How awesome was the Psych premiere last night?

So, Psych picked up from last season’s final episode, with Henry taking over the part-time consultant coordinator role and Juliet dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from her kidnapping. Like a cat, this episode hit the ground running, and was laugh-out-loud hilarious with a return to Shawn and Gus’ Abbott and Costello routines. While I liked the experimentation last season with a “deeper” side of Shawn, it never fully resonated with me. However, this episode was so kick-butt in dialogue, I have to pull out the quotes into a totally separate post (look for it later today/tomorrow).

If the opening flashback with Gus’ “karate” lessons, and the opening credits with Chinese characters didn’t clue you in, Gus and Shawn’s new assistant should have put you wise to what the show would focus on. But, for those who (foolishly) didn’t watch it, or those who (awesomely) did, here’s what I thought just effin’ worked in the season premiere’s triad Romeo and Juliet episode (which was basically everything).

What Rocked:

• Henry as the consultant. Honestly, I thought it might drag down the episode, but it made sense. While I love The Mentalist, Castle, and Psych, are the real life police really that incompetent? And, do they really have that much money for so many consultants, in addition to their own staff? I know Castle’s a volunteer and Jane has issues, but still. I thought hiring Henry would lead to a greater drain on the budget and would make the show awkward. Instead, it served as a logical antagonist without overtly forcing Henry into the episode.
• Henry “case blocking” Shawn
• Henry burying Shawn’s childhood Easter eggs 5 feet under ground
• Juliet’s temporary job at the “giant post office” (aka City Hall) while she recovered
• The Chief using traffic paperwork to force O’Hara to realize her “recovery” had become a delay tactic
• Gus’ requirement that Shawn put all false identifications in writing three days in advance (Shawn’s explanation to their mark: “Look, if this was Saturday I’d have a much better story”)
• Gus the hot dog lawyer
• Juliet’s new hair
• The double punch to stop Gus’ “You might be out of your d*** mind.” It might be the new “shut your mouth.”
• Gus and Shawn doing good cop/good cop to fire their assistant
• Gus checking e-mail in the hallway for 15 minutes while waiting for Shawn to die/scream while checking on the kidnap victim
• Shawn is part Chinese now after living out his childhood dream
• I loved their new assistant. I don’t want him full time, but he’d be great in cameos — particularly considering he did more work for them after they let him go. Any assistant who cries “Go suck yourselves” after the triads kidnap him is awesome in my book.
• Shawn and Gus friending the actors playing Elvira and R2D2 respectively
• Shawn’s Chinese bun in the oven charades
• Gus’ audio support during Shawn’s fight scene

What didn’t rock:

• Absolutely Nothing

Comments:

So what did you think? I enjoyed the episode so much I forgot to check for pineapples. Were those new credit images I noticed? And don’t worry, Deb and Keith will return next week to review the second episode … I’m just stepping in temporarily.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jul 15, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT