Season 6, Episode 01
Shawn Rescues Darth Vader
"...Got it."
Directed by Steve Franks
Written by Steve Franks
Shawn and Gus are hired by an 11-year-old boy to steal back a rare and valuable Darth Vader toy from the temporary bedroom of the British ambassador’s son during their stay in Santa Barbara. However, while hiding from guards, Shawn stumbles across a dead body tucked away under a bed. After making his escape with the toy, he goes straight to the police station. Meanwhile, Lassiter has a bug up his butt about Shawn and Juliet’s relationship, which he only found out about last episode. Shawn leads the police to the ambassador’s mansion, and discovers someone moved the body into the pool. It seems the woman was Annabeth York, a low-level member of the ambassador’s staff who had recently gotten a British exchange student named Colin off the hook after he was accused of murdering his then-girlfriend, Sarah Peele. Now, Shawn needs to figure out who might have killed Annabeth, especially when Coroner Woody discovers the strangulation marks on Sarah and Annabeth are a match, meaning the same person almost certainly killed both of them. Worse, there’s already been a report of an intruder in the building that night… Shawn himself…Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Ambassador Fanshaw asks where Shawn learned his (hilariously awful) British accent at one point. Shawn cites, among others, Phineas and Ferb's grandfather – whose voice actor, Malcolm McDowell, plays Fanshaw.
- Bait-and-Switch: Lassiter spends most of the episode using a lie detector to expose Shawn's relationship with Jules. At first, it looks like he is trying to get revenge against Shawn for exposing his relationship with his former partner, but it turns out that he just wants Shawn to treat Jules well (if he doesn't, Lassie will shoot Shawn... multiple times)
- Bratty Half-Pint: The British ambassador’s son, a spoiled, obnoxious little twerp who steals a playmate’s prized toy and mouths off to anyone he feels like.
- Comical Overreacting: Lassiter is outraged by Shawn and Juliet’s relationship behind his back, feeling he cannot trust Juliet anymore. He hooks Juliet up to a lie detector, and sees Vick about getting himself a new partner, but everyone else is more annoyed with his overreaction.
- Consummate Liar: Shawn shows off this ability a few times; he flatly denies, convincingly, that a picture taken of him at the mansion on the night of the murder is of him (granted, it’s with his back to the camera and only a vague impression of his face, but still…). Later, he beats a lie detector test when Lassiter asks him if he’s a real psychic.
- Did Not Think This Through: The killer threatens to reveal that Shawn broke into the embassy to steal a toy. Shawn whispers back that doing so will mean admitting that he snuck upstairs to commit murder and tank his not guilty plea.
- Diplomatic Impunity: Played with. Shawn gets it temporarily in order to assist in the case, but it’s revoked when he screws up badly enough. He’s very disappointed that it only goes so far. At the end, Charles tries to invoke this to save himself from being prosecuted for murder, but Ambassador Fanshaw fires him on the spot, revoking it.
- Exact Words: While hooked up to the polygraph, Shawn says that on the night of the break-in he talked to Gus, played video games, and discussed Star Wars, all of which he actually did while breaking and entering.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you pause when the article detailing the release of Colin Hennessy comes up, you'll find that the victim, Annabeth York, liked chocolate biscuits and listened to the advice of a voice in her head she called "Steve". It goes on to include a quote from Chief Vick where she says they'll be able to solve the case within an hour, not including commercials and if they're able to keep the snacks away from Shawn.
- Gilligan Cut: Shawn and Gus overhear Ambassador Fanshaw bemoaning his troubles, and wishing he could get “the psychic” to take the case on. Gus spends several seconds flatly saying no… cut to Psych knocking on the door and offering their services.
- Good News, Bad News: Shawn announces this to Gus after retrieving the Darth Vader toy. The good news is that he got it back… the bad news is they have a way bigger case now.
- If I Can't Have You…: Charles had this motivation for killing Sarah; his creepy obsessions were carried too far, and since she was seeing someone else at the time, he decided to kill her.
- Lie Detector: Lassiter ends up hooking Juliet, Shawn, and himself up to the one owned by the department. He tries getting Juliet to admit that she’s seeing Shawn in the first instance, and tries to get Shawn to admit he’s not psychic in the second. Juliet pulls it off and stomps away, and Shawn is a good enough liar to beat it. The third time, it’s just to enforce that he expects Shawn to treat Juliet well, or Lassiter intends to shoot him.
- Macguffin Title: The Darth Vader of the title is a toy that Shawn retrieves in the first five minutes.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: The ambassador’s Vice Counsel, Randa. She thought the ambassador had killed Annabeth, and moved the body to try to cover it up.
- Noodle Incident: When the Stalker with a Crush denies his behavior, the ambassador says "you've had problems with young women before," but doesn't elaborate.
- Refuge in Audacity: Henry is scared that Shawn may have taken it too far this time, knowing there was a body in a house at a specific address, in a specific room, under the bed, wearing a kind of dress, with expensive earrings... all of which information he got after he broke into the house to steal a toy. The former is suspicious and if the latter is discovered he'll become the primary suspect.
- Serious Business: The job that opens the episode. Shawn is breaking into the home of an ambassador... to retrieve a Darth Vader action figure... which the 11 year old client insists is a collectible.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Annabeth got the very important job of defending Colin when he was accused of murder using this trope; she was sleeping with Ambassador Fanshaw at the time.
- Stalker with a Crush: A sinister version; Charles was stalking Sarah for some time before he killed her, even taking pictures of her.
- Starts Stealthily, Ends Loudly: Shawn sneaks into the mansion with ease, but is caught by two guards and has to make a hasty exit over the rooftops to safety.
- This Explains So Much: When Colin learns that his host is a Stalker with a Crush who was obsessed with his girlfriend and is being accused of killing her, he muses that that would explain why his girlfriend stopped going to his host's house and had him meet her elsewhere.
