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.

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Shawn: So you like tall men and fat animals.
Juliet: Yes. Yes, I do.

Juliet: in streets, hair down, smile, not standing behind Lassie.

At the end of Season 3, we saw Shawn get together with his high school sweetheart (Abigail: Rachael Leigh Cook) and manage an awkward situation when Juliet finally made a move (Shawn shot her down). Thus began Season 4’s inconsistent love affair with Abigail, where she showed up for a handful of episodes while Shawn mentioned her in absentia (so often in absentia that she sounds made up), as Juliet receded to a more background role with Lassie.

Despite making Abigail sound important in Shawn’s life (giving her a drawer, etc), her absence in the show was noticeable. Her phantasmic presence also prevented one of the quirky and enjoyable minor storylines from developing: the flirty relationship between Juliet and Shawn. While minorly interesting at the end of Season 3, the storyline had become weak, uninteresting, and a drain on the Shawn/Gus interaction since it was often plagued with obligatory mentions in order to maintain audience retention of the story. Something had to give. So they got rid of Abigail by randomly sending her on a trip to Africa for an indeterminate amount of time (0410: “You Can’t Handle This Episode”) and gave Shawn an episode to mourn the relationship (0411: “Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers”) before giving us a closer look at Juliet. Are we being set up to create some Shawn/Juliet shippers?

I say yes.

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As Nick noted, USA Network is rapidly becoming the spy-procedural channel, much in the way CBS has become the cop-procedural channel. Their recent announcement of Covert Affairs (punny), a show about  CIA newbie Annie Walker (portrayed by Piper Perabo) who for some reason becomes a field operative and is dealing with the break-up with a mysterious boyfriend who happens to be of interest to her boss. (You can read the full rundown from THR here.)

But what’s more is that while CBS has replicated its procedural approach across many of its dramas, USA is hybridizing its shows to create its network identity without getting the ribbing CBS does for its CSI-cloning. Read more »