Season 5, Episode 6
Viagra Falls
"OTTO! BIG TIME DRUG DEALER! HE'S THE GUY THAT RUNS THIS CLUB!"
Directed by Andrew Bernstein
Written by Todd Harthan
Former chief of police Herb Wilkins, Henry’s old boss, is found with a bullet in his head on a boat in the marina. Since they have a personal stake in this case, Henry hires two retired detectives who were once his co-workers: Peters and Boone, who Henry claims were the best detectives the department has ever seen. Shawn is initially dismissive of the older detectives, but they soon prove themselves as sharp as ever, constantly staying one step ahead of Shawn and Gus. It seems Herb somehow got mixed up in a local cocaine trade, but Henry, Peters, and Boone flatly refuse to believe their old boss was a dealer. As the two teams of detectives race for clues and ideas, they uncover a troubling sequence of events involving a young women named Saralyn roped into being a drug mule, and a local nightclub serving as a front for the deals…Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Otto was part of a gang that borderline enslaved the women who worked at his club and made them into drug mules. Not a fella worth crying over.
- Boring, but Practical: When making suggestions as to how to get past a huge thug into Otto’s office to search it, Peters and Boone suggest an old trick of theirs called the “bark and mark”, Shawn wants to start a grease fire in the bathroom, and Gus... suggests going outside the office and looking for an open window. They go with Gus’s idea.
- Car Hood Sliding: Peters tends to do this before getting in the car with Boone.
- Chekhov's Gag: Peters and Boone suggest distracting Otto’s bodyguard away from his office using an old trick of theirs called the “Bark and Mark”, which apparently involves distracting someone by barking crazily while someone else closes in from behind. At the end of the episode, Shawn and Gus serve as the “barkers” to take down the bad guy.
- Coolest Club Ever: A nightclub called the “Dollhouse”. It serves as a front for a big-time drug dealer named Otto.
- Defiant to the End: Herb Wilkins's last words are him threatening to "squeeze the coward out" of his killers.
- Here We Go Again!: At the very end, Peters and Boone are sent back into retirement, since this one case was personally important to them. Shawn glances out the window, and sees them getting into their car right after being told about an upcoming case. He realizes they’re going to try to solve it anyway, and runs out the building after them.
- I Call It "Vera": Wilkins apparently called his gun “Darla Saidman”. Lassiter realizes he hasn’t named his personal sidearm, and considers “Mr. Thunderstick”.
- Junior Counterpart: Shawn and Gus turn out to be this to Peters and Boone. Both are a duo with remarkable analytical abilities, whose ride of choice is a brightly-colored, slightly silly-looking car. Their methods involve them acting somewhat outside the law, and they often case areas for clues without permission long before the police show up. They also tend to drive people around them nuts with their constant bickering and occasionally having rapid-fire arguments with each other. Despite this, they’re extremely effective, far cleverer than they look True Companions who are very much on the lawful good side, and almost always get their target.
- Mirror Character: Peters and Boone are essentially Shawn and Gus from the seventies. A special handshake, arguments on the aside, breaking into places, disobeying orders...
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Boone seems to see Juliet as a glorified secretary, and both he and Peters are less-than-open-minded when dealing with women in general. They seem to be the old-and-set-in-their-ways variety.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: Wilkins is spoken of with nothing but reverence and respect by Henry, Peters, and Boone. After finding a huge amount of cocaine in Wilkins’ old locker, discovering his bank account was recently emptied, and learning he was involved with a drug mule named Saralyn, they start to seriously worry he was killed in a drug deal gone bad. Turns out Wilkins was trying to buy Saralyn’s freedom after she reminded him of his estranged daughter, and her employer, Randy, decided to shoot him instead.
- Retired Badass Roundup: Peters and Boone going back into business for this one case definitely counts.
- Scary Black Man: Boone is a fairly large man who will pull a gun at the drop of a hat, and seems to have even less patience for Shawn and Gus’s antics than anyone else.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: The first person Peters and Boone questioned – a random man on the docks named Randy – is the episode’s main bad guy, and Wilkins’ killer.
- Unexpected Kindness: After spending the entire episode treating Juliet like a glorified secretary, Boones compliments her police-work after she apprehends the suspect. Juliet's reaction indicates that she was not expecting that.
- Would Hit a Girl: And do much worse; Otto uses the dancers from his club – the Dollhouse – as drug mules, and doesn’t let them leave unless they find someone else to take their place. At the end, Otto’s employer, Randy, takes Saralyn hostage, and probably intends to kill her anyway as soon as the police leave.
