Monsters of Television

“I may not be a planner, or a detail man, or a tax payer. But when push comes to shove I work and I get the job done. Now follow me back in there and let’s blow these guys’ minds. Scanners-style.”

“Check this out. Not only is it juvenile but just a tad creepy. Gum Giraffe! Ha! Like that Fruit Stripes gum. Or was that a zebra? Doesn’t matter. It fulfilled my ’80s Nostalgia Quota for this scene.”

I hate it when Shawn is in a slump.

I mean, it’s great characterization. The writers do a good job of sticking with Shawn’s quirks when he’s not as accurate and James Roday does an amazing job being the most annoying person on the planet. But it’s hard to watch Shawn try so desperately to make up for his lack of sharpness, partly with his half-hearted “visions” but mostly with his inappropriate joke-cracking. There have been several times this season where he has been all over the map (“You Can’t Handle This Episode” and, notably, “Shawn has the Yips”) but never have I wanted to walk out of the room so often out of sheer embarrassment than during this episode.

The most-offending scene is the one with the initial meeting of the think tank minds. This episode has Shawn and Gus taking jobs in private security to help protect a billionaire from suspected assassination, an opportunity Shawn leaps at despite his “powers” being restricted to clues he can pick up on in real-life scenarios. Conjecture in a sterile room puts Shawn at a serious disadvantage. So not only is he suffering from a slump threading through several episodes but he is also completely clueless without a real-life situation to be a part of. So, while the other members of the think tank bandy about ideas of how to better secure the asset, Shawn makes sculptures out of Big League Chew, tries to prove his psychic ability with simple observations about people in the room, and cracks wise to an audience not amused by his antics. When Gus suggests they should go, I yelled at the TV, “Yes. Just get out of there. It’s too painful, Shawn!” Maybe not literally. But in my head for sure. Shawn’s jokes fall way flatter when Juliet is not in the room to silently giggle.

By the way, where is Juliet? After spending the last few episodes focusing on her, her relationships, and Shawn’s attraction to her, Juliet essentially makes a cameo appearance in this episode. Last week, “Death is in the Air” featured a scene jammed-in near the end where Shawn was about to declare his — well, not love but maybe attraction for Juliet but was stopped short, the feeling of the scene reduced to a shared gaze. Even though this is a relationship they’ve been building for a while, it somehow still felt slapdash. So now, after they finally get through this moment they share, they use this episode to take a breather. Maybe it’s a tribute to Shawn and Juliet’s professionalism despite the sexual tension they’ve shared over the years. Or maybe they needed to make sure they cover all their bases (ie, story threads) in the final episodes leading to the end of the season.

Not many shows would do what Psych is doing to Shawn. To say they’re making him seem vulnerable is understating what it means for Shawn to be in a slump. His cocky yet lovable attitude is rooted in his abilities and, when they start to slip, he comes off as if he’s grasping at straws. He’s had to lean on his dad a lot more often lately (so much so that Chief Vick has noticed) and his number of incorrect “predictions” has skyrocketed. This episode even starts with him accusing an innocent man of murder. It’s becoming apparent he’s starting to ware thin on being able to solve cases on moxy alone (the flashback for this episode features Young Shawn not doing the proper legwork). And, suddenly, we’re starting to see the weaker, not-so-sure side of a protagonist that has made a character from always being on top. It reminiscent of another show with a cocky character that almost never loses: The Office.

Jim Halpert is a character constructed on elevating himself above the rest of his insane coworkers. Though he possesses no abilities beyond well-timed smirks, Jim (along with the meeker Pam) is the voice of reason in the office, and, typically stays on that pedestal. He is the prankster, the golden boy, the one the audience always roots for. So, when Jim falls flat on his face, it’s almost jarring. There have been only a handful of episodes where Jim has come out the loser, most recently during “Scott’s Tots” when Jim gets into hot water with the Employee of the Month debacle. While BBC’s The Office was unafraid to make Jim’s source material, Tim, look like a fool, it doesn’t happen to Jim very often and is almost refreshing to see, if a little painful since the audience always wants the more affable Jim to win. But without failure, there can be no definition of success.

So what success are we looking forward to in Psych? Is this thread of failure just to build up a big win for Shawn at the end of the season or is it to assist in this new thread of Henry possibly rejoining the force as a consultant liaison, ostensibly to be Shawn’s boss? Will uncovering the source of the haze on Shawn’s abilities be the payoff? I mean, this is an NBC/Universal detective/spy procedural where the source of impediment on a hero can almost always be traced back to a girl, present, absent, or past (think White Collar, Monk, Chuck, etc). Or is this failure just a forward-thinking way to humanize a character constantly on the brink of caricature? While “Think Tank” wasn’t necessarily one of the stronger episodes of the season, it certainly contributes to the feeling that we’re building toward something big.