26/2/2014, 9PM, USA Network
Karen Vick calls the gang together to announce that she’s taking a better job in San Francisco. She then gives Carlton a recommendation to take her place as Chief, but the Mayor has no interest in placing the head detective in that position. Desperate to take the vacant slot, Lassiter leads a round-the-clock investigation into the death of the Mayor’s uncle, reporter Archie Baxter, to butter him up. Lavish flashbacks tell us all about Baxter (played by Tim Omundson), who stakes out a nightclub in the hope of breaking a story about major corruption within the SBPD. Though the chief (Kurt Fuller) refuses to listen to Baxter’s evidence, he decides to prod deeper into the foul goings on at the Limelight, a club owned by police-connected gangster Rodney Caruso (James Roday) where he spotted two police officers getting drunk while on-duty. There, r&b singer Myles Velour (Dule Hill) performs and he – under threat of blackmail thanks to a gambling problem and a secret affair – is Caruso’s secret stooge. Caruso’s icy girlfriend Scarlett Jones (Maggie Lawson) is the club’s all seeing, all knowing eyes – and once she gets a bead on Baxter’s true purpose for being at the club the real trouble starts.
Meanwhile, Juliet struggles with a job offer Karen has given her, one that would result in her physical separation from Shawn.
“Emotions? No one cares!” Burton Guster scoffs near the end of the episode. Well, expect “1967: a Psych Odyssey” to give you just those. This is an ep that entertains, amuses, makes you sing along – and if you care about Juliet O’Hara at all, one that hurts.
There’s a lot to digest in a single hour, and it’s almost too rich a confection; all of what goes down is funny or touching. It’s highly impressive and a real feast for all emotions.
Also impressive is the direction, ably handled by first-timer Kristen Nelson. She normally plies her trade as Karen Vick, the SBPD’s chief, in front of the camera, but here she proves that her production gifts are also formidable. The cuts between the two time periods are quite creative, the design fairly flawless, the writing and the acting above par.
Standouts today include Timothy Omundson, who gets to run the gamut of emotions, Maggie Lawson – who gets to do the same with the addition of an accent, and Dule Hill, whose Myles Velour is a nervy, jumpy marvel. Hill and Roday generally keep the comedic back end up alongside Kurt Fuller – whose Woody adds new perversions onto his roster. There’s even a brief appearance by Corbin Berensen as both Henry Spencer and a hippie dippy coroner.
After all of that richly-written comedy-crime caper, the romance and drama sweep in beautifully in the end, and we’re left with a hopeful shot of Juliet driving off into the sunrise. You’ll’ve had to harbor feelings for Juliet and Shawn’s relationship in some capacity to feel the full impact of their dilemma this episode – but if you do, even slightly, you’ll feel the sadness and the joy in the final moments. 1967: A Psych Odyssey is a winner in every respect, and stands alongside its best episodes as a heartening, touching marvel.
The Roundup
- Special kudos to wardrobe, hair and makeup for this episode, everyone looked terrific. Special kudos to whoever cast Peggy Lipton as future Scarlett Jones deserves a raise; she now looks just like an older Maggie Lawson.
- Timothy Omundson really IS this ep’s VIP. His performance combines slapstick with parthos and it ought to be put up for an Emmy.
- ”That’s a nice looking bulldog.” Can you tell this episode was written by James Roday, bulldog enthusiast extraordinaire?
- ”Come on, I can say that about women from other centuries!” Juliet’s well-documented jealousy of any woman in Shawn’s orbit (See season 6’s Shawn and the Real Girl) continues.
- Yes, there was a “Bring in the Noise” reference to Dule Hill’s part in the Savion Glover production “Bring in the Noise, Bring in the Funk.”
- And yep, Gus’ habit of stealing things from crime scenes continues.
- Shawn also tries to take a knickknack from Vick’s office when she announces her department. The plaster fish has settled on the desk ever since Vick’s introduction to the show.
- And yes, there is a guy with an old-school Coke in the background of this episode.
- Next week: Timeskip! We flash forward roughly seven months, and Shawn and Gus investigate the death of their favorite food truck owner. Their undercover case becomes problematic when a heavily pregnant Marlowe shows up to satisfy a craving and finds herself dependent on them both in “Shawn and Gus Truck Things Up.”
