Psych: Office Space, Review
Another episode of our favorite not-so-psychic detective.
I hate when we get in the double-digit episodes of Psych, because I know it is nearing its final lap of the year. And that means I will have to wait a few months before it comes to DVD. Then I will buy the DVD and gorge myself on the season until I watch it enough times to tell which episode is on simply by just hearing a line of dialogue. Nobody said being a geek was easy. However, with the Psych squad, it just never gets old for me. It is so easy to love, even after all these years.
Despite the guys’ big secret being revealed earlier this season, I am happy with how it is turning out. It is also easier to accept with Lassie being the only one in the dark on what makes the Psych detective agency usurp him.
I never use the phrase “LOL” or “LMAO,” because how often are you really laughing out loud when you type or read that? Yet when Burton Guster freaked out at his dead boss after having given him a note that said, “drop dead,” I found myself LOL-ing at this wonderful exception! I was near tears watching Dule Hill perform his mastered trade once again; his “The Art of Being Gus”. The sheer panic and terror of a situation he thinks he has caused makes for damn funny TV. The physical comedy and manic nature of a Gus episode is nothing short of hysterical. Even his “sympathy-crying syndrome” is ridiculously funny, as he weepily tells Shawn just what he has done (or thinks he has done).
Dorian Creech is the big shot boss at Gus’ office. I know what you are thinking: he still works there? Well, they make that a running gag throughout the episode with the rest of the cast verbalizing the notion. In and of itself, this is a nice touch and a nod to the origin of Psych.
After Creech verbally abuses his executive assistant, Gus approaches him with his do-gooder attitude, but is blown off by the boss from hell. Just when he can’t take it anymore, he writes up an “I quit” memo and gives it to his assistant. Later that day, Gus sees that Creech appears to be burning the midnight oil and realizes that the note he wrote was too harsh. But when he enters the office, Creech is dead…with Gus’ note firmly in his grasp. Not knowing what to do and in a panic, he takes a page out of the Leslie Nielsen handbook of physical comedy by trying to cover up what he thinks he has wrought. It was as if a lifetime of bad influence from Shawn bubbles to the surface and he thinks he can get away from the scene scot-free. He takes the note out of Creech’s dead hand and eats it. Thus, hilarity ensues.
Gus shows up at Jules’ place, where Shawn is spending the night (nice), to rehash their relationship with a little “friends with benefits” action. As a filthy Gus regales the story of what just happened to him, Shawn assures him that everything will be okay. Actually, his words to a teary Gus are that they are going to make things Kosher. Shawn rhetorically asks an inconsolable Gus what Kosher means. The poor sob can barely muster, “It’s when the meats and cheeses…they’re not gonna touch!” I am not doing it justice in print; you just have to see his breakdown for yourself. Shawn assesses the scene to witness just how badly Gus has screwed up. He gets himself filthy trying to cover his and Gus’ tracks. Awesome results follow with both guys getting everything from prints to Shawn’s nose blood at the crime scene.
Office Security Guard Leslie Valerie Sally (the annoying David Koechner) is performing an internal investigation and he appears to be competent enough. However, Lassie does not give anyone without a shield any kind of respect. He sees the guard’s work as nothing but amateur hour. Replacing Creech is corporate hotshot Mitch Murray (the long lost Michael McGlone). He quickly taps Gus, of all people, to take the now deceased Creech’s Vice-President gig. Just as soon as Gus starts moving his things into his new spacious office, the investigation and the truth begin to unfold about Creech’s death. I lost it when Gus and Shawn are interrogated by Sally and the latter improvises, “[It’s] bring your white best friend to work day”. Seeing Gus under any kind of pressure makes for damn funny TV. The guys solve the case while keeping the narrative structure we are used to tight with just the right kind of goofball humor.
I love that Juliet is now in on the whole Psych secret that hyper-observant Shawn and sidekick Gus have been running for seven great years. She makes a point in this episode to tell the dynamic duo to keep her out of the loop on just how they do their schtick. I was glad to see that, because Jules cannot keep the ruse up around Lassiter.
It was a terrific episode from start to finish that, as of this posting on Den of Geek, I am watching for the third time. There is a reason why geeks dig Psych: its Con-Culture mindset just matches ours so well. Quoting movie lines from the ‘80s, callback jokes to earlier laughers in the Psych canon and zingers never get old. Instead, they lend themselves to the best tandem on TV. While other shows struggle to find their rhythm, Psych continues to satisfy. I have yet to find one new TV show that satiates my ridiculous sensibilities and believe me I have looked.
BEST SHAWN SPENCER LINES:
“I was a singles champion of hopscotch”“Damn you Tyne Daly”Answering the phone: “Spencer for Hire”
Den of Geek Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
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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…