What I’m Watching: Psych

Psych: Season 4, Episode 8 “Let’s Get Hairy” (B-)

This is one episode that misses the mark for me because it lost me plot-wise early on and didn’t have enough truly funny lines to make up for it. The spookier storylines, though occasionally appropriate and entertaining on this show, are never quite as good as the straight murder ones, and in this case, the not-quite-werewolf just doesn’t cut it. Buried under the furry plotline is a wasted Joshua Malina whose training at the Aaron Sorkin School of Speaking Speedily is put to no use at all here. Instead, he’s saddled with explaining the episode’s more outrageous plot, which really isn’t all that great. Malina’s description of Lassiter and Shawn and Gus’ subsequent comments, on the other hand, were really fun, and Shawn’s note to Lassiter that he had been wearing the same shirt two days in a row was funny. Juliet’s also getting spunkier and more adept at dismissing Shawn quickly whenever he and Gus come over and try to distract her from her work with the presentation of an absurd-sounding case. Henry also has something to do this episode in a nice showcase, and his test of endurance and patience by holding onto a car was hilarious. He had a great nemesis in Thomas F. Wilson, famous for his portrayal of Biff in the “Back to the Future” trilogy in the 1980s. The ultimate revelation that Wilson was trying to win the truck for charitable donation reasons was a terrific twist, and Henry’s surrender of the prize to Wilson and the children is a fitting response for his character which shows how he possesses something his son certainly does not: maturity. In other news, has anyone seen the Chief lately?