Psych: Juliet Wears the Pantsuit, Review
The continuing adventures of our favorite 'psychic' detective.
The fallout of the demise of Jules and Shawn continues this week and I am totally bummed. I thought that things would get back to normal after an episode or two, but no such luck. Shawn is being kicked out from his and Jules’ whole living-together set-up. Translation: Jules wants him out ASAP. I do have to say that it is when the gang is up against a wall that they find their collective comedic stride and I am confident that “Shules” will return. Now that she is onto Shawn’s “act,” you would think she’d be more impressed with his detective skills. But, women? You can’t live with ‘em, but you can pass the beer nuts.
Jules is wasting no time in finding a roommate by posting an ad on craigslist. Ah, craigslist, where dreams go to die. Shawn quips, “Craigslist? You might as well post an ad on murdermethisinstant.com!” The first prospective roommate, Kimberly, is scared off by Shawn’s ghost story of a haunted residence. He also does his best “where does the lotion go” routine from Silence of the Lambs. As nice as Kimberly is, Shawn knows how good he is at this kind of stuff and how it causes Jules to throw a fit losing the possible renter. Shawn is trying to figure out where to stay and what his next move is, so naturally Woody is willing to rent him a room in his scenic Airstream Trailer.The guys head to the murder scene this week and guess who it is? Potential renter Kimberly. Offed by the classic blunt force trauma to the head. Jules has no trouble finding someone to fill the spot in her spacious Santa Barbara digs and welcomes new roommate Laura. Shawn swings by because he believes that he has visiting rights to the Fruit Loops, as well as all assorted cereals. I was literally LMAO…and I never write ridiculous Internet phrases like that. Shawn is convinced that she has the hots for him, but clearly it’s the “Hubba-Hubbas.”After visiting a local Bikram Yoga establishment that the now deceased Kimberly attended, Shawn and Gus need to find some answers. He is desperate to get back into Jules’ good graces after meeting Laura who he gets a very bad vibe from. Still, in order to get some answers from the Yoga instructor, the guys participate in the Hot Yoga class. Not knowing that Bikram Yoga is Hot Yoga, Shawn and Gus try and keep up with hilarious results. At 105 degrees, the guys are sweating through their clothes and attempting to do certain poses related to the relaxing form of exercise. Dule Hill’s physical comedy peaks as he tries to do “The Cobra” pose while soaking wet and yelling, “Cobra! I got cobra!” He immediately falls asleep. Shawn is pretzeled up and keeps saying, “I cannot feel my ass!” He finally procures some info about the very dead Kimberly. Turns out that Kimberly was Laura’s old roommate. The plot thickens in perfect Psych fashion.The guys go to “Chillerz” because they think that Jules is going to be there with her new roommate. From a distance, it clearly looks like Jules but as the dynamic duo approach a group of guys talking to her, they realize that it is Laura…except now she looks exactly like Jules! The chick has gone full Single White Female on Jules or as Shawn says, “And I’m Stephen Weber!” After a night of trying to track down the faux-Juliet, they stumble upon Henry at a local tavern that Laura just dropped a lot of bills at. Lassie and Jules chase down Laura’s jeep as it drives erratically on the outskirts of Santa Barbara and are doing the best they can to keep up with the presumed identity thief, but after a black SUV forces them to spin out, Laura’s Jeep goes off the road and into the drink, leaving Laura presumably dead. Upon closer examination by Shawn, he realizes that the same SUV was parked out front of Laura’s last place of residence. He puts two and two together. It is not Single White Female but, as Lassie points out, it’s Sleeping with the Enemy.Laura’s real name is Lainie and she is on the run from a psycho ex-husband named Patrick, causing her to travel state-to-state and con people to simply stay alive. In order to do that she has to die a lot and become someone new, so that Patrick loses her scent. After the gang puts all the pieces together and some other hysterical moments, the twin Juliets in matching outfits and hair are able to snare Patrick after he breaks into Juliet’s house. Jules shows some serious kickboxing skills and she takes him down pretty hard with a couple of punches and serious spinning leg kicks. Gus and Shawn enter just as Patrick is deemed unconscious and the camera pans to see both of them with their dukes up. Let’s face it: if we’ve learned anything about Psych, it is that our hapless heroes are complete scaredy-cats. But that is also what we love about them. This felt like a really solid throwback episode, because now that Juliet and Shawn are exes, there is a whole different dynamic. Things feel new again and the old vibe from the first five seasons (Pre-Shules) hits me like a breath of fresh air. The team gels better when they stay in Santa Barbara to work the case. They have tried some really well done episodes outside of town, like season 4’s “High-Noonish”, at Lassie’s old stomping grounds in “Old Sonora”; even the “Expedition: British Columbia” episodes with master thief Desperaux. There have definitely been some ups and downs this season, but when they stay in their wheelhouse it is totally noticeable and feels like home. To me that is why this show is so endearing after all of these years; the whole gang has become a family. After some inside Tweets and Facebook postings by Psych’s top brass, I do not think that we have to worry about Jules and Shawn. It’ll happen, it is just a matter of time. As far as I go, I’m gonna sign me up for some Bikram Yoga…
Written by
Jarrett Kruse has been writing professionally since graduating the University of Wisconsin-Madison cutting his teeth writing script coverage for major movie studios like MIRAMAX, 20th Century…