Monsters of Television

“I think that bailiff from Night Court is spot on.”

Hmm. Something smells of herring.

The one thing I learned from this episode: despite my film degree, I have not seen a whole lot of Hitchcock. You would think after spending four years of taking film classes of every kind that I would be sick of Hitchcock, up to my ears in the bald man. But no. Even today, my familiarity with his oeuvre is limited to Psycho, most of Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest and brief clips I’ve seen in passing. Now, base an episode on the Odessa Steps sequence or mimes playing tennis and I’m a freaking expert. But my education on Hitchcock was somewhat lacking.

Like House, season finales on Psych are usually formula-breaking, stylized events. Season 4’s ending brings back the Yin-Yang Killer from last season’s finale, a psychopath obsessed with Shawn that leaves clues around town for him to pick up on like a game only he can play. But, since Yang (the name by which she goes) is locked up in a high-security mental institution, this new string of murders can’t be her. In a twist that should really be no surprise to anyone familiar with the Yin-Yang symbol, Yang admits to having a partner that’s still at large. He goes by Yin.

Possibly the best part about this episode is the return of a guy named Mary, a quirky man that’s followed the Yin-Yang killer for 13 years. He’s funny in way that goes so far from the place Shawn and Gus’s comedy comes from that he almost sounds like them again. He’s completely off the reservation, his observations like a creepier James Spader’s and, when he invokes Shawn as a source for how he delivers his lines, sounds like an evil doppelganger (the Night Court line above contains the same wit as if Shawn delivered it but has some sort of quiet insanity to it). He’s a great character even if his main purpose is to serve as red herring (twice now).

The killer takes Psych and the SBPD through his real-life interpretations of Hitchcock films, some references I got, some I missed. I nailed the death of the blonde bombshell (a server at the beginning) and some of the Rear Window/Psycho stuff. Since this is essentially part two of the season finale from last season, the episode is filled with fun call backs to that episode (Gus last time tried to distract Lassie and Juliet in ridiculous ways; Lassie calls him on that this go around). Yin is not as rigid and Die Hard with a Vengeance-esque like Yang was, something the characters comment on (since he’s supposed to be the opposite), but he is astute in Shawn’s personal troubles and used them to his advantage.

I’ve mentioned two threads this season that have seemed important to me: Shawn’s frequent slumps and the Abigail/Juliet question. The former apparently is not important at all. False alarm guys. Sorry. But the second one comes to the fore through Yin’s diabolical plan. I knew the season finale would put Shawn on a decision of who to choose but didn’t think (for whatever reason) that the evil mastermind in this episode would make him choose which one would live. Also, I didn’t think this would really be a decision. Abigail’s been such a weak character, one-dimensional and even cliché at times. Most of her existence on the program has been in mentions between Shawn and Gus and I figured her leaving for Africa was way to excuse this from ever happening while getting Shawn on the Juliet train. Turns out we were due for a least one more goodbye (making it three total, I believe). When Shawn has to choose between being present for saving Juliet or saving Abigail, I pretty much announced, “Let Abigail die.” Because who cares? But he goes to save Abigail and gets a gander at Yin before diving into the water to cut her free anyway, just so they could have their scene on the pier.

Shawn, when all jackassery has been removed, is a pouty-lipped softy. But not even this is enough to keep Abigail around who feels being part of Shawn’s dangerous life is too much for her. She wants to see the world, do some good, and she can’t do that if she’s dead. This whole break-up didn’t really land for me at all but this whole relationship felt like a sham so it all fits together. Meanwhile, Juliet, fresh from being held hostage several hundred feet in the air, tries to hold it together for everyone watching her but collapses in her partner’s arms, sobbing. Even though it’s under the swell of Ending Montage Music, it’s a good moment for Lassiter and Juliet and one I hope charges next season (especially since Shawn initially chose her to be saved but wasn’t there when she was rescued.

But then again, as it has been pointed out, Psych is not a soap opera.

All in all a good episode. Season finales let folks on the show stretch their writing/directing/acting chops a bit, though I think the only people in the episode that really stretched much acting-wise might be Yang and Juliet. In any case, I look forward to next season where this whole thing probably won’t be mentioned for another 16 episodes.

One last note: Shawn mentions trying out something new called “completely untrue random trivia” where he says something that everyone knows but then follows it with something completely untrue and random. I love this idea.