Psych 5.10 “Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part” Review

Psych is back! And so is everyone’s favourite super-polite British art thief, Pierre Despereaux (Cary Elwes). We last saw Despereaux in 4.01 “Extradition: British Columbia”, finally being caught by Shawn and co. Now Despereaux is in a Canadian prison, though it’s not long before he escapes and returns to the art theft game — but when a dead body is found at the crime scene it’s up to Shawn and Gus to somehow prove Despereaux is innocent of murder.

Daboney Wilhelm and Chocolate Columbo investigate

I found Psych‘s triumphant return to be lacking in laughs, but it was still just as enjoyable as ever. Shawn and Despereaux have such a great relationship, and it’s always refreshing when Shawn comes up against someone that can better him on a regular basis. But being such a plot heavy episode, with lots of twists, turns, and lots of angst for Shawn, the episode didn’t have as much room for the usual Psych banter between the main cast. Juliet and Lassiter were barely in the episode (and didn’t share any dialogue with each other), there was only one scene with Henry, one scene at the Psych offices, one scene at the SBPD (and no Chief Vick, though we did get a funny scene with Shawn and Buzz McNab), and no young-Shawn flashback.

I also didn’t notice many 80s references, there were no fist bumps, no “I’ve heard it both ways”, and no “wait for iiiiiiiit”. Obviously I don’t want Psych to overdo its tropes, but when you add it all up it leads to an episode that doesn’t hit the funny bone as much as usual. There’s nothing wrong with Psych going outside of its usual template, it can sometimes lead to its best episodes, but I did find myself longing for the usual scenery and character interactions.

The big talking point amongst a lot of the fanbase will be the decision to finally throw caution to the wind and get Shawn and Juliet together. The bike/car speech was sweet and something Shawn would definitely say while trying to sum up his emotions in a non-direct way. Psych has taken a big leap, and it should be interesting to see how this plays out. The will-they-wont-they stuff has never been why I watch the show, but now the angst is (hopefully) over we can get back to the big comedy.

My favourite moment was probably Gus running away from the cabin (Gus running never fails to make me laugh), though I will reserve an honourable mention for Shawn and Juliet’s big kissing scenes — especially the old lady saying “you’re very nice… for a slut”.

Overall, it was a fun return for one of my favourite shows, but I’m definitely looking forward to returning home and getting back to some of the things that make Psych so funny. 7 fist bumps out of 10

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