What I’m Watching: Psych (Summer Finale)

Psych: Season 5, Episode 9 “One, Maybe Two, Ways Out” (B+)

I loved episodes that are paced like this, and there’s something uniquely clever about this show (okay, maybe shared by two shows I don’t particularly like – “Community” and “Boston Legal”) in its excessive pop culture references made even more brilliant by its use of the very people to which Shawn constantly refers. I’m speaking of course of the frequent mentions of the Bourne films starring Matt Damon and actress Franka Potente, who guest-stars in this episode as the framed friend of Juliet’s brother. As long as it’s not so incomprehensibly self-referential as the Julia Roberts plotline in “Ocean’s Twelve,” I’m more than okay with having the contradiction of a filmic universe referenced with its star present playing someone else. Speaking of guest stars, Jon Gries did a great job of playing the mysterious and extremely resourceful Strabinsky. The twin government agents coming in to snatch away jurisdiction from and boss around Lassie were fun, and it makes sense that the guy with two watches ended up being the culprit. Nestor Carbonell is proving to be a non-distracting, completely entertaining entity here, and it’s a shame that he’s such a nice guy since Juliet clearly isn’t sure about her feelings for him because of a certain someone else. It’s absolutely thrilling to see Juliet act on her unexplained attraction to Shawn after the rather trite but still effective device of hearing him talk about his feelings while still miked. It’s not clear how things are going to be between them when next we see them, but I can’t wait for the show’s return in less than two months!

Season grade so far: B+
Season MVP: James Roday