Looking out of the window

The good thing about Psych is that it has a flexible range of operation. So if anyone could actually do a Western theme and pull it off, it would be these guys. Its one of the few shows where you can be watching and go, “You know what I’d like them to do sometime…” and you wouldn’t be surprised to actually see that on screen the next season.

 High Noon-ish finds Shawn (James Roday) and Gus ( Dule Hill)  investigating vandalism in Old Sonora, a tourist trap Western town for Lassiter (Tim Omundson) who has a sentimental attachment to the town and its ‘Sheriff’ (James Brolin). Their investigation leads them to a number of complications including a dead realtor millionaire, crumbling buildings, underground mines and a legendary ghost wrangler.

 This episode manages to do many things successfully. It gives James Roday fans the chance to see him cowboy up, thrown in an Eastwood accent, ride a horse and generally be his funny, awesome self while Spanish guitar plays in the background. This episode has been shot in great lighting. Sepia tones and mellow lighting used in the episode integrate the look and feel of the cult spaghetti westerns. Some of the funnier moments include, the signature standoff gun sequence in the climax between Lassiter and the bad guy and the one where the wooden wall comes falling down upon Shawn and Gus.

It also sheds light on Lassiter’s childhood allowing fans of this snarky, stiff cop to get a glimpse of what makes him that way. The scene when Lassiter has to arrest Sheriff Hank, a man whom he considers a father figure is well played, giving the character the rare occasion to deal with emotions. Juliet (Maggie Lawson) though continues to be underutilized, and I do hope that she has stronger storylines in the up coming episodes. I would hate to think that she gets sidelined because she is no longer (though that wink from Shawn and the subsequent smile says otherwise) the love interest.

To me one of the more interesting exchanges on the episode was a minor one, but a significant one nonetheless. Its right in the beginning when Shawn and Gus are sitting by the camp fire, and Shawn launches off into a nostalgia for the past. Gus retorts by saying that the former’s people have a much more affectionate memory of this period of history than his. I have always admired the way Psych engages with the subject of race in very subtle and very funny ways, the previous one being the Civil War Episode, way back in Season One where Gus aptly questions Shawn on what role he would play in the re enactment.