the conversation that Chloe and Arturo are having about Brian. He walks away from Nora and orders Chloe and Arturo to find Brian immediately. Jack now takes an interest in Brian’s case.

Jack chats to Becky about her facility, and again Becky acts anxious and frantically looks for her watch, which Jack maintains she never had in the first instance.

James and Margot are at the hospital, visiting. James asks to talk to Jack alone. We learn that James tried to find Becky too, even hiring his own Private Investigator. The two argue about mistakes in the past including placing Becky in an institution and James questions whether Jack has asked Becky what she wants to do.

Jack then goes to see Becky again. They sit and chat, Jack mentions that there is a place in the Florida facility for her, near their mum and James. Whilst Becky shows a little bit of anxiety, rubbing her wrist, essentially she remains happy and calm. They joke about Jack being quite a catch.

Chloe and Arturo go to Brian’s apartment, which turns out to be...odd- there are drawings of buildings and anatomical sketches of the human body everywhere, he has left a prosthetic arm and hand lying around– and a whole host of DIY tools covered in blood. Brian has cut off his own hand.

In hospital, Brian says he feels better than ever, without the hand. So the team meet to discuss the way forward - unfortunately Random Guy from last week is not sitting in on this one, and I miss him. Carl Belle wants to sew Brian’s arm back on, Jack feels that this would cause more mental anguish to the patient, which is not what they are there for.

Meanwhile, Becky talks to Veronica about her friend, she calls him Gabe. Veronica asks Becky if she ever knew a Gabe, Becky becomes upset. She recalls her time on the streets and that it is confusing not knowing if some of the things she remembers were real or a hallucination at the time. James and her Mum walk in and comfort her, and as a family.

Jack is talking to Brian now, who confesses his fondness for amputation. The fingers were a test, a trial run before he cut his whole hand off for real. Brian remains certain he has made the right decision. The diagnosis card is flagged up and it reads “Delusional. Body Integrity Identity Disorder”.

Carl Belle meanwhile, has headed in a different direction. He has gone directly to Brian’s parents and he bullies them to get Power of Attorney over Brian- so they can force him to get his hand re-attached.

The next scene Jack is chatting and playing guitar with Becky in her hospital room. Becky becomes serious and informs Jack she will be going to Florida. Jack explains that looking after her is the most important thing in his life, and Becky replies that” maybe it shouldn’t be”.

The next day now, at the hospital Chloe and Arturo fuss over Jack as he walks in. They have been trying to get in touch with him for hours. He is late for work, in the same clothes as yesterday, now rumpled and he looks like hell (well actually he still looks pretty fit). Chloe and Arturo tell Jack about what Carl has been up to, but he walks straight through them.

Becky is packing to leave.

Brian’s parents arrive at the hospital and are pleased and surprised to find Brian happy. They are confused, given what Carl has told them. Jack explains that Brian’s obsession has now gone. “Sometimes you have to give up a part of yourself in order to feel whole”. And we know he is not just talking about Brian and his hand.

Carl is watching this exchange, and sees he has lost control of the parents, so confronts Jack in the toilets. Carl calls Jack mentally unstable and unfit to be his boss. Jack responds by telling Carl that he is aware he is looking for an excuse to trip him up at every turn. Carl reveals he still feels he should have been given Jack’s job.

Jack walks from that conversation to one with James, who expresses doubts as to whether they are doing the right thing. James shows his regret regarding the decision to put Becky in the institution. They hug. Jack signs the release form. He holds back the tears as Becky leaves with James and his mum. Becky’s friend is there, and he follows them.

Nora walks past, and stops to advise Jack gets some therapy and Jack concedes he needs help. Jack walks away.

The season final episode recap will be up later.

Psych Season 3 Finale - REcap

A recap

The episode begins with a sunny view over the bay. Shawn and Gus (Trapezius Milkington) are dining al fresco at a restaurant. It’s lunchtime and Shawn is having cereal, as usual he chats up the waitress, trying to guess her car (she drives a black jeep).

Gus confronts Shawn about his inability to date properly. To prove Gus wrong Shawn phones Abigail Lytar. Abigail, now brunette, working at a nursery, and is making the kids all lie on the floor for quiet time. Shawn asks her out on a date- Gus and Abigail simultaneously ask if he is sure about this. He replies in all seriousness, “Yes. I believe I am”.

At the police station and McNabb hands Chief Vick an evidence bag with a manila envelope inside. There is a yin and yang symbol on the back. Chief Vick immediately recognises the seriousness of the situation and phones Shawn and Gus, ordering them to get them down to the station.

When they arrive, everyone is attending a briefing. Lassie and Jules are there too. Chief Vick has projected a message onto a screen. She confirms that this is from the “Yin-Yang killer” The message is made up from words cut from a number of sources in typical poison pen style.
Lassie in an authoritarian voice reads out the message.

“Hey everybody I’m back, for one night only. I’m going to KILL someone tonight, guess who? guess where? guess how?
This is going to be so much fun!
Signed,
Mr.Yang”

Lassie, with machismo, states, “I feel he’s speaking to me” – Vick gives him an arch look - cue shot of an additional message “P.S. ... OH AND BRING YOUR PSYCHIC ALONG” in coloured stencil.
Shawn laughs awkwardly as everyone turns to him, and claims it could be a reference to anyone in the station.
Vick now gives him the look- cue the infamous photo of Shawn from the archaeology site.

Shawn’s powers start to work immediately and he focuses on a strange man sitting yawning loudly and playing on his cell phone. Jules drags Shawn away to explain that this man is in fact Mary Lightly, the profiler from the Serial Homicide and Abduction Taskforce. Shawn picks up on the general creepiness of Mary, played excellently by Jimmi Simpson.

There follows introductions, Mary has heard of Shawn. Shawn has also Googled himself, but there’s a lot of stuff missing. Mary offers Gus (Sterling Cooper) the weakest, limpest, effete hand to shake, and Gus takes it with suspicion. Shawn steps in protectively between them.

Mary explains a few facts about the killer, “...the most notorious killer this city has never seen”. His killing sprees have been sporadic. He only resurfaces when he feels there’s a worthy opponent. Shawn interrupts at this point to clarify why he has Mary for a name. (He comes from a long line of Marys and a Craig).

Mary continues, and introduces the first clue, sent as a telegram along with a stopwatch giving them one hour and ten minutes to solve it. According to Mary, each riddle relates to Shawn personally.

As Shawn critiques Mr Yang’s rhyming skills, Shawn’s dad Henry shows up at the station. He has hear d Yang is back, and angrily forbids Shawn from getting involved, but Shawn makes it clear he will continue with the case.

The telegram clue leads the gang, badges blazing, to the restaurant from earlier in the day. The waitress Shawn showed an interest in, is nowhere to be found. A stopwatch is hanging from a locker door and a new clue is written in cereal letters stuck on the inside. The waitress has been kidnapped.

Mary gets so excited he rips open a can of fish and starts his lunch. Mary notes that Mr. Yang still owes them a riddle, and that this message is just the amuse-bouche (starters).

Shawn cracks a joke about eating breakfast for lunch, so Gus calls him aside to try to get him to take it more seriously. Shawn explains his “fanciful rhetoric” helps him to diffuse the tension of the situation. Mary offers Jules some fish straight from the can, which she declines with one of her excellent facial expressions.

Lassie has now found the next clue, and they only have seventeen minutes on the stopwatch. Gus tries to help Shawn diffuse the tension with some pancake humour, which is met with silent horror from everyone. But they work out which direction the clue is pointing them.

When they get back to the station, Maddy Spencer is there (Cybil Shepherd). She also tries to persuade Shawn to drop the case. Shawn declines, being confident of beating Mr Yang.

A new clue has been delivered. This time it is a rat in a cage. To help Shawn think, Gus does his wicked Michael Jackson impression. At the base of the cage is a newspaper sheet, which has printed in the advertising section our duo’s previous cases. They work through the print- Gus and Mary’s love of ferroequinology, (a light-hearted term meaning literally ‘the study of iron horses’) via ‘love me tender’ and ‘black snake’ - to get the solution to the clue as being the coal train, which is due to pass through town at any moment. Mary pockets the rat.

The coal train does not stop at the platform, so Shawn and Gus have to chase it down. During this, Abigail calls and Shawn explains he is hunting a serial killer. Abi is sceptical so Shawn asks Gus to confirm his story. “We’re chasing a train like hobos!” is the shouted response.

Leaping onto the moving train Shawn and Gus find the next clue and a stopwatch, showing they have 27 minutes to solve it. Suddenly Mary appears, running alongside the moving carriage (ankle weights are his secret). Together the next clue leads them back to the waterfront and to a bin that Gus had earlier that day thrown rubbish.

Heading onto the pier, a phone rings- they search for the sound- and find a cell phone taped to the underside of a bench. Rather than answer, Shawn works out Mr Yang must be watching them, and in a direct challenge, throws the phone into the sea. Lassie is furious, Jules is concerned that Shawn knows what he is doing.

Shawn sees a flash of light from one of the windows of the Psych office. They race back to Psych HQ and see that Mr Yang has been there (and left his binoculars behind). To help Shawn think, Gus’s distraction involves being a giant next to a toy plane- his King Kong impression does not go down well.

Looking at framed photos on the wall, Jules sees one of the kidnapped waitress. Lassie finds a stopwatch hidden in Shawn’s drawer and Mary reads out a message, which berates Shawn for being naughty, but gives them a second chance- they need to return to the station. At this point Shawn claims he has had enough and gives up on the case. Mary and Jules try to talk him out of it. Shawn is mean to Jules. The gang leave without him and with Jules hurt and angry.

Alone Shawn confesses to Gus it’s not over yet, they are still on the case- but need to work independently.

Meanwhile Lassie feels the new clue relates to him and his knowledge of the civil war. Here Simpsin as Mary gets an excellent line about Patrick Swayze in North and South “Talk about civil war buff, huh?” The clue leads them to a hotel.

At the same time Shawn realises the waitress’s jeep has been taken and tells Lassie- who has already found it. At the hotel, the waitress is bound, gagged and unconscious. A new clue has been left and Shawn realises that Mr Yang now has his mum. Written with lipstick on the bathroom mirror is another scrawled message leading the gang to the drive-in.

At the drive-in they look for Madeleine’s blue sedan. Shawn stumbles across it, and finds Maddy gagged in the front seat. A laser sight is focused on the back of her head from the projector room behind, however Shawn sees that this is a decoy and that Madeleine is actually wired up to explode.

Maddy indicates that Mr Yang is in the adjacent car, calmly eating popcorn. Except Mr Yang turns out to be a she-Ally Sheedy no less. Shawn goes over to her and gets in the car and she smiles evilly.

Meanwhile Lassie Jules, Mary and Gus realise they have been duped at the projector room and head out to look for Shawn.

Mr Yang and Shawn chat. She chose Shawn because he is the Yin to her Yang. During an increasingly crazy conversation, she says that wants Shawn to like her, and threatens that they will be working together again (on her book “it’s going to be epic”). She gives the detonator to Shawn, whilst laughing and hauntingly suggests Shawn think about it on his date tonight.

So, Maddy is saved and Mr Yang arrested. Shawn realises that Yang was present throughout the whole day and is freaked out by it. Mary is also upset that Yang has been caught, as he has done nothing but chase her for years. Gus narrowly avoids a racket ball date with him. Maddy insists that Shawn goes on the date with Abigail.

In the next scene Abi arrives at the drive-in. She apologises for not believing him earlier.Shawn goes to buy some popcorn, where Jules shows up, looking stunning. She bares her soul to Shawn finally. David Gray’s version of “Say hello, wave goodbye” is playing in the background . Jules says that she wants to take Shawn to dinner. He tells her, her timing is just awful, and that he is already on a date. To which Jules queries “What, here?” slightly incredulously. Shawn tells her it’s with Abigail, and Jules, understanding, kisses Shawn tenderly on the cheek.

Shawn keeps his eyes closed well after the kiss has ended, and Jules tells him to get out there to Abigail. Shawn calls her back- but just to apologise for snapping at her earlier.

Juliette leaves and Shawn backs out through the doors with the popcorn. Abi asks if he is okay, commenting that he looks “like he got punched in the stomach and stopped breathing for a few seconds”.
Shawn says everything is not ok- and for a second we are led to think he is going to end the date. But no, he bottles it and says the cinema had run out of butter instead.

And so there we leave it- a romantic mess. They get into Gus’s car for the date. But...Yes! Gus is in the back seat and saves Shawn from being on his own with Abi. Good old Gus - a true best friend. So we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that, with Gus in tow, Shawn and Abi aren’t quite on a date - at least not yet anyway.