Monday, March 15, 2010

What I’m Watching: Psych (Season Finale)

Psych: Season 4, Episode 16 “Mr. Yin Presents…” (B+)

It’s nice to have James Roday directing again as this show signs out after its fourth season, and I’m certainly much more impressed with this installment than last year’s “Tuesday the 17th” horror parody. The incorporation of all the Hitchcock references and films is a lot of fun and serves to help lighten the considerably severity of this episode. This was a particularly serious hour, and it’s somewhat alarming to see Shawn not quite taking it so seriously. It was intriguing to have the quite bizarre and now deceased Mary back for an hour, and the way both Shawn and Gus react to him is priceless. Putting both Juliet and Abigail in peril was the first time that Shawn really had to get serious and make a Batman-like decision about which person he wants to save. Now that Abigail is out of the picture, hopefully Shawn can finally realize and confess his feelings for Juliet. Still, involving the whole cast in the effort to locate the two ladies, and seeing Lassie run after Juliet while Henry accompanies Shawn to help rescue Abigail helped to redefine these characters with various strong loyalties to the people they care about deeply. The fact that Mr. Yin is still out there and can easily come back again is a somewhat smart device because it enables this show to take a sharply serious turn if ever it feels like it but also doesn’t need to be front and center unless the show calls for it. I’ll be happy to stick with the comedy, and maybe even some romance.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: James Roday

No comments: