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Throwback Thursday - Psych - Shawn Takes a Shot In the Dark

26 Mar 2015

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Throwback Thursday, a weekly article in which we look back at our favourite TV episodes from over the years.

Today marks one year since the series finale of an amazing show aired - Psych. No, I'm not kidding when I say psych. I think it would only be fair if I decided to review an episode of this show. Now, normally one would try to pick their absolute favourite episode to review during this segment, but I decided to pick my second favourite. Last Night Gus is my all-time favourite, but I think it would be very difficult to review. Thus, I decided to review an episode that truly has it all - action, intensity, creativity, a thought-provoking case, and of course, it has the ability to make you laugh one second and cry your eyes out the next. Written by Andy Berman, directed by Mel Damski, this episode is truly a masterpiece. It just goes to show you that not only can James Roday do comedic acting extremely well, but he is also a phenomenal dramatic actor. So, without further ado, let's get to reviewing!




Summary of the episode:

The episode starts off with a flashback to the golden year of 1989, like most episodes do. Shawn Spencer and his father, Henry Spencer arrive home and take the groceries out of the trunk of Henry's truck. Henry is badgering Shawn about the "how many hats are in the room" scenario, once again. He says that not knowing that a bandana counts as a hat "just doesn't cut it anymore", and how he's going soft on Henry. He also claims that knowing the answer to this could very well save his life one day. Shawn tells him to stop bothering him about this, that he's only 11-years-old. Henry assures him that these skills he's teaching him are important. He closes the flashback with, "Today, we're learning about worst case scenarios...", and then the flashback fades to black.

The dilemma:

We're taken to some kind of junkyard at 4:30 a.m. to be exact. Gus is in his pyjamas, so you know something's immediately wrong with this situation. Head Detective Carlton Lassiter and Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara have been brought out here, by Gus, to investigate what has happened. Lassie isn't too pleased to be out here, but Jules seems genuinely concerned. Gus reveals that Shawn left him a message on his phone. Shawn figured out answers to a case, and he asked Gus to meet him there. Oh no, it transitions to Shawn in the truck of a car with his hands duct-taped together. He has a "psychic vision", and remembers that a man asked what he was doing there, and pointed a gun at him. Damn.

Back to the flashback, Henry wants to teach Shawn how to escape from the trunk of a car. How convenient! Henry stuffs Shawn in the trunk, which seemed a bit abusive, but oh well. In fact, a neighbour saw this and she looked horrified. Haha. Henry instructs him to feel for the brake light, kick it out to create a hole, and then, BOOM. Back to present day, Shawn does exactly that. Staring out onto the road travelling behind him, he looks terrified. Can you blame him? He hits his head on the top of the car, poor guy. Luckily for him, his phone is in his hands. He slides through his contacts four times, which should give him Gus's number. Unluckily for him, he's calling someone he used to date - Gina. A hilarious and intense conversation ensues between them. Shawn manages to get the tape off his hands.

Shawn sends a cryptic text to Gus. Gus admits he has no idea what it means. It reads, "Trunk yelrfx ocone pol peace sig.", and a second message that reads, "Binshot not lol". Lassie claims it's gibberish and wanders off. He discovers some blood at the scene. Gus pieces it together: binshot means that Shawn has been shot. Cue my screaming. Oh man, this was an intense reveal, and the episode has barely started! Which leads us into the theme song, which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest theme songs of all time!

Now the police have been called out to the scene. Lassie is walking us through what happened. Along came Henry, and Lassie is pissed. He says that if Shawn was shot he can't waste time dealing with family members. And Henry says if Shawn was shot there isn't a room he won't bust open to find the person that shot him. Aw, I love when Henry actually cares about Shawn. Props to Corbin Bernsen who honestly looked so scared, which made me so sad. Anyway, Jules thinks that the case could get personal, and they might need Henry. Lassie tells them all that it's his way or no way. Lassie takes Henry to go investigate some more, and Jules and Gus are in charge of retracing Shawn's steps. Gus is in a state of shock, and you really can't blame him; this is his best friend in the whole world we're talking about here. So Jules really has to push him to figure out what happened. Gus says it all started a few days ago, with an ice-cream truck on a highway. Time for another, more recent flashback!

At the scene of the first and original crime, Lassie yells at McNab for touching his car because he just got it buffed. Lassie asks what they were called in for because there was an accident but the driver was already taken to the hospital. Buzz informs them that no one is sure how the accident happened. Lassie is bored by this news so he starts walking away. That is, until Jules notices Shawn and Gus getting their picture taken with a firefighter. Shawn tells them that they're not intruding on the case, they merely heard the word "ice-cream" and it was Gus's snack time. Lassie says that Shawn and Gus can have this case, and they accept. Jules whispers to Lassie reminding him that they still have to file paperwork on the accident. While Shawn is "sensing" that someone might have tampered with the ice-cream truck before the accident, Gus tells this to Juliet in real time again, via voiceover. That was really cool.

Back inside the trunk, Shawn realizes he's losing a lot of blood. My poor baby. He found a crowbar, somehow, and yanks the trunk open. Atta boy. He has been pretty lucky with the objects he has found inside the trunk. The trunk flies right open, and the car starts swerving left and right. The cinematography here is especially beautiful. There's a really nice shot where the car is driving by and it's steady on the top of the trunk and Shawn's trying to manoeuvre around. The car pulls over. Oh shoot, this is getting real. Shawn gets out of the car and starts running away, all the while holding his shoulder for support and leaving his phone behind. The driver runs after Shawn, yelling at him to stop. Shawn is a lot more resilient than that. The driver appears to be in some sort of pain. It looks as though he's limping. I have no sympathy for this man right now. The score here is also really pretty.

Two heads are better than one:

We transition back to Lassie and Henry sitting in Lassie's car, and they're trying to decipher Shawn's text messages. Henry tries to tell Lassie that these are abbreviations Shawn is using. Lassie reminds Henry that he knows Henry's a good cop, but Lassie's the one on the police force, so he might be a little more viable in this situation. Henry lets Lassie in on a little secret - if you say the words out loud, it might trigger something for you to be able to figure out what Shawn meant. For instance, "ocone", translates to orange cone. They figure that they need to go to an old construction site. They drive off immediately after.

Meanwhile, back at the police station, Jules and Gus are walking around and she's trying to jog his memory. The scene fades into what appears to be another flashback, and Gus says that they found out who was servicing the truck, and how they decided to give them a visit the next day. I really like how this episode is panning from the past to the present. It has been done really well here. Did I mention I truly love when someone on the team is wearing blue? Shawn's shirt is really lovely in this scene. The guy servicing the truck reveals himself - and it's the same guy who was driving the car that held Shawn hostage in! Dang, what a reveal! Shawn introduces himself and Gus, with a hilarious nickname of "Doughnut Holeshtein". The bad guy's name is Garth Longmore, which Shawn notes is a far more interesting name than the one Shawn gave for Gus. Shawn beats around the bush for a while before Gus asks him why a truck might have welding marks underneath it. He evades being caught by explaining that a lot of things can cause this. They then leave the car garage.

We are back in present day, and Jules is wondering what they learned from the venture to the garage. Gus says that Shawn was still convinced that the truck ad been tampered with, but he was going to need a different psychic tactic if he was going to get any answers. Oh no. Jules points out that someone from the SBPD could've gotten him the answers he desired. And now Jules wants to go see Garth Longmore with Gus. They go to the garage, and they find out Longmore quit yesterday. Jules asks if he gave a reason for quitting, and the employee said that he got a new car and took off. This might be a good time to mention that the employee noticed that Gus is still wearing his child pyjamas. Amazing. Garth didn't leave a forwarding dress, however he walked out of the garage with the guy's mig gun. Gus starts to panic, but Jules reassures him that this is a gun used for welding. Ah, maybe that's what Shawn used to get out of the trunk.

Now we're back to the other third of the story. Shawn is still running away from this guy. Damn, isn't he really tired at this point? What a trooper. All of a sudden, another flashback happens. This episode should've been called "Shawn Has a Flashback In the Dark.", but I digress. It's another one of Henry's lessons, and this time, it's about what to do if someone chasing you in a dark forest. Henry warns him to never walk in a straight line, and always change your course; zig zag if you have to. And then the flashback ends and we're back in present day. This is really cool. Shawn sits behind a tree, and we see the camera pan as Garth walks right by him. Shawn is in a lot pain and he's still bleeding. Oh man. Keep it together, my man. Or better yet, don't. You're always this unbreakable character that's happy-go-lucky about everything. Once in a while, it's okay to break down and let go of your inhibitions.

Lassie and Henry are driving around and they pass by a sign with a white peace sign airbrushed on it. They realize that's what Shawn saw when he texted Gus. They then pass by the yellow reflector too. And then the orange cone. Henry thinks he figured something out, so he demands that Lassie stops the car. He swerves and then stops it. Lassie compliments his car and its brakes. They get out of the car, and Henry finds pieces of the brake light from the car Shawn was in. Lassie claims that there are dozens of accidents every day, but Henry is adamant that this is Shawn. Lassie asks why. Henry says, "Because I'm the one who taught him how to do it." Ooh, cue the heartbreaking emotions.

Jules and Gus are still working at the police station, and the only record on Longmore is that he died in 1956. Interesting. Jules profiles that criminals do this all the time; they buy fake identities on the black market. She keeps Lassie up to date, and they tell her about the piece of the brake light they found. Henry mentions that since the yellow reflector was the last clue Shawn gave them, that he must've escaped somewhere close to where they were standing. "He's close." Dang, I just got chills. Lassie tells Jules to get McNab to pick up his car, with very specific instructions not to touch anything. Classic Lassie. Lassie and Henry then go searching for Shawn on foot. This is risky, but I hope it pays out. Just before leaving, Henry says, "Let's go find my son." ever so slightly. I was on the edge of my seat at this point. The scene ends with Shawn waking up and running to a gas station, only to be ambushed by a second perpetrator. The intensity levels are at an all-time high right now.

The meat of the episode:

Shawn comes-to inside of the gas station, where the two criminals are arguing in front on him. The one who knocked Shawn out appears to be the dominant one of the two. He's yelling at him and wondering how he could've screwed this up, and how could Shawn have possibly escaped from the trunk of the car. Shawn's making light of the situation, as he most often does. However, he seems to be pretty light-headed. Shawn notices that they patched up his gunshot wound. The dominant one suggests that they shoot Shawn in the head, citing how they don't need this distraction. Shawn tells them that would be a bad mood, that they're under a great deal of stress, and now is not the time to make important life decisions. They exchange more words, and Shawn is scared, but he's trying not to show it. He blames it on his ADD. The dominant one asks Shawn to imagine what it would feel like when he shoots him and the bullet go through to his brain, and how easy it would be for him to do that. Shawn attempts to talk him down: "Physically, yes, but I would imagine that it would give you some pause emotionally. No?"

The dominant one then realizes it's a great idea to keep Shawn alive so that he has a hostage in his back pocket in case their deal falls apart. Dang, Shawn looks vulnerable here. I won't lie and say I'm completely scared about this situation. I'm also happy he's letting some fear shine through. Meanwhile, while he's trying to make jokes with the submissive one, he notices that the truck they're going to use to escape has the same welding marks as the truck from the original accident. Shawn notes that: "I've heard people say that a gunshot wound is really all about the shock, right? That, at some point, the wound itself just goes numb, and you can't feeling anything. Well, that's not true. I can say that, without a doubt, this is the most pain I've ever been in, in my life. So, if you wouldn't mind turning the other direction, I would very much lie to weep. If that's okay." Oh my goodness, this is so painful to watch; no pun intended. Shawn looks at a picture of the submissive one on the wall, and he's holding a pretty big gun. Oh dear, he must've had some training with a gun before.

It has been so long since they had a flashback, so, naturally, it's time for one again. This time, it's one where Shawn is alone and investigating the junkyard from the opening scene. Did I forget to mention that I couldn't look at an ice-cream truck the same way ever again after this episode? Yeah... Anyway, Shawn finds the submissive one doing some welding work on the trunk, just as he suspected. He sneaks up on Shawn and pulls his gun out on him. Yikes. Shawn tries to weasel his way out of this situation, but the submissive one isn't letting up. Shawn guesses that Garth Longmore isn't his real name, and he's right. The submissive one is adamant that he will shoot him, but Shawn just tells him to relax. He compliments him on his ingenious plan. We then get to see a slow motion shot of the bullet travelling from the gun to Shawn. That was wickedly cool to see, but also intense as hell.

Back at the gas station, Shawn starts interrogating the submissive one about his time in combat. He asks him if was hell. The submissive one asks Shawn how he knows this, and Shawn tells him he's a psychic and this is what he does. Of course. Shawn enlarges his ego, and then asks the hard-hitting question. Why didn't he kill Shawn from 3 feet away, when he has killed numerous people from as far as 1500 feet away because he was a sniper? "I suspect it's because you're not really a killer, are you. [...] At least, not anymore." Damn. This line really got to me. I really believed James's performance in this scene.

Henry and Lassie are now running through the forest trying to find a sign of Shawn. They have a funny conversation about how Lassie is convinced Henry's on steroids because he was a much fast walker than him. Henry finds a piece of Shawn's shirt that he wrapped around a tree branch. What a smart guy Shawn is. Gus and Jules go to Shawn's home, which appears to be the building that used to be a laundromat. It's really cute to see Jules finally in Shawn's place. I definitely ship them, and I always have. So this was amazing to see. Gus takes off his jacket, and starts looking for a change of clothes. Jules is shocked, and tells him he shouldn't be stealing Shawn's clothes. Gus lets her know it's not stealing, that half of the clothes that are there belong to Gus. Jules seems really curious about Shawn's love life in this scene. (At this point, Shawn was dating Abigail Lytar, even though the entire time he couldn't stop thinking about Jules. This is a great scene because it's so painfully obvious that they should be together; all Jules cares about right now is Shawn and how things are going with Abigail.) Anyway, Gus found the pamphlet Shawn took with him from the garage. They check Shawn's internet history, and while he was looking at spoilers for The Mentalist and a thumbnail of Billy Zane's hair, he was looking for an armoured car theft. The ice-cream truck was just the rehearsal!

We're with Shawn at the gas station again, and we're seeing him in a very raw state right now. "I mean, I like to talk out loud when I'm working stuff out in my head. That's what I do." He's admitting very personal things to the submissive one, all the while still looking a bit concerned for his safety. What a man. He "sees" him welding the truck, and instead of reinforcing the trunk, he weakened it, giving him easy access to the money. Shawn spells out the rest of the plan; so very clever. The dominant one returns and asks Shawn this: "Why do you care? You'll be dead." DUN DUN DUN! So much intensity in this episode, it's crazy really!

The distraction:

Lassie and Henry finally make it to the gas station. The dominant one comes out and they ask him questions. The submissive one is inside holding Shawn in a chokehold. Haven't you done enough? He can easily see that Lassie and Henry are outside, but there's nothing he can do about it! Dang! The dominant one covers his tracks by sending them down the road and telling them he has never seen Shawn before. Lassie tells Buzz to put out an APB on the truck and to secure the area. Henry doesn't seem convinced that the dominant one was sincere. He is right about that, and he seems to be right about everything. The perps are arguing, leaving Shawn to his own devices. He's able to break the tape off; he's really good at that. He sees his phone vibrating off the table. He knocks himself over in a really elegant way, and reaches for the phone. Much to his dismay, it's Gina calling him to apologize. He just wants her to call the police, but of course, she won't do that. Ugh, she is really annoying.

The submissive one comes back and finds Shawn on the phone. He tries to explain that he wasn't calling the police. He saw the picture of him with a girl earlier, and he has this to say about it: "Recently, I met a girl. Someone special, just like you did." "Just like me?" "Yeah, I saw her in a vision. She's beautiful. She's got red hair, right?" "Yeah, most beautiful hair I've ever seen." "My girl's name's Abigail. What's yours?" "Um, Maureen." "Maureen O'Hara." "Nah, better." "Look, I just wanna call her and say goodbye. That's it. No funny business. You can watch me dial, you can listen in. If I say anything that you don't like, you can shoot me." "Count on it. I will shoot you." "Thank you." My word, was this heartbreaking! That's not even the saddest part, though. Guess who he calls instead of Abigail? JULIET O'HARA. Yep. This is his real lady love, and their conversation is heartbreaking, check it out:

"Shawn!" "This call is to say goodbye." "Shawn, are you okay? [...] Shawn, where are you?" "Don't. Don't ask me any questions, 'cause I can't say anything else. If you care about me, you'll understand." "I'm listening." "I'm not gonna be able to have much of a future anymore, but back at where we were, I'll be there. Okay?" "Back? I don't know what that means, Shawn. What are you talking about?" "Wind chimes that I got you for your birthday? Every time you hear them, from now on, that'll be me." "Okay, Shawn, first of all, you are going to be fine. We're going to find you. Okay, don't worry." "Listen, before I go, I have to say one more thing." "Of course Shawn, what is it?" "I need you to know that - I love you." "Uh, Shawn, I think that I" "Goodbye, Abigail."

Can we just talk about this for a second? We know Shawn already told the guy that his girlfriend was Abigail, and it's true and unavoidable, they were dating at this time, but I can't help but feel like if he never gave a name that he would've said Juliet. He had the opportunity to call Abigail, but no, HE CHOSE to call Juliet. And none of that stuff about the wind chimes was true; we'll see that later on. I...can't believe this would happen. It's so bloody obvious that Shawn really loves Jules, but no, we had to have the arc with Abigail. I was so frustrated when this happened. I remember screaming when he said Abigail's name and not Juliet's. That was a horrible goodbye message and didn't give any closure. Which, in hindsight, doesn't really matter in the long run, because we still have hope that it wasn't really Shawn's goodbye.

Where's Shawn?

Now, we have to keep going to see the dominant's reaction to the submissive letting Shawn use his phone. He says, "I'm putting an end to this.", and Shawn shields his eyes from the horror. We then hear a gun shot, but we don't see what happened yet. It transitions to Jules calling Lassie telling him about how Shawn called her and must've given her clues. "Going back...wind chimes..." - Henry gets a psychic vision of his own; the gas station had wind chimes and they should go back there. Good lord, Shawn is so smart. Then Gus and Jules show up at the same time that Henry and Lassie do. Man, they are such slow walkers; how the heck did they beat them there? Regardless, they storm the gas station to find a dead body. We get a few seconds where we're scared because we don't know who it is. But fear not, it's the submissive partner who the dominant partner shot. Great. We can this painful shot of the four of them after Jules asks, "Where's Shawn?". Damn, this episode doesn't let up for a minute.

The conclusion:

Lassie and Henry and Jules and Gus get ready to go find Shawn. We get a really pretty shot of the dominant one driving down the road. Props once again to Mel Damski for directing this episode in such an amazing way. The score is also particularly awesome. Shawn is in the trunk of another car, but this time, it's open, so he can see everyone driving to save him. He shouts, "Yeah! Go team!" Good to see he still has his spirit in him. Shawn's able to get the rope off of his wrists, and the dominant reaches for his gun, but it falls off the chair. Things are looking up. Shawn then has a conversation with Gus, where he reassures him that things are going to be all right. Shawn tells them to be ready, because he's going to jump onto the hood of their car. Gus replies with his signature phrases, "You must be outta your damn mind!", and, "This is a company car!" So, Shawn tries to jump on Lassie's car, but Lassie rejects this idea. Shawn exclaims, "Look man, I have been shot! I am jumping on somebody's car!" in a hilarious fashion. He jumps on Lassie's car, which, might I add, looked really stellar and real. Props to James Roday for that stunt. Henry's telling him to hold on tight, aw. The dominant gets his gun back, uh oh. He starts shooting wildly at Gus's car. He only hits the wheels of the car, but Gus is so bummed out about this. Henry tells Lassie to, "Gun it, old man." and Lassie replies with, "Watch this." Oh man, this is going to be good! Henry grabs the gun from Lassie, but Shawn insists that he gives it to him because he has a clear shot. He starts shooting, and sure enough, he brings the dominant's car to a stop. Shawn looks very good shooting a gun, might I add. The takedown happens, and it's pretty satisfying. Henry runs over to Shawn and coddles him. Aw, what a nice father/son moment. Lassie tells Shawn, "Less shooting, detective." Shawn inquires, "Did you just call me detective?" Lassie responds with, "...No.", but not a firm no. That was adorable! Shawn asks if they should wait for "Diesel" and "Rodriguez" before they slap the cuffs on the perp. We see a shot of Gus and Jules driving down the road with the blueberry, and it's taking a long time to get there. So, it just fades to back.

Now, we get the 'after the main episode' bit, which has been home to some really great moments. This is no different. Shawn reflects on the situation, bringing up that he had to tell Jules he loved her. Gus asks if it was awkward, Shawn says it was a lil' bit. Shawn reports that he thinks she was about to say it back to him, though. Of course she was! You don't have to be a psychic to figure that out! The phone rings, and Shawn says it's for Gus. He answers with his, "Helloooooo." thing that he does, and it's Gina! Wow, this girl won't quit! Gus tells her to stop yelling in his ear, that he doesn't even know her! He yells at Shawn, and Shawn tells him to tell her they're going for cheesecake. Haha! What a great, hilarious, cute, emotional, and adorable ending.

Impact of the episode?

Well, they don't really reference this episode too much in the future. They sort of just forget about it. However, like I said before, this episode truly proved that James Roday can be a phenomenal actor in any genre. He's known for comedy, but if you watch this episode, you will be immersed in the drama and the ultimately believable acting coming from James. It was extraordinary. Special props go to pretty much everyone else as well. Timothy Omundson really brought the edgy, angry, stressed out cop action. Dulé Hill was the scared best friend, and it almost felt like him and James weren't even playing their characters. Rather, they were playing each other, and he was truly scared that he could lose his best friend. Maggie Lawson killed it as the concerned friend (and eventual lover). And Corbin Bernsen was wonderful as a dad who just wanted to find his son, and would do anything to do so. The guest stars were great, too. Overall, this was a PERFECT episode, one of the best ever made and shown on television. Everything about it was incredible to watch, and review about. I cannot even believe it has been one year since the series finale of this show aired. I haven't been a fan for that long, but believe me when I tell you that there is something so special about this show. The way the characters are written, the way the episodes are structured, the way they act, the music, the editing, the directing, EVERYTHING about this show is a match made in heaven. I cannot stress this enough. If you have not seen this episode, the finale, or just the show in general, you are SEVERELY missing out on perfection.

Here are some quotes from the episode I didn't mention that are particularly hilarious:


Lassie: "Where the hell's Spencer?"
Gus: "Your guess is as good as mine."
Lassie: "If I wanted to make guesses, I would go on a game show."

Gina: "Why did you never call me back? Is it because I had two slices of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory? 'Cause if that's it, I have lost a lot of weight since then, I really have."
Shawn: "What? No... no! And I feel so bad about that, and I want to address it, I do, but maybe you could do me a little favor, here. You see, I'm in some trouble, and I need..."
Gina: "A favor? How dare you ask me for a favor after what you did to me? I'm sorry, but nobody, nobody, treats Gina Raypack that way... FYI!"
Shawn: "Wait, don't-"
[Gina hangs up]
Shawn: "It wasn't the cheesecake, it was the talking about yourself in the third person."

Lassie: "Call me when somebody gets shot or there's a dead body."

Lassie: "You know what, fellas, I'll tell you what. You're welcome to it. Have at it. Go for it! Who knows, maybe you'll solve the great ice-cream caper of the century."
Shawn: "Crime of the century, huh? Eh, there's still 91 years to solve that one. Gus and I are gonna pace ourselves."

Henry: "It's a text. They're abbreviations. That's how you text. You're just out of the loop on what the young people are doing now."
Lassie: "The young people? Uh, yeah. Fact check: I'm a little younger than you."
Henry: "You sure about that?"
Lassie: "You're kidding, right?"

Shawn: "Mr. Longmore, with a name like "Longmore", have you given any thought to getting involved in the adult pictures?"

Shawn: "I'm going to need to create a vehicle that combines a standard weinermobile, with a zamboni. Can these two things be welded together into one? The simple mission statement for my venture is: "To create the perfect, juicy weiner, and the perfect icey surface to enjoy said weiner on." Now, to be completely frank with you, the majority of my investors have yet to see the brilliance of this."

Gus: "Is this supposed to be a nice car? [...] What? Don't look at me, I drive an Echo!"

Young Shawn: "You really don't like me, do you?"
Henry: "One day, you'll thank me."

Lassie: "Tell him [McNab] if he touches anything other than the door handle and 10 & 2 on the wheel, I will personally visit his nightmares for all eternity. COPY?"
Jules: "Copy that."

Dominant: "How the hell do you escape from the trunk of a car?"
Shawn: "In his defence, I think I'm the only kid whose father taught him how to kick a tail light from the trunk."
Dominant: "Shut your face. [...] I say we shoot him in the head, dump the body, and get on with this."
Shawn: "Uh, guys, if I could interject briefly here, and this is me speaking from my own experience, that feels a little rash."

Submissive: "You want me to shoot him, right here, myself? I will."
Shawn: "Not to be a stickler, but you did shoot me once already."

Shawn: "Note to self, call Hefty with commercial idea."

Jules: "So, this is where Shawn is living. Odd that it takes him being shot, and dragged away in the trunk for me to actually get an invitation."
Gus: "Technically, you didn't have an invitation."
Jules: "True."

Shawn: "I know you said not to talk, but I gotta be completely frank with you, man. It has always been an issue with me. You should've seen my report cards in grade school."

Lassie: "What was that all about? I said I was gonna ask the questions."
Henry: "Old habits."
Lassie: "Cut it out, alright? I'm in charge of this investigation! My god, it's just like working with Sherlock."

Shawn: "Woo! Look at you, buddy. You're like Vin Diesel."
Gus: "That makes Jules Michelle Rodriguez, and you Paul Walker."
Shawn: "This is no good."
Gus: "Don't worry Shawn, you're gonna be all right!"
Shawn: "I know, I'll be fine. I just really don't wanna be Paul Walker. Not even for one day."
Gus: "You can be Lucas Black from Tokio Drift, but then we wouldn't be in the movie with you."
Shawn: "That's weird...I'll just be Walker."

Lassie: "Spencer, what the hell are you doing?"
Shawn: "Which Spencer are you talking to?"
Lassie: "Doesn't matter, you're the same person!"
Shawn: "Am not!"

Thank you for reading!

Do we have any any similar thoughts about this episode? What's YOUR favourite episode of this wonderful show? Feel free to leave a comment down below. I'd love to get a discussion going for the show I love so much.

Read more of my reviews [here].

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11 comments:

  1. Oh man, this episode was a biggie! Hard to believe it was only a 42 minute episode. What do you guys think about it? Also, Happy Psychoversary!

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  2. This episode happens to be my all-time favourite!! Great Review

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is my favorite of the whole series. but I also like
    "Tuesday the 17th" because of its nod to the old slasher films.

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  4. Psych was so funny.

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  5. It's really hard to pick a favorite episode, and I try and think of an episode but literally ten more episodes pop in my head and i say to myself well those are just as great as well. I would also say "Tuesday the 17th" but "Here's Lassie" is equally funny. Then there is the YIN/YANG trilogy, the Pierre Despereax Saga, the Musical, "Weekend Warriors" and "Office Spaced" to name a few.

    But going back to "Shawn Takes A Shot In The Dark" I remember an interview right before season 4 started where the writers and producers said that they wanted to put Shawn in real danger, and that several previous episodes the bad guy would hold a gun to Shawn and Gus but never bother to fire it. Which lead to the creation of this episode. Man this is a great episode with real emotions spread throughout. Everyone gives it their all and the end results show.

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  6. Thank you! :D

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  7. Glad you like it! Tuesday the 17th is hilarious!

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  8. Thanks for your thoughts. Agreed that there are SO MANY fantastic episodes of the show. I was debating also doing "Gus Walks Into a Bank", "We'd Like To Thank The Academy", "Shawn Gets The Yips", "Death is in the Air", and plenty others. It just goes to show you that this show is ridiculously amazing.


    Wow, I had no idea that's how they thought of this episode. So many times Gus has been on-screen and all we see is a gun but it was never fired. And man oh man, did this episode pay off. I can't even believe they shot Shawn. The way James acted the entire time was incredible.

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  9. also, great review.

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  10. Thanks so much! :)

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