Psych wrapped up its fourth season last night, and I swear, Psych fans, I did give this season a fresh look and another try. Much as I tried to muster enthusiasm, I have to say: This was one cheesy season send-off.
The hour was built around a gimmick — someone (supposedly the mysterious “Mr. Yin”) was committing crimes that contained homages to Alfred Hitchcock films. I guess we were supposed to think this choice of director wasn’t random because of a flashback early on, that showed a young Shawn sneaking off to a movie house featuring a Hitchcock festival. And I’ll give the show points for structuring one murder as a salute to a minor Hitchcock, Frenzy.
Guest star Ally Sheedy returned as serial killer Mr. Yang; she was wacko-good. See? I’m trying to be positive. I always enjoy Corbin Bernsen when he pops up as Shawn’s dad, often too briefly. Annnnd…
Well, what continues to irk me is the predictability of the wiseguy patter and the unoriginality of the show. The sarcastic/affectionate byplay between James Roday’s Shawn and Dule Hill’s Gus is old TV stuff; only the pop-culture references they spout are new — well, not new, but recent. And I mean literally old TV: I refer you to (and I’m limiting my examples to odd-couples-solving-crime shows from the ’80s, since Shawn likes to reference that decade quite a bit) everything from Crazy Like A Fox (1984-86) to Tenspeed and Brownshoe (1980) to Hardcastle & McCormick (1983-86). And Roday and Hill are surrounded by character-types familiar from other cable shows such as Monk and The Closer, like the dumb, bumbling cops who are alternately angry or amused by the antics of the heroes.
Over the course of the season, there were a few episodes I liked. “A Very Juliet Episode” and “The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode” were both cute without being too cutesy, something that practically defines the dialogue in this series. Such as last night’s show, co-written (with Andy Berman) and directed by Roday, which described Shawn as possessing a “snarky eloquence.” See the trick? He says it before someone else (like me) does, so that must mean the show is self-aware, right? Right… self-aware to a fault.
Director Roday staged mini-reproductions of moments from Psycho, The 39 Steps, North By Northwest, and Rear Window. The Birds, Lifeboat, Marnie, and Vertigo were invoked. I liked his pre-credit overhead shot that revealed the murder as a disguised yin-yang symbol.
There was no MacGuffin in the plot, though — Mr. Yin was all too literal a threat. And the whole Abigail being put in danger by the villain was rather botched, visually; if you hadn’t watched the show before, you might not have recognized her initial re-entry into the episode.
Are fans disappointed that Shawn and Abigail seem to be breaking up? You tell me, please.
I’ll keep an open mind, Psych devotees: Count me front-and-center for next season.
What did you think of the season finale?
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My tivo cut off right when yin came on at the end, did they show him? Who was he?
They don’t show who Yin is, but there was a picture of young Shawn with Mr. Yang.
Was it really young Shawn? I kind of thought it was Mr Yin as a kid. That he had met Yang when he was young and she had sort of trained him. We hear Yang talking and I though that was her talking to Yin. They also mention someone like Shawn from the book who isn’t mentioned by name so I thought that might be about Yin. Might be completely wrong or misunderstanding it, I’ll have to go back and look at it again.
And if it was young Shawn in the picture wouldn’t he have remembered them meeting, him being so perceptive (sp?) and all? Or was it maybe a fake photo? I really have to go have a second look…
I could be wrong, but I thought it was young Shawn. Especially with the voice over, it seemed to point to Shawn.
I thought it was Shawn, my hub thought it was a brother or someone else. it was left unexplained…If not Shawn, Yin perhaps? Still doesnt give ‘Yin’ a name…
I thought it was shawn but it looked like it was a picture of him cut out and pasted over someone else so I was thinking that Yin might be Yang’s son or something
It was a picture of young Shawn and the voice over was something she had said to Shawn before.
I know who Mr. Yin is. He is Mr. Yang’s father and he is reponsible for all of Mr. Yang’s murders. When he appears in season 5 for “Mr. Yang 3 in 2D”, he is killed by Mr. Yang, his daughter.
They didn’t show who Yin is, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it’s Shawn’s mother.
i think its gonna be yang’s son who was jealous of shawn.
My guess was Shawn’s mom, too.
I do not agree with you that it was his mother. If you look at the hand it is clearly a mans hand not a female. The picture also looks like it was photoshopped so it might just be a crazy stalker or an ex lover of Mr. Yang
It can NOT be Shawn’s mother. His father spoke to her at the police station via phone and she was in a hotel in New York. Remember…
Jeffrey: Speaking to her on the phone means nothing. She could have just as easily been in a car outside the station claiming to be in NY. And honestly it was the phone call that me suspect his mother in the first place as it would have been a decent misdirection.
The voice on the phone that was Yin sounded just like Zachary Quinto! Didn’t anyone else think that?
So no, I don’t think that Shawn’s mom is Yin…
Oh c’mon…Cybille Shepherd was a psychologist…besides, why would she partner with the woman who tried to kill her last year?
i’d bet my house on that yin voice being zachary quinto’s, but thats just me.
She wouldn’t be partnering with a woman who tried to kill her if she was in on it all along. Shawn even questioned how she manage to do all that she had to do and still tie explosives to Shawn’s mom.
I’m guessing something crazy like Mr. Yang’s kid looks exactly like Shawn and Mr. Yin is her kid.
I would agree it was Yang’s son. It was definitely Zachary Quinto’s creepy voice, and Heroes which is on NBC owns USA Network.
It could be one of those, baby’s split at birth things so the kid looks like Shawn, but is his twin. but if they do that that will take a lot away from the show because that trick is so overused. I don’t see why it would be a relation between Yin and Yang to Shawn as a kid because Mrs. Yang only heard of Shawn because of his cases and that is why she wanted to go against him and I am sure Mr. Yang just follows . With the Photoshop, maybe, but I think that is kind of weak for a plot twist. It being Mr Yin or Yang’s kid really would have nothing at all to do with Shawn or anything for that matter. Unless Shawn accidentally killed the kid or something, but that goes back to what i said before, they just found out about Shawn from his cases and that is there interest in him. And plus, it says on usanetwork.com that it is Shawn as a kid. So I still vote mother
finally im not the only one who thought of that. I mean the voice said you are the only one who is able to catch me and if it wasn’t his mother, then the yin would’ve attacked shawn at the pier.
Mr. Yang is defenitly not shawn’s mother. Although that is a good therory, that is not true because in the episode with mr yang, shawns mother was in a car with bombs strapped to her and Mr. Yang had the remote and after the police had caught mr yang henry was sitting with Shawn’s mother. Even if there was any way she was shawn’s mother henry would remember marrying her and the woman that shawn’s father was married to and got divorst with would most- likely know henry’s old wife
thats what i think too. because she popped up in santa barbra the same time the yin-yang killings started. and mabye thats why she and henrey (probably spelled wrong) got a divorce.], because she knew he could figure it out after a while.
it couldn’t have been shawns mother didnt you see the first episode?
Who is this reviewer? And why does he have anything to do with this show? Or any kind of TV in general? I would hope EW could assign someone to review the show who understands the concept of sitting down and enjoying ones self. It almost seems like he thinks we’re reading this because he wrote it and not for the sole reason that it’s about Psych!
I know he is terrible… he’s to wrapped up giving glee ‘glowing’ reviews. It’s obvious he doesnt have much of a sense of humor i mean geez gus and shawns “byplay” is one of the best parts. Can we just rid the world of this guy or atleast have him banned from watching psych? EW WANT ANOTHER CRITIC KEN TUCKER SUCKS. He makes people who have never seen the show not want to watch it.
I agree. I don’t necessarily think the reviewer should HAVE to like the show, but how can you dislike Psych if you’re really giving it a fair chance?
(And I love Glee, but Psych is so much better on every level: plot, character development, humor, everything.)
Some people just don’t understand TV. It’s just unfortunate when those same people decide to make their living reviewing said TV shows. Cheesy sendoff? Are you that desperate to be displeased? It’s clear that Psych is one of those shows for people that turn on the TV with the intention of enjoying themselves. Thankfully there are plenty of us out there to support USA’s longest running show.
Monk is USA’s longest run show. I know it’s off the air, but it shouldn’t immediately be overshadowed by Psych, no matter how utterly brilliant the younger series it.
The picture of them together is real, but the background isn’t. And Mr. Yin is a crazy person who lived near the Spencers when Shawn was a child. He is also Mr. Yang’s father and he is reponsible for all of Mr. Yang’s murders. When he appears in season 5 for “Mr. Yang 3 in 2D”, he is killed by Mr. Yang, his daughter.
It would really help having someone who likes the show write the recap. Maybe, this recap could be assigned to another writer when the next season starts.
I completely agree. It’s difficult to read a recap on one of your favorite shows when the person recapping it obviously doesn’t like it.
To be fair, this isn’t a recap column–those are put in TV Watch. It’s an opinion column, so he routinely offer critques, deconstructions, and essays.
The link on the front page says recap. EW needs to clarify.
I don’t know why someone would have to like the show to recap it. You don’t have to agree with him. And actually, even though I’m a fan, I’ve been disappointed in this season. Maybe it’s because as Shawn ages, his behavior doesn’t evolve. He seems less clever now and more dorky. Last night’s episode was really disappointing.
I don’t expect all writers to like the show, but shows will click more for one person or another (for instance, I tried to watch LoST once and found it ridiculous. I shouldn’t recap it!). But the reviews are not terribly interesting when they are all about how the writer hates the show. It’s not his bag, that’s ok, but it would be more interesting if the job were given to someone who at least gets the show.
He didn’t watch Psych and people convinced him to give it a try. He’s been watching it just because he wondered why so many people like it. I enjoy the show much more than he does but appreciate his thoughts on it. My dad had that reaction to the appearance of Abigail. It took him awhile to remember who she was.
This show has become increasingly BORING. Stopped watching.
They why are you commenting on this recap if you’ve stopped watching?
I enjoyed this season. Much improved over the last. Loved this episode.
Dude, there was nothing “boring” about the season finale.
Thanks for trying, but I agree with Jenny. I think that part of what makes Psych great is what you hate so much about the show.
I for one actually enjoyed the episode. It actually kept me on my toes and freaked out to go to sleep last night (though i am easily spooked!). I loved seeing Spencer and his dad together and finally seeing Abigail and Spencer break up (i just wasn’t a big fan of them together…but you know!) I am so excited for the next season! AHH! Can’t wait!
I watched the first couple episodes of this show when they aired, and decided this wasn’t for me. I cannot think of a more annoying lead character. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s still on.
Then why are you still reading reviews on it?
Such a good question.
He’s reading reviews on it because he has literally nothing better to do than to read uneducated bullshit by some pseudo-intellectual prick.
As do you Steve?
and yet…you too…are commenting about a show you can’t stand. Why is that? Obsess much?
I don’t see how anyone can not like this show. It’s so funny. And at least appreciate that it has it’s own original story. A lot of cop shows are the same bs over and over and this one creates a new way to go about it.
Sure, the Hitchcock thing had been done before, but my takeaway from Psych episodes is always the one-liners. As young Sean’s about to head inside the theatre to see The Little Mermaid and his dad asks why Gus isn’t coming, Sean tells him that Gus has an aversion to Rene Auberjonois because it was a “Benson thing.” It’s just funny. It may not be cutting edge, but funny is funny.
Oh, I missed that! That is funny!
Psych sucks a big fat unoriginality thingy. Yeah thats right. Way to force the heck out of every single joke and play it off as good writing. It’s terrible writing and the charm has died seasons ago. Sean and Gus should really work on having characteristics that are worthy of our attention as viewers. There’s nothing worse than watching characters who are consistently sarcastic and condescending at every turn. For shame!
don’t watch it then…no one’s making you
I don’t anymore. But there’s no avoiding the terrible promos they air on USA when you’re watching their other fine programming like Burn Notice.
ya cause you can tell a whole show by 30 seconds…go to the burn notice recap then
Burn notice is shit, especially compared to Psych. The acting and collagen make me ill.
burn notice is shit you fucking pussy those actors are even worse than the ones on psych LOL
Actually if you watch the show before they talk about how Shawn likes to make jokes one obviously because the guy doesn’t like making things become serious because it would all get to him, but good thing you are very observant
wow. run-on sentence much? next time try writing something intelligible.
Yeah, because shows like that never have succeed in being good OR popular! (ahem, seinfeld, ahem)
Unoriginal? You mean like “The Mentalist” that totally stole it’s concept from Psych?
Psych’s repeated Mentalist mentions are one of the best parts of the show.
I saw a Mentalist teaser about an episode where the dude has to stop a supervirus outbreak or something…I was angry, seeing as how that Psych episode JUST AIRED a few weeks ago!
This is exactly what I think about this show. Beginning of first season was cool though… fresh and promising. And then, Hill had less and less lines, and Roday looked more and more bored and jaded.
Psych is one of my favorite shows on tv! Shawn and Gus are an incredibly funny duo. I agree with what other people said about getting a reviewer who actually likes the show as much as we do. Glad Abigail is gone…Can’t wait for summer!
As a single episode I thought last nights was excellent. However as a season finale it just didn’t work. The ending seemed forced just to cut the show off at an hour. There was good tension with Juliet and Abby in trouble but the lack of real resolution just didn’t do it for me.
I love the show and look forward to its return in the summer but this episode was just missing something at the conclusion.
I know what would have made the show better. Let them rescue Juliet only to find out that Abby has been abducted. Then fade to black with a proper cliffhanger to get us to the next season.
How did you think that photograph wasn’t a “proper” cliffhanger? I feel like it was a pretty big deal!
I just don’t think the photo was enough of a cliffhanger. So what Yang and Shawn were in a photo together. Big deal.
They needed to either leave someone captured by Yin or they needed to reveal to us who Yin was (and have it be someone important in Shawn’s life that we already know, like his mother) to really provide that kick in the gut to hold us over to the summer.
If you watch carefully there are more than enough clues to figure out who mr yin is and trust me they left clues so people would realize who the killer is and make it a cliffhanger even for the most observant person. Since your asking for more of a cliffhanger I’ll give you one: it’s Shawns mom
I feel like Ken Tucker and others who are so adamantly against Psych are watching without realizing that it is supposed to be silly. It isn’t a network drama; it is just fun.
Kel, Ken’s been biased about this show since his first review of the show in 2006. It is a great show, fun to watch, is one of the top TV shows on cable and is a rock solid hit for the USA Network.
But Ken has to “play nice” with Corbin B. On a talk show, Corbin B came on and ripped Ken Tucker (naming him) for hating the show. After that, Ken T. promised to give it a “try.” He’s trying, that I can see. I think the show is corny and like it because of that. However, I can see Ken’s point. I really like Dule from West Wing so really give this show passes that I would not give other shows. The Shawn character has always grated on me. His observation skills are not that heightened. They just couple him with people who walk around with their eyes closed so he “sees clues” that they don’t see. They need smarter writers who can show that Shawn actually does have skills that are greater than most. That said, the show is what it is. I like it, but can clearly see where it could be better (and smarter).
Some people just don’t understand TV. It’s just unfortunate when those same people decide to make their living reviewing said TV shows. Cheesy sendoff? Are you that desperate to be displeased? It’s clear that Psych is one of those shows for people that turn on the TV with the intention of enjoying themselves. Thankfully there are plenty of us out there to support USA’s longest running show.
Now, I love Psych, but it is hardly USA’s longest running show. Monk went on for 8 seasons.
I have to agree with everyone else. I knew once I saw Tucker was reviewing the show that it wouldn’t get a good review from him. What he hates about it, is what makes it so great. I love the 80s references.
This one had me on the edge of my seat, I have to admit. I was hoping they would figure it out but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be the end if I had read that Mr Yin would be back for more. And, Mr. Yin isn’t his mother. The writers already stated that on their twitter feed.
Dude, you have hated this show since the premiere. I get the different strokes for different folks, but if you hate this show, let someone else run the summary. I don’t see how a reviewer/reporter/blogger/whatever can give something a fair shake when they have been biased since the beginning. Do you hate The Mentalist as well, since its the same show except on CBS?
also, I felt this was a strong season finale. This season as a whole was hit and miss, but they are trying to build some over arching threads while not turning the whole season’s focus on it. It’s a light procedural that has a fairly big fan base. It’s not as heavy as Law and Order but its not as bad as American Idol or the umpteenth Reality Show this page covers, so get over yourself Tucker
How can you give it a fair unbiased shake if you love/like the show? Whoever does these things is going to be biased, you’re just mad because it isn’t YOUR bias.
Because then you can fairly evaluate whether it’s a good episode or a weak one?
Ya but could you imagine if doc Jensen hated Lost but wrote about it every week. The reviewer doesn’t have to like every episode but they should like the show.
I think there’s a big difference between giving a show an overall negative review and constantly giving a negative recap. The first is to give people an opinion on what to watch, the second is – to me – to let people know what they missed and/or discuss the episode. As viv said, the recapper doesn’t have to like every episode, but it’d be nice if a “watching TV” blogger mostly liked what he watched.
I’ve watched and loved Psych the first 3 seasons. This year has been a TOTAL disappointment. Not funny at all. The show seems to have lost it’s focus and is meandering all over the place. Writers, wake up and bring back the old Psych!
Unless the actors are getting to old to pass off as light-hearted goofs. They’re at the age where some maturity should be in evidence.
Psych is one of the best, most creative shows on television today. Last night’s episode was fantastic. It fully held my attention from beginning to end. I loved it when young Shawn said Gus had an aversion to Rene Auberjonois. You have to be paying attention to get the jokes.
If you don’t like this show, or think it’s boring, I shutter to think you call good.
Ken, Psych is just good clean fun. It’s one of only a handful of shows we can watch as a family without cringing. Very little violence, even less sex, likeable characters, slam dunk in our house. Monk was like that,too.
Got that right